Phil's passport renewal

After receiving word that R.J.'s passport was to be applied for yesterday, we are cautiously estimating that we could travel to Haiti May 14th (which is Finals Week at Taylor University, where I teach) -- since passports are averaging 6-8 weeks, and then it is typically one more week before being able to travel. We also decided we needed to get Phil's passport renewal in the mail, because it will expire June 1, 2007. Much to our chagrin, we discovered that the U.S. passport office is overwhelmed with applications, and it is taking 2-4 weeks longer than usual! We thought we needed to allow the usual 6 weeks for renewing Phil's passport; as it turns out, we need 10 -- although May 14 is just under 9 weeks away! Yikes! The most interesting twist is that you MUST send in the expiring passport in order to receive an updated one. (Otherwise, it takes longer and costs more!) So we put the passport and application for renewal in the mail today. Now we'll wait and see: Will Papa's or R.J.'s passport be ready first?!