sleeping in my own bed for a change, i heard noises from inside the house this morning. i figured it was my roommate returning home from NYC this weekend, although it seemed unusually early (10am, that meant he had to have left brooklyn at 6am). when i finally did get out of bed, i realized the noises weren't actually from inside the house but rather underneath, from my upstairs neighbors moving backyard furniture into the basement.

i'd been up no more than an hour before my mother called me asking if i needed a ride to belmont since it seemed to be raining all day. i agreed and my father came to pick me up. my mother told me they finally decided to let hailey out at night (instead of keeping her in the kitchen), partly because she'd been so used to the freedom the past 2 weeks that she started crying when she was locked up. she slept on their bed, curled up into a ball. i spent the rest of the day in belmont, having some meat buns for lunch then rice noodle for dinner before my sister drove me back to cambridge in the freezing rain.

from the street i could see right into the house because all the lights were on but the shades weren't closed. i could smell the cooking before i set foot inside, my roommate was in the kitchen with his friend. for whatever reason i was kind of annoyed. i think i was hoping to come back to an empty house but instead i found the two of them laughing it up in the kitchen, stinking up the place with their food. my roommate asked if i had a good thanksgiving, but i was in no mood to chitchat. his friend asked me if i had the permit. i didn't understand what he wanted. "the parking permit," he clarified. i blinked for a few seconds. "i don't have it," i replied, "you don't need one on sundays." i gathered up my stuff and hid in my bedroom, although i could hear them speaking kazakh through the door. it felt like an invasion, like my privacy was being violated and that my home had been taken over. i drowned my unhappiness with some sleep, falling unconscious during some star wars marathon on television. my roommate's friend left after midnight.

being the owner-occupant, i naturally think of the house as my place instead of our place. the roommates i like are the ones i don't see very often, who stay for just a short amount of time, and who sort of know their place and don't infringe too much on the liberties i know and enjoy living alone. as of matter of fact - and this may sound rather cruel - i prefer they have no friends so they're never compelled to invite anyone over. this particular roommate seems to violate most of those criteria. the list of cons outweigh the list of pros. the fact that his wife might be coming to live with us for a month in february-march makes me wonder if they should go live elsewhere when that time arrives. i sort of want less drama in my life.