Passport application.

I've been getting some things ready for our Summer vacation. The most important thing, for now, is the passports of my two youngest children. My daughter has never had one, but my son has an old one that has already expired. I want to make sure that these important documents are up to date, or, as we say, valid. I popped into the court house to get the passport application forms, and then I read through the instructions. When I send in the forms, I need to also send in a fee and a birth certificate. No problem, I thought. I can just send in Robert's expired passport, and I will find Domini's birth certificate and send it in. Well, for the life of me, I couldn't find it. I looked in all of our files. I checked drawers where we keep important papers. And then I double checked. It was nowhere to be found. Okay, what do I do now? Nowadays, if I have a question, I immediately reach for my laptop. I googled where to get a copy of a birth certificate, and I was given the phone number of the Health Department. Great! After speaking with a lady on the phone, the birth certificate was ordered, payed for, and due to be mailed to my home in two days. Well, that was easy! So now it was a question of just filling in all the info. correctly, and double checking that. The form asked for the usual information: gender, last, first, and middle names, address, date of birth, parents, social security number, height, weight, and eye and hair color. Finally, I took my two little ones to Walmart to get their photos taken. They were excited about this quick, simple trip; I think they imagined it to be something very, very important. They stood infront of a white screen and waited for the photographer to take the photos. They looked a bit scruffy, and had big, cheesy grins on their faces. He told them not to smile, so they put on very serious faces, which made them feel like the whole experience was even more important. Well, we got home in one piece, and I finished the paperwork. It'll be good to get this done and out of the way, to avoid any delays.

Grammar notes.

Form related vocabulary: valid, gender, expired, to double check.

1. Sir, I'm afraid your library card is not a valid form of identification for travel.

2. You need to check one of the gender boxes: male or female.

3. Your driver's license has expired; you must go to the department of licensing and get it renewed.

4. After you have filled in your personal information, you need to double check it.