Ladies and gentlemen, Jim Carmichael has left the building.
The entire time he was here was insane; I barely had a moment to myself or to relax--I worked every day I wasn't in school, and when I was at the house it was go, go, go. We never had a moment to just sit here and do nothing. He left this afternoon. He came up to work to say bye to me.
While part of me is relieved to have my apartment back to normal and (a little) less cluttered (there's still some furniture from Texas stacked about the place), part of me is really sad. I get along with my dad when he's not being an asshole, and he was pretty nice the whole time he was here. He has a tendency to run a person ragged with his ability to change his mind at the drop of a hat and his never-ending list of things to do, but it was kind of nice to have him here.
Although, I think I gained 10 pounds while he was here. Dad eats a lot and expects you to, too. Here was a typical day of eating for Jim about...uh, two days ago, I think:
Breakfast:
Two bananas
Bowl of cereal
Package of pop tarts
Lunch:
Chips
Banana
Denny's Lumberjack slam
Dinner:
Two chicken enchiladas at Aunt Debbie and Uncle Dana's
chips
After-dinner meal:
One Filet-o-Fish
Two Big & Tastys
Two ice cream sandwiches
Famous Amos cookies
Beverages (throughout day)
about 15 cans of Coca-Cola; O'Douls (or however you spell the non-alcoholic beer)
YEAH. Somehow the man is still as thin as a rail. I guess that's where I get it from.
Dad and John bonded really well. Dad wanted to hang out with John like EVERY DAY, and we all sat around and bullshitted and went and played pool a lot. We watched a lot of UFC with Colin and other people (John too) at Colin's house, and Dad and I did a lot of aimless driving around. We sold random things (guns, jewelery, etc.) while he was here to make him some money, and we watched Planet Earth series and MST3K. We talked a lot. We moved a lot of furniture and gave a lot away. Dad and Amon, surprisingly, bonded like crazy. I think Amon's really depressed right now that Dad's gone. Dad had been taking him on insanely long walks every day, no matter what the weather was like.
So...yeah. That's where I've been. Dad being here kind of hijacked my life. For the first three or four days it was really hectic and stressful and I wanted to run away screaming and crying, but after that it calmed down (as calm as things around my dad ever get) and we were able to just kind of hang out. He didn't even scream or holler at me once.
So, I've got kind of mixed feelings about him leaving. I don't think he wanted to go. I think he wished I had a two-bedroom place, or that John and I lived in a house. I really do think he wanted to stay--he kind of said so himself. He really isn't excited to get back to Arizona, because my mother and the shambles of his life are there. He's excited to see my sister and Colonel (the macaw). That's it.
Yeah.