MS Strength

A few things are changing around here. For the past couple of years I’ve been (somewhat) satisfied with being a safe haus frau, writing from home, and having the occasional jaunt out during the week to volunteer or visit with family members/friends. Working from home has been a blessing in terms of keeping me employed part-time (I also receive Social Security benefits, which took 2 1/2 years of scanty employment, complete hardship, and tenacious interactions with the Social Security Administration to receive.) But now I need more. I need an outside, part-time career. For my own sanity.

I’m starting graduate school at the end of August. I’ll be doing an online distance ed Master’s of Social Work— MSW— program and it’ll take between 3 – 4 years, with clinical rotations, to complete. The clinical rotations will be separate from the classes, and they’ll require about 18 hours of in-person work a week. As the turtle, I’ll be very slowly and steadily taking this program one course at a time for 8-week increments pretty much year-round (I WILL get a little time off between 16-week semesters!)

At the same time, I am now making and will continue to make some needed changes within myself to be more than I currently am. Some important tweakings. How can I be of service to anyone if I have unaddressed issues of my own? So a more cohesive Jen. And two of the initial areas I’ll be addressing will be my inner and outer strengths. I’ve found a local yoga studio, the Center for Health and Healing, which will have me work the front desk on Thursdays from 9 – 3pm in exchange for unlimited free yoga classes and 1/2 price massages. It’s finally time to get out and do some yoga! I’m pretty excited and I think the 6-hour commitment each week will help me slowly build my outside work endurance (I’ve been maintaining about 8 hours of weekly sedentary volunteer work thus far.)

I believe in my mind, my heart, and in my soul that I can maintain about 12 – 20 hours of mostly sedentary work each week. No more long hours on my feet as an ultrasound tech. But this is fine with me, as I believe in my mind, my heart, and in my soul that I can be of service as a medical social worker, and now’s the time to begin this new chapter in my life.

Yoga job starts bright and early next Thursday morning…

What a great day yesterday! I ventured down to Delaware to meet Joan (from A Short in the Cord and Joan’s MS Chat Room), Lisa (from Brass and Ivory, MS Central, and The Carnival of MS Bloggers), and Sonia (one of Joan’s local MS buddies and a fellow chatter.)

Woo Hoo!!…… It was awesome to meet fellow MS writers and chatters in person, after nearly two years of online interactions. And we found that we had TONS to TALK ABOUT in person. Joan was a little concerned that we might have nothing to say when actually brought together in one room, but not so. We had lots of laughs, we shared more information, we learned more deeply about one another’s lives, and we also talked about NON-MS stuff!

An MS issue we did discuss: what did we feel were our greatest multiple sclerosis symptoms and did they greatly affect us? Joan and Sonia mentioned their stopped-in-their-tracks fatigue which altered both of their career paths. I mentioned my own embarrassing and VERY annoying bladder and bowel urgencies, and Lisa explained her right leg weakness and the compounding rheumatoid arthritis hand symptoms (although it was good to hear that her current RA med is helping BOTH of her conditions.)

We enjoyed food and some wine and we gazed at Joan’s adorable backyard with bird houses, feeders, and many visitors. Joan’s home actually backs to a water runoff area that has filled in since she moved there, giving her a serene small pond that she shares with other neighbors. SO COOL!…..We even met Joan’s husband Tedd and I got some better directions home, since I got thrown off course with MapQuest’s ambiguous information (SIGH…)

All in all: what a GREAT TIME!…. Thanks for such a splendid day, ladies, and I can’t wait to do it again soon. We hope to continue and make this a tradition, involving more MS ladies who’d like to gather and celebrate good food and good friendships and LIFE. We all ROCK n’ ROLL!……