My Life in Passports

Before I went in for my fourth passport application I pulled my other three from the depths of the filing cabinet.  After looking at them I got to thinking.  First thought was, "Oh wow, I'm going to have four passports.  Weird!" But then I really started thinking about them.  Interestingly enough, it seems as though each passport represents a different period of my life.  I know, sounds weird.  But it's true!  Take a short trip down memory lane with me, if you will.

My very first passport was when I was only a year old.  I was born in Germany because my dad is military and that's where we were stationed.  This passport was the first time I would ever travel to the United States.  It represents the start of a new life living in the States in a now single-parent household.  I don't have any memories of this time.  I was too young.  But I wonder what kind of thoughts I had while moving from one country to another.  Did I realize the language change?  Could I even recognize German?  Did I miss my previous living situation?  I'll never know.

My second passport was acquired for my trip to Japan after I completed five years at a Japanese immersion school.  I was really such a dork at that time.  I may be still, but I think I cover it up quite well.  I mean, really, I'm wearing a turtle neck with Tweety Bird and smiley faces.  On a serious note, this passport is essentially the end of my childhood.  I may look young, but when I returned from Japan I became the adult in my household.  I love my mom so much.  She had a lot of things going on mentally and physically and I took up the slack.  I cared for her and my little sister who is 13 years younger than I am.  My older sister was and still is in adult foster care.  I'm constantly being told about how sad it was that I was put in that position at such a young age, but to tell the truth: I am so grateful for it.  My mom was an amazing woman and deserved to have someone there to take care of her.  I am so happy that I was able to do as much as I did.  Those years of caring for my little sister were wonderful.  I wouldn't trade them for anything.  Today I can't help but think about how much more I could have done or where I could have made mistakes.  But then I remind myself that the past is the past and today is today.  And I am so in love with today.

My third passport is from when I went to England with several other students from my school.  It was a programmed tour.  I think I was about 17 at the time.  Between this passport and the last I had my entire life ripped away from me with the death of my mom.  This passport represents me moving into my new life.  I've mourned my loss and I've moved on into adulthood - real adulthood, not just the responsibilities.  From the time this picture was taken to now I will graduate, get married, go to school, work full time, buy a house, get laid off, go to school again, sell a house - and it will all be in partnership with the most amazing man I have ever known.  My life between these last two passports has been quite the experience!  The beginning may have been a bit rocky, but we have learned a lot and are still learning.  That's what marriage is.  It's one big awesome learning experience.

And now I have my final (for now) passport.  I just got this one.  It's for my trip to Mexico and then to Europe that I have planned for this summer.  This passport represents the future.  I'm about to move into a new and very exciting phase of my life.  I'm going to graduate from college, track down a career and start a family.  It's amazing to think I've made it this far.  From that little baby moving to America with just her mom and her sister to who I am today.  I'm hoping that this current passport is good luck for my next chapter.  I won't need to renew it for another 12 years so we'll see what happens!  Who knows.  Maybe I'll let it expire and I'll have to get a new one in 20 or 25 years when my kids are all grown up and going to college and my husband and I decide to explore Asia.

Until next time!

Leave the Light on for Me

It was a dark and stormy night.......

No, this does not count as having a porch light.
http://thefieldlab.blogspot.com/2010/11/new-led-porch-light.html

No, not really.  Just a really, really dark night.  A while back I took a delivery to a house on a very dark street.  I don't remember why it was so dark.  I don't think there were any streetlights.  The night itself was really dark.  I slowed down looking for the correct house to deliver to.  I knew it was going to be on the left side because of the house number I was going to.  Let's pretend it was 1943 for storytelling purposes.  To get an idea of where I was at in numbers I tried to find as many as I could.  There were a lot of dark houses, so I couldn't see the numbers very well.  2051... 2013... 1985... 1903. Crap.  I missed it.  So I turned around to go back, driving a bit slower and really searching out numbers.  I searched the address on the map on my phone and stopped when it told me I was in the right place.  This particular address didn't have a "street view" option, so I couldn't go into it and see what the house looked like.  I pulled into a short gravel driveway that seemed to be in the correct location.  I looked at the numbers across the street to make sure of my placement.  However, the house in front of me looked vacant.  The driveway I was in was next to a large fenced yard.  The house was set back; far from the street.  I had to strain my eyes to look at it.  Remember, the street was dark in the first place.  The house itself was old and shabby looking.  No lights were on anywhere.  The door was set in an alcove that I would have to walk into first, after going through the gate in the fenced yard.  No matter how hard I looked I couldn't see any numbers.  I sat there for a little less than a minute thinking about how to proceed.  Go up to the scary dark house even if I don't know if it's the right one?  No way, my friend.  I was about to pick up my phone to give the customer a call when someone emerged from the darkness that was the front door. He turned on a light and waved me up.  I got out of my car with the food and asked him if this was the right place.  He seemed confused by my question.  Like he didn't realize how incredibly dark and creepy his house looked.  It was indeed his order so I finally walked up to the door to complete the transaction.  As I went up, I looked around for numbers to see if I was just being blind.  Nope.  No numbers.

My friends.  This is a true story and not a rare occurrence.  Any delivery driver will tell you - if it's the only dark house on the street, it's probably the one you're going to.  Did you know you could get your pizza delivered to you so much faster if you simply took a couple of steps to make your house easier to find?  Numbers on the house that are easily visible would be a great start!  I deliver to so many houses that don't have numbers on them.  How do these people expect me to find them?  They want me to guess which door to knock on at one o'clock in the morning?  I've knocked on the wrong door at that time before.  It's not a happy moment.  People get pretty angry.

Go outside and take a look at your numbers.

Are they behind trees? I delivered to a place just the other night whose numbers were behind very thick bushes. I didn't see them until I actually got to the door.

Are they the same color as your house or bronze?  Just so you know, numbers that match the color of the house are not visible at night time.  There's a house I deliver to that has this issue.  The first time I went there the lady came out and angrily waved me down like I was some sort of idiot for not seeing her camouflaged numbers.  Last time I went to that house, her kids made me stand outside for 15 minutes while they did who knows what on the inside.  I almost left.

Do you have numbers on your mailbox or curbside? I love these things! It makes finding a house so much easier.  I can't see them on the house so my eyes immediately go to the curb or the mailbox out on the street.

Do you even have numbers?  I don't care if you just painted or whatever.  Do you realize the purpose of house numbers?

Secondly - where the heck is your porch light?  I can't see house numbers without a porch light.  I can't make out if you're home or not.  I can't see when we're doing the money transaction.  And, honestly, it's darned scary walking up to a completely dark house, even if I know it's the right one.  The ones I love are the customers who turn on the porch light when they come to the door.  Thanks, friend.  That would have helped me five minutes ago when I was trying to find your house.  I went to a house once who apparently forgot to pay the electric bill.  I asked if they had a porch light or any light on the inside or anything.  We had to do the credit card transaction via the glow of his cell phone.  Ridiculous.

I try to thank people who do have their lights on.  I really appreciate it.  Not only does it make it easier on me, it makes it so the customer gets his or her food faster! If I can see the numbers on the house and the light is on, then I don't spend all that time driving up and down the street or sitting in a driveway deciding on how scary the house is.

Something that warms my heart is when the customer turns off the porch light after I leave.  When I see that, I know that he turned that light on just for me.  He was thinking things through.  He was thinking from my perspective instead of just his own.  Totally awesome.

Moral of the story, my friends?  You want to get your food faster and avoid a disgruntled driver?  Get a porch light and turn it on!  Click here for some more advice on how to make your house more visible.

Until next time!

A disappointing analysis

A project I did for my Journalism class. Enjoy.