What is Fate?

Wikipedia defines it as:

A power or agency that predetermines and orders the course of events; that these events are ordered or inevitable or unavoidable and that humans can have no effect upon their own fates or upon the fates of others.

I’ve always wondered about fate. Are our lives predestined or do things happen purely through chance?

Is it fate that makes you miss the train or the plane that crashes or is it just luck?  Or is it just bad luck for you to be on that train or plane. 

It’s definitely grist to the writer’s mill and it’s something that has been particularly on my mind recently, especially after the recent terrorism in Tunisia. What if those people on the beach had decided to spend the day by the pool instead, or go on a day trip, or even go on holiday to another resort or country? It makes you wonder.

It would be hard not to be aware of the fact that this week is the 10^th anniversary of the bombings in London on 7 July 2005.

Like 9/11 I don’t think anyone will forget where they were as the news of these devastating acts of terrorism unfolded, and watching the documentaries which are being shown in memory of the anniversary, I am no less horrified today than I was ten years ago.

I lived in London for nine years, only coming back to the north-west in 1995.  I thought nothing of whizzing around on the tubes and buses, it really is the only way to get around.  So those bombers weren’t just making a protest they were trying to destroy the very essence of London life. 

A week after the event, I had to go down to London for a work meeting, to Russell Square of all places, where the organisation I worked for had an office.  I must admit to being very nervous.  What if my one-off journey proved to be the day that a further strike was made on the city?  It didn’t help that armed police were patrolling the tiny Chester train station, which completely unnerved me.  My boss told me to get a taxi when I reached Euston station and so I made my way underground to the taxi rank.

I phoned my husband to let him know that I had arrived safely when an alarm went off and over the tannoy we were told to evacuate the building.  The rail staff directed us outwards towards daylight but when we got there, the police were directing us back into the building. I was pretty scared I can tell you and I seriously thought that these might be my last moments.  I can still remember the relief when I made it out in one piece.  All thoughts of getting a taxi fled from my mind and I walked to the office.  Mind you, walking down the route that the fateful bus had taken was unnerving in itself.

It turned out that the evacuation was the result of someone who had left a bag unattended, but the police were on high alert because the next day the accomplices to the bombers were arrested.

I’m not sure whether it’s because of that experience, or because London is very much in my blood, that the events of 7 July have always been very close to my heart. Afterwards I did a lot of research on how the events unfolded and put that into a story. 

Over time the story has lain on my hard-drive as I’ve never been sure what to do with it.  As time went on I thought that it was probably redundant.  But I’ve decided that I don’t want it to lay dormant forever, and so tomorrow on the anniversary I’m going to post it here on my blog.

I hope you enjoy it.

I'm Back!

Well, I have been for a while now but I have to confess that I just haven’t found the time to blog – naughty, naughty!

We had a lovely relaxing holiday – well until my husband fell off a camel that is (more about that later)! The weather in Tunisia wasn’t brilliant – sometimes it was quite hot and that was great, but when the clouds came over, it was really quite cold.  The weather changed for the better on the day we left so what does that tell you?  The swimming pools were freezing which was a bit of a disappointment for us all.

The hotel did have its own private beach though, which was lovely.  It was great to be able to read my book(s) to the sound of the waves, without having to schlep for miles to find it in the first place. The boys loved playing in the sand too which definitely compensated for the swimming pool.

When we booked we didn’t realise that the tourist parts of Tunisia shut down over the winter so we were there right at the start of the season and it was really quiet.  I couldn’t believe how few children were there considering that it was the Easter holidays. That was good in one way but meant that the boys didn’t really make any new friends which they love to do on holiday.

The staff at the hotel were absolutely fantastic. We didn’t have to lift a finger it was A-MAZ-ING.  They couldn’t do enough for us and were so friendly and welcoming (we did tip a bit so maybe that helped but I think the service would have been excellent anyway).  Instead of the usual queuing at bars and drinks in plastic glasses, proper drinks in proper glasses were served to you at the table which was quite a unique experience in an all-inclusive hotel.  However, the fact that we were really spoilt makes it harder now that we are home.  Maid service? Oh yes, that me. Waiter service –me again. Chief cook and bottle washer – yes you guessed it!

The Tunisian people were lovely, lovely people but they were a bit desperate and because of that whenever we went out of the hotel complex we were constantly bombarded by people trying to sell us things we didn’t want to buy. Don’t get me wrong, they were lovely and polite about it but they were incredibly tenacious and reluctant to take no for an answer.  A lot of the stalls had colourful but bulky pottery items which would have been impossible to get in our suitcases, let alone survive the journey home intact. Although the constant bombardment was irritating, you had to admire them for their work ethic and desire to provide for their families. It’s a shame that a lot more people in this country aren’t prepared to work so hard for such little reward.  Let’s face it, there are many people in this country who don’t think that they should work at all – they just want everything handed to them on a plate.

Meeting the Tunisian people was a wonderful experience and it was a truly relaxing holiday.  Shame that it already seems like such a long time ago!

I've been tagged

The lovely  Teresa Ashby has tagged me - sorry Teresa, I've been a bit slack in replying to this.

The tag has the lucky 7 meme. It’s all about the number seven – lucky for some. The tagged-one has to turn to page 77 of their current work in progress, go to line 7 and copy out the next 7 lines, sentences or paragraphs. Then 7 more people must be tagged

I'm afraid page the lines 7-14 on page 77 weren't especially exciting, but this is only a rough first draft.

So here goes:

My reflection doesn’t please me at all.  Once upon a time, in days which are a blip in my memory, my stomach was flat.  Now, a roll of fat hangs over my Caesarean scar in a wobbly unattractive dollop.  But I can’t just blame it on the children. Somehow I’ve managed to add to the weight I gained carrying them and the result is a heavier more maternal figure than I’m happy with. I’m really going to have to do something to stop the rot before I turn into a complete dough ball. Exercise: something else to try and cram into my already packed day. There’s no point joining a gym; it would be a waste of money.  But an exercise DVD could be an option. I might just be able to find some time to do that when the children are asleep – if I’m not too knackered that is.

Not very exciting is it?  I don't know who to tag on this one so I'll just leave it open. If anyone wants to try this and leave a comment I'd be really interested to read them.

Well, now, I'm off to Tunisa in the wee small hours of the morning. Have spent the last week, shopping, washing, ironing and packing.  Now my head feels as though it's about to explode trying to remember who needs to take what and if there's anything I've forgotten.  Of course there will be.  One year I forgot to pack the chargers for the kid's DS's - I wasn't exactly a popular mummy that holiday I can tell you. I'm not the best of packers, I find it impossible to decide what to take and end up taking far too much and usually coming back with a suitcase full of clean clothes.  But strangely this year, I've managed to fit everything for the four of us into three suitcases, one of which is rather small.  This has left me with a feeling of dread because it doesn't feel right at all. Who knows, I may have finally got the hang of this holdiay lark but somehow I doubt it.  But if anyone moans this year I'm not going to apologise - they can do their own packing next time.

One thing I won't be forgetting to pack though is my Kindle (with its charger) my writing magazines, my notebook and plenty of pens.   Then if anyone does moan, I'll just stick my head in a book and ignore the lot of them.

Happy Easter everyone, hope you don't overdose too much on chocolate.

Oh and yes, I have remembered to pack the mini eggs for the Easter Bunny but don't tell the kids!

Linda

HOORAY!

Finally managed to book a holdiay over Easter. To Tunisa.  I've never been there before and I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised.  It does wipe out most of the time over the bank holidays where I would normally catch up on things around the house, but I don't care, I can't wait to get a break.

It's a really early flight - have to be at the airport at 4.30 in the morning (which I hate) and we get back at tea time the day before the boys go back to school. My eldest is going on a 3 day activtiy trip with school the next morning, so he is going to be shattered. And I am going to have to be ultered organised to manage it all (oops). 

The only downside is that this morning I realised that my eldest son's passport runs out in June so I'm going to have to get it renewed before we go. (Good job I decided to check this morning).  If I check and send then it should come back in two weeks - keep your fingers crossed for me or we won't be going anywhere.

Off to the post office now!

Take care!