COMPARTMENTALIZING...................

I try so hard to be upbeat, really I do - and normally it's no work at all - I am by nature a positive person and that's what has kept me going all these years in the midst of some pretty big disappointments - heartaches - and everything else that life throws our way...............
I see humour in mostly everything and love sharing it ( hoping that someone else will smile at the very least )

And I'm pretty good at compartmentalizing ( I suppose like all women ) that grief goes in here - no time to deal with it now - that disappointment goes over here because I simply can't process it at the moment - that
worry I'll just put over here on the back burner - that hurdle will have to sit in here for a little while longer until I can jump over it.  And I really believe that's the difference between getting through life with a smile on your face - or sitting in a corner weeping for eternity - it's all in time management - and life management -
in being able to compartmentalize - some are better at it then others - I'm the queen of it really - everything gets filed away - and dealt with as I am able to................bit by bit - one by one - I open the boxes and DEAL with it when I'm ready. ( admittedly there are many boxes I've yet to open - but they're there waiting for me, stacked up on shelves I've built internally - neatly stored away )

But what do you do when things are too big to fit into pretty little boxes - and  you have to stuff them - pack them into your soul - where, because they are not restrained with ribbons and bows they just run amok in there threatening to open all the other boxes we've tucked away?

I've nowhere to put these mass shootings - I'm full to the brim already - and yet they've happened and they have affected me terribly and so they have to go somewhere.    Even if you wanted to deal with the anguish head on, they're coming at us faster then we could ever process them,  I mean this is not something that takes a day or two to get over right?  And it's not something I was raised with so it isn't like I've had a life time to deal with it  ( oh how my heart aches for countries where this is the norm )  this is relatively a new trauma we North Americans are facing.  This is no longer stories we are hearing on the news of far away places - these are happening in neighbourhoods some of us know too well.

Do we stop shopping ?
Or going to school  or going to school or going to school?
Do we stay off of planes
Do we avoid movies
Stay away from places of worship
And is this how depression starts?
Because of one last item that we simply can't compartmentalize.....................................

Although I try to keep my blog light - with bits of humour dotted here and there - from time to time I need to
let some of the trash out - and I've nowhere to put this last horrific crime against humanity except right here on my blog - I'm so sorry but it just won't fit inside of me -
And I think it's important - for me - for my sanity - for all of us -  to take a moment out and at the very least " mention " what is happening - in outrage - lest it becomes the "norm" for us as well.

And as is happening far too much lately my thoughts are once again with strangers and their losses -

XXX

Sharing with

Kathe with an E
http://www.kathewithane.com/2012/08/youre-gonna-love-it-week-16.html
Adorned from above
http://www.adornedfromabove.com/2012/08/apple-cinnamon-roll-pull-aparts-and.html

John says - Suzan says - from the archives................

It's really too hot to work on furniture today - so I've decided to share another conversation - this goes back quite a few years but I can still pee my pants everytime I think of this one........................

We had just bought a duplex and were in the midst of renovating - so strange things were happening at the time,  we had to rewire the house etc...............the wiring was original and the building was very old - plugging in the blowdryer and the toaster at the same time could blow a fuse
(  you get the picture )
The duplex was a semi detached - meaning we owned a bottom - with an upper rental - and attached to us
was another double unit ( like a brownstone really ) OK

John had been travelling on business in N.Y. - and had arrived home very late in the evening - well after midnight - he came in through the garage and walked up the stairs to the main level landing where he put his briefcase and suitcases down.....................

Suzan says - Oh I'm so glad you're home - how was the drive..................and I stop abruptly and listen to a very distinctive " sizzling " sound
Suzan says  - OMG - the wiring is making a funny noise
John says - how long  has it been doing that?
Suzan says  - I've only just noticed it
John says - well we have to find the source of this - I'm going to go to check all the rooms -
Suzan says - it seems to be loudest on the connecting wall to the neighbours - we have to let them know -
maybe it's THEIR wiring -
John says - well let me check first................
John says - I think  you're right - what do we do -
Suzan says - You have to go wake them up John!!!! This is an emergency
( by now I was absolutely frantic - I had teenage kids sleeping in their rooms downstairs )

and off he went - rang the neighbours door - woke them up - (they answered the door in their pajamas )  explained the situation - to which they immediately became frantic as well - running all over their place - " listening " to the walls - nope, it was not coming from their place....................

John says - We'll have to continue this tomorrow morning
Suzan says - We most certainly cannot wait till morning - the wires are frying for God's sakes - we could all be dead in the morning -
Suzan says - I'm calling an emergency electrician

Obviously I got the answering service - and I explain to the woman ( and I'm near tears at this point )
that our electricity is " sizzling " in the walls - and that we need someone here immediately
And 2 minutes after I hang up - my daughter comes thumping up the stairs - throws John's briefcase at us
and says

CAN YOU TURN YOUR TRAVEL ALARM OFF PLEASE - I HAVE EXAMS EARLY TOMORROW MORNING..................................

If they gave out awards for stupidity I tell ya - there would be no contest
Absolutely none.
But his alarm sounded like wires sizzling I swear.

Later in bed..................

Suzan says - maybe we shouldn't have bought a fixer upper
John says - I warned you - I'm not handy......................

Oh and by the way we never told the neighbours what really happened -
and we kind of slunk around for a few weeks avoiding them entirely.

And because I gave you a conversation from the archives - I'll give you a before and after from the archives because this is a furniture blog after all, lol

before

after

Stay Cool everybody
XXX