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!