Rough Day

My 15 year-old puppy Samantha passed yesterday.  She fought until the very end.   She went to join her big sister, Gretchen, who we lost 3 years ago.  I always felt bad because Samantha was in the hospital when we lost Gretchen, so when Sam came home, Gretchen was mysteriously gone.  I feel like she must have always been confused about where she went.  Samantha was very tough - I think the first picture captures that well - she ripped into that Christmas present like it was her job.  In her final days she needed room service - as shown by the second picture.  Poor girl.  She was suffering at the end, but she lived a good life.  We just all have to miss her forever now.

RIP.

I Don't Believe in Love at First Sight....

...but last night, it happened to me.  Yes, a cynic like me.

A Fine Line?

So there's an old expression that goes 'there's a fine line between love and hate'. I googled it and found some discussion boards, which had some varied responses on the matter. Some people felt there was a fine line between love and like, or dislike and hate, but a large distance between love and hate.

Now, I do believe there's times when we can hate someone without the love component. For example, if, hypothetically speaking, someone were to hit my car and drive away without leaving a note, I would hate that person, but there would be no love to it. That, and I do believe we can hate someone like a coworker or a friend's boyfriend without the fine line. Although, this might be more of a strong dislike than a hate, depending on the situation.

The bottom line, though, is that a person has to CARE to hate someone. However, when it comes to people we at one point cared about - say, a family member, a friend, or a former lover - I do believe this statement rings true loud and clear. Indifference is the opposite of love (and hate, I suppose). I think it's the case for pretty much everyone we hate that we at one point in our lives didn't. I can definitely think of some examples in my own life.

Now, granted, I think that, with most of these people, my hate/dislike for them is legitimate - they betrayed/disappointment me in some way, and that's the basis for it - not just bitterness, as some would infer. However, I think the fact that I cared for them at one point is really what it's about. I think this is where my passionate hatreds lie (not that I have many). If someone you don't expect much from in the first place screws you, there's no shock factor to it, therefore there's no time wasted wondering 'Is there something I did to deserve this? Is there something I could have done differently? How was I so foolish? If only I would have....'

Anyhow. Your thoughts? Is there a fine line between love and hate? Agree or disagree?

The Man of My Dreams?

Modern day romance?!

Summer of Love

So this past weekend, I had a bachelorette party Friday night and an engagement party on Saturday (which I will touch more on later). However, during the engagement party, I happened to see a large boat traveling down the Chicago river (not at all unusual). As I looked closer, I noticed there was a wedding taking place on said barge. How romantic and fun! I thought this was a cute place to get married. As I looked closer at the boat, I couldn't help but notice a certain hilarity to it (NOT keeping with the theme of romance).



For me, this is the icing on the cake. When I meet my future husband, I am going to have to look into renting out this one.

The One?

So now, this morning on the el, I was reading Cosmo (as usual) and there's an article about soulmates (and, kind of, how it's dangerous to believe in them because we pass up good people and just set ourselves up for disappointment).

Do my readers believe in soulmates? I'm a cynic, however, I am torn on this one. I actually kind of do believe in soulmates - however, I think some people will mistakenly think someone is his or her soulmate, get hung up on the person, and then, as cosmo illustrates - miss out on other great people. I can definitely see this - I definitely think it's important to eventually move past someone if it's clear it's either a) not going to work out or b) not happening in the first place. A part of me wants to think (like most of my friends think) that there are lots of people for lots of people, and soulmates are just a figment of one's imagination. (Editor's sidenote - and not to annoy Piper - but it just came to mind that my cynical sarcastic counterpart Chandler Bing also doesn't believe in soulmates. Had to say it.)

Anyhow. There's also another school of thought that says we get two great loves - I'm not sure my feelings on this idea either, although it is quite realistic - maybe there's one for our younger selves (a 'first love', if you will) and then one for our mature adult self - the person we ultimately become.

A tiny tiny part of me does believe there are things not in our control and that sometimes, for whatever reason, some things are just meant to be (or not meant to be), and that maybe some of us do have someone we are somehow destined to end up with. However, I guess I'm not sure everyone has a soulmate. And I definitely, definitely think a lot of people I know have wrongly thought someone was their soulmate (and probably ended up with a lot of wasted time and energy on that person/missed out on other opportunities, etc.). Hmm.

What do you all think? Please, enlighten me.

Another Expression I Hate....

All this talk about love...what's with the saying 'head over heels in love'? Isn't our head already over our heels? At least mine is if you look at me. I do know I'm far from the first person to draw attention to this fact. Anyhow. Is it that one 'falls' head over heels - like tumbles forward, gymnastics style? But still, I don't know that the head is going over the heels - maybe more like going under the heels. I guess I get it, but I don't like the expression.

Anyone out there like this expression, or know the origin?

Appreciation

I just wanted to give a quick shoutout to my loyal and semi-regular readers - Marcia, Emily, Ana, Jessica, Jeannine, Rachel, Angelique, Ashley, Matt, Tom, Emily's friend Kevin, Mrs. Perv - you are all appreciated. Your clicking the ads on my blog is even more appreciated. I really hope I'm not missing anyone. You are all loved.

Please comment. Please recruit.