Home Sweet Home...just somewhere else

So I was on the phone with my mother 2 weeks ago and we were discussing plans for my Thanksgiving break (which, might I add, I've been looking forward to for quite some time). After a few minutes of chatting and catching up she drops the bombshell...

"Oh, by the way...we're moving."

"Oh? When?"

"Saturday"

I was a little shocked. We've never owned a house and I've moved several times in my life due to rent going up or not getting along with neighbors. We've always lived in the same city and our moves never effected what school I attended so it never bothered me. A change of scenery if you will. This move would not have been that big of a deal either except for the fact that I usually know about it more than two days ahead of time. Whatever...water under the bridge, right?

After my five hour drive home of the winter wonderland State College, PA has become this week I arrived in my hometown. I quickly realized that I did not know where I lived since my mother had forgotten to give me my new address. When I pull up, she's waiting outside with our dog. The Kringle is a half black lab half border collie and has long black fur (almost like that of a golden retriever). This dog was not my dog. This dog was shaved. You have to believe me when I tell you that when The Kringle looked at me I saw the embarrassment in his eyes. Who shaves their dog in November? Cruel people do.

Once I get over the fact that I have a new dog, I get my laundry out of the back seat. My mother stares at me blankly...she forgot to tell me that we don't have a washer anymore. I have to bring my laundry to a laundromat. Now I'm getting upset because that was wasted space in my backseat. I can go to a laundromat at school. It took me twenty minutes to fit the laundry and my rabbit's cage in my backseat.

I take my stuff upstairs to our new apartment and the place is pretty nice. I ask my mom where I should put my stuff. She stares at me blankly again (which is really starting to make me nervous). "Well, your sister got home before you...", which translates to, "she got here first and therefore has claimed the only room that is available".

At this point, I'm beginning to think that my mother may have become a frenemy

I take my things into the living room with my new, shaved dog close behind.

"Mom, where's the couch."
"Oh, it didn't fit up the stairs so we had to get rid of it."

So now I have a new, shaved dog, no washer, no room, no couch, and my only options are to sleep with my mom in her bed or on the floor. I can't sleep on the floor because I have a bad back. I wouldn't mind sleeping with my mom but she's a kicker and the new, shaved dog will probably be joining us.

The moral of the story? When your children go off to college and you start making new arrangements, you might want to let them know about them before they come back home for Thanksgiving.

Choose Your Battles

I've had many roommates over the past three years (and many issues with each of them). If there's one thing I've learned from these experiences it's the fact that I need to choose my battles.

Take my most recent issue for example. I have a roommate who shares the same major. We have the same classes, same homework, same books, same EVERYTHING!!! This said roommate of mine decided that he wasn't going to buy any books this semester. Instead, he decided that he would wait until I'm not home (or sleeping) and come into my room and help himself to my books. Books that I paid several hundred dollars for!!

So...I have decided to put together a list of things to look out for when choosing a roommate. Pay attention!! This information may one day save your sanity!!

1. When your roommate doesn't clean the bathroom, DO NOT assume that if you let it go he will realize that it needs to be done. The average male roommate will allow the filth to pile up until his mother comes to visit.

2. When a roommate is not home, DO NOT leave a light on for them. Chances are that your roommate will not come home and even if he does he won't turn that light off. You need to accept the fact that you are the only one who cares about the electric bill.

3. When you need to set up cable/internet/electric DO NOT believe your roommate when he tells you that he will take care of it. He won't.

4. When your roommate makes dinner you need to realize that this is the time to make a decision. Would you rather clean up after him or wait for the bugs to do it?

5. DO NOT choose a roommate who chews. You will be forever surrounded by Gatorade bottles that have been turned into spitting receptacles. And guess what...he won't throw those out either.

6. Always make sure the toilet seat is down.

7. DO NOT LIVE WITH BOYS

I'm a real girl...almost

I've found myself looking back over the past four years recently...all the way back to my first senior year. I remember that it absolutely flew by and most of it is a blur now. Recently I've had those rare moments of that in between feeling. I've often said to my friends that I can't wait to graduate and be a real person again since everyone knows that college kids aren't real people. After all, who goes to class, comes home to nap, eats noodles, and drinks until all hours of the night? Not real people!

So I'm just now beginning to realize that the so-called "real world" really is around the corner and to be completely honest I'm not ready. Surprise! The last time I was a senior my life was perfect. I was finally leaving Bayonne, a place that I now realize I have both grown to love and hate all at the same time. It was a chance to start over again and no one would know the difference. It was exciting. It was a new sense of freedom that I had never quite experienced before. I had convinced myself that the good times would never change and the bad would be no more (I was quite a naïve 17 year old to say the least).

This time is different. The past few month of my life have been an absolute whirlwind that I’m still not sure if I was ready for. I’ve drifted away from a lot of people who I was convinced would be in my life forever (or at least invited to my parties). Don’t get me wrong…I have so many good friends that I’m sure a lot of people would die for but it’s funny how things work out. It made me realize how much your friends can shape your life. If I sat down to make a list of all the friends I’ve ever had in my life and then thought about how different my life could have been if I had stayed in touch with more or never got close with others I would be thinking for days and who has time for that?

It’s funny how the words “friends” and “family” are always thrown together. If you have real friends (the kind you can laugh, cry, and bitch to SOBER) then they become your family. That’s what you need when, after living with your parents and siblings for the first 18 years of life, you’re thrown into a dorm room 250 miles away from anyone who even knows your last name. This is probably the greatest lesson I am taking with me from college. You learn who to hang on to and who isn’t worth the fight.