Spooner.

Tonight at dinner that's what my roommate accused my other roommate of being. It's not like she accused her of spooning with guys, though... it's just that she was spooning sour cream into her mouth. It wasn't a dip-the-finger-and-lick. It was some use-all-five-fingers-to-spoon-as-much-sour-cream-into-your-mouth-as-you-can action. Gross. Who does that? And at a table full of peers? Says a lot about her childhood, I think...

Keeping a kitchen clean

is difficult, especially with eight people using it. But if there are eight people using it, then there should be at least seven people consistently cleaning it, right? I think so. Five of my roommates are pretty decent at helping out in the kitchen, but I have one roommate who I've never seen take care of her own dish or do anything besides make messes, so I decided to do something about it. Four of my roommates were hanging out under the stairs (I won't tell you what they were doing). I walked right up and called to the lazy roommate by name. "Want to come help me with dishes?" She was surprisingly eager, and I just went with it.
She stood beside me, transfixed, as I filled the sink with hot water and soap. I washed a couple dishes then passed them to her side of the sink to be rinsed. I'd filled her side with water also, to save on the water bill and she just kind of stared at it. "Oh my gosh" I thought. "She's never washed a dish in her life." I tried to help her know what to do without acting like a bossy know-it-all. It took a little bit of time, but she finally started loosening up and... washing all the dishes a second time. She'd found the little brush thing full of soap and started going at it. I was so proud. She's come such a long ways since two days ago...

Every day should be Laundry Day...

with the way things have been going this week. I keep finding dirty (and by dirty I mean stinky, nastily soiled and growing weird things) clothes belonging to the girls in the shared room across the hall. I guess they've both had a rough week. I usually prefer (and by prefer I mean demand that it be no other way) that my laundry be done separately from, like, anyone else's. "What? You only need to wash one pair of socks? Get your own load." I made an exception to one of my favorite golden rules this week, though. Several times, actually. I just couldn't stand the thought of my struggling roommates/friends going one more day than was necessary in stinky clothes. Or sleeping one more night with said filthies stinking up their room. I did their laundry. I felt like I was violating their privacy in one of the worst ways possible... I snuck into their room, grabbed their laundry basket and did a load when I thought no one would notice. I then folded their clothes and put them away. There are no secrets in their room that now haven't been uncovered...

Anyway, I think they noticed, but they didn't say anything. Instead, they went about business as usual. Phew. Except one of the girls keeps burning through, like, seven outfits a day. I guess she had a dirty clothes goal she was working towards or something, and now she's got to get caught back up. All I know is that I asked her roommate upfront if I could wash the blanket she sleeps with. "It smells like pee." She handed it over, no questions asked. Didn't seem weirded out or offended, either. I like these girls more every day.

I'd only been shooting

a couple of times before I went today. Once with some friends from college and once with my brother and sister. Today one of my roommates took me shooting. He's the tubby one going out of town soon. He's going to Alaska, and the parts he'll be traveling in have big ol' grizzly bears, among other large and scary creatures. He has a shotgun, and he figured he ought to practice with it before his trip. Nothing really funny happened, except that I kicked his butt at it.

I was blow drying my hair

when one of my roommates came in. I could tell she wanted to talk, but this one can yap for hours and my hair is really scary when it air dries, so I kept going. She leaned up against a wall and started slowly, methodically banging her head against it. She was pretty dressed up for 9:50 on a Friday morning and I couldn't help but wonder if she'd tried to talk to the friend one of our other roommates has over. He's got long hair and eyelashes that frame sparkling, feminine eyes... but I guess some girls are into that. Anyway, she ran off before I finished and I could ask her what was wrong.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

are a delicacy I don't often enjoy. My P90X roommate had a recipe for diet pancakes (with chocolate chips... wait. What?), and she suggested I make them. I'm technically the newest addition to our house of eight, although the fartsy roommate from yesterday moved in about the same time I did. I thought my making the pancakes for everyone might help them like me more, so I got to work right away. I had water spilled on my work surface, multiple hungry mouths breathing down my neck and several frustrating questions like "Why are you doing it like that?" I fought through the frustration and eventually finished. Except there was just enough batter left to make one, chocolate-chipless pancake. I made it, then returned to the table expecting to be greeted with friendly smiles and welcoming arms. Instead, I was greeted with chocolate-covered mouths and my plate set at the opposite end of the table as everyone else's. Like an outcast. We have a table that seats 10. I was set at one end, and the other 5 roommates who ate were huddled at the other end, almost as if they were afraid of me. Perhaps I'll contain my frustration a little better next time I make a special roommate breakfast.

I'm kinda fat,

and I guess a couple of my roommates could use a couple more workouts and fewer treats. My sister lives in town, and she asked me to do P90X with her. My two tubby roommates were interested in joining us, and we gladly welcomed the company. It's always easier to diet and workout with buddies. Anyway. We started today, and I woke up early to do my workout. I ate breakfast and was in the process of rinsing some breakfast dishes when my one roommate began her workout (the other roommate is going out of town in the nearish future and said he'd start once he gets back). Not long after, I heard the P90X guy encouraging her to engage all her muscles (it's Core Synergistics day). "I don't have any muscles to engage!" she'd shouted back at him. Later I heard her call him a showoff. Day 1 is going well.

It's library day,

and we're waiting on one of my roommates so we can leave. Carpooling saves gas since we live almost in the middle of nowhere. I'm trying to sketch, a couple of my roommates are reading, one is wandering around the house, one is at work and another is playing a Gameboy. The last roommate is curled up on her side, sleeping. She naps a lot. Anyway, every once in a while she starts squirming... then all of a sudden her knees get tucked up toward her chest and she lets a big, juicy fart. Ga-ross. It's so gross that not even the boys are laughing. I can't help but be shocked and a little disgusted. This is, after all, the same roommate who peed on me earlier today. Her grin was going from ear to ear right before she did it. I think she thinks it's funny. Anyway. I wonder if she'll need to change her pants before we go.

It all started...

when we were sitting in one of the shared bedrooms in the house. I'm actually the only one in our house of eight who has her own room. Anyway, we were in there after swimming, and one of my roommates was running around nekkid, looking for some clean clothes to warm up in. Suddenly, she realized the door to her room was open... and the new maids we hired to clean up after our slobbery were home... and one was walking past the wide open door. My roommate turned to us in shock and gasped "She saw me in the nude!" She ran away, totally embarrassed and has been careful every time we come back from swimming at the gym. It was that day I thought to myself, "It is a riot living with seven rommates. I should keep track of all the funny things that happen." A month later, here I am.