It’s A Fight For Your Life

Or at least in my case it is.

I’ve lived all of my life, or all that I can remember anyway, here in this sleepy little town. Eugene may be “Track Town U.S.A.” but mostly it’s just rainy, quiet, and, in my opinion, safe.

Now under normal circumstances, I would say that there’s nothing wrong with safe. But current circumstances in my life are… Less than normal. Thus calling for a different approach to my life.

My house hold is as such; myself, the baby of three kids, somewhat spoiled, but came out with a good head on her shoulders… My brother, going on 22 and still living at home, working a dead-end job and barely trying to change… My dad, a great person, amazing dad, but barely home to spend time with his family due to work… And then there is my mother.

I would say something along the lines of “I love my mother, really I do… BUT…” followed by all the reasons I DON’T love her, but I’m not one to lie to myself…

My mother has been the bane of my existence since hitting that “wonderful” thing called adolescence. Now, again, under normal circumstances, one would think that the feeling would pass. However, yet again, normal doesn’t work well with me.

What occurred due to my hitting adolescence was a “my way or the highway” attitude that butted heads with my mother’s own “my way or the highway” attitude, creating a gridlock that sprouted for a great dislike for my mother I haven’t been able to curb.

You can imagine that this would create for a tense at-home atmosphere, and you would be imagining right, but I’m sure not really as bad as it is in reality for me. When my mom is in a good mood, we’re all in a good mood. When she’s in a bad mood… We’re in a horrible mood.

Hence the need for an escape, you see.

So when a dear friend of mine suggested I live with her until I can manage to make my move to Portland, I couldn’t have jumped on that any quicker than I did.

In a sense, this really is a fight for my life. I’m just not doing any literal fighting, but more mental. I needed to save myself from this crushingly oppressive place, and by golly, I’m going to do it!

The move to Washington is scheduled for after Christmas. Tentatively said, as with Washington/Oregon weather in winter, you can never be sure if today might bring about that thing called snow.

After that, the plan for Portland is sometime in February. Laurie will be joining me there, as she’s staying here in Eugene… Rather alone and sad…

From there the real point of this blog will surface. You might ask yourself, well what is the point? …Well, you would if you gave a rat’s ass about this, but nevertheless.

The point?

The point is that for all the years I can remember living in Eugene, I’ve never really lived in Eugene. I had the typical places I knew; the bus station, the malls, the library, where all the good grocery stores were, etc… but I never really took the time to find the hidden gems of this town that I’ve called home since I was five.

Well that won’t be so when I’m living in Portland.

I was up visiting my brother a while back, during the summer or early fall if I remember right… He took me around the streets of downtown Portland and knew so much. “Over this way is a great coffee place, oh and that place there has amazing food.” I was almost a little jealous of how well he knew the city he lived in, while the same couldn’t be said for me.

So back to the point.

I plan to never spend a boring night at home, complaining to Laurie about how bored I am and about how we should do something, but end up not doing anything. It shall not be so. We’ll go out and eat at random restaurants – ordering the first thing we see on the menu and eating it, even if we hate whatever is in it! Talking to people we meet on the street, going in to stores we would have otherwise ignored. Simple things like that, but to Laurie and me… It will be an adventure… Everyday.

Of course we will be talking about our mini-adventures into Downtown Portland here, complete with commentary and pictures! Why, isn’t life grand?

Misse

~ by everydayadventurers on December 17, 2009.