Wednesday, September 17, 2008

diamond in the rough

We are about to get personal. Some things are just so embarassing, you don't tell anyone. Not even your family. I still laugh about this "secret"....even after that phase of life passed, I brought it up with my family around the dinner table. Let me back up a bit.
I needed a place to live. Desperate. Moved into this townhome. Great...one might think. I met my roomates. Here's the clincher. No one told me before I moved in that Jule lived downstairs. Jule (as in jewel) is well into her 40's, and tried to act like my mother on several occasions. I can hear it now. "WHAT?!?! You lived with a 40 year old?? How did I not know that??". That's when I would correct you and remind you that she was in her late 40's (purely a guess, but still) and you didn't know because I was so ridiculously embarassed by it I only told my mother and CLOSEST friends (that means only Cindy). There are a few people that found out on accident, like they came to pick me up and happened to meet Jule. A rare yet treasured occasion. Can I top it off by saying she worked at the dollar store? I used to LOVE Honks, but swore I would never return. How do you explain that to you friend? A casual trip to Honks, and an old woman says, "Hey Bethany! How's your day? Great, I'll see you tonight at home!". No. Never again, which is a shame, because I loved to buy socks at Honks.
Back to the dinner table with my family. I made a crack about Jule. My mom and I laughed, and everyone else looked at me...confused.

Me: "You don't know about Jule???"

Dad: "Who's Jule??"

Shoot. Now I have to explain. I had kept the secret so well, for so long. And now the cat was out of the bag. I don't know what shocked them more, the fact that Jule and I lived together for a FULL YEAR or the fact that I had kept it from everyone.
The list of people that know about Jule is a short one. (well, longer now that i'm posting about it, duh). My favorite was when a friend was asking about her.

Friend: "How's Pearl?"

Me: "You mean Jule?"

Friend: "Oh yes, I knew it was some kind of precious gem"

And that she was. A precious gem in my life. A diamond in the rough. Were you one of the lucky people to meet Jule?You think you have a better bad-roomate scenario? try me.

8 comments:

Jenny Alama said...

AH! i LOVE this post. and not going to lie, there are times i think of that 'incident' and i laugh outside, but inside am still a little frightened.

oh pearl...

Kayce said...

That is a great story! Although worst roommate that wasn't you? (j/k) Was an opera singing, german speaking, short tempered, 6 ft tall, messy, socialist. Although now that I think about it that might be better than a 40 year old. That is really weird.

Gregory said...

Snot just came out of my nose....This may be the best story I have EVER read. I read about it in class and couldn't stop laughing. People were looking, but I couldn't stop. The greatest was when I realized that you LIED to me! You weren't at your GRANDMA'S having tea with High School Musical boy....it was DOWNSTAIRS WITH JULE!

Kaymee said...

Doug Q has a story to top sweet little jules :) He lived with a 50 year old man! you'll have to exchange stories- they are a riot!!!

Whitney said...

I love this post too. Does this mean you can shop at Honks once again?

Mindy said...

BETHANY! Hahaha! When I first moved to Provo, they put me in the apartment NEXT to mine which was with TWO 40-year-old women!!! One played the accordin and they had FAKE trees with FAKE PINK flowers on them in the living room! WITH CREEPY PORCELAIN DOLLS EVERYWHERE! Needlessly to say, I walked in the apartment and walked right out to switch apartments! Hahaha!! But YOU STAYED! :)

Andrea said...

okay THAT was funny! SO funny! - my roommate. . ., no secret, no precious gem. . . but down right CRAZY! a solid year of living with a crazy! OH DEAR ME! it was an experience that is for sure. love you.

Laura said...

Okay, I know this is a super old post, but I never get around to blog stocking - anyway - no way does Jule beat my 36 year old roommate I had to bail out of jail and you had to help me clean her messy kitchen - remember??? I will forever be in debt to you! :) Every time I clean my own fridge I think of that terrible day and bless your name!