Getting ready - Early July

Today when I went to submit my passport application, I expected everything to be straightforward: I had all the necessary documents, and had used them to apply for my previous passport, so I was under the impression that they would be acceptable this time around. However, it seems the rules have changed since I applied for that previous passport after getting married back in 1978. The man in the Post Office who was checking the documents informed me that my marriage certificate is not acceptable because it isn't a certified copy from the Registry of Marriages, showing a registration number. (I have to show a marriage certificate as proof of change of name). The irony is that I've been divorced for nine years, yet I have to fork out $40 to apply for a certified copy of my marriage certificate to prove that I am entitled to use my current surname rather than the one I was born with. The alternative would be to pay $140 to change my name back to my former name. Women just can't win. If somebody had told me back when I was getting married about all the hassles associated with name changes, I would have insisted on keeping my maiden name.

Well, the passport application is not yet submitted, so I can't cross that off my list of "Things to do to Prepare for my Trip", but I did buy an expensive and I hope, long lasting and waterproof pair of leather walking shoes at last, specifically for the trip. (I might add, the most expensive pair of shoes I've ever bought in my entire life). For the first time in my life I bought men's shoes for the extra width (I'm sure my feet are getting wider as I get older), but they're not too big and chunky looking. I do have big feet and no pair of shoes is going to disguise that fact, but I don't think these shoes emphasise it, unlike some men's shoes I've looked at.