Bad Hot Dog or Psychic Ability?

I will report to you about my Derby adventures very soon...
in the meantime, if you want get a glimpse of the madness, hop on over to my
www.flickr.com photo sharing spot.

Instead, today, I have to let you know what happened as I was heading home from my long weekend in the 'Ville.

Basically, I almost died...
Well, I almost had a very bad wreck.
Luckily, because of a hot dog I bought from a street vendor after the Oaks race, I was very aware that something bad was about to happen.

I knew, quite certainly, that something bad was going to happen to me
or someone I love, for at least 72 hours prior to the actual event.

You see, every now and then, I get this feeling I call the "impending doom feeling".
You may not know this about me.
Mainly, just my Mom and Mark hear about this sort of thing.
Mom has it too.
The feelings, that is.
Mark thinks these feelings are kinda (real) crazy, but he's glad I listen to my instincts.
This time, especially.

So, back to the scenario; it all started with a bad hot dog from a street vendor.
The next day my stomach hurt and my mind was anxiety ridden.
I thought it was from all the late night derby partying..
and that damn hot dog
but I still couldn't shake it...
or maybe it was a hangover.
After it went on all afternoon, without a headache, I knew It's wasn't a hangover,
after all... I know what a hangover feels like.

It was something else.

I spent the night with my sister Sunday night and couldn't sleep to save my life,
although I was completely exhausted.
I went to bed at 10pm...but didn't sleep until about 4am. Betweent the hours of 10 and 4,
I kept feeling like my arms were going numb, I'd nod off and then I'd wake up suddenly.
I thought I was developing sleep apnea.

Even the next morning, whren I was heading to G-town to visit my Mom for Mother's Day, I still had that awful feeling.
It was getting harder to push out of my mind.

Was it Lilly at the kennel needing me?
Was my visit with Grandma not going to happen due to something awful?
Was Mark having car trouble somewhere far, far away?

I spent the night with my Mom and Dad and
the next morning my bad feeling was so strong I started crying in my car heading back to Louisville.
Not boo-hooing, but tearing up all day...

What the hell?
Am I suffering from depression?
Have I lost my mind?
Did that fricking hot dog infect my brain?

Dad was having some routine medical tests done the day I was driving home.
God, I hope nothing is up with that.

Then I saw a box turtle trying to cross the freeway with his neck stuck waaaaaaay out.
Dead animals on the highway really upset me.
( I always say a little prayer for their souls.)
I started feeling like my bad feeling had something to do with the turtle.
Or the highway.

On I went.

I passed an awful wreck with a semi on I-64.
The feeling was still there after I drove past the wreckage.

So, maybe it IS just the stress of moving...relocating...etc...
Maybe I am, in fact, hung over, or old, or depressed. Because, if it wasn't the massive wreck I just passed...
Well, then it must just be me losing my tiny mind.

About that time, while I was daydreaming, of what it could be,
I noticed I was following one of those big trucks that transports cars.
You know, the ones that have 10 or 12 cars at funny angles with plastic on the hoods?
Well, I was looking at the very last car on the bottom rack, right in front of me, and suddenly the feeling was unbearable.
Oh no.
This is it.
Where those chains going to pop loose and dump a car on me?
Right here on the highway?

At that very moment a very long, heavy, metal, ramp/ ladder
( the kind that is used to get the cars up onto the big truck)
slid out of it's storage bin, off the transport truck and
came careening towards my little jeep at about 70 miles per hour.

I SLAMMED on my brakes and successfully avoided running over, or being hit by, the big, bouncing and quite dangerous HUGE piece of heavy steel and looked in my rearview mirror only to see an enormous light blue Mack truck screeching up behind me.

I tensed up so hard for those few seconds, my back still has a kink in it.

The ladder then wildly flip-flopped into the far right lane and another large delivery truck slammed on his brakes.

It was metal on concrete and squealing brakes and complete white noise silence, all at once.
Then we all started moving again.

No one stopped. Not even those of us directly involved with the death cheating event.
We did, however, remain at a crawl for a while...
Trying to regain our composure, I suppose.

For the next 10 or so minutes, my arms were completely numb,
just like the night I was trying to sleep

Tears immediately started squirting out of my eyes,
the same ones I had been trying to suppress all morning

And my stomach flipped inside out.
just like that stinking hot dog did to me.

When I quit freaking out and got it back up to 65mph,
the impending doom feeling vanished.
Just like that.
Poof.
Gone.
And...
Mystery solved.

Thank goodness, I'm just quacky enough to delve into these things.

Many folks might have dismissed the feeling...
and many folks might have had to tango with the ladder.

So next time your feeling a little funky,
just remember this little story from your crazy pal, Anessa....

Don't be afraid to trust your gut...
'cause it just MIGHT NOT BE THE HOT DOG!