Timeline Summary
• Mailed application: 20 December 2017
• Application received: 23 December 2017
• Application processing started: 27 December 2017
• Application processed and passport printed: 2 January 2018
• Passport book sent: 3 January 2018
• Passport card received: 8 January 2018
• Passport book received: 11 January 2018
• Old passport book received: 11 January 2018

Total business days for processing (excluding shipping to/from): 6
Total calendar days for processing (including two federal holidays, excluding shipping to/from): 11

Total business days, including shipping: 14
Total calendar days; including shipping (and including two federal holidays): 22

Detailed Timeline
• Wednesday, 20 December 2017: Mailed renewal application via USPS Priority Mail to National Passport Center in Philadelphia, PA
• Saturday, 23 December 2017: USPS delivers application to post office box in Philadelphia, PA
• Tuesday, 26 December 2017 (late evening): Application fee check submitted for payment to my bank
• Wednesday, 27 December 2017 (late evening): Status email acknowledges receipt of application and states that my application is being processed
• Tuesday, 2 January 2018 (late evening): Status email states that my passport has been printed and that I should expect delivery on 8 January 2018.
• Tuesday, 2 January 2018 (late evening, two hours after previous update): Status email states that my passport book is being mailed via USPS Priority Mail and provides the tracking number (which is not yet available in the USPS tracking system) with expected delivery on 8 January 2018.
• Wednesday, 3 January 2018 (early morning, two hours after previous update): Status email states again that my passport book is being mailed via USPS Priority Mail and provides the tracking number, this time with a direct hyperlink for tracking (which is still not available in the USPS tracking system). Expected delivery date is updated to 9 January 2018.
• Wednesday, 3 January 2018 (evening): USPS tracking updates to reflect receipt from Arkansas Passport Center with expected delivery date of 6 January 2018. It leaves the local AR post office and later leaves the regional Little Rock, AR postal distribution facility the same night.
• Thursday, 4 January 2018 (all-day): There is a big snowstorm that dumps over a foot of snow in the Boston area (where I live) and causes some of the worst flooding since the Blizzard of '78. I mention this because it is the likely culprit for the USPS delays that follow.
• Saturday, 6 January 2018: This is the expected delivery date, but there hasn't been an actual scan since 3 January 2018...there have only been auto-generated "in transit to destination" messages since it left AR. The day comes and goes without any actual updates or delivery.
• Monday, 8 January 2018: I receive my new US passport card in the mail, sent via regular First Class Mail. Still no updates from USPS on my passport book package, except that the expected delivery date has changed to "unknown."
• Wednesday, 10 January 2018 (morning): Passport book package finally arrives at regional Boston postal distribution facility. There is still no updated delivery date, but USPS tracking now notes that delivery has indeed been delayed.
• Wednesday, 10 January 2018 (late morning): USPS updates expected delivery date to 11 January 2018, and package makes it to my local post office.
• Thursday, 11 January 2018 (afternoon): USPS delivers new 52-page passport book. They also deliver my old passport book, sent in a separate mailing via First Class Mail.

Cost
Total: $151.65

• U.S. Department of State: $140 = $110 for passport book renewal + $30 passport card
• U.S. Postal Service: $6.65 for Priority Mail Flat Rate Envelope postage (included tracking and $50 insurance)
• Costco: $5 + tax for four passport photos

Photos
I got my passport photos taken at my local Costco for $5 + tax (membership required). They had a white projector screen pull-down as a backdrop. The employee working the photo processing desk took the photo with a decent Canon/Nikon/Olympus point-and-shoot digital camera. There was a light uniform shadow behind me just above my shoulders, but overall, the lighting was fine with no shadows on my face.

You get four 2x2 photos. My face filled a much larger area of the photo than the one in my previous passport, but it was still within the stated guidelines (I measured it to be sure).

It took about an hour for Costco to print them, but that's only because it was a high-volume period (holiday photo printing), and the printer had run out of toner/ink. The photos came out well, and, as far as ID photos go, came out pretty well. It looks better than the one that got printed in my new passport (the same Costco photo but now a bit overexposed and slightly off-center).