Lady with the Cane.com

Today I will vent...and not about multiple sclerosis or its many annoying issues. Aside from God and family, my life normally revolves around my MS, with a healthy smattering of fulfilling my dream as a writer. Today I will only focus on that dream with whole- hearted attention....until it is time to prepare dinner. In the literary world the Fifty Shades of Grey phenomena is on it's second round of publicity with the release of the second movie. Normally I would wildly applaud the author of such a feat with unbridled excitement. "Yea, for us! Authors rule! (Yada yada)" But I just cannot do it today. I cannot condone the writings of E.L. James and retain my sanity.  When the first book in the series was released, I (ashamedly, as an author) was unaware of it until it hit me full frontal during a signing of my own at an area Barnes and Noble. Set up right at the front door to welcome and hopefully entice customers, I found my heart beating madly at the oncoming onslaught of

Today I will vent...and not about multiple sclerosis or its many annoying issues. Aside from God and family, my life normally revolves around my MS, with a healthy smattering of fulfilling my dream as a writer. Today I will only focus on that dream with whole- hearted attention....until it is time to prepare dinner. In the literary world the Fifty Shades of Grey phenomena is on it's second round of publicity with the release of the second movie. Normally I would wildly applaud the author of such a feat with unbridled excitement. "Yea, for us! Authors rule! (Yada yada)" But I just cannot do it today. I cannot condone the writings of E.L. James and retain my sanity.  When the first book in the series was released, I (ashamedly, as an author) was unaware of it until it hit me full frontal during a signing of my own at an area Barnes and Noble. Set up right at the front door to welcome and hopefully entice customers, I found my heart beating madly at the oncoming onslau

I tweeted earlier this morning regarding my disdain for the rash of protests surrounding today's presidential inauguration. As I grow older, I find myself more in the mindset of a peaceful existence; thus, forcefully blinded by the unrest in our nation. I, actually, did not approve of either candidate and was forced, as much of the country, to select what I felt was the lesser of two evils. At this point in time, it is what it is and no amount of protesting is going to change the outcome of election decision 2016. Alterations may occur, but America has made the ultimate decision and today's festivities are proceeding in full swing. I plan to take some homemade tomatoes soup and my knitting to my parent's house to view the televised activities in DC. Not because I am cheering on Trump and not because I want to see him fall. This is an historical day and my pride of being an American is my motivation. Okay...I'm stepping down from my soap box. Enjoy the day and have a ter

I tweeted earlier this morning regarding my disdain for the rash of protests surrounding today's presidential inauguration. As I grow older, I find myself more in the mindset of a peaceful existence; thus, forcefully blinded by the unrest in our nation. I, actually, did not approve of either candidate and was forced, as much of the country, to select what I felt was the lesser of two evils. At this point in time, it is what it is and no amount of protesting is going to change the outcome of election decision 2016. Alterations may occur, but America has made the ultimate decision and today's festivities are proceeding in full swing. I plan to take some homemade tomatoes soup and my knitting to my parent's house to view the televised activities in DC. Not because I am cheering on Trump and not because I want to see him fall. This is an historical day and my pride of being an American is my motivation. Okay...I'm stepping down from my soap box. Enjoy the day and have a

A few days ago I posted a picture of me (It really wan't me, but it aptly reflected my experience) bowling. I didn't do very well. I think my overall score might have been 50.  Today is a new day at the bowling alley and my goal is to far exceed that result.  Since last Wednesday I have smoked my Wii bowling game. Just last night I scored an overall 164. Of course my son enjoys reminding me that cyber space is not...he, the guy whose social life consists of extraterrestrial fantasy avatars on his computer... But, he's right. I know that my Wii bowling success is rather fake; but I am learning from  mistakes and feeling what earns a success. Today, I will keep my head down, eyes firmly focused on those arrow-like hash marks, while leading off with my right foot and keeping my throwing arm/wrist straight and follow through with my "pitch". I won't be doing any unnecessary sliding (ANY SLIDING is a no-no in MS land) because I will be wearing my own shoes (washed

A few days ago I posted a picture of me (It really wan't me, but it aptly reflected my experience) bowling. I didn't do very well. I think my overall score might have been 50.  Today is a new day at the bowling alley and my goal is to far exceed that result.  Since last Wednesday I have smoked my Wii bowling game. Just last night I scored an overall 164. Of course my son enjoys reminding me that cyber space is not...he, the guy whose social life consists of extraterrestrial fantasy avatars on his computer... But, he's right. I know that my Wii bowling success is rather fake; but I am learning from  mistakes and feeling what earns a success. Today, I will keep my head down, eyes firmly focused on those arrow-like hash marks, while leading off with my right foot and keeping my throwing arm/wrist straight and follow through with my "pitch". I won't be doing any unnecessary sliding (ANY SLIDING is a no-no in MS land) because I will be wearing my own shoes (was

In an attempt to continue my K-W-L of life, I have decided that I really want very much to actually own my on line domain. Of course I decide to do this after purchasing a crate of beautifully designed business cards. So, said "ownership" will have to wait until all of my cards have been used. That means I need to get busy. There is my message in a nutshell: We need to get busy with the importance of living. Just because my book illustrator (A shout out to awesome Ashley Teets!) designed the perfect business card that reflects my last novel doesn't mean that my job is done. Her job is done. Mine is just getting started. Bombs Bursting in Air is truly a great read and I proudly pat myself on the back every chance I get. The novel won first pace at the 2016 West Virginia Writers Conference. It received an honorable mention at the London Book Festival. It has received praise from friends and family. I recently overheard a fan tell someone purchasing the book "You won

In an attempt to continue my K-W-L of life, I have decided that I really want very much to actually own my on line domain. Of course I decide to do this after purchasing a crate of beautifully designed business cards. So, said "ownership" will have to wait until all of my cards have been used. That means I need to get busy. There is my message in a nutshell: We need to get busy with the importance of living. Just because my book illustrator (A shout out to awesome Ashley Teets!) designed the perfect business card that reflects my last novel doesn't mean that my job is done. Her job is done. Mine is just getting started. Bombs Bursting in Air is truly a great read and I proudly pat myself on the back every chance I get. The novel won first pace at the 2016 West Virginia Writers Conference. It received an honorable mention at the London Book Festival. It has received praise from friends and family. I recently overheard a fan tell someone purchasing the book "Y

Yesterday I overheard someone say "once a nurse, always a nurse". I totally agree, but must add my own nomenclature to that. "once a teacher always a teacher." And today I am in the teacher mode. But I promise not overly instruct. Humor me for a moment before looking for my message today. (All good instruction requires a preface.) Let me introduce you to a reading teacher's stand-by method of instruction. K-W-L will not be unfamiliar to any of you with teacher training, but I really believe that this strategy is an easy fit for anyone wishing to evaluate goals and experiences. As stated by NEA (National Educator Association): Description K-W-L (Ogle, 1986) is an instructional reading strategy that is used to guide students through a text. Students begin by brainstorming everything they  Know  about a topic. This information is recorded in the K column of a K-W-L chart. Students then generate a list of questions about what they  Want to Know  about the topic. The

Yesterday I overheard someone say "once a nurse, always a nurse". I totally agree, but must add my own nomenclature to that. "once a teacher always a teacher." And today I am in the teacher mode. But I promise not overly instruct. Humor me for a moment before looking for my message today. (All good instruction requires a preface.) Let me introduce you to a reading teacher's stand-by method of instruction. K-W-L will not be unfamiliar to any of you with teacher training, but I really believe that this strategy is an easy fit for anyone wishing to evaluate goals and experiences. As stated by NEA (National Educator Association): Description K-W-L (Ogle, 1986) is an instructional reading strategy that is used to guide students through a text. Students begin by brainstorming everything they  Know  about a topic. This information is recorded in the K column of a K-W-L chart. Students then generate a list of questions about what they  Want to Know  about the

As part of our “In A Word” series we recently asked the MultipleSclerosis.net Facebook community to complete the following statement: “In a word, my most frustrating MS symptom is______”. h ttps://multiplesclerosis.net/living-with-ms/fatigue-worst-ms-symptom/ And the answer is...fatigue. In Lisa Emrich's article, found in the link below, she discusses her trials with MS fatigue and even questions whether or not her fatigue is actually MS-related. Fatigue never issued into my MS until I  retired from teaching. This makes very little sense to me, since I now have more time to take care of myself and find daily space for rest and restful activity. In the past year (2016) though, I discovered that I truly am tired. every. day. https://multiplesclerosis.net/living-with-ms/living-well-with-ms-battling-fatigue/ For the new year, I have decided (whether my legs agree or not) that I WILL NOT waste time being tired. How will I do this? Ummmm... Well today I am meeting a former student for co

As part of our “In A Word” series we recently asked the MultipleSclerosis.net Facebook community to complete the following statement: “In a word, my most frustrating MS symptom is______”. h ttps://multiplesclerosis.net/living-with-ms/fatigue-worst-ms-symptom/ And the answer is...fatigue. In Lisa Emrich's article, found in the link below, she discusses her trials with MS fatigue and even questions whether or not her fatigue is actually MS-related. Fatigue never issued into my MS until I  retired from teaching. This makes very little sense to me, since I now have more time to take care of myself and find daily space for rest and restful activity. In the past year (2016) though, I discovered that I truly am tired. every. day. https://multiplesclerosis.net/living-with-ms/living-well-with-ms-battling-fatigue/ For the new year, I have decided (whether my legs agree or not) that I WILL NOT waste time being tired. How will I do this? Ummmm... Well today I am meeting a forme

Okay, I am ashamed to publicly admit this, but I owe it to you.  Mine is not the only blog out there focused on living with multiple sclerosis. I am not the only MS advocate/Warrior out there living with this ridiculous disease with my positive vibe boxing gloves firmly in place. I am not your MS savior.  But I am also not a fraud. I really do have multiple sclerosis, along with the other 2.5 million Warriors around the world. And those are only the known diagnosed. I have met a variety of folks living and dealing with MS and we all have our own story. In the past week I have had the privilege of add two new friends to my MS circle. Both of them female and both of them drastically different in all ways. Our one common bond is the fact that we are all MS Warriors. And we all have a wonderfully unique MS story. That is pretty much where the commonalities of our daily existence end. Because every individual living with multiple sclerosis has their own story, we are not always as much alik

Okay, I am ashamed to publicly admit this, but I owe it to you.  Mine is not the only blog out there focused on living with multiple sclerosis. I am not the only MS advocate/Warrior out there living with this ridiculous disease with my positive vibe boxing gloves firmly in place. I am not your MS savior.  But I am also not a fraud. I really do have multiple sclerosis, along with the other 2.5 million Warriors around the world. And those are only the known diagnosed. I have met a variety of folks living and dealing with MS and we all have our own story. In the past week I have had the privilege of add two new friends to my MS circle. Both of them female and both of them drastically different in all ways. Our one common bond is the fact that we are all MS Warriors. And we all have a wonderfully unique MS story. That is pretty much where the commonalities of our daily existence end. Because every individual living with multiple sclerosis has their own story, we are not alway

Dear MS Activist, The West Virginia legislative session begins on January 11. You are needed to move our legislative priorities forward! We will be asking legislators to reduce barriers to accessing medical treatments and make accessible home modifications more affordable. Please join us February 6-7, 2017 for the National MS Society’s West Virginia State Action Day. Register Today! Schedule : Monday, February 6 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm:  Legislative Training and Dinner, Hampton Inn Charleston-Downtown Tuesday, February 7 8 am – 3 pm: West Virginia State Action Day, State Capitol Please note on the registration page if you will need a hotel room, we have a small room block at the Hampton Inn Charleston-Downtown. Once registered, participants will receive a detailed agenda and information about acquiring accommodations. If you would like more information about the West Virginia State Action Day and our advocacy efforts, please contact me at  ashley.kenneth@nmss.org  or 804-591-3048. To registe

Dear MS Activist, The West Virginia legislative session begins on January 11. You are needed to move our legislative priorities forward! We will be asking legislators to reduce barriers to accessing medical treatments and make accessible home modifications more affordable. Please join us February 6-7, 2017 for the National MS Society’s West Virginia State Action Day. Register Today! Schedule : Monday, February 6 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm:  Legislative Training and Dinner, Hampton Inn Charleston-Downtown Tuesday, February 7 8 am – 3 pm: West Virginia State Action Day, State Capitol Please note on the registration page if you will need a hotel room, we have a small room block at the Hampton Inn Charleston-Downtown. Once registered, participants will receive a detailed agenda and information about acquiring accommodations. If you would like more information about the West Virginia State Action Day and our advocacy efforts, please contact me at  ashley.kenneth@nmss