a day of unexpected little pleasures

i completely forgot that yesterday was not the bean's first audition - she went on one when she was two months old!  heh.  and that one was really badly timed - it was on the same day as her check-up and vaccinations, so she practically slept through the whole thing.  no wonder she never got a call-back.

her appointment at the casting agency was at 2:15, so i was totally dreading the drive home.  ugh.  i hate driving in traffic almost as i hate paying bills.  but i'd promised to be there, and MIL was all lined up to come and pick up the kid from school and take her to her tutoring session.  

the bean fell asleep at about 10 and ended up taking a two-hour nap.  this is great, although i was a little worried about all that driving time.  she's not a huge fan of sitting in the back seat by herself and i wasn't feeling up to an hour's worth of crying while i sat helplessly in traffic, you know?  

i decided to leave just before 1:00, so that i could see exactly where the office was and then grab something to eat.  and it was actually a really easy drive - which i'd expected at 1:00 in the afternoon heading INTO the west side.  and as we got off the freeway at los feliz, i noticed that just about every other car was sporting these colorful flags.  i thought, "ooh, is there a parade?"

i'm so stupid.  as we got closer to our destination i saw a sign for "little armenia" and remembered hearing on the news that there were rallies and protests and things going on to memorialize the armenian genocide.  yeah. it was genocide day.

anyway, i got to hollywood boulevard and found the casting agency's office - and it was only 1:30.  with 45 minutes to kill, i was sure i'd be able to find some lunch and get back with time to spare.

or not.

i ended up spending a good 25 minutes driving around aimlessly looking for something i could pick up at a drive-thru - the bean had, in fact, fallen asleep on the drive out, and i didn't want to wake her up.  she's always in the best mood right after a nap, so i wanted to be sure she'd be smiley and charming for the casting people.  

and after all that driving, i didn't find a damn thing.  so i just headed back towards the office and ended up having to circle the block several times because there wasn't a single parking spot open on the street.  ugh.  and the one spot that opened up was swooped on by some heffa who'd cut me off to get there.  

we ended up parking a little further away, in front of a u-haul rental and storage center, and as soon as we pulled up, a PACK of men looking for work started waving and whistling.  i just wagged my finger and shook my head, and they went back to smoking and shooting the shit in the shade.  

when we walked into the office, i could hear a baby screaming in a back room somewhere, and that bitch who'd stolen my parking spot was wheeling in a stroller behind us.  i just gave her the side eye and walked up to the desk to check in with the bored-looking receptionist.

"and who is this?"

i gave her the bean's name.

"and do you want to submit yourself as a mom, too?"

"yes, please."

"here's a form for each of you to fill out and you can attach her photo card if you have one."

i sat down to complete the forms and the bean babbled and smiled at all the other babies sitting in the room.  the call sheet had specified asian babies, but there were babies in all colors and flavors there.  

i handed the completed forms back to the receptionist and then got to work stripping the bean down to her diaper, per the instructions given on that call sheet.  i'd already heard one other mom slightly chastised for bringing her baby to the audition room fully clothed, and i sure as hell wasn't going to be *that* mom.  

a few minutes later, they were calling the bean's name, and we followed the casting agency dude through the hall to the back room, which was basically empty aside from a stool to put my bag on, a bit of lighting, and a white background for pictures with a towel on the floor.

our five-minute audition went a little something like this:

"okay, put her on the towel sitting up, facing the camera."

[bean laughs at the sight of the camera - obviously, she's used to it]

"now turn her to the side."

[at the sight of my smiling face, bean breaks into an huge, open-mouthed grin]

"and now the other side."

[bean looks confused at being spun around, sitting on a towel in nothing but her diaper, surrounded by white paper and two grown, strange men acting silly to get her to smile]

"pick her up and give her to ed so i can get a few shots of you now."

[bean takes one look at ed as he holds her, and her face crumples]

"give me a nice big smile, with teeth."

[bean shoots me a "help me, mommy!" look]

"okay, now a nice warm smile with mouth closed."

[i look STUPID smiling with my mouth closed.]

"turn to the side."

"turn to the other side."

[bean is crying quietly]

"okay, now take the baby and i'll get you two together."

[bean looks relieved]

"we're done, thank you very much.  NEXT!"

and that was it.  i went back out into the waiting area, put her dress back on, and decided to feed her before getting back into the car.  and the best part?  it was still only 2:15.

i sat and chatted with the other parents for about ten minutes while the bean happily nursed (hidden under the hooter hider, of course).  as we got back in the car and i strapped her back into her car seat, my stomach growled and grumbled noisily, but i ignored it - i wanted to get back onto the freeway and head home.

i passed a plethora of armenian-flag-waving cars as i drove back to the 5 freeway, and was thrilled to see that the traffic was flowing at normal speed.  whee!  as i merged onto the next freeway, i checked the navi, which told me that i could expect to be back home even before the kid got out of her tutoring session. double whee!  and to top it off, the bean had fallen asleep AGAIN.  fucking awesome! she's such a good baby.

and then we came to a complete stop.  shit.

i was even in the carpool lane!  but as i inched along, i noticed the cars in front of us getting over, so i did the same - and it wasn't long before i saw that there'd been a fender-bender not too far away.  the fireman standing in the lane held up his hand and motioned for the car behind me to stop, and that's when the CHP car lit up and began the traffic break.

RIGHT BEHIND ME.  yee-haw!  i watched the traffic just behind me come to a complete stop again as i gunned it and got back into the carpool lane at 80 mph.  muahahahahaha!

i managed to get all the way to my exit with some time to grab a snack at mcdonald's before the kid got out of tutoring.  i called MIL, who was surprised to hear that i was already back, and met up with her in the parking lot.  she came in to give the bean (who'd woken up at the smell of food) a kiss, and we sat there and waited for the kid.

it was fun to watch the look of surprise as she came out and saw me sitting there - i'd warned her that i could get stuck on the freeway till much later.  and MIL invited me to join them for their 4:00 mani/pedi appointment.  ha!

so we left her car in the parking lot while i drove us to the salon, where we sat side by side by side in the spa pedi chairs.  the two of them got both their fingers and toes done, while i sat with the bean in my lap and enjoyed a lovely surprise pedicure (and it was even MIL's treat!).

after it was done, we went on a target run, where we grabbed a drink at starbucks, walked the store, and picked up a few essentials.  and about ten minutes after we got home, the hub walked in the door.  

dinner at chili's completed our day.  we dropped MIL off at her car, headed home, and went to bed.

and now we wait to see if we get a call-back.  there were lots of babies there, so i'm going to just try and forget all about it.  the shoot is next thursday, so i figure if we don't hear anything by, say, monday, we'll just sit back and wait for the next audition!