The Visit

I know some people have heard this story already, but it's really one of the funniest things to happen to me lately. So I'll tell it anyways.

I usually get to bed later than I'd like to every night, because it's hard to get to sleep in the middle of the afternoon. On Thursday night, though, I got to bed almost on time, to give me lots of sleep in preparation for the whirlwind of a weekend I had planned. A few hours after I went to bed, the phone rang, but I decided not to answer it, as I was really enjoying my sleep. Bad idea.
At 1am, my alarm goes off as usual. I'm lying there, trying to get the motivation to get up, when I hear some banging and clanging, which I assign to the house next door, as there is no one around to bang and clang in my house at that late/early hour. Then, to my horror, on snaps my hallway light. Great, there are some really bold burgler in my house just in time for me to catch them on my way to work. I'm paralyzed in my bed imagining what horror may be coming up the stairs, and then someone sticks his head in my door.
"Hello? Are you awake?" he asks. What a moronic burgler, checking for inhabitants so obviously. Then, the guy flicks on my light, and Lo and Behold, it's my brother Alex. He asks me: "Did Ryan say anything to you?" I hadn't seen Ryan in days, as my sleep schedule doesn't allow for that too often. Al then proceeded to explain his quandry, which Ryan, and the earlier phone call, were supposed to have informed me of much earlier.
"My youth group is coming back from a mission trip, and we were supposed to stay at this church, but the guy there didn't remember we were coming so we coudln't get in. I've got 25 high schoolers downstairs who need a place to camp for the night, is it alright if we stay here?" How can I say no to 25 people who have already arrived, sleeping bags in hand, to sleep in my empty house? So I threw on some clothes and ushered them in.
They filled the ENTIRE house. There were 4 girls in my room, they were lined up like sardines in the empty office, there were 3 boys on the twin bed in the basement, there were boys piled on each other in the living room, Alex set up camp under the dining room table.
By the time they were settled in, I was ready to get to work. So they set down to sleep, and I went out to deliver my papers. After work, and a workout, I come home to partake in the donut and orange juice breakfast and oversee some clean-up. They were in and out between 1 and 8, with the house none the worse for wear. Only one kid left anything behind, and the girls in my room very kindly made my bed for me.
Moral of the story: if you have spontaneous siblings, who tend to tote around large groups of adolescents, always answer the phone. And never assume that the bumping and clattering must be coming from next door.

Road Trip!!!

It's been more than 2 weeks since I dropped everything and left town. In my book, that means I need out of here. So this weekend, I'm off to Chicago-land and then Michigan. As if I don't drive enough at this point (I had to get gas 4 times this week, wee).
First, a visit to Miss Lisa in Chicago! One of my distant housemates, I miss her very much and it will be great to catch up. I've managed more visits to friends this summer than I thought I ever would, and it's great that I have the opportunity to at least stop in at Lisa's for a night.
Then, off to an audition. Both Kathleen and my mother are partial to me getting a dance job in Chicago, rather than moving all the way out to New York, so I'm going to audition for this big jazz company. There's a Hope alum in the company now, but they are really picky about their particular technique, I guess, so I'm not hoping for much. It'll be a good opportunity to dance, though, since I have pretty much cut that out lately. I guess I miss it, but I haven't really had a good break in so long that I'm actually enjoying just using my normal-people muscles all the time. I know, I know, I'm getting out of shape with this lack of class, and I'll go back eventually.
After the Chicago stop it's off to Michigan for a family reunion of Mike's family. I expect to be completely lost and confused, not remember anyone's name, and struggle to just concentrate on tasting my food (my stuffy nose isn't completely better). It's gonna be crazy, but at least I'll get to see Michael.
Then, a dash home, because I can't really find a sub for my route. Hopefully someone will cover for me last minute. Oh well, I am the master of the quick trips around the Lake (as frequently witnessed by Jennica).

News from the homefront

So, not much has been happening. I did eventually get a job, and one that is turning out to fit me rather well. I deliver newspapers on the North side of Madison (DeForest and Waunakee for those who know the area). I work from about 2am-6am every day (yes, 7 days a week). So far, I've only been out twice on my own, and not with the whole route under my responsibility. But it went so much better today than yesterday, so it's going well. Learning to live on odd, little, and interrupted sleep is hard, but you can get used to everything. I need to remember to budget in 3 or 4 hours during the day to nap, because I only get about that much at night (and to Jennica's shagrin I do indeed need 8 hours every day, even in spurts). So far, I'm not very good at the napping part, at least not in long enough chunks, so I'm really tired. But I'm still getting stuff done, and I will eventually come to grips with waking up when normal people are going to bed. I do love to watch the sun rise every day, it's gorgeous out in the boonies where I deliver.

Other than that, not much is up. I'm sick again. I have a pattern of getting ill in some form when I finally give myself the time to relax, but this is getting out of hand. I've now had a fever and coughing disease, a puking disease, and now a cold. Stuffed sinuses are way better than 102 degree fevers or days of throwing up everything I had ever eaten, but it's still annoying. Apparently all the relaxing I've been doing since school got out has completely obliterated my immune system. Ah well, I'll get better eventually. And now that I have something to do, maybe my body will figure itself out again.

That's pretty much it. I need more sleep and I love my new job of driving around in the wee hours of the morning. If anyone is feeling insomniac-ish, you can always ride along with my on my route. If not, I'll content myself with some books-on-tape.

The phrase that doesn't pay

So if I hear someone tell me one more time that they would hire me immediately if I wasn't just looking for a summer position, I might scream. When I was told this today, I couldn't even do things like buy junk food or jeans to make myself feel better, because my interview ended at 7am when nothing is open. I hate the work-force. New plan: move to Chicago and mooch off of Kathleen's sweet job until Mike wins the Nobel Prize and can pay for me to sit around and eat oreos.