Phew! What a fun day I had, all starting at 7:30am when my alarm went off. I managed to get off the phone with Mike early enough to actually get a decent night’s sleep, so I was fairly chipper when I got in the shower at 8am. Had a quick breakfast and got my stuff together. I was all ready to go by 8:30 (I’se a keener!), so mom drove me to the PetroCan gas station in Pubnico, and mom and I chatted a bit while waiting for the shuttle to get there.

Around 9, she pulls up and I get in. First thing she says is “No luggage?…Oh! You’re the passport girl!” Yes I am! I get in the back next to a rather large black girl, and sit there waiting to get on the road.

Almost immediately, I take out my CD player and start playing my mp3 CD. I must have burnt it wrong because it would only play a few songs, and some would skip an awful lot, so I got to about song 100 after skipping half of them, by the time that we reached Halifax. The ride there was pretty boring, I had my headphones in the entire time so I missed out on the conversation, plus I was hidden in the back. We stopped about halfway at Liverpool and I got some juice and a cookie! :)

When we got to Halifax it was like old times, everything looks the same. Not that I was expecting much different. We dropped off one woman at the Hospital, and who do I see but my boss, Trina! I tried to wave but she wasn’t looking in my direction. Then we have to stop at the parking booth and who’s working there but Craig! So I waved hello. I had planned yesterday to meet up with him for lunch anyways.

So then we’re dropping a few off at the bus/train terminal, and I had forgotten it was on Barrington Street (which is the street I had to be on for the passport office) and we passed a store that had a nice pink dress in the window, so I checked for the street name (realized I was on Barrington), then made a mental note to hopefully come back and try it on.

They dropped me off at the Maritime Centre and she got my cell number, and I took off. I found the elevators, and when it started moving I realized that there was a window in it. That was the scariest thing I have ever experienced. So I get off at the 15th floor (eek!) and there are sgns everywhere pointing to the passport office. You’d have to be a fool to get lost.

I go in, the receptionist takes my envelope, gives it a once over, then hands me a number. I’m the only person sitting down waiting to be served. My number was called in like 30 seconds, so I went, gave her my application and my required documents and money, she gives my docs back, then I go on my merry way. Took all of ten minutes.

Back down the scary elevator. Got outside, and headed left to go find that dress. But on my way I gave Craig a call. He was already on a break, but we decided that I’d bring him some Subway and meet him at his booth, since I knew exactly where it was now! I went to the store, tried the dress on. It didn’t fit, which is probably a good thing, since it was friggin’ 30$! At a used clothing store! But it was nice.

After I headed for Spring Garden, which runs perpendicular to Barrington, starting right across from the Maritime Centre. It was pretty hot out, and a sunny sunny day. Not a cloud in the sky! I stopped in a few shops on my way to Subway, one of them being a bathing suit store. Oh my dear, I found the perfect suit, but it had to be over $100. Uh huh, no way! Looked at some dresses in Le Chateau, browsed HMV for a bit. Finally got to Subway without spending a cent. I was proud of me!

Got two 6″ subs and a friggin’ huge Pepsi, then headed for the parking booth. Craig and I ate, and chatted a bit. After that he got called to another booth, so I walked him there and then took off for a walk. There was a little park-like area with a fountain, and people were reading a stuff so I figured I’d go find a magazine on Spring Garden and hang out there until Craig called again for his next break. I got there, and got an urge to check out another used clothing store that I used to visit when I lived in Halifax. I tried on at least 10 dresses, and the only one that fit I couldn’t afford. It was $20. I thought used clothing was supposed to be cheaper? I can buy a sundress in Eclipse for $20, new! Anyways. After that, I stopped in to Bookmark, an old favorite bookstore, and didn’t really see anything that pulled at me, so I left there and decided to take a look at the tourist gift kiosks that are against the Public Gardens. Actually, I wanted to go IN the Gardens, but since Hurricane Juan it’s still being fixed, so I guess it probably won’t be opening this summer, which really sucks. They were really doing a massive fixing, but with good reason. The place was a mess.

So I did that, and I guess all the Pepsi had caught up with me, so by the time I had walked the length of the kiosks, I needed to go pretty bad. I walked back up to where all the stores are and slipped into the McDonalds. Of course THAT’S when my phone rang. The other girl in the bathroom looked at me very strangely. Hehe.

So Craig and I decided to meet at the Dairy Queen right on the corner. I headed to Lawton’s Drugstore (right next to McD’s) and bought a Pepsi and some gum, then headed to wait. Did a bit of txt msging on the cell, then saw him coming up. He had to drop something off at Nubody’s gym, so we went and did that, and I window shopped at a “poster” store. More like matted, framed posters that are expensive for no reason.

Then back to his booth because his break was just about over. It was almost three by then, so I was supposed to catch my shuttle there at the hospital. I went into the lobby and saw the CUTEST little kitten miniatures. Only four bucks apiece, I came so close to buying one. But I resisted. Shortly after that, the shuttle came and I hopped in the middle seat. We picked up two more people and then we were off. They were asking me questions about my cell phone, but after that I listened to my mix and my John Mayer CD until we got back to Liverpool for another break. Ran over to Sobeys and picked up a Sub and a can of generic Big 8 pop. (Hey it came together.) After that, everyone was pretty chatty and the story about why I was getting a passport all came out. The only thing I neglected to say was we’d never actually met. (Minor details!) So they were all for it (hehe) and encouraged me to quit. Not like the people who didn’t know the rest said any different!

One hilarious moment was when we got to Barrington (not street, the town), and one woman was like, we missed my stop! So we had to drive thirty minutes back to bring her back, it was pretty funny. We laughed about it the while way to Pubnico, and I bet they kept on laughing all the way to Yarmouth. It was a good trip, everyone was fairly chatty on the way home. I had text messages to keep me entertained throughout the day!

I’m still pretty chipper for having such a busy day. Now that’s a great way to spend a day off!