Anxiety Inbound
MIL is coming for a visit today and tensions are high in the house. There is also a mouse infestation at Star's daycare so it was cancelled for today.
I have two appointments, one with a Veteran Services Officer (at least that's what I *think* VSO stands for) and a VA therapist. I'm not sure what I'm going to say to either of them. I'm starting the process for a VA claim, something I know is going to take a long time. Just like this journal, it will be something I'll look back on eventually as a series of baby steps toward accomplishing a goal.
Laurel is still in Mexico and should be coming home at the end of this week. She says this is the hardest part of the program. I need to send her some encouraging texts. We've been using Whatsapp to communicate.
Our baby chickens are in the awkward teen phase. We set up a run in a corner of the backyard with enough room for them to move around. From there, they'll move into the back area with our other two girls. There is a big Cascade Hops plant covering the wooden fence bordering the run, and apparently it's full of ground squirrels. Corgi wants to stalk the squirrels and this leads him to stalking the edge of the chicken run, terrifying the chickens. It's an anxiety engine that spikes and resides throughout the day.
It's been magical to watch Star finally interested in the chickens. She's always asking when we should feed them and if they need water, just like she does about my mom. We'll need to take mom shopping on Sunday, and Star asked about her a couple nights ago, talking through everything we needed to do.
She's always watching and learning.
