opening & closing

this story begins on thursday.

on thursday, the show i've been working on since may finally opened. a show, you say? what show? This show. it went pretty well, especially considering that we only rehearsed in the performance space twice prior to opening night. and the last time we were in there was this past sunday for our final dress. that gave us 4 days to say. . . oh that lighting is going to change? and that sound cue? and this and that? okay. . . we'll try it out. in 4 days. at opening. yikes.

but, like i said. it went well. there was only one near-disaster, which yours truly helped us avoid by doing some silent-screaming at a fellow actor from backstage "No! Do Not bring that table off! bring ON the couch! put the table next to the Couch!" during a set change. crisis avoided.




we had dressed up and, looking stellar, we went to the chicago ale house across the street after the show. kevin couldn't come to the show because he was at a rehearsal for his own show that goes up this wednesday. it's The Other Other Guys. with the erics and friends. come see it.


such a relief to finally be up and running. our next show is saturday the 27th. so. there's that.
























next:

Friday.

keep in mind we've been waiting for this day since may 28th. but really since we started looking for a condo in march. or april. whenever it started, it's been going on for Forever. at least, it feels like it.

9am. it began.


james bachmann, our magicman realtor came and picked us up. and we headed out on the open road. destination: empty bank account.





we headed straight to 5828 N. Ridge to complete the final inspection. a few things weren't quite up to par after the inital inspection, so we hoped to find everything fixed up and in tip-top shape.
we were surprised to find a new railing had been installed right inside the front door, so no one would die falling down those little steps. we were not surprised enough, however, to take a photo of it. sorry. all the windows had received new screens, and could all be opened and closed without issure. good. check. check. our gorgeous side by side refridgerator includes an ice maker, which kevin was extremely excited about and turned on immediately when he entered the kitchen. much to his chagrin, no ice had been made when he opened it again 2 minutes later. james assured him though that there would be some there when we returned from closing. . .

and then Kristen Anderson called! that's her right there! our first technological visitor! hooray!

another issue from the inspection was the brand new stove that didn't work. it still doesn't, but not because of kevin & james. even though this photo is of them fixing the stove. . . after they broke it. but really, we think we just need to have the gas turned on. which makes sense. obviously.














then we went on a hunt for the bike storage room. kevin and i had stopped by at some point last week and snooped around outside, and we'd seen it through a window, but we couldn't find a door to it anywhere. annnnnnnnnd then it started raining. but james kept trying all the keys he had in every door there was.
then it started raining harder.
still, no luck. so we gave up, just as the downpour began.








we then ran through the alley to find safety within the Jetta. mildly soaked.









we got on the road, headed now towards Skokie & its Affinity Title, where the closing was to take place. the monsoon was getting ridiculous, and we had some time to spare, so we took cover in a target parking garage. and, because why not, we went into target to bide our time.

the following video is real. it has not been altered in any way.



luckily the target bore a starbucks, so james bought us some bevies. kevin got some green-tea-milk-shakey-thing, i got hot chocolate, and james got a big plain black coffee. blech. but he paid for us, so, perf.







we swam back to the car, hit the road, and arrived unharmed to Affinity!


james kept getting us all excited by baiting us with our future keys. we were salivating. a lot.


the only thing standing between those glorious keys and us? a whole lot of money. and a giant stack of papers.

Sign! Sign! Sign! Sign! Sign! Sign! Sign! Sign! Sign! Sign! Sign! Sign! Sign! Sign!







so many papers and calculations and signing and thinking. it was very informative. and exciting. and kristan, our attorney, kept saying '2039' like it's no big deal, but really i think we can all agree that thinking about '2039' gives us all a pretty big "Yikes!" feeling in our insides. at least it does me. jeepers that seems like lightyears away. let's not think about it.

LOOK AT THIS!!!

The Giving Of The Keys!!!!

The Receiving Of The Keys!!!!

and not only did James give us those keys, he also gave us champagne!

Keys! Champagne! Keys! Champagne!

and then the condo was ours. so we celebrated! with food! and milkshakes! and a chicago-style-hot-dog toast!

and after our bellies were full, we drove back over to 5828 to prance around our new ICE-FILLED (see below) condo that we OWN with our own Beings!

annnnnd then james carried kevin over the threshold.
because, duh.
what else would they do?

SO NOW WE OWN A CONDO FOR REALZIES AND YOU CAN ALL COME VISIT!

The End.