Friday, July 8, 2011

The Orange and Green Machine

This post is dedicated to my Mother, Father, sister, other sister, (nope, I didn't accidentally leave out my brother) and friends to whom communication lately has been almost non-existent. The last time I talked to my parents was the day after Fathers day (better late than never or something like that) and my mother brought it to my attention that I never call. I quickly retaliated with "Well you never call me either!" to which she replied "every time we call you never answer, and anyway you said your phone doesn't really get reception in that apartment".

Damn! Mom wins again. I guess mothers have to be smarter than you though, or else you'll end up selling your body on street corners to rich, sex crazed businessmen with weird fetishes no one should ever have to know about. But I digress.

Today's post is about the chapter of my life I like to call " The Orange and Green Machine". The title should be obvious to most of you, but just in case you haven't had your coffee yet, or are living in a world that doesn't revolve around me, I'll explain.

I've been living with my brother, or as I'll be referring to him today "Captain Orange" and his fiancee, "Queen Green". Their wedding is about two months away, and life in this apartment has been, well . . . a little hectic.

Thus far, living with Captain Orange and Queen Green has been going well . . . at least for me, who knows what they talk about when they go into their fancy bedroom that has "real walls".

We all sort of live on different schedules though, so that may be helping the situation. Captain Orange is the first to leave in the morning at a time that I barely like to speak of, let alone awake at . . . 7:30 am. I do get joy out of the fact that I hear him every morning and smile as I roll over to go back to sleep. Next is Queen Green. She has the worst working hours of the day. I'm pretty sure whoever started writing these hours on an actual schedule only did it out of spite and bitterness for a person who had wronged them in some way and needed to be punished . . . 11:30 - 8. Then there's me. I work at night . . . usually starting at 4, and don't get home until anywhere between 10 and 12pm. So when you think about it, Queen Green is the only one who never gets to enjoy having the apartment all to herself, and though she and Captain Orange claim she never likes to be alone, I don't truly believe it.

Yes, as you can see, we are indeed, three peas in one pod . . . and if you can't see that, then I'll just clarify that we are . . . except that I'm the pea that's slightly farther away from the other two peas that are really close together . . . like you can two bites of this pea, and one of them is just me and mostly pod, while the other is two peas and hardly any pod.

So what was I talking about? I want to say different varieties of peas, but that doesn't seem right.

Ahh yes, my life.

Aside from the madness that is "Watching two people plan a wedding", I am starting to somewhat enjoy my new job. Unfortunately, that's all I can really say about that, as I have signed a legal document stating that I will not talk about my job on the internet.

I have also taken on a few new challenges, and before I talk about them, I urge you all to jump on my bandwagon and try not to fall off.

1. I am training to do 100, yes there are 2 zeros after that 1, MAN pushups in a row. Captain Orange showed me this website that trains you to do 100 pushups in a row. I've been doing it for about 2 weeks now and am currently up to about 15. Doesn't seem like that many right? Well, in my initial exhaustion test I could only do 3. Which means that I can do 5 times as many now. Oh, and did I mention that the day after I did those initial 3, my entire body was sore?

2. I've given up eating . . . wait for it . . . while watching television. It's been quite the experiment actually. I wanted to see if I would eat less . . . because I think when you eat in front of the tv, you are so engrossed in what you're staring at, that you forget to enjoy your food, which only leaves you wanting more. Not to mention tv and eating go together like those 2 farther away peas I was talking about before. It has actually been really tough. I'm still having trouble with it (it's been about 3 weeks), especially when Captain Orange and Queen Green make dinner, then sit down and turn the tv on to eat. Leaving me, sitting alone in my "Bedroom" to eat my dinner somewhat alone, while still in very good earshot of the television*.

Just to clarify, I'm not angry that they do this, they have very little tv watching time on their hands lately, and it has really only happened like once.

Also, I don't count watching sports as watching tv because, well, I hate sports, and if say, a baseball game is on, I might as well be watching a fly on the wall, because they are more boring to me than church. Plus, it's hard to come home and not find Captain Orange watching a a Dodger game.

3. Caffeine. What can I say? The caffeine wagon is one bumpy ass ride and for some reason I always get a seat on the edge. I was able to go about a month without it, before the wagon came to a screaming halt and said "I'm sorry, you don't have enough will power to stay on this ride little darlin, you best be getting off here" as it pulled over right in front of a Starbucks.

Other than that, living with Captain Orange and Queen Green has made me quite curious about how exactly they met, and every little detail that went down during their "getting to know each other stage". Sure, we all know the shell of their story. Boy has blog, girl has blog. Boy comments on girls comment on other girls blog. Girl is intrigued by boys comment, checks out boys blog. Then boy checks out girls blog . . . and the rest is history. But what's inside that shell! Holy Cow! It's almost like a soap opera to me. But not a cheesy daytime soap opera, more like a classy night time soap opera . . . like ER, or Grey's Anatomy.

And in case you don't know the exact origin of of their first "meeting", well, here's a link. You have to go to the comments section of this girls post. Queen Green is Cadiz12 and Captain Orange is Jon.

I've also started reading both of their blogs from the beginning. Something I have never really been interested in doing before. I also suggest you attempt this as well . . . if you're family or even a fellow blogger that is. I have a whole new perspective on Queen Greens blog now that I know her a bit better, and it really adds to the writing.

Well, that's all I care to talk about right now, as I really have to use the restroom, and I've been writing this for about an hour and a half now.

* My bedroom was formerly their dining room. It's walls are made up of sheets. Which really gives the phrase " those walls are paper thin" a whole new meaning. You might think living in a sheeted off wall would get old fast, but I've grown quite used to it. I suppose if I had a boyfriend or a trashy reputation, the story would be quite different. But the goal right now is for all of us to save a little money, because as most of you know, I have no car. If you didn't know that, shame on you for not reading my blog more. You can find info on that here.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

My latest Crush

It's no secret that in the past I have fallen for several older men, usually of celebrity status. Luckily, they are staying in the same age range, while I continue to get older. This leads me to believe I will end up marrying a 45 year old man when I am in my mid 30's.


So here's the latest crush.




Ty Burrell, Plays Phil Dunphy on Modern Family.


I would like to sing him this song. Unfortunately, he's already married (as usual) with a kid. But hey, maybe he'll fall into the bad side of the divorce rate, I'll become famous, guest star on his tv show, and he will fall in love with me.* Yup, I definitely have a shot.

* Just so were clear, I don't want that to happen to him, I'm not that horrible. I'm just saying, if it did . . .

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

I'm a good driver

This is what I did one week after I moved to Naperville, 20 minutes after I got a job, and half a second after I looked down.

Brace yourself.

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That's the bad news. But let me give you all the good news to make it seem like I'm a positive person.

1.) Nobody was injured . . . aside from some uncomfortable whiplash.

2.) The Monster energy drink I bought earlier that day survived as well.

3.) The other car looks waaaaaaaaaaaaaay better. ( it was my fault)

4.) It happened here and not in Nevada . . . or somewhere in between. This is considered good because my brother lives here and he can tell me what to do.

5.) I just got a replacement title.

I know there are probably a lot of questions. Especially if I'm related to you and this post is how you're finding out. Just know, that it could've been worse, and if I didn't tell you it's because I was scared to and talking about it is embarrassing. I feel like a terrible driver and the thought of ever driving again is a little terrifying.

But just to be clear: I was not drunk. I was not texting. And the job is at a restaurant.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

The things you learn when driving almost cross country

Yesterday, I arrived at my brothers (now also my) apartment, after an 1860 mile drive from Sparks, Nevada to Lisle, Illinois. During that time I learned several things. I will now share those things with you in order to prepare you for a potential road trip in your future.

1. Starting an 1800 mile drive after approximately 3 hours of sleep is never a good idea. This combined with the fact that you just started your "lady time" is a recipe for disaster.

2. Trying to drive 75 miles per hour after never driving faster than 65 and usually only driving 55 mph (for the last 2 years anyway) is much more difficult than you would imagine. The reverse is also true.

3. Most of Nevada and Utah should just be declared a wasteland . . . I'd throw Wyoming and Nebraska in there too, but they're prettier so I'll leave them out of this.

4. Utah is the worst! I'm pretty sure it just used to be named Tah, but people so frequently said "F*** You Tah!" that eventually, everybody just thought it was named Utah.

5. High winds combined with several nearby salt lakes also contribute to the recipe mentioned in number 1. I have never been more scared in my life . . . including the time I drove over Donner Pass in a blizzard.

6. Road construction in other states isn't taken nearly as seriously as it is in Nevada.*

7. Half a box of cheese-its can be a meal, and you don't have to pull over to eat it.

8. Road kill happens far more than you could ever imagine. If you've ever seen roadkill and it was just a small animal that was all in one piece, consider yourself lucky . . . lucky that you didn't just see it's body, then 50 feet later, it's head . . . lucky that you didn't see a dark red color on the road and think "why did they paint this part of the road dark red, and what are all those chunks?", only to realize 10 seconds later what you were actually just looking at.

9. A good audiobook** is way more entertaining than even your bestest most favorite music. (Thanks TR!)

10. Semi's often think they are regular cars that have the right to pass other semis when driving on a 2 lane highway.

11. When you're really tired because you've been driving for 8 hours and still have eight more to go, put on a song you know the words to and sing it like you're giving a live performance.

12. Kum and go is an acceptable name for a gas station/ mini mart in several states.

13. The leading cause of bug death is head on windshield collisions. There were at least 1,000 casualties on my car alone.

14. Cleaning dead bugs off your window takes more than a little wiper fluid and a swipe of the wiper blades.

15. Some people enjoy watching the Glympse*** you sent them, while others couldn't care less.

16. The only thing worse than passing a cattle ranch, is being trapped behind a truck of cattle because there's road construction, and the highway has been reduced to one lane.

17. No matter what, the last 40 miles is more grueling than any other part of your trip . . . including the first part of Utah.


And that is my ride in a nutshell. I would like to give a special thanks to some people that made the ride a little easier.

1. My friend T.R.D. who burned me about 20 cd's so I wouldn't just be listening to all my old crap.

2. My former roommate S.P.R. who gave me all the ingredients for a Picklet (Patent Pending), as well as cookies and a gift card to subway.

3. My friend T.R. who gave me a bunch of candy and a gift card so I could buy the audiobook I was too cheap to buy on my own.

4. My sister A.S. who sent me frequent text messages updating me on my current location and letting me know how much farther I had to go.

5. My parents, for helping me get a hotel room the first night, when I couldn't figure out the Priceline application.

6. And finally, my brother and his fiancee, for letting me come live with them in the first place.

THANK YOU!

* In Nevada there's a part of the 395 that has a reduced speed limit of 55, this is due to road construction that has been going on for about a year and a half now. I rarely see any actual construction going on, yet the speed limit stays. In all the road construction I went through on my trip, the construction was usually very apparent and much scarier . . . yet the lowest speed limit was 65.

** The audiobook was Bossy Pants by Tina Fey, in case you were wondering, and it was pretty much the most perfect book I could have chosen for this particular trip.

*** Glympse is an application you can download on your phone. When used, you can send people a "Glympse" and they can track your progress. This helps people know when something might be wrong, and also gives them a better approximation of when exactly you will be arriving. It was so accurate in fact, that on my final day, my brother was able to find me on the freeway after he got off work, so that I could follow him home. Just to be clear, he wasn't already driving and was like "oh hey, Madelyn's two lanes over" . . . he had to pull over (only for about a minute though) and wait for me.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Confessions of a Candy Whore

Every year for Lent, I usually forgo the Sunday rule because I feel like it's cheating. Sure The Bible or something says it's okay, and if we're living life by some type of rule book, I suppose The Bible is the book of rules that it would be . . . but still . . . if you're going to give something up for 40 days, it should be for 40 actual days . . . right?

But candy has some kind of evil hold over me. It might very well be made by the Devil* himself. So my point is, that last Sunday I ate candy . . . like, a lot of candy. But it's not really about how much candy I ate, ( although I'm pretty sure it's more than that German kid from the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory would eat in one day) it's the fact that I ate it.

Also, I've already had some today . . . but the point is that I wanted to confess. I know you all kind of view me as some sort of Super Woman who is amazing at everything she attempts . . . and usually that is the case. However, if you ever found yourself in a situation where we had to battle each other in some sort of "to the death" type match, all you would have to do is bring a bowl of candy and set it between us. I would eat the whole thing, and you could either kill me while I was eating it (which would kind of be considered a sucker kill) or you could wait until I'm done and make me fight you on a stomach full of candy . . . and if you've ever exercised on a stomach full of candy, like I myself have . . . several times . . . you would know, that defeat would be quick, and quite embarrassing on my part.

Okay, I feel a little better. Now if you'll excuse me, I only have 12 hours of designated candy eating left.

*Should devil be capitalized? Seems like kind of a blow to the capitalization of G in God. Am I right?

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Mein Kampf

Is this title inappropriate? I can't decide.

Anyway, I wanted to give you all a little update on how "MY STRUGGLE" with Lent is going. I can honestly say I've never had so much trouble with something I've given up for Lent.

I thought sugar would be like nicotine. After three days it would be out of my system and it wouldn't be nearly as difficult after that. I was wrong. Dead wrong.

I long for it everyday. Every time I'm at the grocery store, I think "hey, maybe I'll get some candy" . . . because like I said before it is EVERYWHERE, and I love it. Not to mention they package it in bright pretty colors leaving me completely helpless in it's presence.

But then I am quickly reminded of the stupid mistake I made when I decided to give it up for Lent. Why couldn't I just pick going to the gym . . . or paying my bills?

Hindsight is twenty-twenty I guess.

In other news I have officially decided on my departure date . . . from Nevada that is . . . I will be leaving on the 15th of May. My brother lured me with tickets to a Brian Regan show . . . who could say no to that? Only an idiot.

That leaves me here for another month and a half. Yes, I have begun to panic. There is much to be done, and once again my laziness is severely exceeding my potential.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Lent

It's that time of year again. Just about 40 days before Easter.

Although I haven't been to church in . . . I don't know how long . . . I usually like to participate in Lent.

Why?

I think self discipline is a good practice for anyone. I also like to participate in Yom Kippur if I'm given proper notice of what date it actually falls on. Maybe it's stupid . . . I don't know. I just sort of think we live in a time and a place where everything is so easily accessible to us that if we don't deprive ourselves of some things, sometimes, we'll just end up even worse off than we already are.

For example, I work in a place where there is not an open WiFi network. Not because we don't want to be able to provide one, but because we can't provide one without effectively securing access to our . . . I'm not sure how to say this . . . private information, I guess you would call it. Which means, if we did have WiFi, people could easily hack into our computers and steal important information.

But that's not the point. The point is, every time someone asks me for the password and I tell them that we don't have open WiFi to the public, they get pissed. I think it's a little ridiculous that people can't spend an hour of their lives without internet access.

I almost wish we still lived in a time where you had to be home to receive a phone call.

Don't get me wrong, I love technology, but I wish we didn't know any better sometimes.

So anyway, this year for Lent I decided to give up my biggest weakness . . . sugar. I bet you all thought I was going to say the internet huh? Well, that wouldn't make much sense now would it? How could I possibly be writing this post if that were the case?

Now, when I say sugar, I don't mean sugar entirely . . . that would be a little ridiculous, because there is some sugar in just about everything we eat. So to be more specific, I have given up Candy, and dessert food items . . . pretty much anything that is completely sugar based. Excluding fruit of course, that would just be silly.

So far it's been 5 days and it has been extremely difficult. THERE IS CAKE AND CANDY EVERYWHERE! Especially with Easter only 35 days away. I think they put that stuff out a little bit too early.

But I'm not just talking about in grocery stores . . . there's ice cream shops, donut shops, frozen yogurt shops . . . they. are. everywhere.

Did any of you give something up for Lent?