A Bit About Me

Well here I am.  My name is Tricia.  I live in Michigan with my husband, daughter, two cats, two leopard geckos and a fish tank that houses different numbers of fish on different occasions depending on the death rate.

I am 37 years old.  I have a degree in English Language and Literature with an emphasis in creative writing and minors in advertising/public relations and philosophy.  Banking became my career option of choice after college since that seemed the only thing available.  Ah, irony at its best.

My husband and I were married in September of 1997 on a gorgeous fall afternoon.  I was 21 at the time.  I had started working at the bank before we were married, moved to another bank after a buy out and quit when my husband told me "either the job is going to kill you or I will" during the layoff, short-staffed, overworked and underpaid period of my life there so I quit and became my own boss - sort of.

eBay became my new job of choice and, I guess, the first time I kinda sorta put my degree to use.  I was advertising, after all, in a round about way.  It was nothing like I had anticipated for a career but a girl needs to start somewhere.

A few months later I got pregnant with my daughter after trying for about 3.5 days.  I expected months to prepare for this pregnancy thing.  Boy was I wrong!

Just 9 days before turning 26, I gave birth to my daughter.  She's been a joy ever since.

When she had just turned 2 years old, I turned to get her as she was running towards a pool with no life jacket.  I twisted my back and got some numbness in my leg.  When we got home from our trip I saw my chiropractor and he started working his magic.

I got pregnant again, my numbness went away and all was well until I miscarried at 7 weeks.  I went numb from head to toe on the right side of my body.  I underwent various tests including an EMG, spinal tap, evoked potentials, MRI and lots of blood work and was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis right around my 28th birthday.

Before long, it was obvious that I was never going to be in the workforce again.  I was never going to use my degree outside the eBay realm.  What else was I never going to be able to do?  Ah, more to come!