So I'm posting the bingo words for today and Mike, my DH, calls. He asks if we have anything planned next week in the evenings. I told him I didn't think so. He asked why I hadn't asked him why he was asking. So I asked him, why are you asking? Answer: because his company might be sending him to Paris, France next week! My first response was I want to go! My second response was Ben doesn' t have his passport and there's no one I'd feel comfortable leaving him with for a whole week.
Even though I knew we couldn't go on this trip, there might be others or Carribean cruises or what have you. So, this afternoon I started my quest to get Ben his passport. We went to get his birth certificate (ok, I know he's 17 months and I should have this by now, but I didn't see a purpose and they charge for them in Ohio!) and then to AAA to get his passport photos taken (which turned out ADORABLE!) and to the post office to submit his passport application. Only to find that the place that gives out the birth certificates only took cash or money order (who hasn't heard of credit cards nowadays) and it was in a really scary part of town (for those of you who remember the Cincinnati riots, very, very close to the main rioting) and then I forgot where Elm Street was and didn't realize I'd passed it until I hit the other side of downtown and the streets I took back to the other side weren't the loviest either. So, no birth certificate until tomorrow. I did go to AAA and the pictures turned out awesome and they loved him so much they gave him a stuffed puppy which was wearing a red shirt with a red, white, and blue car on it. Two of Ben's favorite signs...dog and car...well, after all his food signs!
Needless to say since we didn't have the birth certificate, we didn't go to the post office. So, instead we stopped by the place I used to work before I became a SAHM to show how adorable Ben was and how much personality he has. Nadine reminded me that they do walk up passports in Chicago which gave me hope that we might be able to join Mike on this trip. When Mike got home we started looking at airfare and it's like $1000 a person which isn't in our budget right now and Mike wanted to travel Saturday to Saturday. When we got to church this evening, I was reminded that I have a huge web team meeting on Sunday (that I shouldn't miss as Internet Coordinator even though I'm not saying much but I'm driving the computer).
So, I'm bummed, but not too bummed. This would have been my second time to Paris so I'm not missing on the I've never been there and I'm missing it thing. I'm sure they'll send Mike back at some other time and we'll be able to join him then. I'll going to miss him terribly for the week but I'm uneasy about how Ben's going to take it. I might escape mid-week to a friend's house for some support. Nonetheless, I'm going to finish getting the stuff and applying for Ben's passport because you never know when you're going to need it.