Now THERE’S an incentive…

I won’t keep you guys waiting on the good news:

Passports are done and we got our 6 months visas approved today. Whoot! 4 weeks till we leave and currently nothing is packed! I’m so disorganised… Where’s my head???

Ok, so I had a HELL of a day! I’m clearly a bit naive about all things U.S Consulate, particularly appointments and such. I just figured that if you had an 8:45am appointment, that you’d be seen somewhere in that timeframe. Never mind that it actually says (fairly clearly I might add) at the bottom of the booking form "your appointment time is NOT necessarily the time that you will be seen…"

No shit?

Didn’t have anyone else to take the kids to school so dragged their sorry asses out of bed at 6am. Left the house at 6.50am, boarded a train for the city at 7.08am and arrived at 7.40am. Good timing eh? Grabbed a coffee at McD’s and ambled over to the tram stop. Forgot which tram took me to Moubray Street so decided to ask one of the "friendly" and "all knowledgeable" Yarra Trams staff members. Course she put me on the WRONG tram and I found myself sailing to St Kilda Beach before I swore profusely, advised most of the tram that I was gonna "kick that lady in the head" and walked back to St Kilda Road to catch the RIGHT tram. Ended up at the Consulate at 8.40am, had to wait at the security check-point for about 20 minutes before being let through, had some rude ass prick jump the queue (despite the fact that I have 2 wriggling kids with me!!!) and got our "number."

8.45am appointment my ass.

I waited.

…and waited…

…and waited…

I was patient initially but that evetually gave way to anger as Sacha decided to spend as much time fraying my nerves by running around the crowded waiting area and hanging upside down from the metal queue dividers. The chairs were terrible… and there was no toilets or vending machines or even a water fountain!!! Really poor form considering the wait times that are expected! Course Sacha needed to pee about 2 hours in. I refused to take her back through 2 different security check-points initially (fearing my number would be called in my absense) before she started groping her lady parts in public and getting more and more vocal about her bladder. Ugh. Gave-in and dragged her ass downstairs to the pee station. Listened to her sigh with contentment after the fact.

Nice. 

Sighed as I went BACK through the 2 security check-points and resumed my wait upstairs. Got a headache from the fluro lights and the lack of water. Realised while I was downstairs that I should have gotten a bottle. Dehydrated to the max!

Finally, at 12.30pm, some 4 hours later as the waiting room started to empty I was finally called. Both kids hanging off my arm, tongues lolling with hunger and the relief on my face was obviously recognisable to the nice lady behind the thick glass partition. She spoke through a microphone which made her sound robotic. I felt like I was visiting a prisioner. What a fun job! Anyway, told her my story and after listening to person after person having their visa applications denied and dealing with the 6000 butterflies that had crawled into my stomach, I was finally granted the little bit of paper that tells me I can stay.

*sigh*

Course I still have to get through customs and convince them I won’t stay illegally!!! It’s manic.

I’m exhausted. The headache hasn’t gone away…

4 weeks people. OH MY GOD!!!!! 

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