My favorite super hero

When I was a kid I used to collect comic books. But never the super hero kind. I uh...liked Richie Rich, Casper the Ghost, and Archie comics. Give me a break...I am a girl and I was less than ten years old.

But now that I am decades older, I kinda like the idea of super heroes. Especially in the movies. They are making the characters less cartoonish and more...human. The newest Batman movies have an innate darkness to them which I really like. The lead role was given to someone who is a bit dark himself. Spiderman is goofily vulnerable. They have not come out with a superman or Hulk that I approve of yet. But Iron Man! Ooooh Iron Man!

Maybe it is because I have a crush on Robert Downey Jr. (Have always loved him. Remember him as Charlie Chaplin or in Ally McBeal?) but the character of Tony Stark is made for him. I love the dichotomy of arrogance and humility. What I especially like about this character is that Iron Man is so human. He doesn't possess super human powers, he is smart enough to create them from scratch. How cool is that?

And the best part about Iron Man is that unlike other super heroes, he fully admits that he is Iron Man. What confidence! He is also able to admit when he is wrong, turn around and do what is right and kick some ass in the process. What is there not to love?

I am so looking forward to the sequel.

So who is your favorite super hero? What qualities do you like in your super heroes?
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On another note...

If you haven't ever checked out Health Central please do stop by. I feel like the Wizard of Oz or something. Who is that person behind the curtain? I have been diligently working behind the scenes for some time and I have recently accepted the position of being the Community Leader for both the Depression and Multiple Sclerosis sites on Health Central as well as continuing to be a contributor for these sites.

I have never liked the title of "expert" and I am very happy to see this designation go and hopefully soon. I am not an expert and will never claim to be one. I am merely a writer who suffers from depression and has Multiple Sclerosis. I have always been involved with on-line support groups and sites and it feels really good to be a part of this. I would not have been able to survive all that I have survived thus far without the help of others.

So if you are in need of support or need some information or just want to hang out with some new really cool people...come on by to check out these on-line communities. As I was saying in an earlier post, there are a lot of folk on these sites who could benefit from your knowledge, stories, and experiences. You can write share posts, answer questions, or simply lend your support to people who are in need.

My last posts for the sites are still going strong...if you still want to join the discussion it is not too late. We were discussing emotionally abusive relationships and also whether or not there is such a thing as an MS personality.

If you have never read Doctor Deb's blog, I would encourage you to do so. Can't say enough good things about Doctor Deborah Serani. She is a writer, mental health therapist, and blogger extraordinare. It was my honor to be granted a written interview with her for MS Health Central. Doctor Deb talks in detail about how to emotionally cope with having a chronic illness such as Multiple Sclerosis. You can read her insightful interview right here.

Also I am hoping to continue the discussion about emotionally abusive relationships in how to leave such a situation. I am hoping with this series of posts to be able to give hope to those who find themselves in such a relationship and don't know what to do. There are so many young girls out there who will end up being in an abusive situation (such as myself years ago) and I am hoping these honest discussions will prevent this from happening.

You can read my latest post on this topic right here.

T-t-t-that's all folks! See you next Tuesday if not before.

Back on track?

I was looking for an image to go with the theme of getting "back on track" and saw this. LOL It isn't what I was originally looking for but is possibly more appropriate.

Oh to have a boring life!


To have a boring life requires a life of no stress. But this is not possible, least not for me. Sometimes stress can spark creativity. And um...let's see...what else is stress good for? I can't think of any other positive spins on stress can you? Other than...it keeps life interesting.

One of the ways I cope with stress is to read. To my son that is...

My youngest son loves books and here is a few of his favorites. He can just about recite them by heart. Sometimes it gets my mind off of my troubles to read to him.


The first of his faves is a book called "Millions of Cats"

I don't know about you but I can hardly deal with a couple of cats. Especially my kitten. She is still stealing my hair accessories!

Another favorite is Ruby the Copycat.

It is a cute story about Ruby and how she wants to be just like another girl in her class, Angela who wears red bows in her hair. So Ruby begins to wear red bows, wear the same clothes, and mimic Angela in every way. Ruby annoys the heck out of Angela until a kindly teacher points out that Ruby should be Ruby first. Have you ever had to deal with a copycat? In school I was the person who people copied from on tests. And I was also the person to write other people's papers. What a sucker I was. :>)

Nowadays kids can simply go on the internet and cut and paste papers and hand them in as their own. Plagiarism is a whole lot easier to accomplish these days for both kids and adults.

I never really went through the phase of copying another's style or identity. I still remember during my college days...going to a punk club with friends who were all dressed in black. I was wearing pink. They didn't want to be seen with me. I found it amusing that they were trying to be so "different" but ended up looking so alike.

And how about that quote: "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery"? What are your thoughts?

I think it is just damn annoying myself.

My son's personal favorite though is the book called, Bootsie Barker Bites.



Although Bootsie is portrayed as bad girl....my son likes her. Perhaps that is why he likes her. And Bootsie has the hat and boots fashion statement going for her...along with a good set of choppers. What's not to like?

Speaking of choppers...went to the dentist the other day. Sat there waiting until the receptionist looked confused and told me that my appointment wasn't until next month. Nice. Yet another sign that I am losing my marbles.

But who needs marbles anyway?

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And now for some links....

1. Fact or Fiction? Does the MS personality exist?

If you have ever perused the literature on Multiple Sclerosis you may have come across a term used to describe the temperament of someone who has MS called, "the MS personality." I began to wonder if MS could ultimately change personality and if so, what sort of personality are we supposed to morph into? I would like to think that I am pretty much the same person as I was before this disease. But is this really true?

Do you believe there is such a thing as an "MS personality"?

Please come and join the conversation by following this link.

2. MS and the Circus (posted on Stuart's Site)

Sometimes I can go about my day and not think about my MS. But that is a rare day indeed. Usually a symptom will erupt to remind me that I have this disease. And yet on other days I am reminded of the extent to which my Multiple Sclerosis has changed my life forever. I took my son to the circus recently. To tell you the truth, I have never been so fond of the circus. But my son loves it and so we go each and every year. It can be fun with all the dazzling colors, fanciful costumes, the roar of lions, and the sweet stickiness of cotton candy. But what is not fun is to have to deal with MS symptoms while in such a public and crowded venue.

Want to read more? Follow the yellow brick road...or this link!

3. How to enlist the help of a special education advocate...

What seemed common sense to us was something we had to substantiate and justify. When I handed the members of our meeting both literature and signed notes from our private psychologist and pediatrician to justify our requests, the school psychologist slid those papers back to me across that long table. When she refused to look at the papers and referred to me as "the child's mother" instead of looking at me or addressing me by name, I knew we were in trouble. I felt as though I landed in some episode of the IEP twilight zone.

I was stunned and could not find my voice. It was then that our advocate, our son's private speech therapist, had no problem finding hers. And when she began to speak, the whole table listened including the belligerent school psychologist. I was never so grateful in my life. And half way through this six hour IEP meeting (yes I did say six hours!) it was our advocate who reminded me of why we were there.

To read more of this story please click here.

4. Ten Signs that You May be Involved in an Emotionally Abusive Relationship

The following post was a little difficult to write about. It is about the topic of emotionally abusive relationships. I can write about such things because I was in such a relationship for over seven years.

"When I was fifteen years old I met my first boyfriend. He was the class clown and had the ability to make anyone laugh. He was extroverted and charmed everyone who met him including me. What the world didn't get to see is that he was also emotionally abusive. I knew because I was the recipient of his abuse."

To read more...follow this link.

PS. In order to have more time to visit you all I am probably only going to be posting once a week here on Tuesdays. Please stop by to keep me company!

Troubling Times...

The state of our economy is truly hitting home lately. You can't go out your door without seeing empty stores. It seems that in every commercial block of businesses I see at least one empty store front. Linens and Things is gone. So is Circuit City. And so are some of my favorite small restaurants. The malls are beginning to look like ghost towns.

But the absence of stores and businesses seem to be a peripheral problem. These bad economic times are looming ever closer to my personal world and to a person most precious to me.

I am very worried right now. My son's funding may be cut for getting him help. He has extreme special needs and I just cannot imagine how this may effect him if this takes place.

But things usually work out...somehow...by the grace of God in the end.

So much turmoil out there...people losing jobs, people losing their homes, people suffering and in pain because they cannot afford to see the doctor or to treat their physical or mental illness.

Sometimes I just want to crawl under the covers and never come out.

But that is not an option is it?

And so I write...and so I write.

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I am doing a series on antidepressants and weight gain. If you would like to "weigh in" on this matter. (excuse my feeble attempt at a joke) please stop by. Here is the link.

Can what you eat help with some of the symptoms or side effects of having Multiple Sclerosis? I say it can't hurt to eat a healthy diet. I discuss some foods which may help here.

It takes a village...

Hi everyone

Was wondering if I could enlist your help with some reaching out. I am a contributor over on Health Central's Depression Connection and have been reading some of the shareposts over there. There are so many people who are in need of some emotional support. Lately I have been finding more and more people writing about wanting to end things or to hurt themselves.

I know a lot of you have been in that bad place where you feel so desperate to end the pain. Iknow I have been there and it does help to get support.

Just saw this post, for example, today of a woman who is thinking of ending her life.

And there are many posts on the site where people are saying similar things.

If any of you have the time to spare...could you volunteer to give some emotional support to the people who are writing there?

You never know when your words might just save a life.

Thank you so much.

The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference

I have needed this prayer lately. I first truly learned about it when I was doing an internship with people who suffered from mood disorders and drug and alcohol addictions. It doesn't seem to make sense at first...to accept your powerlessness. But in the end...this is how you regain your personal power.

It is also a good way to stay sane.

I read a rip your heart to shreds question on the schizophrenia site yesterday of a mother who lost her son who had schizophrenia because he committed suicide. The question was raw and full of fresh pain. What can one say? What words could bring that woman's son back? There are none. I am adding the link in case anyone wants to offer some words of comfort to her.

I cannot take away another's pain.


I had a bad MS and mood day today. I could have been the poster person for each. My whole right side was convulsing. If this isn't a seizure...I am not sure what is. I don't lose consciousness is the thing. I suppose this could be said to be some bad spams? I don't know but they were violent and frightening.

I can't always control my body.

My son who has autism recently lost one of his aides who works with him. "Too much stress" she says. I almost laughed out loud. He didn't take her leaving him very well and we spent an entire evening as my son cried and screamed in my arms.

I can't always fix things for my son.

So what can I control?

I can keep surviving. I can keep giving. I can keep writing. I can keep on my path. I can focus on the things I can do. I can give up the responsibility for how others may treat me. I can do my very best and forgive myself when I falter.

It is all I know how to do.

I admit my powerlessness in this world.

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I have some writings to share...

1. The following post was so much fun. I did an interview with Andy who has an MS blog and if you can go and pay him a visit. Also here is my interview with Andy which you can find here.

It was such a delight to see Andy's family come to give support...this interview now has a life of its own and at last count...I think there was like 25 comments!

This interview gave me a lot of joy...seeing that it brought this whole family together. I am finding that I love interviewing people more than writing posts sometimes.

Andy...you are a rock star! Thank you again for doing this.

2. Antidepressants and weight gain? Have any personal experiences to share? Is it possible for some antidepressants to make you fat? Indeed it could happen. I explore the wonderful world of mood disorder meds and weight gain right here.

3. I am doing a series about how to be your child's best advocate in school. If you have a child with special needs then it is all the more imperative that you, as a parent, develop a good relationship with your child's teacher. In this article, I tell you how to talk to the teacher and build such a relationship. Please do stop by and share your thoughts. Any insights or shared experience can help others.

4. What does happen during a neurological exam and what sorts of things is the doctor looking for? I tell you about some of these neuro tests here. If you have ever had a neurological exam and would like to share the details please stop by. I am always learning something new from my commenters.