One of the big US news items today was the postponement from enforcing some relatively new passport regulations. Basically, a recent change was made such that if you are traveling from anywhere outside the US by air, a driver’s license is no longer be acceptable for re-entry. You need to have a passport. This has caused an enormous surge in applications and subsequent delays in issuing passports, which lead to a lot of complaining to Congress. The AP news release quoted a great comment:

“To say people must have a passport to travel and not give people a passport is right up there in the stupid column,” said Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., who urged the State Department to lift the rule last month.

Personally, I like the idea of a stupid column, but I digress. While it was reasonably well publicized that this change was coming, most people procrastinate, so it’s pretty obvious to expect a surge in applications. The State Department should have been better prepared. Thankfully our passports are up to date and won’t need renewal for several years. We can only hope that this will have been cleared up by then.

Edited (by Leandra) to add: Mine is actually up for renewal soon, in 2009. I certainly hope this isn’t still going on two years from now.

I’ve been a fan of his since I was in high school. I’ve only read a handful of his books, but love his satirical wit and easy-reading style—his books are simply hard for me to put down.

I should pick up a few I haven’t had the chance to read yet.

Microloans and community investing have been in the news the past year, in large part due to the Nobel prize awarded to Muhammad Yunus, one of the champions of the practice. Essentially, microloans are small loans (on the order of several hundred to several thousand dollars) given to people who would never qualify for a standard loan, i.e. those who are very poor. The process seems to work remarkably well with very low default rates. And once a loan is repaid the money can be reloaned to the next borrower, providing a much larger impact than a simple donation.

Over the past several months we’ve been researching several groups that funnel money to these community banks. About a month ago we decided to make a small initial investment in Oikocredit World Partnership through the Calvert Foundation.

Best case scenario - our small loan helps several people build their business, which in turn helps their neighbors.

My sister turns 28 years old today and because I can, here’s a photo of her from 15 years ago at her 8th grade graduation…

Happy Birthday little sis! :)

British Air just announced a major change in their baggage allowance: checking more than 1 bag per ticket will now cost an extra $160-$240 (at the current 2 dollars to 1 pound conversion) per 50 lb bag. Interesting to note that they are giving one week advance notice. While this doesn’t apply to US routes yet (probably due to the competition on those routes) it could change at any time.

To me, it’s yet another reason not to fly British Air if I can help it. We were quite disappointed with our recent experience flying the long-haul routes to Cape Town through London. The seats in World Traveller were even more cramped than a US domestic flight, the food was really bad, and all four flights, on four different dates, were delayed. And I still shudder everytime I think about Heathrow. British Air was by far the worst part of our otherwise very enjoyable trip.

Our flight was delayed leaving Cape Town on the 31st, but we made it to London, specifically the Chelsea Arts Club, in time for New Years. The original plan was for Leandra’s dad to surprise her Aunt Kim (on the right), but we ended up telling her around Christmas. Eric’s mask was supercool by the way…

Fireworks celebrating New Years:

In the end we were up for about 26 hours straight, but champagne made it easier! Though sad to leave Cape Town (especially our wonderful hosts), we are looking forward to our short time seeing some of what London has to offer.

Hope everyone is having a great Christmas! It’s warm here, and we got to open our presents at least 7 hours earlier than everyone in the Eastern Time Zone, so Christmas in Cape Town is pretty sweet :)

My in-laws are celebrating their 38th married year today! In honor of this, here is a photo of them that Eric took at a wedding five years ago this holiday season (right after we got married!) and the inset is from their wedding day.

Happy anniversary you guys! :)

Fighting through aches, pains, and two bad hips, my sister finished her first (and last?!?) marathon yesterday.

Her participation in the Chicago marathon was made a little more interesting by the fact that Lauren was one of twenty runners selected to represent the Northside in a Nike sponsored challenge.

Congratulations Lauren, I am very proud of you! :)

When the terrorist attacks occured in NYC, we were sound asleep in Hawaii, about to enjoy the first full day of our honeymoon. We made it through half the day without knowing, despite being 6 hours behind Eastern time.

While shopping for some shirts that morning, a saleslady asked us where we were from. I mentioned I was from Chicago and that my husband was from New York. She then asked if we had heard what happened? A plane ran into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. At the time we thought it was a joke because it made absolutely no sense, plus she didn’t seem overly concerned by the news.

Then we were stopped by security on the way back in to our hotel, which was odd because we hadn’t been stopped the night before. When we asked about this, the guard stated that because of the attacks in NY, security was being stepped up. All of a sudden, the strange comments from the saleslady and the brief airport closing announcements on the radio made more sense. We bolted to our room, turned on the TV, and stared in disbelief.

It was a bit surreal to be so far away from family and friends during this time (Eric is from NY) and only once we knew everyone was safe did we allow ourselves away from the TV and back to our vacation.

Throughout our trip we saw glimpses of the effects of the attacks here and there but mostly people seemed to go about their business like nothing had happened. Our hotel emptied out once flights resumed and I imagine very few people were flying in. We did have a lovely time in Hawaii, of course, but that first day will always be especially clear in my mind.