50 Things...

Today I found the list I made of 50 things I could do when my roommates moved out. I made this list in early August of 2002.

1. I can park in the garage.
2. I can reach my coffeemaker (without having to move all the crap in front of it).
3. No more cat pee in inappropriate places!
4. [Roommate #2]'s brothers won't be around (really, I do like them, just in small doses, and they have hardly been here at all this summer)
5. No more playing musical cars to rearrange the driveway order so everyone can leave in the morning.
6. Guest room!
7. I can have people over for dinner and have parties.
8. I can always replace the bags in the trash cans so that no one else throws the trash directly in the trash can (and then if it's something messy it gets all over the trash can and is yucky to clean up). Besides, I spill it more often than not when pouring it from the trash can into a bag.
9. I don't have to buy expensive toilet paper because [Roommate #2] has a sensitive butt!
10. I can leave fun and cool soap and stuff in the shower and no one else will use it up. Corollary: I won't run out of shaving cream because [Roommate #1] forgets to buy herself some and uses mine... for six months at a time.
11. I can shower whenever I want.
12. I can talk on the phone whenever I want.
13. I can use the Internet whenever I want.
14. I can cook whenever I want.
15. Fridge space.
16. Freezer space.
17. I can put my fish teapot (really, it's quite cute) on the shelf in the kitchen and no one will decide that it should go in the basement because they don't like looking at it or something.
18. I can use my grandmother's dishes without worrying that someone else will break them.
19. I can have clean counters -- no clutter! Corollary: No sticky spills on the counters from other people not cleaning up stuff that spills.
20. Kitchen cabinet space.
21. I can eat at my kitchen table again without having to move piles of stuff that isn't mine. (I may have my own pile of stuff on the table, but it will be my stuff and I can put it away when it annoys me.)
22. I will always be able to find a pencil or pen when I want one. I can put one on a table or in a drawer and it will still be there when I look for it the next time. Same for a pad of paper.
23. I can do laundry whenever I want.
24. I don't have to fold other people's laundry in order to use the dryer.
25. I can do dishes as often as I want! No more stacks of dirty dishes in the sink!
26. No more icky sponges that smell like mildew because they weren't squeezed out when other people were done using them.
27. No dirty dish towels and laundry at the bottom (or worse, only halfway to the bottom) of the basement steps.
28. I can watch whatever I want on TV.
29. No wet dish towels in the sink. I really don't understand why that happens. They get all gross and yucky. What is so hard about hanging them up?
30. I can talk on the phone anywhere in the house without disturbing anyone or being disturbed.
31. I can watch skating videos in the living room.
32. No one else will reorganize my mail. I *still* haven't found last year's November property tax form.
33. I can buy soap and/or candles without having to hear about it when I get home. (I admit that I have too much soap and too many candles, but I am not five years old and I don't need a lecture on how much soap I have!)
34. No old Band-Aids in the shower. Yuck.
35. I can turn the A/C up so it's not as cold.
36. I will always be able to find a blanket. I leave blankets in the living room when it's cold and they disappear. There are a couple that I haven't seen for
*years.*
37. The futon will be folded up into a couch most of the time. I hate having it folded down for days at a time, but I do like being able to fold it down so that guests can sleep on it.
38. I will be able to see the top of the coffee table because there won't be a lot of clutter on it. I can put a candle there, and books I'm reading, and I will still be able to find them the next day.
39. I can use my new glass coasters without someone else dropping or otherwise breaking them.
40. I can hang stuff I like on the walls.
41. I can put plants in places other than my room. (Olivia [one of the roommates' cats] eats plants.)
42. I can bake stuff whenever I want.
43. My food won't disappear.
44. I can put up my own Christmas tree.
45. (When I find one) I can have my girlfriend over whenever I want.
46. I don't have to be quiet when I get up in the morning.
47. My scrunchies won't disappear (when I want a certain one because it matches the skating dress I'm testing or competing in).
48. I won't forget to shut the downstairs windows when I leave nearly as often as they do.
49. I can park next to the porch when I want to. (If I do that now, I'm in Roommate #2's way somehow.)
50. I can leave the outside lights on when I want to without being griped at.