Living with roommates found on the internet wasn’t my original plan, nor did it jive with my rather conventional upbringing. I grew in a small town in East Texas where life revolved around the Friday night football games, big pots of gumbo and wearing a dress to church every Sunday. Despite all that, I somehow managed to march to the beat of my own drum, even in the womb. My parents were shocked when I was born with a head of red hair.
“We could’ve sworn you’d be blonde like your older sister” my mom told me.
But I like to think God knew better than to give me blonde hair. Red is my personal confirmation that He crafted me quirky. This used to be kinda a problem, in my middle school years when I was trying to be cool, but now I own it.
In my younger years I had an imaginary friend who was so real that every so often, when my parents were driving in a neighborhood, I’d yell out, “STOP! That’s Crystal’s house. Let me out!” One day they finally did, thinking I wouldn’t actually get out of the car and go to a stranger’s door looking for “Crystal.” Well, wrong assumption. My mom thought she’d have to take me to a psychologist for sure, but as it turned out, one day, when my real cousin moved to Hawaii, Crystal decided to move with her. I was sad and all, but life went on.
I was labeled “creative” by almost all of my elementary and middle school teachers. And in high school I discovered a great avenue to showcase that alleged creativity: spirit week. The annual week contained five themed days the entire student body could dress up for. I looked forward to this week with excitement and joy in my veins, the same way normal kids looked forward to summer. I loved dressing up for each day. Lucky for me, God blessed me with an accomplice, my best friend Rebecca, who usually after some persuasion would join me in my grand ideas. One year for “camouflage day” we dressed as lockers which I hand crafted out of poster board, markers and a real lock. Obviously, we were much more camouflaged in the school than all the kids in hunting gear. People could barely see us! Then on “blast to the past” day, we dressed as unicorns. We made big twisty buns on top of our heads which we sprayed with white hair color spray and wore white outfits. I thought it was brilliant, until one of our classmates honestly asked “Are y’all supposed to be sperm?”
The unicorn costume has since been permanently retired.
I was thrilled when I was finally old enough to go to college. Initially I wasn’t sure what I wanted to study. But during my senior year of high school one of my teachers had encouraged me to pursue a career in Occupational Therapy (OT). Which is not, as the name may lead one to believe, finding jobs for people. Occupational Therapy is helping people who have various diseases or challenges complete activities of daily living. This includes things like dressing, eating, bathing and for kids, playing.
After some research, I agreed that the job aligned with my natural skills. So I focused my college classes around obtaining the pre-requisites to attend OT school. I managed to work some life adventures into those college years (as many college kids do). I’ll never forget the time my dad cried when he dropped me off at the airport to fly to the Philippines for a summer. For two months I lived there with two missionaries, teaching English classes and Bible study to other college students. After I graduated college I spent some time living in Washington DC being a nanny for a wonderful family I found via a website. But being a Texas girl at heart, I came back to the Lone Star Country to attend grad school.
My original plan was to share a cute two bedroom apartment with my friend Alli. We met our freshman year of college at Texas A&M University where we were dorm neighbors. On the first day of classes we realized we had chem 101 together, which was a huge blessing that semester because Alli was smart and I needed help. Our shared wall was so thin, I could ask my chemistry questions straight from the bed of my dorm and hear her answer just fine. I also enjoyed knocking on that wall as an intro to cheesy knock-knock jokes. I’m pretty sure Alli and her roommate loved them. But they hated my alarm clock, especially when I left for class and forgot to turn it off. But that only happened once a week or so.
We remained friends though college and coincidentally were attending the same graduate school. She was studying to become a Doctor and I was studying become an Occupational Therapist. We were going to have a cute little apartment. We discussed who would bring the couch, the kitchen table, silverware and blender. Basically, she was bringing everything because I owned nada, not even a blender.
During college Alli was that perfect sorority girl, the one that juggled a thriving social life, a cute body and a great personality. She did plenty of extra-curricular activities and still managed to come out with a 4.0 GPA in pre-med.
You know those people you’d like to punch in the face out of jealousy?
Hands down, she’s one of the most talented people I’ve ever met. But apparently I’m not the only one who thought so highly of her, because a month before we were supposed to move into our apartment, she got engaged. Shortly after that, she received more good news. She’d been accepted to a more prestigious medical school in a different city. And there she went, off to a new city with bigger and better things.
And there I was.
I had about two weeks to make a game plan. I didn’t know anyone else in the town my grad school was in and getting a one-bedroom apartment was out of the question. I didn’t want to live alone or pay that much for rent. I didn’t have furniture, dishes or even a stupid blender.
So, I didn’t want an apartment or have a roommate, but I did have one good idea.
Craigslist.
Craigslist, if you haven’t heard of it, is a brilliant idea. It’s a 24-hour cyber garage sale of all sorts.
Need a couch? Craigslist.
Need a job? Craigslist.
Need a date? Craigslist. (Remember to bring pepper spray and/or a stun gun for safety.)
No doubt using Craigslist to find a roommate was treading on unfamiliar ground, but I was willing to give it a shot. I’m a total type B, flexible, laid back and friendly. If anyone could live with someone random off the internet, it was me. Or so I believed.
Buy the rest of the book HERE. Let me know what you think!
[…] Don’t start at the beginning. Yes -you read that right. I found the introduction was the hardest part. I think its some kinda crazy mental pressure knowing that you’re beginning “a book” that makes the intro so hard. So after writing about a million crappy intros, I skipped it and wrote down my stories. The intro ending up being the LAST thing I wrote and guess what? I love it. You can read it HERE. […]