Get me that straight jacket...

The last two days have been testing my patience to the limit. Our mild winter was of course, only temporary, and we got one hell of a storm. Aaron and I had a business dinner to attend last night, and we got about a mile down the road and realized that the fan was broken in our Jeep. Snow was blowing all around and the roads were pure black ice... Sitting in a cold vehicle for half an hour scraping the frosty windows was not an option, so we headed back home to switch cars. The Superbowl party is days away, so the timing of the breakdown could not have been worse. We're in a frenzy trying to get the finishing touches done, and we can't get the truck in until Monday. Poor Aaron has been driving around in the cold picking up the last few supplies, covered in a blanket and wearing foot warmers. Luckily, the Jeep has heated seats...

In an effort to help him out, I went out today to run some errands. When I returned, I was thrilled to see a large envelope with Passport Canada stamped on it. As soon as I touched it my heart sank- it was far to thin to be holding a passport. Sure enough, inside was a copy of the photo I sent, and a letter stating that I was smiling (not allowed anymore- wtf??) and that the picture was too dark ( I guess professionals don't always know what they are doing) so my application is halted until I get new pictures resigned by a guarantor and sent off.

I panicked. Our trip is non refundable. We are supposed to leave for Jamaica on the 20th of this month, and I sent the application in three months early so that I wouldn't get caught in the inevitable delay when the policy changed. Aaron and I started calling the Canadian consulate, and we discovered that I don't have to own a passport to go to Jamaica as long as I have my green card and my birth certificate. The only problem is that Passport Canada is holding my birth certificate with the application, and you can't just call them up and have them send it back. Finally, it dawned on me to call Alberta Registries. Luckily, their process will take a week at the most. As long as I don't get an asshole at customs, everything should be ok. But I've been stuck before and it's no fun. I can't believe I messed my passport pictures up. Oh well, I have a new haircut now, so at least I'll have cuter pictures the second time around.

In the middle of all of this chaos, my doctor's office calls. My doctor is going to be on vacation the day I'm scheduled to go in and begin the rest of my taper... Somehow, no one knew this when I made the appointment last week. I was forced to move the appointment to the following week. Of course it's not that easy. I only have enough medication to last until the original appointment day. Federal law dictates that you can only have 30 days worth of controlled substances at a time and you need to see a doctor for a refill. So, because I don't want to be sick in Jamaica, I have to try and figure out my own taper plan for the next three weeks. God, maybe I should just cut it all off and be sick for a week and hope that I feel human for the trip. Had I known this scheduling 'conflict' was going to happen, I would have continued reducing my medication. The damned doctor was the one who told me to wait. And now he's just gone and fucked up his instructions at my expense. Thanks doc.

I'm irritated, aggravated and fed up.