Ok. So who are we really talking about here?

S - my husband. Our roommate’s only child. Small business owner who carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. He works incredibly long days and his ability to get shit down is truly astounding. He turns on the charm and can deescalate any situation. Thank goodness. In our business he is the one running sales appointments and managing all of production. He is the one in the office plagued by deadlines and a schedule. We rescinded two offers of employment at the beginning of the pandemic due to the uncertainty of the market. Last month we had our highest volume month ever. EVER. So S is working 6 days a week 6:30 am to 9 pm while I am hiring. Our roommate is one of his parents, though some would say the least hands on. Her selfishness isn’t new. If not for his Dad, his StepMom and his Grandma (RIP) he would not be the man he is today. And that is a fact.

T - Our daughter. An 8 year old spitfire of a kid who is the most true mix of 2 people you have ever seen. She is smarter than both of us combined, is an old soul able to recognize what is important, and the most thoughtful and self aware kid ever. She reads the room like a pro and adjusts as needed. She is higher functioning in most cases than our new roommate. She is also kind of intense and always pushing. Her questions and scenarios and speculations about the future and what she would do are exhausting. We are absolutely raising a leader. Under extreme situations she is also my inside voice - but out loud and TO ME - turning the already challenging part of raising her into me providing therapy to myself. So fun.

Me - The daughter in law. The mother. The business owner, wife and partner. The one who absorbs all the overages and gets it done. The one who is solo parenting that strong willed kid most of the time, while also managing the house and the schedule and the rental properties and the office and the weird stuff that pops up like fires and new roommates.. The one who feels every bit of every change that happens because I do not have scheduled appointments. The one who sucks in all of the brain dumps from S at night, first thing in the morning, or randomly on the phone in the middle of the day. The one who managed distance learning. I have the flexibility with my role to absorb change. I have both an incredible capacity to get stuff done and a complete intolerance for bullshit and fake work. There is always a right way to do things and I have no patience for those people who pretend to help but are really just constantly in the way. There is always an easy way to get the correct result. I choose that one.

Our Roommate - where do I start? Wildly concerned with appearances and having the best. Has worn 3 outfits all month and rarely gets off the couch. Talks about items only if she can assign a value to them. Did not carry personal homeowners insurance. Has many many many collections of items. Which are very very valuable therefore I have needed to pack and move ahead of the restoration company. In a smoke invested home with my child. Borderline hoarder of paper goods and certain food items. Has requested I find more space for her to keep all her paper towels. Stuck in her routines and habits. Not interested in changing anything. 3rd shift employee for most of her career and sleep schedule is super off/non-existent. Experiences chronic pain in multiple joints. Has an incredible knack to immediately focus on the hardest and most expensive solution to every problem. Is not interested in an easier solution. Happy to shrug her shoulders and give the super time intensive task of figuring out how to get her home put back together to us.