Half Done

I'm half done with the final paperwork for Miracle.  Friday I went to the Office of Vital Records to get her new birth certificate.  When I walked in, I saw 90% of the seats taken and a line about ten long at the starting window.  My initial thoughts were "Uh Oh".  But I waited.

I ended up with #15 as they called #3 - not too bad.  In reality, the entire process took a little over thirty minutes.  Once I made it to the first window, the rest went reasonably fast.  I walked out with two certified birth certificates with Miracle's new name and my name as her mother.

Next I thought I would try the Social Security Administration office.  I should have been clued in when it took two long drives around the parking lot to even find a place to park. The place was an absolute zoo.  I got my ticket with #580.  Then they called #452.  Are you serious?  Yes, there was one set of sequential numbers.  I think there were about fifteen open seats out of almost two hundred seats in the room.  There were 18 windows, but initially only five were open.  After about twenty minutes, they had ten windows open.

Finally, after waiting over an hour and a half, they called #527.  I was over half way there, but I really had to leave to get to another appointment.  This was the fifth time I have been through this exercise.  I have always gone on Fridays.  By far, this was the busiest and longest wait time ever.  Note to self: don't go during tax season to get a social security card.  Oh wait, I need that card to finish my taxes.  Guess I will have to go hang out at SSA on another Friday morning soon!