Julia

She's left!

She's moved out!

She took her husband and dog with her!

And yet, I am a bit sad... (barely a bit, but still a bit).

Yes, it's true. Julia has moved out. She's taken all of her possessions (most of the furniture, cooking ware, all of the silverware and plates, all major appliances...) and moved to her own place with her husband and dog (who have been living with us for the last month).

Flashback to one month ago: before we knew that Julia was deciding to leave, my flatties decided to move out and away from her (I was in Aussie at this time but was invited to join at their new place). They found a place just up the road and put down a deposit just before I returned. We were two days away from moving when Julia told us that she had bought a house. Instead of moving, we scrambled to drop the other house and stay in the one we're in. Our scrambling was successful, and we found that we were able to stay here with the lease transferred to Ian's name.

Now I still don't care for Julia, but I am not as glad to see her go as the rest of the crew. For starters, our dislike of her was a bond that brought the rest of us together. Also, the necessity for us to keep the house clean (because of her rules) was tolerable because we could complain about it and her. But it still got done. When she's gone, there's no telling how often this place will be cleaned (I don't live with the most motivated cleaners...).

But the thing that shocked me the most was the recent hour-long conversation I had with her in which she shared her insightful observations about all of the flatties with me. She told me what she thought about us all, about our personalities, and what kind of people we all are. Surprisingly, I think she hit the nail on the head. Her opinions of my flatties are similar to my own secret opinions based on observations. She also said that she trusted me second to Ian, and thought I was the strongest in the flat (when often I feel the opposite).

I think possibly, in a devilish kind of way, Julia is a lot more kind than we all thought, although even a couple of days after our heart-to-heart, I couldn't stand her again. And when she recently came and took the last of what she owned including the shelves in the bathroom, all of the drapes from all of the windows in the house, and the shades from the light fixtures in each of our rooms, I was really mad. (Luckily, though I was glad that I had thought ahead to pack my weighless, spaceless chinese lamp shade before coming to New Zealand - I knew that sucker would come in handy!).

If only her personality would have been a bit more tolerable and likable, we all would have gotten along much, much better.

So long Julia, good luck in your new place. Maybe invite us over for dinner (since we don't have a table, fridge, or flatware anymore)?