Quandary

I am getting very very close to my breaking point. I almost hit it today. I have this roommate, who has a tendency to be incredibly self-righteous and judgemental, believing that whatever she may believe to be wrong or bad is, without a doubt, just that. Things are black and white for her, there are no second chances, and once you do anything she thinks is questionable, you are added to a list of people that she slanders behind their backs. I am sure I am on this list. In fact, I'm sure I'm at the very top of it, because she doesn't even give me the courtesy to talk behind my back. She does it straight to my face, cloaks it in the context of "joke", and laughs at me with her friends while I sit and glare at her, debating whether or not to say fuck you, bitch and cause great discomfort to her friends, most of whom I actually like.

She is a bitter person. She is mad at the world because she works an enormous amount of hours, spent a ton of money renovating a house that is now completely beige, and hasn't been able to get a man for quite some time now. I, on the other hand, do not work a lot (as little as possible, actually), I don't spend tons of money on anything (especially if it is beige), and haven't tried to get a new man for quite some time (not that this isn't somewhat depressing and utterly sad, but those of you who read often know all about this, so I'm not going to discuss it right now). I am not bitter. Maybe a bit (or a lot) depressed, but not bitter. I try to be nice to people.

She has ceased to be nice. Especially to me. She seems to think I have become her personal punching bag because she disapproves of my "lifestyle", but doesn't have the guts to actually say that to me. She does, however, have the guts to imply to her friends (fairly directly, and in my presence) that she thinks I am lazy lazy lazy. This because I am home often, don't do her dishes, and don't care about moving the furniture around or improving the house she owns in any way. I simply do not care.

But I am tired of it. I don't deserve her nit-picking attitude of condescension any more than the other people she thinks she is above. I pay to live here, not to have a disapproving mother. I already have one of those. So, I am debating whether or not I should just look for another place and move out (which would, consequently, put her in a mess of financial difficulty), or speak to her about how she has been treating me (which would, consequently, result in her believing in her superiority even more, given that she never thinks she has done anything wrong). I don't want to move out. I like living here when she is not being a pain in the ass. But I also don't want to subject myself to the verbal abuse of a woman who is simply taking her frustrations from her own life out on me. I am not responsible for her problems. None of them.

This is my quandary. Any advice would be much appreciated.