Couch 215: The Overcoming Couch

No wonder no birds drink out of the bird bath

Hugs, I'm sorry... It's good she'll still get visitation and that maybe you'll be able to be there for it. Is she getting any sort of psychological help?

I don’t like cheesecake, so it’s all yours, babe.

She just got back on an antidepressant and they're trying to get her a therapist.

The same cat drinking out of the bird bath knocked the keys to the back door off the hook. And people are worried by robots there are 3 sets of keys on different hooks he identified the back door key because he wanted to go out last night.

He is a tall boy! I posted recently, that something was a sign of the apocalypse, what was it? Oh yeah, the dogs standing and hugging instead of sniffing each others butts. Now dogs are making phone calls too. To emergency.

I called my caseworker and updated him a little bit about H staying over in the house this weekend. I feel more confused talking to him now. He said that if this happened a few months ago that he'd be more worried but since things have settled down, it's more up to H and I about what to do. He said he can't force us to do anything but he will have some concerns of him being back in the house. He said something about talking to his supervisor about what to do about H and said them taking out an order against him? Saying that with a question mark because I really didn't follow what he was saying. And I don't know if CPS can do anything against him, but I guess could go to court saying that I'm being neglectful of the kids by letting him be over in the house.

I asked about what the outcome of tomorrow's team meeting will be and he said it's just a check in of how things are progressing. But he also said that he'll be over next week to do a home visit and he thinks every 2 weeks is a good plan to check in. From what he said, I'm assuming that the case will not be closed tomorrow as H was hoping.

Kind of makes me more fearful that they may take this to court. I really hope T1 attends tomorrow so I have someone to advocate for me.

In what is likely a personal record, I have only just now opened a yuuuuge box of chocolate my mother gave me for Christmas.

Tonight a protest march occurred in our town. It started at the high school where I teach, traveled to our city hall, and back again. My teacher friends and I held our collective breath that our students were safe. The local paper kept a live feed going, so we could see what was going on. Other than one isolated incident, it was by and large peaceful and organized. The police department communicated what they needed from them (stay off the highway and they were welcome to stay as long as they liked) and the protesters followed those instructions while continuing to voice their protest. They dispersed on their own after a few hours. We are proud of them and relieved they are safe. I think I can breathe again. We were worried about our kids, but proud of the communication and cooperation between the city and the protesters.

I have two boxes of girl scout cookies I'm saving for a particularly ****** day. That was what, February? Definitely a personal record for me. I hope they're good chocolates.

Is it See's? I want details!

LA Burdick.

Do you think she will send us a box when we get married? Real bonbons! :swoon:

Are you marrying me for my mother’s taste in chocolate?

Just dropped husband off at the ER (they don't allow visitors yet). He's running a 102.2 degree fever and he's been complaining about an earache for several days (he even had it looked at in urgent care). He also got bit by one of our cats that he thinks is infected.

I worked last night and was looking forward to coming home, eating pizza, drinking wine and going to bed. I got home, H was burning up, son had eaten the pizza, can't drink the wine because I have to drive and (hopefully) pick up H from the hospital later.

I am going to try and go to bed though.

The ER was super quick tonight - H is already home.

He has an infected cat bite on his hand and will be off of work for at least a week. UGH. I tell him all the time not to tease our cats but he likes playing with our most playful cat and she bit him around 5 days ago.

They tested him for COVID and it was negative which was a huge relief

Wow my awareness of the passing of time is way off. I was talking to someone today and i said i had been gardening for 6 months. I looked back through my photos and i first planted something on 6 March so the oldest plants in my garden are only 3 months old. At first i wanted to say i had been doing it longer like a year but that didnt seem right. This is problem my whole life and it makes it hard to make timelines for pdocs and stuff.

My daughters dog developed an abscess and got really sick after about 24 hours after my cat attacked him. The vet said cats have some nasty bacteria in their saliva.

Hence the song "Cat Scratch Fever ooh-ooh".

LOL - no! Mine!

I actually had cat scratch fever when I was 15. Not caused by a cat scratch though. Don't know how I got it. Ended up having a swollen lymph node removed from my groin and a 6 month round of penicillin. Biopsy came back as cat scratch fever.

The only time a cat really bit me (like half an inch deep bite), I went to the doctor as soon as possible, since I knew that cats can give nasty infections. My doctor ended up putting my whole lower arm in a cast (bite was on the hand), and I had to keep it on for about a week in addition to taking antibiotics.

The stray grey cat whom I'm caring for but not quite willing to call my cat yet (but will not abandon) does not bite or scratch. Well, she used to accidentally scratch a little bit when she was afraid of my dog and would try to climb on top of my head. She doesn't do that any more, though. She didn't even bite or scratch me when I gave her a bath, although she cried. She is such a sweet cat and very affectionate. At this point, I kind of want to keep her because I think it would keep me up at night worrying about what kind of person she'd get adopted by if I brought her to the Humane Society (I contacted the supposed local rescue and they didn't ever get back to me). She deserves someone who will really appreciate how wonderful she is and never ever abandon her like I suspect she was abandoned in the past - I don't get the impression she's feral, just wary of people.

Once I started feeding her, she was very eager for me to pet her. In fact, she usually insists on being petted before she will eat and I also have to be careful when putting down her food that it doesn't get knocked over by her trying to rub herself against my hand. The first time I brought her inside - because there was a hurricane and we're on the coast - she appeared to already know how to use a litterbox. So I think it likely she had a person at some point and they abandoned her or maybe they died. Poor kitty.

I feel bad for Amelia (my younger kitty) who is very skittish. She has to eat with my mom's dog and my other cat staring her down. I usually have to put her bowl really far away and then entice her with kitty treats over to her bowl which then she will finally eat. But I have to keep the other two a fair distance away from her, which I can do with vocal commands--even the cat. When she eats well I always tell her what a good girl she is. I don't know if that translates to anything in cat language like it does in dog language but I'm hopeful over time she can become more comfortable with eating while the other two are watching her. The other two are in sync when they eat, just Amelia hasn't gotten on the ball about mealtime being at a certain time. It's more about when she wants to eat than when my diabetic cat needs to eat, which is how it should be I suppose.

I had my last appointment with my case manager last night. I think it went pretty well, considering. I miss her a little bit today. But not that awful longing sort of missing someone. More or less just sad knowing that I will probably never speak to her again. I developed a bit of a relationship with her over the past 4 months that we have been talking. She did a depression test on me which she did two other times. One at the beginning of our meeting, one in the middle, and then last night at the end. Average is 50. I was at a 31 which means I am more depressed than average. But at my worst I was at an 18. So from 18 to 31, that is pretty good progress, I think. She is such a positive person and I will miss having that positivity in my life. But I'm proud of myself for meeting the goals that she set for me and stuff like that.