Couch 246: Choose Change

I'm sorry, Una. Hope the bleeding stopped quickly. If it doesn't and this isn't a regular thing for you, I think you should get checked out. Are you on any meds that can thin the blood?

Now, now, is that any way to refer to SD?

LT, I wonder if you couldn’t hire someone to help around the house a bit while your husband is recovering, and with your daughter too?

Thanks, Lemon. Dr. T said today that I did well distracting myself in various ways, particularly dancing from 12-1 am. He said he's been trying for 6.5 years to get me to exercise more, so even though it's not the ideal time to exercise, he can't complain about it! I was also reaching out to friends, in addition to the hotline. He said how it's been a long time since I've been like this emotionally, which he saw as progress (I agree). That it was a piling on of stressors, plus a difficult session yesterday.


And I do have a DBT workbook.

Thanks, LT. I get a few every winter. Dry house. I need to set out some bowls of water. I take baby aspirin.

That happens to me a lot in the winter - it is better when I put out humidifiers.

I am not a morning person for sure

That's a good idea, thanks. I just feel like the house is such a mess (I've been working on it some) that someone coming in would be horrified. I have this huge paranoia of someone contacting Child Protective Services. Like I know I should technically have my medications (like migraine stuff and an SNRI) locked up, but they're in childproof containers (I transferred the Nurtec tab packets to a childproof container I have), but I worry we'd get flagged for that, for example. Or I've heard if you have any expired food in the fridge, you'd get written up. We're pretty good about it, but occasionally miss something.

Or my guinea pigs will kick poop out of the cage as they're running, and I worry there would one on the floor that I missed, and we'd get written up for that. Also heard that if a child's hair is uncombed, that can bring up a flag. We do our best with D...and I try to make her changed if she wants to put on a preferred dress/shirt/pants that has a small stain on it, because I fear that will get us flagged. Even though we're clearly involved and care for her, contacting the teachers, being active in IEP meetings, etc.

Did I mention I have OCD and anxiety? And H has ADHD? (Honestly, I suspect I have ADHD as well, or at least some sort of executive functioning issue--Dr. T agrees with the executive functioning part for sure).


Also, Dr. T has suggested hiring someone to help with organization, like not so much a cleaning service, but to assess and help figure out a system. Maybe I need to reconsider that.

Overtime for this afternoon was canceled! I know it's only an hour but i am excited! haha! i'm on break right now then will have only an hour & a half left to work til I log off. woo!

I knew it! I KNEW you guys were running around together!

There is absolutely no running happening aquí.

Maybe a gentle hoist once in a while.

H is finally home after what seemed to be a long surgery--apparently, the hernia was bigger than they initially thought. He seems to be doing OK, though clearly medicated. I'm just amazed at how well D did today, including with school letting out 3 hours early due to rain/winds--she was a champ! And I told her that. Also a champ: H's dad (transported him and stayed at the hospital), who I thanked profusely and owe a dinner.

Glad to hear your H is back home LT and I hope his recovery is as comfortable as possible!

Well my poor Stormy (old-man cat) has pretty much stopped eating again... he isn't even eating much of the gravy-like treat that he previously wanted all the time. today i gave him some beef broth, i know it's not ideal because of the sodium but dang he needs some nutrition. he ate/drank that right up. now he's back to hiding in the bathroom closet again. although he is not acting like he's in pain, he's not doing the howling thing like he had been doing before christmas, so I just don't know. I guess I need to call my son and talk to him about it tonight and see how he feels about it all; he was always Stormy's "person".

Haven't seen @SlumberKitty in a really long time. I hope she's okay.

Also Chiro, Echos , Lucozader and Anastasia.

I'm proud of myself.

Made mashed potatoes for the first time, not using a packet.



Also Una if you don't have a humidifier you can leave a filled jar of water on top of a radiator. Or boil water in a open pan.

I'm sorry to hear this Art. Maybe you could also try a packet of different cat food.

What did your son say?

thanks. yeah, i did get him a different brand of food and he's eaten a little of that a couple times. haven't talked to my son again just yet I wanted to wait to see if he'd eat the new kind of food first. he ate some last night, and more this morning so i'm crossing my fingers.

Most people don't move too fast but wait too long according to what the vet I use says. Cats do not always act in ways that people can tell if there is pain or not. Waiting until it is obvious could mean leaving the cat in pain even if they have good and bad days.

That's what the vet told us too... it's hard. He's been with us since he was a teeny tiny kitten.

Hugs, Artie. I'm sure you'll do the right thing. Maybe Stormy isn't quite ready to go yet.

that's what h keeps saying... that he's not ready to go yet. then again h really struggles with the "playing God" aspect of this. I understand that of course but I also understand that if Stormy's in pain, it's a beautiful and final act of love that we can do for him to let him go peacefully before he's in a ton more pain. When it's time I told h I want to have somebody come to the house, I think Stormy would be much more comfortable that way... but h is absolutely against it he doesn't want the memory of it happening in the house. So we're at an impasse on that.

In other news... I have another flat tire!! not the same one this time - it's the other front tire now. I don't know what it is with me and car tires lately. I'm not gonna call AAA til tomorrow morning, if I call now they wouldn't get here til probably 9pm and I'll be asleep before then. So I'll call first thing when I wake up tomorrow and hopefully they can get out here and put my spare on in time for me to go to therapy. if not I told h i'll need to use his car again. he's on a long-distance job now and probably won't be home til like 2am, so he's gonna want to sleep half the day tomorrow anyways.

Ugh, I'm sorry, Artie! That happened with H's car once, that he had two different flat tires in the span of a month. Hope you can make it to therapy either way!

Today's session (we're on a weird schedule this week) was a bit mixed, but I was just thinking about something from near the end and smiling about it. We were referencing conflicts we've had (including this most recent one) and he compared them to opening a barn door and letting a horse out (OK, that sounds sort of negative). Like, it's difficult to get the horse back in.

But then we expanded it to all these animals getting out, and he said he just pictured a whole bunch of farm animals running and being like, "I'm free!" I said, "May as well throw in an elephant, too, like an elephant in the room," and he said, "Sure, why not?" So we were just picturing a wide mix of animals frolicking out of a barn.

Hm...maybe this is a metaphor I need to think on more. Not in the sense of how once I say something I can't get it back, but more about the thoughts being happy about being released instead of pent up? Hm...