Angela’s Moved Out

One Thursday evening I bounced into my aparment,happily chatting away wit my friend Kristin,  when Angela stepped into my path with these words, “I’m moving.”

Stopping mid-sentence, I told Kristin I’d just heard some vital information. Temporarily providing Angela with my attention, I asked, “You’re what? When?”

Angela was moving to Dallas. Not as a theory, not as a threat, not as a dream, but as a reality. Angela’s company offered her a position as a trainer in Dallas and needed her there October 18th, so she was leaving October 15th

I finished my conversation with Kristin and found the other Emily. All we could do was smile. It was our dream come true.

A bit later, I went back to my room when I overheard Angela crying. I cringed, knowing that I would be escaping the house as much as possible the last 20-ish days she was set to live with me, because seriously, what life change can be drama free with her? I tried to avoid hearing her, but sometimes it can’t be avoided when her speaking volume is piano forte. Angela was on the phone with Rick’s sister, attempting defend her move to be with Rick. In my last post, I mentioned Angela dumped him fifteen years ago for the man who became her first husband. It seems as if Rick’s sister wanted some sort of assurance that this was not going to happen again. Angela was more than happy to provide it. How?

By calling several people and having a conference call with Rick’s sister to “prove her love.”

The first call was Angela’s mother. Her reply to her daughter’s hasty decision to move, “I’m happy for you… for now.” Angela became defensive and said Rick was her true love, and I quote, ‘We will be together for always and forever. Amen.” Angela and her mother went around a few more times when Angela called her father next and announced her reunion with her one true love.

“Well, that’s nice sweetie,” was Angela’s father’s reply. “You have a job, right” Angela explained her promotion and hung up. There was one more call to make: the all important call to Eric to break up with him.

Yes, she broke up with him over the phone. With her new boyfriend’s sister on the line as well. And the phone on speakerphone. I will spare you the ridiculousness of her words and say this… Eric took it well, and Angela attempted to provoke more dramatic responses from him. After this conversation, I’d had my fill. I grabbed my hoodie and took off for Chuck and Irene’s, preparing to hide like this for three more weeks. Angela did me a favor, though. She spared me the drama by moving out much sooner than expected.

Friday morning, I received a text message from my landlord Dolly. “Angela is moving out early. “

“Are you serious?” I replied. “This is even better than Oct 15.” Dolly felt the same way about Angela that Emily Ann and I did.

“This is the 3rd time she has changed her story. First she said she wanted to move because of her grandma being sick. Then it was to be with her long-lost love. Now its because she is so depressed she can’t stand to be here another minute.” Drama much? Dolly and I made plans to show the apartment for Saturday so we could find a replacement roommate faster… or at least be more careful about who was moving in. I floated throughout the rest of the day… my life was going to soon be much simpler.

When I came home that afternoon, Angela was packing. I said hello and we exchanged a few curt words I asked her why she was moving so fast. She told me her job wanted her sooner. I asked about her daughter, how did Katie feel about all of this, now that she wasn’t coming to Colorado Springs. Angela replied that Katie was moving to Dallas next May when school let out. I shrugged my shoulders, and went upstairs to grab some things. Angela didn’t need help packing, so I decided not to be around to indulge her drama. I spent the evening at Chuck and Irene’s again, where I hung out with my friend Josh around the fire pit.  When I came home that night, I found this:

All that was left was her empty room.

I feel like an awful person for saying this, but I was so relieved… Angela was really gone. She left as dramatically as she came, and moved out as swiftly as she moved in. Mercifully, the only word I have received since the move is a rambly voicemail with instructions on what to do with her mail and and a text message with her new phone number, which I immediately erased. When I say I want no contact with her, I mean it.

In other news, my new roommate moved in yesterday morning. She has not displayed any erratic behaviors. Let’s hope it stays that way.

Angela’s Moving On

This blog is going to be a two-parter, since if I write everything that happened in one blog it will be loooong.

It has been a while since I have blogged about Angela, has it? There really wasn’t much to say. Angela broke up with Angel, started dating a really nice truckeer named Eric, found a job with a company named ACS, and started school again. Between her work late afternoons and nights,class during the day, and occasionally going out with friends, she was never here.  And it was wonderful. Here and there she would do things like whine about the apartment and talk about moving to Colorado Springs to be near her daughter, then backpedal and consider maybe if she should go with Eric to North Carolina instead, but that was it.  It was quiet.

Quiet until two weeks ago.

One day Angela was on Facebook, when she received a request from an old friend. This friend, however, wasn’t just any old friend… it was an ex fiance, a man named Rick she’d been engaged to when she was 19.  After Angela hadn’t heard from him for a six month stretch, she left him, only he wasn’t aware of this tidbit. One day,Angela was in the hospital and Rick showed up to see her. By then, Angela (being the rebound queen that she is) was already with the man who would become her first husband. She soundly dumped Rick and didn’t hear from him until this month. Apparently, he has been searching for her for nine years.

My stomach tightened. Only drama could from a reunion like this. Well, at least in her case.

Over the next few days, Angela and Rick were always chatting, whether it be on MSN using a webcam or on the phone. It wasn’t long before Angela and Rick started using the “L” word, which I am pretty sure she throws around like a dish towel, when she said she loved both Angel AND Eric. I kept reminding Angela that she was still technically dating Eric, and she would just blow me off by saying that “Eric never calls me” (lie) and “it’s over between us, Rick and I are meant to be together.” Sure, don’t bother to break up with the nice guy, huh? Well, it didn’t take her long.

Up Next: Angela’s Moving Out

Crazy Neighbors

My neighbors are nuts.

I have several sets of neighbors, actually. I live in the front of a four-plex unit, so I have a neighbor directly next door to me, one directly behind me, and then one kitty corner to me in the back. Not to mention the other four plexes that round up my cul-de-sac, but the family I am talking about I live directly next to. This family I share a wall with, and I am subjected to their sounds and smells.

I have not been too keen on this particular set of neighbors for a while. They children will be screaming bloody murder at one another during ungodly hours. (Blood curdling cry at 6 am? Check! Hysterical screaming at midnight? Outside your bedroom window? From the six year old? Double check!) The scent of the food this family makes makes it seem as if someone died and lingers in our air longer than curry, driving us to always have a candle or air freshening wall-unit plugged in. It was these neighbors who brought over my morning visitor. If I had a hitlist, I think they would end up somewhere near the top.

So, now what crimes have committed lately? Well, I have two bigger stories but one will have to do for now. It will be enough to make you scratch your hed for the rest of the day.

I was walking home from work, and started up our sidewalk. Just a I was stepping from the street curb to the walkway, I spotted something glinting in the sunlight. There, at my feet, was a knife.

Yes, a knife. A shiny, metal, big kitchen knife great for cutting things and is typically a murder weapon in Mystery Novels type knife.

Unsure, of what to do, I almost left it there. Then I thought of my Crazy Neighbors kids. I think they have like four children (it’s hard to tell, what with all the people milling in and out of that place) so I came to two conclusions: one, the kids could get hurt if they were playing with it, and two… this was most likely their kitchen knife anyway. The children have left random items in odd places in our yard and they do it regularly. (Sometimes they leave this stuff on my front step right where we could trip on it, in the dark…)  Since it wasn’t bloody,it probably wasn’t a murder weapon. I gingerly picked up the knife and knocked on the door. After several knocks, their adorable little girl opened the door, I asked if her mother was home.

“No, ” was her reply.Then she started to reach for the knife in my hand. I quickly held it further away from her, and asked for a grown up. Right about then a car rolled up with a bunch of people in it, one of them being the little girl’s mother. The mother barely speaks English, so one of the fine gentleman in the car (I call them the Burmese Mafia) gave me a sinister look and asked what I was doing there. I explained to him  I found a random knife sitting on the freaking sidewalk and decided to give the knife to an adult so one of the children wouldn’t get hurt. One of the Mafia translated, and the mother nodded. “I’m sorry,” she said, in broken English, and reached out to take the knife. I unlocked my own apartment door, only to receive glares from the Mafia while doing so. Guess that no good deed goes unpunished, hm?

Later that evening, I told Angela about finding a random knife on the sidewalk. Nothing shocks me with these neighbors now, but dude, there was a knife on my sidewalk!

My story was old news to Angela. “Oh, I found it sitting out there before,” she said nonchalantly. “I just left it.”

I am still flabbergasted. Why would someone need a knife in that part of the yard? Did you feel the need to cut some lettuce on the sidewalk? Do some car repairs with a kitchen knife? Honestly, what was the point?

And really, should I be shocked anymore? I have lived here for over a year now. I have witnessed these children leave bikes outside to rust in the snow… Still…  no matter what my neighbors do, leaving a knife on the sidewalk will never be normal.

Vacation Blogging Interruption Brought To You By Angela

Upon arriving home from work yesterday afternoon, I found Angela on my Itteh Bitteh Lenovo (aka LENNY). Did she ask me if she could use it? (Oh come on now, you must know the answer to this question, right?) She glanced up, saw me, and hurried off it, apologizing profusely. “I needed to check my e-mail. I had 177 e-mails,” she explained.

I was perplexed. Why so many? Should I even ask? Probably not. But curiousity killed the blonde, so I did.

“Oh, it was reponses from guys on Plenty Of Fish (a dating website, FYI) she responded airily. “I needed to respond to some. Not many of them were cute.”

I should have stopped, but I can’t seem to. Talking to this woman is like watching a trainwreck. You know you should look away, but you can’t. So down the track our conversation went. “Why do you need Plenty of Fish when you and Angel are back together?”

“Oh, he needs his space,” Angela replied. I can’t help but wonder… why does a guy who sees his girlfriend once every two weeks need more space? Wow…

Eventually, Angela’s verbal diarrhea lapsed into work. She told me her new job had a call center in Colorado Springs, and she might try to transfer there in six months, if she is eligble. This would only be two hours from her daughter. Angela said she misses her daughter and wants to be closer. That’s all well and good, but didn’t she just say two months ago that she can barely handle her? A child is not a toy you can toss aside when you get bored. Angela has even already told her daughter she might try to move to Colorado. Way to get you daughter’s hopes up and crush them when you don’t follow through.

Angela also discussed starting technical school again in September. A few days ago, she was considering re-taking driving school then. For a thirty six year old woman, she can’t seem to find a direction or make up her mind. If she moves to Colorado, I will celebrate because I will be rid of her, but she never sticks to a plan or really makes up her mind. She is an unstable person, blown about with every wind.

It makes me thankful that I havr the Solid Rock to stabilize me. Cause really, were it not for Christ, I probably wouldn’t be much different. I am prone to being fickle, impatient, emotional, and impulsive. Christ not only provided my salvation, but my foundation and stability. When life around me is unpredictable, God is unchanging.

In the end, annoyance should instead provoke me to prayer. Please pray for Angela too.

A Re-teaming

Last night was my first night to really relax in almost a week and a half. Knowing that I only had two days (now less!) before I headed home to Iowa, I decided to watch Ferris Bueller’s Day Off so I could swiftly reship it on Netflix. Smack dab in the middle of one of the best scenes (the parade) Angela started blabbing about the new job she started yesterday. When she didn’t quit talking, I gave up and paused the movie. Once her work-related explanation was complete, she held out her hand toward me.

“Slap my hand,” she commanded.

I stared at her warily. “What did you do?” I asked, unable to disguise the maternal-like scolding inflections in my voice.

“Angel and I got back together,” she winced.

“WHAT?” I screeched. “ARE YOU CRAZY?” So much for taking a cool, calm, and disconnected approach with this person, huh?

So what happened? Here’s the story, at least, as best as I understood it. Friday night, her trucking trainer and Angel’s trainer were back in town so she went to visit them. She kept ignoring Angel and he kept staring at her. She gave me some more details about staring and Angel and some other guy, blah blah, but she was in this other guy’s rig and on some country station “their song” (The A-Team Song) was playing. She got choked up, and I think she went to some other truck and ended up hearing the same song on another country station right after it. (If It’s Bless the Broke Road I WILL poke my ears out)

Well, Angela looked up, bawling, and saw Angel staring at him. She flew out of the rig she was in, ran to his and into his arms. It was trucker movie-dramatic! (And nearly induced my gag reflex!) Evidently the two talked and the story is this: Angel is not in an open marriage but he is estranged from his wife. He cannot afford to get a divorce yet. The person he was talking to was ex, apparently trying to convince her to file. However, Angel’s aspirations to move to SLC are naught, cause apparently he wants to stay in Seattle. Angela told me they weren’t likely to stay together, but remain friends. My question was this, then… why are they even back together if they are so sure they are doomed for failure?

“We love each other,” was Angela’s reply. “I mean, we were only broken up for a week…” Angel is gone now, and won’t be back until next weekend. She wants to bring that hairy beast back into my home. At least she didn’t bring him back Friday night. Angela had enough consideration to keep him away from my apartment when Kristin was here. Still, I DO NOT WANT THIS MAN IN THE SAME ZIPCODE AS ME. Emily Ann is in Cali right now, so when she is home I may pow-wow with her and put our feet down: NO ANGEL. I also have the option of staying at Brockas that weekend. I will already be house-sitting there and I could just stay the night.

A-Team Finale

Well, Angel definately won’t be a problem anymore… Angela broke up with him.

So what happened to this promising couple’s blossoming new love?

I remember Angel asking Angela before he left if she wanted an “open relationship.” For those of you unfamiliar with that term… its ok to cheat. Angela declined, knowing she was too jealous not too seek complete fidelity. I this case I must admit: Angela,wise choice.

But what was the problem?

Angel evidently didn’t tell Angela the entire truth. He told her he was single, and just out of a divorce. He told her he wanted to move to Salt Lake City, and be with her.

The truth: Angel is bound to Seattle. He won’t move here. Angel is a happily married man in an open marriage. Not only that, Angela’s trucking friends knew and did not tell her the truth but were waiting for Angel to tell her instead.  My thoughts: why be married if you can go out and do whatever you want? And why would you let a man lie to a friend like that?

So now we’re back to square one: Angela has no job, no friends, and no life. She is here all the time, and now she is depressed about two men. I am preparing myself for more manic behavior. Also, Emily and I started looking at other apartments last night. We are both tired of the horrible shape our current place is in, as well as her.

Maybe its time to move again… though I would love to not have to sign another lease.

Maranatha’s youth group is out here and they have a blast. I hope to be posting some of those stories soon.

Take Responsibility

I came home last night from a lovely early dinner with Irene (our typical practice: she picks me up from work, e eat around 4, then she can be home to fix dinner for Chuck)  to find Angela not on my red couch, but on my red computer. I set up an account for her so she can’t acess the rest of my computer (buhaha) but later in the evening she jumped on my computer again without asking.  When did use of my itteh bitteh Lenovo go from “special and rare permissable use” to “any time her little heart so desires”?

Whatever. I was able to watch my DVD for Mama Mia, finally, and at least she didn’t open that. She told me she was going to “wait for me’ to watch it. Oh how nice of you!

While in the middle of Mama Mia, Angela informed me that the woman who was supposed to be her driving inspector told me Angel was up until 3 am texting someone else. Angela had not spoken with the male member of the A-Team yet, but she was speculating over which woman it was who he was talking to. Was it his ex-wife? The womn from Provo who has tried to bag him for years? Or was it some other new tart she was unaware of? (My thoughts ibn all of this: WHO IN THE WORLD WANTS TO BE WITH THIS TRAUMATIZINGLY HAIRLY SPECIMEN OF THE MALE GENDER ANYWAY? AND THERE ARE MULTIPLE WOMEN WHO DO? WHY??? ) I considered telling Angela to wait to talk to Angel and get the whole story before she gets upset, but why bother? That would be too reasonable.

Eventually, Angela’s anti-Angel language followed her on the phone call with another acquaintance from trucking school. She moaned and groaned that she should never have sent the text to him that brought him into our home, and should have left him at the terminal (something we agree on, finally!) and oh, how she was hurting, she can’t trust men…. then she said he should call more often and kept babbling how Angel was asking for advice on how to “take it to the next level” and she thought he should “JUST DO IT” and it would include him calling her more and not texting other woman until 3 am and…

You get the idea.

Finally, she gets to another topic of conversation with whomever she is speaking with on the phone. She decided that the training class after hers had troubles with double clutching (which is what caused her to fail driving school) and since CR England (the trucking company) decided not to make her pay back her loan, that they are somehow responsible for her failing driving school. She decided they are somehow mistraining their drivers and are setting them up to fail, probably so they can collect a fast $3k from a bunch of people. They let a few pass to cover their scheme. She theorizes when she talked to the instructor on how many people had problems with double-clutching, that the instructor zeroed ut her driving school loan balance to appease her, thereby covering their tracks. When she discussed other employment opportunites at England, they told her she was not qualified. She asked about driving school again in September, and they told her it would depend on how full their class was. She feels as if England is trying to push her out and its all their fault she failed driving school.

Soon she began to discuss other employment opportunities. She applied for a security position and flipped when they offered her $8.00/hr and she made $15.00/hr working in San Diego. I told her $8.00-ish is standard for security around here and she snapped that she has way more experience than that and should be making $15.00 I wanted to shoot back and remind her we are in Utah not California where $15/hr is barely a liveable wage but I shut my mouth. She was making little over 8/hr with her old job at Qwest. With out economy, she should be happy to get something else. My best friend Jenni just took a job at a gas station ot support her girls when she is a qualified bookkeeper. Angela has almost always worked in call centers or in secuirty jobs. She should be willing to accept any income she can come by until she can obtain her CDL. Would you want your grandma or mother to keep handing you checks just to pay your rent? I certainly wouldn’t.

I try to hide from her, btu she keeps finding me. I try to refrain from giving her advice, because I know it does not good. I could try to hold her accountable, but I know she will keep passing the responsibility to someone else. I try to avoid her, but she keeps texting me, will follow me into my bedroom when the door is shut and invite herself to sit on my bed and spew. I can’t get away. I’m stuck.

So lets have a look: It’s someone else’s fault she failed driving school. It’s someone else’s fault that her relationship isn’t working. It’s someone else’s fault she isn’t making the money she wants. But let’s look again: She quit her stable job at Qwest. She isn’t attempting to go to another trucking company and taking their school because Angel keeps convincing her not to. And then she went to bed with Angel and started dating him the day they met, and less than two months after a broken engagement. What is the common factor in all of this? Her ability to make decisions. Angela, take responsibility for yourself. You are a trainwreck on a collision course. You have no one to blame but yourself. And I won’t be there at the end of the track to help clean up after the wreck.

Trucking School Drop-Out

How does one manage to flunk of trucking school?

If you need an idea, ask my roommate, Angela. She managed to.  Evidently during her driving test, she couldn’t remember how to down-shift when she is going down a mountain. She has explained this process to me multiple times, but I have no understanding of trucking jargon, so she may as well have been speaking Sango.

What does this mean? Angela is not going on the road anytime soon and she is once again unemployed. She tried for a dispatching position for the trucking firm she was hired on with to no avail. She is going to apply for jobs today and I hope she finds something soon. I am at work all day but having her home 24/7 is slowly beginning to drive me batty. On top of this, she is wants to borrow my itteh, bitteh Lenovo all the time. Oy.

At least right now Angel is in Massachuttess, and she said it might even be another week before he is back. He will only have one or two days between any loads he is hauling, so Angel is gone for awhile. I have also verified he will not be staying here for two weeks like he did last time. Sadly, because Angela failed driving school, it is far from the last time we have heard from the A-Team.

Oy.