Roommates: Love'm or Hate'm

My living situation has vastly improved since the days of the Crazies. It feels like a million years ago that I was living in an apartment with a “family friend” from Austin. A past life ago that I had to vacate my bedroom every time my roommate (referred to sporadically in this blog as the Daughter) announced that her parents (the Mister and Missus) were coming for a visit.

I’d forgotten how unbearable things had become. I used to stand outside the door to our apartment, holding my breath, listening for telltale sounds of life within, one hand frozen just above the lock, clutching my key, hoping I wouldn’t hear anything.

But of course, the Daughter was always there. She really had nowhere else to go. In retrospect, I find this sad. At the time, I just found it annoying.

You know in Pirates of the Caribbean, how Bootstrap Bill decomposes into the side of the ship and becomes a part of the wall?

I used to tell people that it wouldn’t surprise me if the same thing happened to the Daughter. I could just picture her fused with the cushions, an extension of our couch.

She went through a phase after she lost her job where she lived permanently on the couch in the dark, watching CSI. Of course, all of my friends knew about this habit of hers because I complained about it incessantly (sorry, y’all …) Anyway, I got to wondering once…

ME: I got home yesterday evening and guess what the Daughter was doing... What's that? Did you say, "watching CSI?" How did you know?? She stayed home all day yesterday because she's "sick." When I went to bed - she was watching CSI. When I woke up this morning to get ready for work - she was watching CSI. SERIOUSLY!!! Do you think it's humanly possible to watch every CSI episode ever made? I mean, there has to be an end at some point, right??

LB: Common misconception. There is actually a never-ending supply of CSI thanks to a spin-off for every major metropolitan area, every type of crime, victim, ethnicity, weather-condition, time period, weapon- the list goes on. I would think that much CSI would really start messing with your head. She is probably going to start getting really paranoid and weird- oh wait.

Clearly my friends loved the Daughter as much as I did. But – back to the point – I am proud to say (without sarcasm this time) that my friends actually DO love my post-Daughter era roommates (affectionately referred to as “the rooms”).

And, of course, so do I.

We actually enjoy hanging out with each other. I pause outside the front door and hope for an apartment full of people instead of an empty one.

This morning, one of the rooms and I ran into each other while getting ready for work. We’re all on pretty different schedules, so this rarely happens. And as she walked out the door, after we exchanged “have a good day!,” I remembered how I used to hide in my room while getting ready for work, emerging only after the Daughter had left for the day.

My one year anniversary with the rooms is coming up in March – obviously, we’re planning a date. And looking forward to another year of awesome.

So in closing, I'd just like to say:    Love you girls!