xxmadsenxx

This is going to be really boring.

12. Describe a typical day in your current life.
I was going to make some type of crack about it being my “current” life as opposed to a past life, but I decided I’ll skip that and just stick to the point. Otherwise I’ll just go on one of my long rambles. This one would be some smart ass one about hypothetical bullshit. So here’s a typical day in my real life. I’ll go with a typical weekday.

6:30: Alarm goes off.

6:50ish: I actually get out of bed after hitting “snooze” a couple times. Then I immediately go have a cup of coffee.

6:55ish or so: Go shower and get ready and all that crap.

7:30: Wake Evan up for school. I also make sure B is up for school, but he usually is.

7:45: Eat cereal and have more coffee. Get Evan breakfast and help him get ready for school. Or feed Ella. Jenny and I switch off with those two things.

8:15: Take Evan to school. Jenny takes him sometimes, like when I’m running late, but I usually take him on my way to work. It’s easier that way. Then she doesn’t have to strap Ella in and all of that, and Evan’s school is like five minutes from our house, so it just makes sense for me to take him on my way to work.

8:30-8:40: Get to work. I won’t write out the details of my work day, because that’s just fucking boring.

12:00ish: Lunch

1:00ish: Go back to work. Sometimes I take a short lunch and go back a lot earlier than that, because then I can leave earlier.

4:30ish, give or take a little: Go home. If I'm working at the youth center that day, I leave work around 3:00 or so and get home around 6:00.

Right after work: Play with Evan, help out with Ella, help Evan with his homework if he needs it, although he hasn’t had much of that since school just started. Jenny helps him with his homework a lot of the time before I get home from work. But if he hasn’t done it before I get home I’ll help him with it. A lot of the time I just come here or waste time in some other way. If I didn’t get much sleep the night before, which is a common thing for me, I’ll sometimes take a short nap after work.

6:00: Dinner with the family

After dinner: It depends. I’ll hang out with Jenny, Evan, and B, and help take care of Ella (feeding, diapers, playing with her, etc.).

7:45ish: Jenny or I will read with Evan. Meaning he reads. Sometimes it will still be story time where I’ll read to him, but he usually reads to us because he’s supposed to practice reading. We did that even when he wasn’t in school though. He’s a really good reader and ahead of the majority of kids his age, and we want to keep it that way.

8:15ish: Make sure Evan gets a bath. Ella usually gets hers during the day while I’m at work. He likes the nights we let him skip that haha. But most nights he takes one. He never gets to go longer than every other day, although he'd love that.

8:45: Put Evan to bed

Rest of the night: Hang out with Jenny and/or B, and spend a lot of time on the computer. Especially once everyone else is asleep, so from about 11:30 on.

Anywhere from 2:00 to 4:00 (and sometimes even later, but rarely earlier): Go to sleep.

( Meme )

7. What is your dream job, and why?

Honestly, my dream job would be doing absolutely nothing and getting paid for it haha. But I guess that’s not really a job, so that doesn’t count.

For most of my life I would have said my dream job was to be a rock star. For sure. I have kind of grown out of that though. Now my dream job would be to own my own rehab center. I’d want a state of the art facility that incorporated all different types of treatment. I’d make sure treatment was tailored to the individual, because I don’t think a cookie cutter approach is the right way to do it. I do believe there are certain things every addict would benefit from…namely therapy. I think support groups are really important too, especially in the earlier stages of recovery. But I wouldn’t focus solely on the 12 step system, although I'd have that option readily available for people. AA/NA/12-step systems in general are really helpful for a lot of people, but they’re not for everyone. I personally don’t follow a 12-step program. That was just never my thing. That’s another entry entirely though. But yeah…I’d have all types of treatment available, and it would be tailored to the individual. My treatment center would include physical/biological and psychological/emotional help first and foremost. But I’d also have various types of support groups; holistic approaches, because I know a lot of people are into that type of stuff; educational classes that aren’t just lectures; activities and workshops to help people channel their energy to more positive things…all kinds of things. I could and probably should be more specific and write more about this, but I’m tired and lazy. I'll do it some other day.

8. What are 5 passions you have?

1. Jenny. I have never been more passionate about anyone in my entire life. The level of passion we have in our relationship can be both really good and really bad, but I love that we have the passionate relationship that we do.

2. My family. Does that count as a passion? It sounds kinda weird to say I’m passionate about my family, but whatever. I am. I'm passionate about making them happy and giving them the best life I possibly can.

3. Sobriety. I am extremely passionate about that. I’m obviously passionate about my own sobriety, but I’m also passionate about helping others get and stay sober. I love helping kids at the youth center, and I’m excited about making it a career eventually. But living sober every day, no matter how hard it gets, is the most important thing in my life next to my family, and I would most definitely consider it a passion.

4. Music. Specifically playing the guitar. I’ve been playing for a little over 20 years, so it’s a big part of my life. Years ago I specifically would have said punk rock was my passion, because it was. That was when I was living the lifestyle though. Yes, it’s a type of music, but there’s also a punk rock lifestyle, for sure. That’s still my favorite music genre, so I’d say I’m passionate about it in the musical sense, but only in that sense. So I’ll just go with music in general. But specifically playing the guitar.

5. Vegetarianism. I’m passionate about a number of political issues, (social ones), but there are way too many of them to go into detail about…there’d be way more than five, because it wouldn’t make sense to lump them all together, and this would be a huge rant of an entry. So I’ll go with vegetarianism instead. I’m not the militant type. Not at all. I never push it on other people. Honestly, I couldn’t care less if other people eat meat. I don’t care if they eat it. I don’t care if they eat it around me. I seriously don’t give a shit. It’s a personal choice. That being said, it’s a personal choice I’m passionate about. I’ve been a vegetarian for 11 years, and I never plan on going back. I was thrilled to find out Jenny was also a vegetarian when I met her. I wouldn’t care if she ate meat, but I love that she doesn’t. I’m a vegetarian for animal rights reasons. Obviously not for health reasons, because I eat like shit lol. That’s why it’s a passion of mine. I won’t push it on other people, but I’ll gladly talk to them about it if they want to know, or if they’re considering becoming a vegetarian. I could never be vegan though. I like my ice cream and pizza too much.

( Meme )

So...a while ago I tried doing one of those 30 Day meme things as a boredom cure and time killer, and only made it through day four or five...and that was over the course of about ten days lol. But I decided I didn't like that one. It was lame. This one will probably hold my attention better and give me something to do when I'm up really late. I doubt I'll do it every day for 30 days. More like I'll do a couple at a time sometimes (if they're short ones) and skip days and stuff like that. But yeah, the old one sucked. This one is better.

The first day is one of those things pretty much everyone on LJ, ever, has done before. I should just copy and paste an old "20 things about me" post, because I know I've done a couple of them in the last few years...one this year, but those were supposed to be unique things. I've added a few people in the last little while, so for introductory-ish purposes I'll post a few things most of you already know. And some will probably be repeats from another one, I'm sure. But whatever...I'm bored.

1. List 20 random facts about yourself.

1. I've been a vegetarian for about 11 years. Something like that.
2. I'm engaged to my ex-wife. There's an incredibly shortened, simplified explanation of our relationship history for the couple newer people haha. Strange, I know.
3. My main job is a pretty uninteresting office job, but I also work a few hours a week at a substance abuse treatment center for kids. I just refer to it as the youth center. We have a residential facility too, but it's separate from the one I work at. Same organization, but separated. So I work in a place that does out-patient treatment, group therapy, meetings, classes, stuff like that.
4. I'm an identical twin, but my twin brother Jeremy died six days before our 20th birthday.
5. I've been playing the guitar for 20ish years, and I love it. I can also play bass, drums, and a little piano, but I mostly stick with guitar.
6. I've been in a shitload of bands. Some lasted for a while, some barely lasted at all. I haven't been in one for years though. Maybe 5 years? Sometimes I kinda miss it.
7. I hate regular cigarettes. They have to be menthol.
8. I'm a pool shark. Close to it, anyway. Maybe not a great white, but at least a hammerhead or something. I wouldn't be able to beat a pro, but I'll play any "regular" player under the table. Clearly I'm very humble haha. I used to like hustling people that way lol. It was pretty fun. Now my conscience kind of gets the best of me though.
9. I can't bowl for shit.
10. I'm like a pregnant woman when it comes to chocolate and ice cream. Meaning I crave those things and eat them constantly.
11. I really want to see a tornado one day. Videos just aren't good enough.
12. I'm fascinated by serial killers. I'm starting to think my neighbor might be one. Not really. But the fact that he has an insanely huge shed and uses a chainsaw for who knows what is a little creepy.
13. I'm not a fan of condiments, as a rule. I like BBQ sauce, and I like ketchup with fries, but that's it. I would never put it on anything else. But all other condiments? Hell no. I don't know if salad dressing counts as a condiment, but none of that either. I've mentioned that before. Salad sucks anyway. Except croutons. I love croutons. Now I want some. Just croutons, no salad.
14. I'm pretty much always drinking Diet Coke. Coffee in the morning, Diet Coke the rest of the day. Really, I almost always have one. I have one sitting next to me right now. In the morning I drink a bunch of coffee, but by 10:30 or 11:00 I always have one on my desk at work. Always. It's rare that I don't have a Diet Coke on my desk. The few times I have been Diet Cokeless at work, I had people comment on it lol. So everyone knows about my Diet Coke habit. Better than the other type of coke habit I had, for sure haha.
15. I talk a lot. I can also be really withdrawn, but overall I talk a lot. I bet you could never tell by how much I ramble on here haha. Never. I blame ADHD. And yes, I really have it! I'm not just one of those people who says "I'm so ADD" without actually having it.
16. Everyone knows I'm obsessed with Friends, but I also really like South Park, Family Guy, House, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, among others. But those are my favorites. Not like I watch a lot of TV or anything...hahaha. Oh, and I'm including this here because it's relevant but not a fact. And like I said, I talk a lot, which translates to typing a lot. Speaking of Friends, Jenny claims the reason I love Chandler so much is because I'm in love with myself (I've been told by multiple people that I remind them of Chandler for quite a few reasons, for those people who haven't heard--well, read--about that). I will neither confirm or deny what Jenny said.
17. I was raised Catholic, but I quit going when I was 13. I think 13, anyway. 13 or 14. Now I'm agnostic. I'm not a big fan of the Catholic church. Actually, I'm not a big fan of organized religion in general.
18. I'm very, very liberal.
19. I like big butts and I cannot lie.
20. I have a deep, burning hatred for Elmo.

( The list of questions/topics )