Cars, pedestrians and other comedy sportz!

Right, so this is more like 2 weeks in between posts, but in my defense, CQ was over here with Kitten and Falling Leaves and they were all...CQing and Kittening and Falling around, so we couldn't concentrate...so...yeah...!

Anyway, it's been a crazy two weeks, the worst of which came two days ago. I'm just gonna preface this by saying "No sprites, Highlanders or teenagers were harmed in the making of this incident!"

Kevin and I were in a car accident Thursday night. We hit two teenagers that we know through their families at school (I actually do an afterschool reading team with the mom of the passenger and had the little sister of the driver in my GT class). We were coming down the main road going home and the driver turned in front of us to make a left on our green light. When he saw us, he put his brakes on, so they slowed down instead of speeding out of the way (his insurance company later told us he was reacting to his girlfriend's scream when she saw us coming at them). We slammed our brakes and tried to avoid them, but there was no way to go but into their car.

Even now, it's like a bad dream where things NEARLY happen, but nothing quite comes of it. There were emergency vehicles everywhere and lots of broken car parts, but no hurt people...even the kids were fine. Our airbags didn't deploy, but the seatbelts were enough. I had this horrible moment where I thought the Highlander was injured, and another when I thought we'd hurt the two kids, but none of that came to pass. Our car was totaled, so a sheriff had to drive us home, but the rental people got us another car yesterday. And even though we had initial worries about this being a huge problem (two teachers hit local teens, or local kids fight insurance claim), the family accepted full responsibility and all our needs will be paid for. Heck, while visiting the doctor yesterday, we found out our favorite nurse hates her green 1995 Subaru Legacy (the EXACT car we totaled!) and would LOVE to trade it for our gas guzzling GMC Sierra that we've had off the road for months!

I guess the only piece of this that makes this real is that yesterday, we were both home and safe on a school day without some sort of debilitating illness being involved (you guys KNOW what I'm talking about!). We slept in and rested pretty well, so all we have is stiffness and my tongue being sore from biting it. I actually had a UTI that I should have stayed home from work on Friday for (and wasn't going to), and the Highlander (who's a sub and part time at a lab) has had no paid days off since...um, last year at this time when he was still considered full time at the lab! If not for the car being totaled, both of us would have been stretched thin at work and come home exhausted. Had it even been just a fender bender, we'dve had to handle all the insurance stuff while TRYING to work.

This whole episode has become a weird blessing in disguise, I guess. Admittedly, we're good and sore NOW, but still...it's the kind of day where you should hug the ones you love, call the ones you miss and thank God that you've got your health.

Anyway, I know this sounds weird, but I needed to TALK about this! The Highlander and I have rehashed the whole thing so many times now, it's not even FUNNY, but I still wanted to just...TELL someone. I'm not quite sure why, but I've noticed people tend to WANT to talk about really scary life stuff (like, I really WANTED to talk about my grandma when she passed, or when I rolled my car a few winters ago). I feel like some sort of morbid braggart, but it really helps to share it. Does anyone else get that feeling?

In less "holy !@#$" kind of news, I think I'm going to audition for Comedy Sportz in Buffalo. I haven't gotten to do much improv outside of my normal classroom goofiness lately (plus I've forgotten what a pain it was to drive into town and do late night shows...oh, wait...). Okay, STILL, I'm gonna try out. If I don't get in, no worries. If I do...I'll have to think about that part of it when it happens! Easier to say no after I've actually MADE the cut than to never try at all, right?

Oh, and I've been WALKING! I've actually been getting outside and walking the streets trying to earn extra money for...no, wait, that's KEVIN! I'VE been walking for my HEALTH! :-) I realized how crazy it was to get upset at my mom for being in shape and not condoning the lumpy middleagedness that is myself and decided to do something about it all. Kevin's neck has been bad, so he hasn't been walking EVERY day with me, but he INSISTS on following me in the car like some kind of stalker! :-) I've convinced him to at least go up a street instead of trailing behind me so that the neighbors don't run outside and try to confront him while dragging me to their porch for safety!

Anyway, we've gotta get to the hospital to get Kevin's neck X-rayed (just to be safe). I'll throw some more down later...!

Our 2007 Holiday Letter (in worse format than the original!)

Happy Holidays 2007 From The Burkes!

About 10 years ago, Kevin and I met each other playing a game online. There were, at the time, over 1500 people playing that game at any given time during the day and I was already closer buddies with one of his friends. Neither of us was looking to do more than play a game and have fun with our free time, yet somehow we ended up together for life.

You’d think THAT would be a constant reminder that things always happen for a reason…!

Life is really funny sometimes. Last year was a year of loss and change, but somehow, as I write this fifth holiday update, I’m surprised at how we gain when we accept that we lost. Too many events have happened this year to remind us of this. For starters, our picture this year wasn’t taken on our anniversary (which we mutually decided to skip to work summer school). This picture was taken at the wedding of a close friend of ours, someone we might not have been reacquainted with if not for the passing of our friend Tom Hollis.

Last summer, we lost my grandmother Lucy Rollins, but almost exactly a year later, my brother Eric breathes new life into our family by marrying Antra.

We braced ourselves for more lean years when Kevin decided to go back to teaching (even went so far as to decide to let go of the house if needed), but found that a HUGE part of the pain in his head and neck came from the stress of working at the lab. Now that he’s been subbing all over the county, we’re finding we don’t go through as much medication to keep his pain at bay. Coupled with the gas saved in going to work together, we’re actually SAVING money.

We were late to a student’s basketball game and felt we’d really missed something important, but arrived at a crossroads just in time to witness a terrible car accident. Had we been on time to the game, we wouldn’t have been there to hold the victim’s head and comfort him until help arrived. The experience became even more real for us as later that same day, another accident happened at the same intersection and a life WAS lost.

Even the song that we chose to mark our anniversary, “Solsbury Hill” by Peter Gabriel, turned out to be prophetic in more ways than one. I was listening to it while driving Kevin home from his myelogram. He was so worn out and tired looking from his 6 hour ordeal that seeing the sun shine on his face and hearing the words “Grab your things, I’ve come to take you home” really hit me hard. As it stands, it’s also a song about letting go, taking a risk to reach for your goals, despite your fears.

The name of the game this year, then, is faith and perseverance. Obviously, we haven’t STOPPED trying to do what needs to be done to survive or to help others, but we can see there’s no point in worrying any further about whether things will all work out. More importantly we know better now than to worry if they will work out the way we WANT them to.

So, while life here is never perfect, we’ve learned to accept a few basic truths:

Wherever you are is where you need to be at that time (even if you’re late to work or a basketball game).

Do what you can to make things happen (God bless the child that’s got his own), but remember to thank God for those unanswered prayers, too.

Stop waiting for the other shoe to fall…if life will take a wrong turn, it doesn’t need your pessimism to guide it in!

Love and support each other in your dreams…and always be ready to grab your loved one’s things and take them back home.

Have a wonderful 2008!!!

From Kevin & Daina