Little

7:51 a.m.

Thanks to your gentle prodding (I'm sort of terrified of you guys) I dug around, found another mental health facility and called yesterday. When I called, they told me they needed to do an evaluation the day I called, and could I make the hour and a half drive that afternoon? So I mapquested the place, drove there, and spent about two hours being thoroughly evaluated/filling out paperwork on my Mental Health History. The employees were all very nice, and it made me feel good that they were actually getting my history. (As opposed to having me fill out a substance sheet, meeting with me for ten minutes, and unprescribing me from this and that all willy-nilly.) The nurse was very nice and chatty, and I? I am incredibly chatty, so the evaluation probably went way longer than necessary. She asked all the proper probing questions about my depressive and OCD tendencies, and had trouble fitting the summer stresses on the form, so I felt like things were thorough. The office procedures also made much more sense. I'm going to see an actual doctor there in October, and she told me if my meds were working, to go ahead and take them as my previous doctor prescribed.

So! I feel much better, and it is thanks to my husband's and your encouragement to go somewhere else. I would probably have gone back one more time, just to see. Plus, I can be a real wimp, so, good job guys. I was particularly frightened by the vehement response of this lady. Also, I laughed, because I miss her.

This morning on our walk the dog and I were "attacked" by a ferociously yipping, teensy eensy chihuahua. She was smaller than the squirrels Monk wants to destroy, and it was pretty obvious he could have swallowed her whole. She circled us over and over while barking and doing the dog-laughing pant, and Monk did not understand, and it was pretty hilarious. The dog's owner ran out of her house and tried to catch her, yelling "NOODLES. NOODLES. NOT EVERY DOG IS YOUR FRIEND, NOODLES! GET OUT OF THE STREET!" (Noodles! Hee.) It was much like someone trying to catch a very speedy and spry guinea pig with barking capabilities, and although I have never desired a mini-dog for my very own, Noodles was very entertaining. I still laugh when I think about NOODLES! and Monk sniffing noses, when Noodles looked like a wiggly sausage-y snack next to him. She was probably about 6.5 inches tall; this morning when Monk stood on his hind legs under the squirrel tree I remembered that he is about as tall as me. Oh, Noodles. Oh, Monk. BFF!

Love,
black sheeped

Edit: I forgot, I was going to say, in response to yesterday's comments: Those Soft Paws claw covers are something you do at home, not at the vet. We order them online to save a bit and to get the fancy colors, although they normally sell clear at PetCo and PetSmart. I wrangle the cats until I have them mostly immobile, and trim off the tips of their claws. J puts the glue in the claw covers and hands them to me and I slide them on, but you can also just fill the covers with the glue before you wrestle down the cat so they are all ready. I like having someone there to grab kicking kitty feet if necessary. Kitties are squirmy. And strong. The cats got used to them quickly, they're painless, and they save furniture (and the dog's eyes). We found the best way to get kitties used to the covers is to be very persistent at first, and replace the covers as soon as they fall off. You only see one in that photo of The Roll because we had to order more, and hadn't put the new ones on yet. They're very easy--as a cover falls off, we just glue another one on. They stay on from 2-8 weeks. At least they do on our little jerks. Buy them! You will not be sorry!

SHE CANNOT BELIEVE I WOKE HER UP, GRABBED HER PAW, AND TOOK A PHOTO FOR MY STUPID, STUPID BLOG.
















Transitioning from blue to green. He didn't have to be pinned. He's like a cat model.