what were YOU doing at 12:01 this morning?

because as for me and the teen, we were here:

standing here (behind a 50ish balding dude who was there by HIMSELF - creeeeeepy):

for this:

oh, yes. the 3rd movie in the high school musical series is out on the big screen, and we were standing in line at 11:30 last night to be among the first to see it. mm-hmmm. and there's a brand new movie theater in town that just opened last week, so i was happy to plant my ass in brand new seats and drop popcorn on a shiny new floor.

we were sort of impressed at the amount of people standing in two separate lines, waiting at that hour on a thursday night for a disney movie - and then we found out that saw V was also premiering at the same time. that explained the hordes of 20-something DUDES sporting rock concert tees and skateboarding attire. i'd been a little cornfuzzled at that one.

and lest you start ridiculing/chastising/judging me for taking the teen to a midnight movie premiere on a school night, you should know that she's kicking some major ass at school so far this year. the first quarter ends today with report cards due next week, and with the magic of online grade/assignment tracking we already know that she's finally going to bring home one of those "my kid is on the honor roll at the teen's middle school" bumper stickers. hell yeah! the hub and i are so dang proud of her, which we've been telling her every single day. and even more fabulous, she's proud of herself. it's an awesome time in the wan house these days.

once we got inside and found the most perfectest seats that ever were, i tried to take another picture of us, but it was just too dark. heh.

and we noticed that old bald dude stroll up and take a seat behind us, way in the back corner that was the darkest section of the theater. gah-ross!

i got up to buy $25 worth of snacks (nachos, a small popcorn, a large fountain drink, a bottled lemonade, and a box of junior mints).

as the theater went dark, the hooting and hollering was damn near deafening while this flashed on the screen:

we sat through a few previews, and then the cheering and clapping got louder.

and louder.

and, yes - even louder. before she discovered the jonas brothers, the teen positively swooned over zac efron. funny, because she's not typically into the pretty boys. but she loves her some troy bolton.

sharpay evans, played by ashley tisdale, is my favorite character. shut your piehole - yes, i have a favorite. i totally grinned when she made her grand entrance.

we couldn't stop giggling every time he dramatically threw his arms out and broke into song at the most obvious, cheesetastic moments. every time there was a pause, i'd whisper "oh god, he's gonna sing again." and sure enough, he'd open his mouth and he'd be off.

there came a point in the movie for good ol' troy to break character and turn angry and rebellious, and i pumped my fist, thumped my chest, and whispered loudly "what NOW, sucka?" the teen sputtered, cracked up, threw up her arms, and answered with a hearty "SUCK it!"

after downing three-quarters of a large coke by myself, i thought i was going to pee my pants, it was so freaking funny. maybe you had to be there.

and then it was over.

and holy shit, it was after 2 am. and i hadn't even had "last call."

the teen gave me a big ol' hug and said "thanks, mom, this was so much fun."

and that alone was totally worth it.