Apost--what??

We've had a million things to do to get ready for this move.  Most of them are pretty trivial, buying a pair of shoes, packing, taking M to the doctor, saying goodbye to friends.  Today I took care of one of the more serious errands:  obtaining apostille seals on all of our documents issued by the state of New York.

Never heard of it? You aren't alone.  I mentioned it to my sister, the former lawyer and foreign law expert, and she had only a vague recollection of what it is.  So, here is your civics lesson for the day:  it's a certification of documents for international use.  Sort of like an international notarization.

All in all it was a pretty easy thing to do.  I  ordered a long form birth certificate of M's online and had a copy of our marriage certificate.  I looked up the procedure online and new that the secretary of state (for New York, not Hillary Clinton) has an office downtown.  So, I happily turned up and learned that I had the wrong type of marriage certificate and needed to get both docs notarized first.  OK, I was undeterred, despite the 95 degree heat and oppressive humidity, and having neither a map nor more than a passing understanding about the geography of downtown.  But, I had checked google maps (suspecting that the marriage certain might not be the right type) and asked a friendly cop.  Thankfully, Mairtin was having fun at camp, since it would have been the dreaded combination of hot, boring and a long walk, all coming dangerously close to nap time.

Marriage bureau, check! City clerk, check!  At first I was looking at it as a scavenger hunt, then I had an elaborate fantasy about being on The Amazing Race.  Sure, I knew I could make it back to the secretary of state's office faster than those two overweight middle aged women, but could I beat that blonde guy?  Turns out, him not knowing he was on The Amazing Race worked in my favor, and I was out the door at 11:30, ahead of him.  How much ahead I didn't stick around to find out.

Peter's day didn't meet with as much success.  Our move fell apart--literally--the boxes disintegrated between our apartment and the truck, so tomorrow we'll be buying more appropriate boxes and repacking for a pick up re-do on Saturday.