My mom and I drove seven and a half hours today from Cleveland to Chicago, and we've got ten hours to go to get to Fargo tomorrow. The past few days have been a little crazy, but everything seems to be going pretty well. I had, let's say, a little too much fun Saturday night. After a lovely dinner with Amy and Nabina at Everlasting Life Cafe (I hate to say it, but their vegan mac and cheese may be better than my vegan mac and cheese), I went to Chinatown to meet Ellen and Diana. Things started off calmly, but after Ellen bought us a round of bourbon shots things really started going downhill. I saw Rachel for a few minutes and we told each other we loved each other a lot before I called it a night and went home to pass out.
Sunday morning, the ratio of hangover to adrenaline was a lot higher than I was expecting, and although I got everything done that I needed to, I wasn't happy about it. The movers came a few minutes early, and were really careful and efficient, but not quite as fast as they needed to be, because the shuttle I was taking to the airport arrived a few minutes early and they still had a couple of loads to take out. I explained the situation, and they told me to just let them finish removing boxes and close up the apartment. The shuttle was getting ready to pull away when I ran up, but I made it and got to the airport with more than enough time before my flight. At the airport, I talked to a guy who does labor management relations for the Social Security Administration who had fun things to say about unions, and whose daughter had just gone to the Antiques Roadshow, which we were both pretty excited about (I just love watching people make money for no reason). We had to walk outside to get to our prop plane, and I felt like the least glamorous possible version of Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca ("We'll always have Cactus Cantina...").
The plane's air conditioning was broken and a hornet managed to get on our flight, but other than that the trip passed without incident. My mom and grandma met me at the airport and we drove to Uncle Norm's house to pick through some of his stuff to scavenge some things for my new apartment. It was funny being in that house without Uncle Norm, and seeing his garden so overgrown and unkempt. It's really an impressive display of entropy. After packing up mostly a lot of bowls, we got back in the car and drove to Grandma's before picking up Lia for dinner. God, it's good to see Lia. She's one of those friends with whom I feel like I can always pick up where I left off. We went to this sort of swanky restaurant downtown where the waiter almost immediately suggested we try the pig's head, which none of us ultimately opted for. I like having my friends witness the way my family interacts, because I'm pretty sure it's not the way normal families interact. My mom told weird stories, we got into an argument about recycling (naturally), and we spent a lot of time looking at each other like we were crazy. After dinner we went to a casino, because, of course we did. Lia and I did not get to sing "The Letter Duet," which I was hoping to do, but we'll just have to save that for when I visit her in Milwaukee.
Mom and I left Cleveland early this morning for my aunt's house outside of Chicago. Except for Indiana, the drive actually wasn't as bad as I remember, and my mom and I got to talk and listen to music, and she didn't even make me listen to the second half of her book on tape about Whitey Bulger. We spent most of the afternoon chatting with my aunt and uncle, going for some walks with their dogs, and eating, which was just about all I could handle today. I finally got in touch with my landlady, and we've arranged a time to pick up the keys to my new apartment. As soon as I'm moved in I'll try to have some photos for you.
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