"'Twas the best of times, 'twas the worst of times"

I can't remember who uttered these words but they were said by a prominent writer I believe? Charles Dickens perhaps? Anyway that is how I can sum up the last few weeks of my existence.

I lost my father after a very short illness and this came as a blow. Seeing him lying helpless in a hospital bed left one feeling empty and gutted because he has never been a sickly person. One day it was a routine check up, one day he needed to be operated on urgently, one day he was too fragile to be operated and the other day he was gone. Very jolly person, who was content with the world and who lived for his family, my father. I was part of the delegation that went to dress him before the burial rituals and that experience is forever imprinted in my mind. Having to deal with my mother throughout the whole process was difficult and heart breaking. But I've known her to be a strong person. It is an experience one is never prepared for and words can never be enough to express the emotions.

During this time I had already taken a conscious decision that I was leaving my cushy job and was going to do my articles in order to be admitted as an attorney. It was a huge decision taken after many years of contemplation. Part of the decision involved relocating and leaving my family behind in order to pursue this dream of mine. It is heartening to know that there is a lot of support from family and friends and one will not be left in a lurch.

I have had to give up all the privileges that comes up with being in management and have gone back to using my old laptop that in my opinion belongs in a dustbin. For the past two weeks or so I could not access my emails and the Internet because of an unidentifiable problem with this dinosaur of mine. I have been advised not to do automatic updates because it seems that every time I do that then my access to the Internet is gone. Am I going to lose all my information once it crashes? I believe it is a matter of time.

In all this madness I have also registered with the Law Society and Unisa to do my Practical Legal Training through distance education and am also finishing my masters with UWC. I have already missed a number of deadlines for assignments, research proposal and so forth. My life is a right mess. So begins my life of being a student in the true sense of the word. I will conquer though, I will make it.

And in the meantime life has been happening, the elections, the never ending Zuma saga, the world cup and the world economy, and oh!, there is still that debate between me and Laura on education that I still have to respond to. I think it is a debate we need to take further.

In the meantime I enjoyed reading all my favourite blogs although I was not in a position to add tlhware logonyana....lets continue blogging!!