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Below is an Interactive Board sampler. A fuller listing is found in the "Stories" menu above.

4/14 Interactive Board: Codependent Partners

3/23 Interactive Board: He's Changing... I'm Not...

3/1 Interactive Board: D/s Lifestyle

1/14 Interactive Board: My Purrrfect Husband

12/12 Interactive Board: What if He Could Have Changed?

10/23 Interactive Board: Quandary Revisited

8/24 Interactive Board: Quandary! What's Going On?

7/20: Dr. Irene on cognitive behavior therapy and mindfulness

6/12 Interactive Board: Unintentional Abuse

11/7 Interactive Board: Is This Abusive?

12/29 Interactive Board: There Goes the Wife...

11/4 Interactive Board: A New Me!

10/8 Interactive Board: Seeming Impossibility

9/8 Interactive Board: My Ex MisTreats Our Son

5/1 Interactive Board: I feel Dead - Towards Him

4/26 Interactive Board: Why is This So Hard?

4/19 Interactive Board: I Lost My Love...

4/7 Interactive Board: Too Guilty!

Who is Trubble?

Who is Trubble?

"A day of worry is more exhausting than a day of work." - John Lubbock

October 24, 2001

New people to the site are asking, "Who is Trubble?"  Who is this sometimes annoying, sometimes adorable gray kitty cat?

Trubble is Dr. Irene's cybercat and is the site's mascot/host. His trademark is the paw print. It used to be a light blue paw, but Doc took that one over and gave Trubble a teal-colored paw.

First making his appearance on this site early in 1999, Trubble was named by a reader in The Name the Cat Contest, where the cat was introduced as follows:

"This is the Cat You Love To Hate! The product of alley cats - it never knew its dad - this cat can behave like a victim and like an abuser!  The cat drinks way too much (milk), sleeps all day long, and runs the streets at night. The worst part is that this awful little fur ball thinks it's so cute, it doesn't care what you think!  It pokes fun at you and me - and itself too - and gets away with it. (Have you been through the site lately? The cat is cropping up all over, getting into all sorts of trouble!) What to call it? "      Well, of course...  "Trubble!"

Trubble's personality has evolved over time. He is a cute, manipulative little critter, with a hefty dose of narcissism. In other words, he's self-absorbed and bent on affirming his importance - at anybody's expense!

This perpetual child spends lots of time looking for his "RealMommy" and "RealDaddy," the two people who would never, ever disappoint him (ha!). When a hopeful RealMommy or Daddy has not met Trubble's criteria, he calls them "FakeMommy" or "FakeDaddy." Doc, who doesn't let him get away with too much these days is "FakeMommy" or "FakeMommyDoc"  and at times he seems to hate her. Other times, he's a delight...

Trubble hates to admit how dependent he is on FakeMommy. He prefers to create an air of independence (well, he is a cat!) and bravado. Makes him feel important.

Sometimes Trubble gives advice. Lots of it is found in the CatBox archives. Depending on what kind of mood he's in, you can trust his advice or not (just like the narcissist!). He wants to help and means well, but...can't always follow through. He really does mean well, and that's why he's loveable...

He thinks an awful lot of himself; how much of it is in his head is anybody's guess. He lies to make himself more important. Back around the 2000 Presidential Election, Trubble decided George Bush was his "RealDaddy." He went to Washington and became "Top Presidential Aide."  That didn't last long.

When Sept 11 happened, he went to Afghanistan. He "enlisted" as a Six-Star General (???) and quickly became a "Special Under Cover Operative" whose mission is to "personally dispose of all of bin Laden's Trout."

Not finding any Trout, he reasoned there was no Trout in Afghanistan - so, he left for Iraq. Under cover, disguised as a cat, he became Sadaam's "Royal Pet."

What follows is an abbreviated synopsis of Trubble's adventures:

Snapshots of Trubble's life start here.

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