Roommate update: drama level low but steady

There's been nothing egregious; in fact, we're back to the charm offensive. And I could stand for less charm.

Let's recap: He's here for another two months; until two weeks ago, he was away for three weeks, and when he came back, he landscaped both yards; and he's been good about respecting my space.

In return--or to some extent, because I don't want to deal with it--I'm determined not to let things [that we've talked about] bother me-- things being recyclables in the trash, crumbs in the toaster oven and elsewhere, etc. I've brought these things up enough times that if he doesn't get it by now, it's a lost cause, and it's more efficient for me to salvage recyclables and clean out the crumb tray than to get him to do it.

What's harder to deal with, actually, is what's been hard to deal with all along: his being too nice, his trying to help.

I mentioned the other day that I saw that he was about to make coffee, so I asked him to make me a cup. The next morning, he asked me whether I wanted coffee, and upon thinking about it, I said, "yes, please." This morning, I didn't want coffee. He made me some without asking (which is fine--I saved it for tomorrow morning, and it's not worth mentioning in and of itself). It just fits into the theme of doing what he thinks I want and going out of his way to do it (although I suppose in this case there was no going out of his way).

Then, he fed Gracie. And that just pissed me off.

She has a breakfast time. I deliberately don't feed her before that breakfast time. I deliberately do not feed her in response to whining. And if he doesn't know that--and I'm pretty sure it's been explicitly discussed--he should.

So this morning, I was upstairs and she was at her food bowl, whining up a storm. I said, "I'm coming, Gracie." So he gets up and feeds her.

No, no, no, no. Please only feed my cat when I'm not home.

But I didn't say anything. It's just not worth it at this point.

I just want him to stop helping. Is that okay?

Anyway, the icing on the cake came this afternoon, when he came in and brought a friend over. They're going to some festivities in town. RM went upstairs to get his stuff together, leaving me to entertain his friend. Which I kind of resented, because I wanted to read the paper and not interact with a human. But I had to listen to this guy for ten minutes. This is what happens when you let people into your life: they let other people into your life to waste your time.

I'm sorry. I've had very little time to myself over the last month, and I'm going out to dinner with friends tonight, so I was relishing my me time. I calmed down when it turned out to be only ten minutes, but while it seemed possible that the small talk could go on for a while, I was not a happy camper.