Hoping for Internet

It’s been one week that I’ve been living with my new roommate JC, my friend and boss! And, every day, I am cracking up with laughter at the hilarity of our friendship and the mountain, farmland environment we are living in. I know more about the livestock I’m living near than my human neighbors.

“Two months ago, living together with just a two text thought,” JC said. “Now it’s for realsy.”

…Yes, he actually said “realsy.” 

A neighbor. I call him Bruce

Tonight is just another night of me reclining in my bed and JC sitting on the cat hair-covered ottoman at the foot of my bed because my room next to the window is the only way to get Internet around here! Well, make that Justin just fell off the cat hair-covered ottoman! He has a habit of leaning back in his seat, which is quite impossible in the overstuffed handcrafted birthday gift from my grandmother.

Tonight, I decided to satisfy my sweet tooth and brought out a large bag of Jelly Belly beans that I bought at UNCG when I was trying to spend my declining balance points. Unfortunately, this bag isn’t an actual Jelly Belly bag; it’s a plastic bag that I shoveled unidentified and unlabeled beans into with a large metal scoop. There’s no flavor key to look at. We’re looking at the colors and hoping for the best! It’s not going very well…

Twice, JC has run out of the room to splash chocolate milk down his throat after eating a bean that he described as having “a kick to it.” I’ve spit out quite a few. Don’t trust the orange!!! It lies every time!! The flavors aren’t even starting to make sense anymore.

I handed JC a red bean with white dots. Watching him chew with a disgusted face, I asked him what it tasted like.

“Dirt!” he promptly answered. “I’m going to add banana!” Then, he popped in a yellow dotted bean into his mouth.

Like I said, it’s just another night gathered around the window hoping for Internet…! So much for “quiet hours” after 11.

Finding a Winner

In preparation for my transferring back to Western, I traveled to Cullowhee last weekend to look at houses, apartments, and mobile homes for my new residence. It was stressful and frustrating: I had one weekend to do it in! This time, my criteria for housing was very different than my Greensboro home.

1. I was looking for one-bedroom and two-bedroom homes. Yes, I said two-bedrooms. And, not because Stuart has suddenly had a major change of heart and wants to come back to Cullowhee with me. Nope, I have a new roommate!! I know what you're thinking... "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?" I've been burned by roommates since I first attended college. My freshman dorm experience wasn't superb, probably because neither my roommate nor I had ever shared a room before, certainly not a room that small. Then, there was my Cullowhee apartment, which was strange but stressful many times. Then, there's my current home with a peeing cat and other issues.
Honestly when I first looked for places to live in Cullowhee again, I was strictly looking at studio layouts and one-bedroom apartments only. Then, something changed. My boss at The Western Carolinian newspaper, JC, decided that his one-hour commute to campus cost too much, and it was time for a change. Jokingly, I told him he should move in with me! He actually agreed, and the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. Let's be honest... I'm not in the best health to live by myself! In fact, it'd be quite dangerous for me to live alone and off campus. Who would spoon feed me peanut butter if my blood sugar dropped? Who would be able to get me off the ground and into the house when my energy was zapped? I'm sure JC hasn't thought about these implications and may he never have to deal with them, but they are consequences of my life, consequences that I have to think about and put first whether I want to live with someone or not. I am excited to live with JC though. He and I have had two years of working experience together, and if you can't work together, you probably shouldn't live together. I have never had but minor issues with JC, and I've always been proud to be his employee and admired his work ethic. This weekend, we even had a trial roommate scenario as we shared a room on campus to sleep. His personality is relaxed where mine is high strung. He worries easily about the types of things that I typically sit back and relax about. I'm learning to see him not just as a boss but as a loyal friend. And best of all is that even though he's a guy, he has been Stuart-approved to live with!!

2. Everywhere we looked, the places were high up on a hill, slope, or the side of a mountain. That's what you get when you live in the mountains!! However, it was crucial that JC and I find somewhere close enough to campus, but also that wasn't so far up a mountain or ridiculous terrain that we couldn't get out for food or classes when it snowed a few inches! That's a major thing I never had to think about when looking for places in Greensboro. SNOW and ICE!! It's become a major concern, especially after the horrible winter in 2010-2011. I had to reschedule one of my exams, and the first week of classes for the spring 2011 semester were cancelled due to snow and that students couldn't get back from their homes because Balsalm Gap was closed. There were quite a few places we looked at that it just wouldn't have worked. The slightest possibility of ice, and our cars would have not only spun out but we would have pitched over the side of the mountain and crashed landed at the bottom after hitting every tree, rock, and shrub on the way down!!

January 2011, Cullowhee

3. As always, Sparta is an issue, but this time there's Nutmeg, too. Any place that would take too much money to heat - even if we didn't heat the place as well as we could to cut down costs - would have been too cold for the fragile body of a small hamster. Over the summer, she nearly died from hammie heatstroke when Stuart's air conditioner was broken. For me to pop open the cage lid and find a frozen Nutmeg inside would leave me scarred for life!! Many places in Cullowhee don't allow pets under any circumstances. JC and I passed up a lot of great places just because of Sparta. I don't believe Nutmeg would have been an issue since she's in a cage, but people are scared of what damage a pet can do. Even the apartment complex I lived in last time I was in Cullowhee - they no longer allow any pets! Cats can claw, pee, break window screens, and cause noise problems... and those are only the bad behaviors of Mac! Even though Sparta has lived in three rental places with no damage (if you don't count the flea fiasco, which I fixed!!!), it isn't enough. Pets are just not allowed in Cullowhee.
After a weekend of searching (an adventure that deserves a post of its own), JC and I believe we've found our place! The ironic thing about it is that we actually didn't find it the weekend I was up there! I haven't seen the place, but based on JC's descriptions and photos, I think it'll be perfect!!!

• It's a good location to campus
• It has special parking at the base of the mountain in case of snow and ice
• It has large-ish bedrooms
• The landlady seems nice, friendly, and not nearly as scary as some other people we met
• It's the perfect price, and includes water, sewer, and trash pick-up
• Sparta is only $75!!

WIN!

Room-a-Mate Up-a-Date

Nine out of ten people won't show you their strange quirks and identifying behavior when you move in with them, especially not in the first week. But Kayla is so herself that she can't help it! I don't want to say I have her pegged to some sort of stereotype because I don't! In fact, it's just the opposite. I can barely keep up with her as she bounces around the apartment in her polka dot bathrobe or wild child jeans. And, she is now one of my favorite people because of this quirk:

After trekking through Cullowhee Creek for the entirety of Saturday afternoon, the boys and I collapsed in the apartment with four boxes of Pizza Hut. Kayla and CC were in the background, stepping around us to make their own dinner. They had been sitting at the dining room table watching Cody flip through the TV channels when Kayla stood and began rummaging in the cabinets again. I turned to glance at her when she said, "Does anyone want to try blackberry jam?"
I didn't respond. I prefer jelly to jam, and I was tired and couldn't figure what she was trying to get at. The boys glanced at her as well not really responding.

"Blackberry jam, anyone? No?" she asked.
Cody mumbled about possibly trying it, but when she felt it wasn't a definite enough answer, Kayla used a different tactic.
"You see, the thing is... I don't like an odd number of bread slices in my loaf."
This got our attention, and I turned to stare at her with a smile splitting across my face. Her face was dead serious.
"I just can't stand it," she said, "and yesterday I only had one piece of bread so I have an odd number. You want to try the jam, Cody?"
The hilarity and oddity of this struck me full force and I began to cackle hysterically.
"I'll just take the bread," Cody said, and Kayla moved behind me to give Cody the oddball piece of bread with me still cackling, which gets Kayla laughing. One of the boys, River, is grinning away at me as he always does when I get tickled. By this time, I have tears rolling down my cheeks, still laughing.
"See, what you're supposed to do now," stated CC, "is have two people say they want to try some jam."
"No!" Kayla cried. "Only one piece of bread," she insisted, which got me coughing from laughing so hard!
Eventually, I calmed myself but it still gets me when I think about it!

Now, I absolutely adore Kayla! That girl is something else, and I'm so excited I get to share this apartment with her! I can't wait to see what she'll be up to next!