Friendly Home Invasion

Don't get me wrong, I love having friends come to visit. But the best part of any visit is when everybody leaves and I have my little apartment all to myself again. I haven't had a roommate for over 3 years now, so I'm used to having everything the way I want it. I keep my apartment relatively tidy. I clean the dishes every few days and I always turn the lights off in the rooms that I'm not in. My parents drove me crazy when they were here for Christmas. They had all the lights on in my entire apartment all the time and if I shut any off, they'd complain it was dark. Part of this is habit. I usually only have whatever light is most necessary for what I'm doing on. The other part is necessity. I've realized that the biggest problem with being home more while I'm not fully employed is that being home more makes my utilities go up. I use more electricity because I'm home during the day. I use more water because I'm home more often. I go through everything faster because I'm home to use it all more. So I try to limit my usage of whatever I can so that my bills don't force me out of house and home. Regardless, while I enjoyed (immensely) having my friend Dameon visit me this weekend, I'm definitely looking forward to having my apartment to myself tonight so that I can curl up with a book, watch NCIS, and enjoy some "me" time without feeling guilty for not being a constant source of entertainment.