Okay, so there is more to the story of the Brazilian visa! Just when I thought it couldn't get any more complicated . . .
On Monday, we drove to our county seat to certify all of the notary signatures on the myriad of documents needed for our son's visa. This is basically a check to verify that the person who says that he or she is a notary really is and that his/her notary registration is current. So, I presented my ten documents to be certified. SNAG!!!!
Apparently, each notary must be registered in the county of their residence. So, even though all of the notaries were performed in our county, only three of the ten were actually registered in our county! Five were in a county to the south east, and two more in a third county south of us! What can you do? Well, just hop in the car and head to another county seat before they close for the day.
We visited the last county seat Tuesday morning. Then I took all of the documents to our state capital in Columbus to have them authenticated. As the woman returned to the desk with my papers in hand and called my name, I panicked. Was she calling me to tell me of another problem? No, thankfully, she was just handing me the completed authentications. WHEW!!!! After sending the entire stack of paperwork overnight to its intended location, I drove home - exhausted but relieved.
We did some quick figuring. I, personally, have driven over 1,000 miles in the last five days specifically for my son's Brazilian visa. Collectively, we have driven around 1,200 miles! (That doesn't include the 330 miles my son took to go back to New York, because he was hitching a ride with someone who was intending to go there anyway.)
Once again, I am floored with how unbelievable real life can be. It is, however, giving my fiction-writing brain some good exercise.
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