As I was driving home, Paulette called me and said that she was at McDonald's too, and had just seen me drive past.
She then asked if I would like to go and see the movie Super Size Me this morning.
Now that's ironic.
t.
A young mother stood quietly by the bedroom door,
Whilst her little son knelt by his bed on the floor,
She listened intently to what he was saying,
And heard him say, "Please, for my Daddy I'm praying,
God, my Daddy has gone to the end where it's sharp.
It's not very nice there in the bush when its dark.
Daddy's taken a knife and a hat for the sun,
And because of the 'terrs' he's taken a gun.
Please God, look for my Daddy and keep him safe.
It's not easy to find him in that sharp end place;
For he's wearing clothes the colour of trees,
And crawls through tall grass on his hands and knees.
I know if you find him Mummy won't feel so sad,
And dear God, you will like him because he's my Dad."
By Vera Phillips Mealing
t.
My brother had one too. When he was 17 he fell 120 metres down a cliff. He landed on solid rock on his back and should have died. He was in a wheelchair for six months and consequently failed the physical for entry to the Australian Army but hey.. he lived.
Mum and I had a close call back in 1989 when we went on a skiing trip. We were driving slowly down the mountain with chains on the tyres for the sleet and one of the chains slipped and punctured the front, left tyre. The car skid completely out of control and headed for the edge of the road which unfortunately was a sheer drop down the mountain. The car somehow came to a stop, I opened the front passenger door and all I could see was trees hundreds of metres below me. I climbed out through the back seat. I don't know what log or angle or snow bank decided that our car should stop where it did, but another 10 cm and we would have gone over.
My other close to death experiences were during my marriage to Wayne. I never talk about those so just take my word for it that I am often surprised that I made it to my 21st Birthday ... and my 25th and my 30th.
It's weird how we often talk about "nearly dying" only when people have sustained massive injuries and they are hanging onto life. We don't however reflect back on the times when we actually came away totally unscathed but could easily have lost our lives.
Thing is.. when put in these situations do people ALWAYS take the "live" option? How would we know if sometimes a person is in a live or die situation and says "fuck it" and chooses the death option? I know I wouldn't because I have my son to live for. Shame there's no data available.
t.
Nothing annoys me more than people who sit back, stretch their arms to the sky and say "My life is fucked because.... and there's nothing I can do about it."
I was faced with failing Uni a couple of days ago so today I applied for credit. I ran around to three different departments to lodge my "Application for Special Consideration" and my "Application for Deferred Exam". I picked up two assignments. I borrowed a textbook for the exam.
At least now I can sit back, stretch my arms skyward and say "There is nothing more I can do. I have changed my situation to the best of my ability and now I will just cope with what remains."
t.
Well .. as I said, everything for a reason. The Learning Coordinator talked to me and then through discussion I mentioned my previous University study - saying that it was so much easier the first time when I was living with my parents, straight out of school, easier subjects (Primary Teaching) and without a child with a disability to deal with. She then asked how much I did of my Teaching degree and when she found out that I had done two and half out of three years she told me that they could give me FIVE units credit for that previous study! She has effectively knocked 6 months off my degree and reduced my workload to 3 subjects a semester instead of 4. If all goes to plan I will be finished my degree end June next year!
So there you go - I started the day in tears because I think I failed the exam, and ended up chopping six months off my degree and reducing the workload by a quarter.
Thanks to everyone who sent emails and sms wishing me luck and asking how it went. You know I love you all!
t.