You see me I be work, work, work, work, work, work.

I start work next Monday! I can't wait. It's been a long time since I've been excited about anything but I am definitely excited about this opportunity. My first day will be exactly three years and three days since my diagnosis with MS. (There is a pleasing symmetry about that. Well, pleasing to the maths geek in me anyway.) And what a (fucking horrific) three years it has been!

I describe this as an opportunity because it is a chance for me to live a much more normal life. Going to work, being surrounded by other people and having some sort of purpose. It may be the sort of thing some people dream of getting out of but it is something I had almost given up on dreaming of ever even getting into. Everyone at Virgin Money has been falling over themselves to make it as easy as possible for me once I begin and I am very grateful for that. I think my positive outlook and enthusiasm, two qualities I was once lacking in at times, has led people to warm to me. (Before people just liked me for my face.)

The last three years have been awful. Beyond myself and my parents nobody knows what MS has done to me. There's not a single functioning of my body that works correctly. Included in that is my bladder; I have wet myself countless numbers of times. This is the only thing I am nervous about ahead of starting work. As a grown adult, to wet yourself is beyond humiliating, it is degrading. This one physical effect of MS is the only one I have kept secret up until now. Aside from the physical aspects, MS has taken a lot from us all emotionally. I, and indeed we, swing between times of great optimism and hope and times of absolute desolation. This paragraph isn't looking for sympathy, it is to say the biggest thank you imaginable to my mum and dad and of course Bamboleo. I wouldn't have made it this far without any of them.

What will I miss about a work free life? Not a lot. I will miss Bamboleo, I won't see him nearly as much. And I will miss Pointless. (That's what series record is for anyway!) I think the thing I will miss most is being able to sit for hours on end in Fausto. Whether it's been talking or unsuccessfully trying to chat up anyone who works or even goes in there, it has really been a lifeline for me over the past 18 months. I have made some of my best friends in that place and I am a much happier person for it. I will of course continue to be the face of Fausto and sit on the board of directors. (I'm a non-executive director which means I get very little say in anything but it's nice to be involved. It's also not a limited company, so actually there are no directors. Which in my head puts me second in command.)

So there it is, I am ready for work! I'm sure I will keep on blogging from time to time to keep you all updated on how things are going. For my first few weeks of work though I will probably spend every free second asleep!

The title is from Work by Rihanna. Obviously.