Fish are friends. Not food.

[Underdog]

Yoo hoo! It's me, Dame Edna... oh, no, it seems as though Bruce might have to head into a phone booth to change costumes. Or is that Underdog?

Well, I hope that 2004 brings some better news. I'm feeling very weird lately... which I guess I better journal here so I can take some beatings. What would my week be like if I didn't have fellow sharks to provide INTERVENTION!

D6 had a rather sleepless night, which made me have one too. This is not good for me for a variety of reasons... sleeplessness is not good for my mental acuity but it also provides ample time in the dark to dwell on things.

One thing that has me a bit fearful (no, terrified) is the day that Mr. W. tells me he wants to come home. I had a sort of 'dream' about this last night--I was somewhere in the middle between dreaming and being awake.

I realized that nearly all the changes I've made have been for myself. And I'm happy about that--truly.

But on the outside looking in, I can see that Mr. W. has not made as many. One of them that will need to be addressed is his lack of stress management skills.

I see him in a new job that is as stressful (in a different way than his previous project), and I'm sort of apprehensive that he's not changed enough to tackle this problem without someone capable and qualified to help him.

And I'm also afraid that it will lead to depression--a condition he vehemently denies exists for him. He's of the ilk that believes depression is something that happens to other people. He's sympathetic, but can't be that way if the person who has it is him.

I mean, how do you folks deal with that? I do believe that we can work on things, but I guess I'm not really sure if he thinks that the changing needs/needed to be done by me and only me.

I realize that I'm putting the cart before the horse. But I also know that his seemingly inane calls to me are probably made in the hopes of addressing the issue of working on things--only he continues to chicken out (or does he "fish out"?).

I have to find some DB way of making this issue critical--that is, I refuse to go back to the old M. It's a deal breaker for me, after 1+ year of separation and almost 18 months of no sex... I don't want to come to the table with a list of ultimatums but I think they really are.

Who has any advice for poor old Bruce? I really and truly want to maintain my fish sober status, so I'm counting on some input. I've really acquired a taste for Meredith's crock-pot plankton... and since I know I'm a nicer shark because of it, I don't want to go back to the old ways.

Any and all suggestions are appreciated.

Time to head back to my 12 step meeting. Anchor is chairing and Chum is co-chair today. It's time to award some blue ribbons to the sharks who have really worked on avoiding eating their fish friends....