"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose"

The last few weeks I have been kind of an emotional wreck because I was freaked out about Tom coming home.

He drove into town on Tuesday evening, and he’s living with me for the summer before he moves to St. Petersburg, Fla. for another internship. I’ve never lived with a significant other before, so I felt like I was getting short of breath every time I thought about it.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s great having Tom back. You forget how much you miss people until you get to hang out with them again. But those of you who know me know that I love my independence, and I’m scared to death of commitment. Living with a boyfriend is certainly more than I had planned for this time in my life.

At work on Tuesday, I killed time by doing Internet research on how to live with a significant other without killing each other or breaking up. I typed “how to live with boyfriend,” “scared of living with boyfriend,” “tips for living with boyfriend,” and all sorts of lame things like that into Google to see if I could get some advice on how to survive.

Funny thing, the Internet. The first article I found was about how cats have emotional issues when someone new moves in. It takes attention away from them, and they don’t get their mommy all to themselves anymore. The article said I should even bring my cat to the veterinarian after a few weeks to make sure she is OK. So now that’s on my to-do list.

There was also an article called “Boyfriend moving in? You’re going to be obese.” It said that women gain a ton of weight when a significant other moves in. They change their eating habits, sit on the sofa and don’t work out any more.

The other articles I found were actually helpful. One was about a woman who considered herself really independent. She didn’t think about the fact that her boyfriend was moving in until the day before the U-Haul showed up at her place. Then she started freaking out, it kind of reminded me of myself.

A lot of the serious articles said to clean out closet and drawer space so there’s room for him to put his stuff and he doesn’t feel like he doesn’t really have a place to live. After I got home from work on Tuesday, and only 20 minutes before he showed up, I really quickly started shoving all my clothes to one side of the closet and throwing some under my bed so there was space in the drawers.

When Tom showed up I joked around with him, showing him the closet space and bathroom counter space I had cleared for him. I kept saying, “You know, it’s like a metaphor for the fact that I’m making space in my life for you now that you’re back in town.” He looked at me like I was crazy, then I smiled at him and told him we’d have to take Sophie to the vet in a few weeks to check her emotional health.

Now he’s the one wondering what he’s gotten himself into.