SWITZERLAND

Posted: **Thu Apr 14, 2011 12:31 pm**

It's quite beautiful in South Florida today as well. Good afternoon everyone!

Posted: **Thu Apr 14, 2011 1:31 pm**

I should be cataloging papers, but I just can't get myself to do it. I would much rather sit in the porch swing. Once the heat starts keeping me inside, I should be able to get things done.

Posted: **Thu Apr 14, 2011 5:22 pm**

With the price of gasoline soaring, I've decided to go with something that gets better milage.

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Posted: **Fri Apr 15, 2011 6:18 am**

My sweet kitty cat Tuffie passed away this morning at 5:30. My son Zachary rescued him from the shed he was abandoned in at birth. The shed was slated for destruction when Zach and his little elementary school friends found the lone little kitten and brought him home to us in 1994. I miss him already...

Posted: **Fri Apr 15, 2011 6:45 am**

cklaurence wrote: My sweet kitty cat Tuffie passed away this morning at 5:30. My son Zachary rescued him from the shed he was abandoned in at birth. The shed was slated for destruction when Zach and his little elementary school friends found the lone little kitten and brought him home to us in 1994. I miss him already...

CK, so sorry to hear about Tuffie

Posted: **Fri Apr 15, 2011 6:55 am**

sorry to hear this ck...pets are one of the best things in life...and one of the hardest when you lose them...

Posted: **Fri Apr 15, 2011 7:10 am**

At times of loss, about all that you can do is remember fondly all of the enjoyment that you've had with the one that you've lost. It's personal interactions - with pets as well as family and friends - that enrich our lives. A person is rich or poor according to the number and depth of those relationships. We have nothing permanently, not even our own lives. All that we can do is appreciate the important people (and pets) in our lives and then let them go with love. I know the emptiness that you feel where the cat was, but you will always have the memories.

Posted: **Fri Apr 15, 2011 5:30 pm**

Thank you everyone for your kind thoughts. Unfortunately, this close to the loss everything reminds me of him and that seems to make his being gone even more pronounced. People say it's stupid to invest yourself so much in a pet, but seventeen years of companionship and nothing but love from that funny little man is just too hard to disregard or let go so quickly. The house just resonates emptiness for me now. Even Princess seems to be lost today--she keeps looking around and whining. :cry:

Posted: **Fri Apr 15, 2011 6:37 pm**

Unfortunately, that's to be expected, ck. When we lose somebody or something important, we have to go through a grief process. There's no choice about that, unless we want to be unfeeling, which isn't living at all. The main thing is to not get stuck in the process. Writing about your feelings of loss will help, including the writing that you do here.

Posted: **Sat Apr 16, 2011 7:45 am**

I need to work my way out of this depression I've been stuck in, Em. Writing, talking--it's all good, I know. I've always had a tendency to depression, but I can't ever remember one this all-encompassing. Of course, it's never a good time to lose someone you love, but it's particularly brutal when you're not in a good space to begin with. My kids have been great--they engage me in convos that have absolutely nothing to do with me, which is wonderful. I need to put my attention any and everywhere else, but on my problems. Nights are brutal. :cry:

Posted: **Sat Apr 16, 2011 9:30 am**

I've been in that place. When I was young I had to face the possibility of living the rest of my life a cripple. That problem prove to be largely imaginary, but it was no less a problem at the time. Losing those dearest to you leaves a hole in you that nothing else can fill. All that we can do is face each day until things get better. I know people who have to exert all of the courage that they have just to get out of bed in the morning. It makes my own life seem easy.

Posted: **Sat Apr 16, 2011 9:57 am**

I know you have faced enormous losses, Em--and you've gone on to have a positive lifestyle, which could not have been easy. I usually can pick myself up, brush myself off and move forward from loss, but this depression seems to be stopping me from dealing sensibly with just about everything. Jeesh, I can't even eat! This is the first time in my life that I understand what people mean when they say that 'food gets stuck in' their throats and they can't swallow it.. I should be happy. What an opportunity to take off the pounds that have been creeping up on me, but I can't even appreciate that! I just hope I get past this soon, as I feel like I'm becoming a real drag to everyone--friends, family and fellow bloggers, lol.

Posted: **Sat Apr 16, 2011 11:04 am**

Not at all, ck. We are grateful that you count us friends enough to share this with us. Life can present us with challenges and all that we have to meet them with is each other. As long as you can protest against fortune it hasn't beaten you.

Posted: **Sat Apr 16, 2011 5:52 pm**

Time to get dressed up for dinner and dancing. Everybody have a fun Saturday evening.

Posted: **Sun Apr 17, 2011 7:33 am**

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R.I.P. 2006-2011

Posted: **Sun Apr 17, 2011 11:02 am**

"Huh," he asked intelligently?

Posted: **Sun Apr 17, 2011 3:51 pm**

Emeritus wrote:"Huh," he asked intelligently?

sorry...i dont do...intelligently...

Posted: **Sun Apr 17, 2011 4:16 pm**

Me neither. I was being facetious.

Posted: **Sun Apr 17, 2011 7:07 pm**

facetious...treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humor; flippant.

obviously...one of us does...

Posted: **Mon Apr 18, 2011 7:02 am**

good morning...

Posted: **Mon Apr 18, 2011 7:20 am**

Good morning Switzerland. Dred--that is one cute little mousey locked in that cheese! Thank you for the first smile of my day...

Posted: **Mon Apr 18, 2011 10:22 am**

LOL, those are some tiny eyes. I trust that everybody is having a good Monday. Every day is Saturday for me, but a new Monday means that I've survived another week.

Posted: **Mon Apr 18, 2011 12:39 pm**

Emeritus wrote:LOL, those are some tiny eyes. I trust that everybody is having a good Monday. Every day is Saturday for me, but a new Monday means that I've survived another week.

My husband gets pissed at me because I'm never sure what day of the week it is anymore; but really--save for appointments, why would I need to know? I have my wonderful little telephone, and daily I check the calendar portion to see if I have any plans for the day, and then go on to forget what day it is all over again. Now that I have a laptop and HD Television in my bedroom, it grows harder and harder to think of reasons why I need to leave it. I have a huge balcony off my bedroom, so if I want fresh air, I can always step out there. My mango tree hangs over the balcony and I can just reach out and take a mango if I get hungry...

Posted: **Mon Apr 18, 2011 1:53 pm**

This is new for me. Most of my life was scheduled. It's 10 o'clock Wednesday, so this must be Migration and Displacement in Modern European History. I was retired for some time before I quit feeling that I was late for something.

Posted: **Mon Apr 18, 2011 5:57 pm**

I do look forward to the time in my life when Mondays aren't ..... Mondays - ugh :down:

.
At least this one is winding down and I'm sure not going to wish my life away...

Not sure how enthusiastic the reception will be but the NFL will announce the 2011 season schedule tomorrow night at 7 pm. Maybe it'll light a fire under the negotiators and a labor agreement will be reached SOON - wishful thinking maybe.

Posted: **Mon Apr 18, 2011 8:37 pm**

That's wise, Lady. We should always have something to look forward to, but we must not forget to enjoy the present. There should be at least something to appreciate about every day. After all, we are trading a day of our life for it.

Posted: **Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:41 pm**

I have to say, I liked the full-time responsibility of full-time work, which is probably why I still do campaigns. Campaigns are 24x7 throughout and keep me focused on subjects and material that have nothing at all to do with me. I'm sure if I were involved in a political campaign or was on deadline for the sequel, I would not be in this gawd awful depression. Too much time to think...

Posted: **Tue Apr 19, 2011 6:58 am**

Our minds wander where they will. We have no control over what thoughts pop into our heads, but we can entertain them or not. I have learned to recognize trains of thought that, if followed, will inevitably lead me to places where I don't want to be. If I don't break them as soon as I recognize them, I'm going to find myself drowning in self pity. The mind won't be idle. We can't just stop thinking about something. We have to substitute something else - something positive. I don't pretend to know anything about psychology, but this works for me.

Posted: **Tue Apr 19, 2011 11:09 am**

Sometimes you just have to turn a new prescription...

Posted: **Tue Apr 19, 2011 3:05 pm**

Or go sit in the porch swing with you little dog and smoke something.

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