So things turned around 180 degrees shortly after my last entry. Part of the reason was that the other house mate, Carla, had arrived. She's a short lively Brazilian woman who is a grad student in the Portuguese department. Her girlfriend Sharon helped her move in and her addition immediately made me feel much more in control of things. This was for two reasons: first, I was no longer the new guy, and second, I took her to be an ally against the awkwardness of being in a new place.
Carla brought in loads of things she had bought at Target and Walmart (what would beth say!?) including lunch meat. Ham. I was so happy to see packaged sliced ham in the fridge. She also had lots of frozen dinners--this meant I would not be the one with the worst eating habits. Also, she looked around the kitchen for a microwave and after finding none, asked "Does Beth not have a microwave?"
I told her no, and Sharon said "They were on sale at Walmart."
Carla thought she'd better ask Beth before getting a microwave.
Then we had our first house meeting. Beth was leaving again the next day for a two week long trip (remember, I still did not know where I would be living when I found this out) so she wanted to tell us about stuff like watering plants and trash. In the meeting I discovered that things in the house were not ordinarily so messy. Beth had been reorganizing the shelves and thats why there were piles on the floor all over. She had not been able to do anything about them because of her bike accident. I also learned that there are plans to get a washer and dryer. You can't poke holes in these walls, so she is trying to get a special type of dryer donated. If she can't get it donated, she will buy it by the end of September. Also, she is not against having a microwave, she just never uses them.
The other thing I got out of the meeting was that Beth is actually pretty normal and down to earth. She teaches mediation skills to middle schoolers, and therefore she has pretty great mediation skills herself. I think with the addition of Carla as a balancing force, this will be an awesome house.
After the meeting, Beth talked to me one on one and asked how I was feeling about the house. I was completely honest and told her that until the meeting, I thought she was kindof crazy, messy, and intimidating. I also told her that my attitude about living in the house had changed significantly. She told me that she has still not talked to her friend, Sailor, but that Sailor probably wouldn't end up coming till January so I could definitely sign a lease until December if I wanted. I told her I would think about it and make my decision on Friday.
Today is Friday and I've decided I'll live there. I took a wire shoe that I made in an art class and proclaimed to Carla and the house "I am putting some of my clutter in this house's clutter! Here I go!" and I found a place for it. "I live here now!"
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