Back in the U.S.A...Sorta

Devoted Husband and I had to get a document notarized and since we couldn't use a Canadian notary (As an aside, I was very old before I realized that it was a "notary public" and not a "notar republic." I don't know what I was thinking.) we had to use a U.S. notary only. So, the closest place we could go with a U.S. notary was the local United States Consulate. I knew that I would have to go to the Consulate at some time, for instance, to vote, but I had no idea it would be soon. The Consulate is only open from 8:30am to 1:00pm and for a major Consulate in a major city there was a pretty small skeleton crew running things. The building itself is pretty blah and not at all impressive. There's also a very creepy picture of Dick Cheney at the security checkpoint. While we were waiting, the TV was showing TLC's A Baby Story, so we were in the waiting room listening to women give birth. Sort of a weird thing to show in a waiting room with mixed company. I've been pretty happy with all my encounters with Canadian government employees, but you could tell that we were technically back in the U.S., because it took almost an hour for us to get the stupid paper notarized. Actually, we were waiting for 45 minutes and actually being assisted for 10 minutes. Typical. But, it's done and we didn't have to go all the way to New York to do it. So, I guess there's that. I just thought that my first visit back to U.S. soil would be a little more impressive. Perhaps involving a welcome home parade and fireworks. Maybe next time. A CANADIAN FACT! There are 13 Canadian Consulates and One Embassy in the U.S. The Embassy is, of course, located in Washington D.C. and the Consulates are located in Atlanta, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York City, Seattle, San Francisco and San Jose.