Dear Diary,

It should be a HAPPY FRIDAY, unfortunetly this is day three of me being homeless. Yes, homeless. It is such a vulnerable feeling to wake up knowing you don't have a place to call home. I know I've bragged to everyone here in blog world that I moved to my new apartment a month ago but I feel like a stranger in my own place. Why?

Well for one, I haven't unpacked anything besides some clothes to wear for work. My landlady since the beginning advised me not to unpack anything because the painter/handyman had to first finish painting then put the tiles on the floor of my bedroom and livingroom. To make the story short, she paid him $1500 but was very disappointed when she noticed the work he did with those tiles. She couldn't believe her eyes, the tiles had gaps between them, they looked messy. Basically, she was trying to go the cheap route and got her money's worth. Of course I think the handyman knew nothing about tiles, he was just money hungry.

So Miss landlady learned her lesson and decided to call a professional company this week to install the tiles in my bedroom and livingroom. I came home on Wednesday night to find all my furnitures piled up in my kitchen and bathroom, fresh cement was put in the living room and bedroom. I couldn't believe my eyes, even the bathtub was stuffed with Hefty bags and boxes. My mattress and TV were put in the landlady's garage. All the doors were unscrewed and leaned over on the walls.

My landlady should have called me to warn me, I was pissed. I called her and she explained to me that the company she called to help with the tiles told her I would need to be out of the apartment asap for a couple of days in order for them to put down the tiles. Of course landlady offered me a place to sleep in her house but she had six family members visiting her from Florida. Where the hell was I going to sleep?

"When I get back from church we can figure out the sleeping arrangements for you," she said to me with an angelic smile.

I was burning inside. Too pissed to speak my mind. I went back downstairs to my apartment, packed up some stuff, called my brother who roommates with my cousin and then called a cab service to pick me up. By 8pm I was at my brother's apartment telling him what happened.

I was relieved to know my stay with him and my cousin wouldn't last and it was great to know I have my family's back in this sort of emergency. But last night I get to my brother's house and was ready to take a shower, I ask my cousin what happened to the towel she had given to me that I left in the bathroom. She said nonchalantly she put it in the dirty laundry and didn't know I was spending another night.

"But I told you Wednesday and Thursday I'm going to spend to sleep here," I said.

"Oh, I thought it was only for one day," she said. "Well, ask your brother for another towel."

After she did that, it made me feel like she didn't want me around. Also she kept her bedroom door shut while I was there which I found strange. I really felt uneasy and was convinced she didn't want me around. I called my landlady to hear more updates about my apartment and she explained that the floors won't be ready to be walked on until Saturday and my heart dropped. It means another dreadful night on the couch at my brother and cousin's house, I truly didn't want to spend another night there especially after the towel incident with my cousin.

I e-mailed her this morning and explained to her that my landlady said I can't sleep in the apartment until tomorrow (Saturday), ten minutes later she sent me a reply saying her brother from Florida is coming down with his wife and spending the night at her place and she is letting them use her bedroom. She said she will need to sleep on the couch and that there is no room for me to sleep at her place. My brother called me too saying how upset he was at my cousin who called him at work in a panic because I told her about spending another night in their apartment.

My brother said to her "what's the big deal, Cathy can sleep on the air mattress while you sleep on the couch, she won't be in your way, plus she's leaving early in the morning to go to her place."

She said to my brother she can't entertain me AND her brother and his wife and that five people in a small two-bedroom apartment is way too much, too many people, and she blabbered on and on about errands she has to do today and tomorrow.

"Cathy don't need you to entertain her, all she does is write,how will she get in your way?" my brother said to her.

He apologized to me and said he will call another cousin of mine to ask if I can spend the night there tonigt, I told him forget it and I'll figure out a way. I was saddened by my cousin's attitude because she had no reason to act the way she did, and I always thought we were cool. A year ago she had moved to California and was living with her brother and sister-in-law, she was jobless and was bone-dry broke, she used to call me all the time whining about her bills and not being able to find work. My heart went out to her, I quickly bought her a card and enclosed a money order of $100. She was shock, not expecting me at all to give her that kind of money.

This is the same cousin who treated me this way and now I wonder if I should bother to invite her to my housewarming party. So, I want to hear your opinion, would you invite her to the party?

If someone treats you unfairly especially a family member, would you return back the favor or let it slide for the sake of maturity? For example if my cousin ends up having an emergency later on and needs somewhere to stay...should I even look her way?

I know the saying is true: what goes around comes around, but I am soooo turned off by what she did. Phew! It felt great venting out.

By tomorrow I should be back in my apartment, I hope. There's no place like home.