2008 has been a strange year. I have only now spent more time out of hospital than in: 16 months since I left, 14 months inside. It's been a year of some drifting, getting used to life outside, being the main carer at home again but now in a wheelchair. It's been a year of music, having been given an iPod last Christmas. It's been a year of re-establishing old friendships and building new ones. It's been the year when my beloved cat finally accepted me again, having spent the last twelve months running away whenever I wheeled near.
2009 will be the year I return to books. I will get fitter and less fat. I will push myself to the swimming pool rather than drive there. I will push myself into town for my coffee fix. I will not accept bland acknowledgements of complaints: I will follow any complaint through to resolution, even if it means invoking the Disability Discrimination Act. I will visit more schools to observe their teaching styles. I will start my PGCE in September.
It's going to be full of excitements.
