Marie Claire: 10 Things I've Learned from Living Alone

Marie Claire recently had an article online (as a part of their "Cool Girl's Guide to Living Alone") that was entitled, "10 Things We've Learned From Living Alone." Some of them are pretty brilliant, so I thought I'd share...

  - It's amazing how quickly one person can go through a roll of toilet paper.
  - OMG, the hair in the drain is all yours.
  -  Alone time makes you philosophical: If I eat this wedge of cheesecake and no one is here to see it, did I really eat it?
  - It's easy to go 48 hours without speaking.

There are other things they put on there that I don't necessarily agree with (for example, that a slimfast shake and pudding cup make a pretty good meal), but I thought these four were interesting, because I've admittedly thought each of them before.


Since I had a (wonderful, amazing) roommate right out of college and moved straight from that apartment into married life in Yucca Valley, this deployment really is the first time I've "lived alone" (aside from the myriad weeks that Greg was gone training before the deployment, which in total probably add up to another 4-5 months). So, inspired by Marie Claire, I thought I'd go over the 10 things I've learned during my 4+ months so far of "living alone":


1) If I drop a Goldfish on the floor and then accidentally crunch it with my flip flop, it doesn't need to be cleaned up immediately....Rocky will eat every last drop as soon as he comes inside!

2) Laundry doesn't need to be folded in the same day. Or even in three days after it's washed. In fact, the only person you're inconveniencing by not folding it is yourself.

3) Making dinner for one is miserable. Prepared food from the grocery store/microwave meals are amazing. In particular, Healthy Choice Healthy Steamers - they are new, and taste like a real, fresh meal! In fact, I'm pretty sure they were created by military spouses.

4)  You have omplete control over Netflix. Throw out all war movies and action hero summer blockbusters and load up with chick flicks.

5) You save lots of money not buying beer or wine. Which brings me to my next point:

6) No matter how confident you are, there's something sad and pathetic about drinking wine alone. So even if it's a glass, be prepared to notice that you're alone more than you would if you were drinking a Diet Coke.

7) Create something every single day to look forward to. Even if it's a new episode of The Bachelor, it will actually create companionship and make you feel less lonely.

8) Write good emails to your friends. And write them back when they write you (even if it's very, very delayed). This will keep others in the loop and will remind you that you still possess the same social skills that got you through high school, college, and the "real world" (ie, anywhere but the Mojave Desert)

9) Weekend TV is usually very pathetic. This, combined with the lack of emails that you will receive on the weekends, will actually make weekends your least favorite time of the week, not the most favorite. That being said, weekend TV (specifically, Sunday night TV) is great in January - February. Think about it: Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild Awards, Grammys, Super Bowl, and Oscars all in a six week period. Pretty amazing!

10) Get a dog. Or better yet, have a baby. They both will keep you on your toes, and even though they don't speak English, they will diminish the loneliness quite a bit!