This week began with a holiday Monday. I had such plans for this day, but I was feeling really bad after Kendo the day before. I woke up with some scary symptoms that were corrected later in the day by taking it easy and having lots of fluids. I guess I got a bit dehydrated and second dojo was part of that. The gluten free beer was decently tasty though. I’ll have to skip it next time and just have electrolytes. It sucks, but that’s part of the reality of having my particular autoimmune condition. I may get into much more depth on that on my ko-fi blog.

I was pretty sore from Kendo. It’s quite the full body workout. My legs and arms were feeling it. Oddly enough, my heels and Achilles were completely pain free. Bodies are so weird sometimes. Seriously. While doing kendo, they felt like amputation may be preferable. I’ll be strengthening this area and discussing it with my specialist soon since the x-rays showed nothing because they don’t show tendons and ligaments. I suspect that’s where my pain is.

I mostly played some Dinosaur Fossil Hunter and finished watching Chicago P.D. I had only ever seen most of the characters on Chicago Fire. I was sad when Sophia Bush left the show, but I get why she did. And I had a nap. Later on, I felt a bit restless as I always am before starting something new. It still felt a bit unreal to me that I had school the next day. I popped some corn and watched some Sweet Magnolias to relax before bed. Though it’s a very heterosexual show, I enjoy the wholesome nature of it and three amazing women who are such good friends is another part of the appeal for me.

In the morning before Orientation Day for school, I began putting together my semester one assignment schedule because much of the information was available and it helped with my nervous energy. I left a bit earlier than necessary because I needed gas and I didn’t actually know how long the drive would take.

Orientation was interesting and I’m super excited to figure out my path in this career. We are going to be playing a little bit of wheelchair basketball in one class because one of our professors is very involved in para sports and Ottawa is hosting the IWBF 2026 World Championships of Wheelchair Basketball. Pretty darn cool.

Wednesday’s commute home after group work was horrendous. Rush hour traffic plus heavy rain that was torrential at times had me miss some important turns and I didn’t get home until after 6. It was torrential again when I did get home, so I had to wait it out in my car for a bit. I was starving by the time I got inside. And I had homework that couldn’t wait because it was groupwork due the next day per one member of the group. Yeah, that’s something I haven’t missed.

By Thursday, I was pretty tired and a bit discombobulated. I had only had classes that did not have books, so it was very different to be learning mainly from podcasts, Youtube videos, and the odd article. Despite how difficult it felt, I thought back to when I took my Social Service Worker program 26 years ago and I think we are getting such solid experiences long before we even do placement that I think it will truly prepare me to work in the field. Hopefully, it doesn’t take too long to get the swing of things.

We also learned we would have pen pals. They will be special needs college students. Due to confidentiality, I won’t be able to give any specifics about them, but I can talk generally about the program. This and the wheelchair basketball event will be on my Ko-Fi blog.

I was looking forward to more structured course materials on Friday and Monday. More on everything school on my first Ko-Fi blog post. It’s a far more detailed account of the days before school started and just how challenging it is to be a mature student in a post graduate health program.

After some needed condo work, I spent the bulk of Saturday on coursework before taking myself out to see Practical Magic 2 using my Scene Points, so it didn’t cost me anything but snacks. This was my little gift to myself for surviving week one. There won’t be much of anything other than the already planned Koryu seminar next weekend, an already paid for writer’s convention, and two less expensive events later on. I won’t be able to afford the time or the cost for many extras. And I will likely have to use credit by the end of the semester if no scholarships or bursaries come my way. I’m hoping to keep my grades up high enough to help with that.

Sunday was spent doing homework and some stuff around home as I hurt my calf muscle. I guess all the extra walking and driving is to blame as it’s my right one. I finished and submitted an assignment for Anatomy then check what else I could complete during the warmer part of the day.

Despite my calf pain, I got it partly from walking about the campus and seeing views like this one:

I can’t be upset about seeing such spectacular art, so the calf pain is worth it.

Construction continues on the structures by our parking lot at home. We know which one is the building. The one that looks like a metal-filled death trap. Part of me wonders if the other area is just being used to store things for now or if they are building a raised parking structure. Time will tell, I suppose.

Catch you on the flip side,

Rae