Procrastination is My Downfall

[Note: I started this post on May 24. Of this year, but still.]

I know where my kids get it from. Every time I ask one of them to do something, I get, "Okay, just a sec. Can it wait til ___________?" Fill in the blank with one of the following:

• a commercial
• I die (video game)
• I finish my homework
• I sign off IM/Facebook/texting
• I finish watching this video
• this paint dries

I have the same dreadful habit of leaving any task until the last possible minute.

In fact, as I write this, I am procrastinating about going upstairs and getting ready for work. I'm always trying to squeeze in one more moment of indulgence.

[BREAK, BREAK: I got that far and realized I was being really stupid.]

So, here we are a full two weeks later, and I still haven't finished this post.

[BREAK, BREAK: Got that far and realized I had nothing witty or insightful to say.]

Some people claim to be procrastinators, but never seem to have missed deadlines or late fees. Their claims to being procrastinators is similar to mine for having Alzheimer's: I have just enough occasional flashes of forgetfulness to keep me aware of how good I have it, but not enough to really impair my life.

MY degree of procrastination, however, puts other sluggards to shame. It has caused crises and screw-ups that cost money (that hits where it hurts).

Ferinstance: my passport has been expired since January. I started the paperwork in December. I got new passport photos taken in February in anticipation of a March trip to California. But that trip fell through so ... no motivation to get anything done.

Remember that inexplicable scratch?
On the right is the passport photo taken the following day
(stylized so it can't be stolen and used for  an illegal passport).

Yes, I'm a little paranoid.

I also have slightly wonky eyes. Never really noticed that before.
They really kind of creep me out.

Also, please note that one is NOT permitted to smile in Canadian passport photos.

The forms sat in my basket since the beginning of February.

In March, I started e-mailing my brother about a potential trip to Georgia to see him and his family. Did that get me off my duff? No.

So, here we are, approximately two weeks from my departure for Georgia. I have an airline ticket and a bevy of family ready to welcome me in Atlanta. What I glaringly DON'T have is a passport that will allow me to cross the border into the U.S. of A.

Fortunately for people like me, Passport Canada has a solution: a $70 "dumbass" fee on top of the usual usurious charge.

And that, my friends, is why I will likely not change my habits: because things usually work out in the end, as long as you're willing to pay the dumbass fine.