I actually finished this entry on Sunday afternoon, but between visiting with our friends and flying home and beginning to read Stephen King's The Green Mile I never got around to posting it.
Sorry 'bout that.
I guess I'm feeling a bit weird inside, like: This is for real now. I'm moving to Los Angeles. I am going to visit new grocery stores, new gas stations, meet new people, live on a budget. I'm trying to adjust. I'm going to be a bit flaky over the next couple o' days, methinks.
It's Saturday evening as I type this, sitting in the living room at "The Boys'." That's where the guys Darin knows from UT Austin are living are have lived. There's a group in the dining room playing The Settlers of Catan, a board game Darin's introduced them to, and Fernando and Nancy are sitting on the couch, alternately watching TV and playing with the Queen of the Universe.
Brent is there with Therese, his fiancee, and their daughter Eleanor, also known as "Ellie" or "Bunchkin" but recognized as the one and true Queen of the Universe. She isn't quite 2 and she's already over 36 inches tall. Eleanor has been entranced by Dumbo (once again, I wanted to start crying -- Dumbo is so sad!) and the ants crawling around on the fireplace. Periodically she nibbles on a cookie -- her own or someone else's, she isn't picky -- or climbs through her crawl tube.
Saturday morning Darin and I woke up late. Darin stayed up until 2:30am playing WarCraft II and discussing it in depth with Harry over the phone. I stayed up too, although my brain stopped working around 1:30am. Then, of course, I couldn't fall asleep.
Once we'd woken up, we showered, dressed, and discussed the apartments. We both agreed that the last one we'd seen was the best, so I called up the manager and said we'd be coming by. She said, "Well, if someone else comes by I can't hold it..." Yeah, yeah, yeah -- the sale's over, okay?
Darin, Fernando, and I drove to the apartment building and we took another look at the apartment. It was even bigger than I remembered -- I can't imagine what I would use the space for, but I'm sure I'll think of something. I filled out all the papers and told her when I'd be moving in.
After that we drove over to "The Boys'" and we've been here pretty much ever since. Darin, of course, played WarCraft II most of the afternoon, with Harry or Mike or both of them. (There's a network throughout "The Boys'" house, with a computer or three in every room, 'cause they're computer technicians.)
I have an address in LA now. What a bizarre feeling.
Sunday.
We were supposed to have brunch with Harry, Brent, Therese, and Bunchkin, but for some reason we couldn't connect with them, so Fernando, Nancy, Darin and I went to Old Pasadena and wandered around. We had brunch at a "gourmet Chinese cuisine" restaurant that had okay food but the worst service in the world -- we didn't leave a tip. We had cake at the Old Town Bakery and then returned to the Love Hut.
We've been sitting around like lumps ever since. Nancy and I have been watching the Olympics and a special on the Grateful Dead on MSNBC. Darin and Fernando are playing some kind of computer game.
I have to start making lists of stuff I have to do and stuff I have to bring with for my move. Furniture, clothes, a phone hookup. All this stuff I haven't thought about for years. Since 1989 at the most recent, I think. 1989 is when I moved into my own apartment for the first time, having just moved out of a roommate situation that soured me on the idea of ever living with anyone again.