While driving through the parking lot to the garage, we noticed that the right taillight was out, which had apparently been repaired as Emily and George were picking up the truck. With all the stuff we’d packed and all the stuff we had yet to pack, it was a given that we needed something much larger to haul the load, so that light seemed like a pretty good excuse to bring it back and ask for a replacement. (It was going to cost more, of course, but that was a better alternative to leaving a bunch of crap on the lawn before getting into the truck and heading down south.)
They would have liked to return the truck as soon as we accepted the inevitable and started unloading, but like I said, it was the end of the night—there was no way there’d be a U-Haul place open to make the switch. Thus, when Thursday morning came around, it was time to crank up the engine and take that baby back to its home. Except the engine didn’t crank. We’re guessing that it had something to do with the taillight, but for whatever reason, they needed a jump start to get the truck rolling again.
Eventually, they got the new truck, they re-recruited me to help load everything back up and help out with all the stuff still inside the apartment. It was a loooong day. But they also fed me some Chicken McNuggets and a sub from Subway during that time. Woo hoo!
While we were still working in the garage, my cell phone rang. Mind you, that’s a pretty unusual event. If it’s not someone returning a call… I’m just not important enough for people to call. Woo hoo! Hey, wait a sec… But this was a special phone call. From L.A. To tell me that Beauty and the Geek will be premiering on June 1st. And that there might be a premiere party sometime around May 25th to the 27th. In L.A. Free ride back to the coast for a big celebration! Woo hoo!
At that point, I made a couple phone calls to family and friends to let them know. Mom was the only family member who answered the phone, so she was the only one who knew right away that it was time to celebrate. Unfortunately, I was committed to helping out Emmy and George, so each time Mom called to ask if I was coming home, if I could meet her for dinner or to grab some dessert afterwards, I had to tell her we still had a bunch of packing to do.
I finally got home sometime around 10:30 and I still cut out a little early—there were still a couple boxes in the living room, a car to load onto the trailer for towing and a very temperamental infant to care for. Hey, it was late—even I felt like screaming and crying a couple times… So I arrived home, walked the dog (since Dad was up in Canada) and ate some frozen yogurt with Mom to celebrate the good news. Woo hoo!
Since then? Well, there’s more to tell, but my fingers and back are getting tired and that’s from typing on my laptop (God knows what it’ll feel like during the bar exam in a couple months). Suffice it to say that things have been interesting during the last few days. If I’m lucky, that trend will continue for a while and I’ll stretch that fifteen minutes of fame as loooong as I can make it. Woo hoo!
