confessions of a shut-in

i’ve been in the same house without leaving for 6 days now. the house happens to be my mother’s, in the mountain range near the oregon coast, in the middle of nowhere. seriously, we’re not even on the power grid. our power comes from a generator and an arsenal of batteries. however, as long as i can flip a light switch and turn on a light, blow dry my hair after a hot shower, pee indoors, and log onto the internet, i feel extremely lucky. my mother has subjected my sister and i to much worse in her attempt to get in touch with the very large piece of her that feels she should have been born in an earlier era that includes a horse-drawn carriage as means of transportation.

i haven’t lived with my mother since i was 17 years old, and here i am at age 31 feeling like i’ve regressed so far back in life that i’ve reached the epitome of patheticism. you can look that last word up, but you won’t find it. that’s because i made it up. it seemed most befitting, even considering the fact that it’s not a real word. i’m just that innovative. when there is no word i can use to describe something, i make one up.

ok, back to my original rant. i live with my mother. why? well, it’s sort of a long story laced with bad decisions that led to this among other consequences. ultimately though, i now have an amazing daughter and an amazing experience that i will eventually share with you. but in the meantime, i’m going to whine a little about living under my mother’s roof again. in the middle of nowhere. did i mention i also have no car?