After that we went out for lunch with Travis, which we both really enjoyed. I haven't seen him in awhile, so it was fun to sit down with him and chat. After that Colin and I headed to Kerrisdale so I could go to the Royal Bank and finalize my name change on my account. It took about 15 minutes, but was pretty straight forward. After that we headed out to Surrey.
I also wanted to change my SIN number that day. There are SIN offices much closer to me than the one in Surrey, but Colin also needed to go to the CGRA office of which there is only one - in Surrey.
So I found a SIN office out there, which is relatively close to, but funnily enough, not in the same Government building as the CGRA office. I checked online as to what I would need to change my name on my SIN card - all it said was I would need an original of my marriage certificate - in the section referring to name change it did not say anything about my birth certificate or some other Government document to identify that I am, indeed, a Canadian citizen. I was highly pissed, but luckily I didn't have to wait in line - not like at the CGRA office and this where the frustration kicks in.
Colin had a pretty simple question to ask CGRA, so he called them. They said they couldn't answer it, and he would have to go to the local CGRA office. So we sat in the office for an hour. Now it seems that every time I am in a Government office, usually renewing my passport, I wait and wait and wait. Everyone in front of me takes forever, yet, when it is finally my turn, I am in and out in five minutes! And this is exactly what happened on Friday. After an hour of waiting it was finally Colin's turn. We talked to the agent for about 5 minutes, she answered the two questions Colin had - but here's the kicker - these were the most standard questions, and yet someone in Ottawa couldn't give Colin the answer over the phone and made us sit in a government office in Whalley for an hour!
Friday night was both hectic and relaxing. We finished putting away our presents, but the apartment was mess: boxes, tissue paper, bags and bits of Styrofoam everywhere. But at this point we were too tired to deal with it, so we left it and enjoyed the evening.
Yesterday I got up to go shopping with Mum and Colin headed off to an info session with the VPD. That afternoon we cleaned up the garbage left from the wedding presents. Last night we saw The Constant Gardener - excellent movie, except we were stuck sitting in the 2nd row from the front, which took some enjoyment out of the movie. Following the movie we went out for all you can eat sushi.
Tonight I am heading over to North Van for my book club - we are reading Couldn't Keep it to Myself by Wally Lamb. I finished it a month ago, so I hope I remember it!
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