I had a good chat to Bill last night about the loss of my lil' Russell-muffin (one of the multitude of nicknames my dog had) and it was really good. For once it was nice to talk about it without getting the, "Oh, it'll be alright," rubbish or someone going, "Well, it's not that bad really, it's not like he was a person," or any variety of similar touchy-feely crud.

Of course I still miss the little munchkin, even though he would pee on the rug by the fireplace out of sheer spite when he was in a funny mood and had no shame when it came to licking his bits when there were visitors. But he was an awesome dog, and it was good to be able to talk about that and everything else.

Although Bill had me in tears when he was like, "So tell me about when you and Derek first met." It's so stupid, but I was a total blubbering mess over it for a little while, but it actually cheered me up after I got over the tissue-clutching moments. And reminded me that even though I was so upset after my other dog had died, thus leading to getting Derek, the world doesn't stop.

Dogs really have a way of getting into your heart, marking their territory, curling up, snuggling in and making it their home.

That's probably enough mushiness for today!