Living … One day at a time.

Hello and doing a little happy dance as today is FRIDAY.

YAY, I have a busy weekend ahead of me but doing things that I love.

Well perhaps giving Mr. Alvin a hair cut and bath is not exactly something that I love to do but that is okay.

I see lots of BAKING on the horizon, write up Christmas cards for the co-workers, wrap Christmas presents and the regular stuff like laundry.

Tonight I start off with going grocery shopping after I get home from work and get Alvin looked after and go for a walk.

Last night our walk was to the Vet and home to pick up more food, some treats, toothpaste, and his glucosamine chews.

I have started to supplement his dry food with a bit of wet.

He thinks it is a treat.

So cute.

 

Well today feels like a day to post photos.

Some of my favorite photos from 2019.

What a crazy happy sad wonderful year it has been.

I hope that are having a great day.

Take a look back at your photos for this year.

Enjoy ….

Photos can always bring a smile to your face and warmth to your heart.

Happy Friday.

 

Love Always, Carol & Alvin

Living … One day at a time.

Hello ALL and welcome to a Wonderful THURSDAY morning.

I just saw a tiny bug fly by me …. the joy of having houseplants.

Alvin and I went for a short walk last night but it was heavenly.

The air was soft and warm.

Short but sweet.

I shovelled our front walks before going to pick up Humphrey.

I love how he holds on for dear life.

Perhaps the shovel scared him a bit as I was holding it on our walk to my house.

Alvin joined me on the deck as I shovelled but not that Humphrey boy.

He preferred to wait until the deck was shovelled before coming outside.

I cannot say that I blame him one bit.

So grateful for this warm weather.

The weather forecast originally called for COLD and lots of SNOW and now they are saying it might be warmer than normal.

Someone mentioned that they have hit all the bases and that they have.

No matter what they say now … they have made it official.

They would be correct either way.

 

Last night I happened to be standing by Humphrey who was sitting in Alvin’s chair when I caught the sight of a rabbit hopping by the window.

He / She was pretty much all white now.

 

Well I am happy today is Thursday.

I love Thursdays.

Two of the four monthly are pay days and that is a good thing.

The day following is Friday.

Starts with the letter T.

Mm, not sure about that one.

But anyway I am happy it is Thursday.

 

Tonight we are walking to the Vet after I get home from work.

Alvin needs food, some treats and toothpaste.

Cannot do without food.

 

Well time to go and pick up the poop.

That is a good way to start and end one’s day.

 

Happy Day.

I hope that you are doing well.

Enjoying each moment.

Spending it with kindness and respect.

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

 

 

 

 

Living … One day at a time.

Good Morning and Welcome to Winter once again.

I guess that I always associate “SNOW” with winter.

When we were first up at 3:00 a.m. – there was a nice cozy blanket of snow covering the ground.

Covering the deck, the rooftops and just everything.

The trees have that layer of snow covering each and every branch.

The snow has that fluffy consistency that we love.

Well I know that we like to make snow creations when the consistency is sticky.

But I love the fluffy snow the most.

I love the way that the street lamps and the moon reach down and make the snow sparkle as though they were a billion diamonds.

Brilliant and beautiful.

Ode to Snow.

How about that.

Only in Canada, eh!

Just kidding.

 

Well today is Wednesday.

Last night the STEEPED TEA order arrived and I had it pretty much all sorted before we even went for our walk.

Most of the orders go to my office.

They are ready to go.

Also my new toothbrush heads arrived as well.

They were in a light envelope and I am grateful that they did not blow away.

I am excited to try some new tea blends over the next while.

 

We enjoyed our walk last night.

Funny story.

We were walking just past the poop station near the entrance to our park.

It is quite dark as you continue down the path.

They could use more lights that is for sure and also there is one that was removed.

Not sure about that.

Alvin stopped and I coaxed him to go a bit further and then he was done and turned for home.

I managed to convince him to walk up the hill to the sidewalk instead and go down the street toward Teddy’s house.

He actually kept going.

So we walked our path in reverse.

Worked out okay.

That will be the way we go for the rest of the winter months or at least until it is not quite so dark.

I had my trusty little flashlight with me shining as we went.

Lighting the path.

A little safety blanket of sorts.

 

Well today is Wednesday.

When you are off on the Monday it certainly speeds up the work week.

Tomorrow is Thursday. WOW.

 

Today is also the 14th Birthday of a very sweet young lady.

She is the niece to my son-in-law.

Happy Birthday E-K

Wishing you the best Birthday.

I know that you enjoyed your brother’s hockey game with Auntie A (my daughter) at REXALL PLACE.

 

My daughter sent me a photo of the two girls all smiles.

 

A sunflower for the Birthday GIRL.

 

Well time to go out and play find the poop in the freshly fallen snow.

Luckily for me I was paying attention to Alvin when he was outside.

Time to do some shovelling as well.

 

Have an awesome Wednesday.

This day will be filled with pleasant surprises, I have a feeling.

Remembering to be filled with kindness and respect.

Always, Carol & Alvin

Living … One day at a time.

Good Morning and here we are at Tuesday morning.

Back to work.

Alvin and I had a good snuggle this morning.

Yesterday Humphrey joined us for the day.

I mailed my out of town Christmas Cards to British Columbia, points in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec and SWEDEN.

Mailed cards to virtually half of the Canadian Provinces.

On my way home from mailing the Christmas cards and actually quite close to home; out of nowhere I slipped and went down on one knee on the sidewalk.

I had been coming off the road onto the sidewalk.

I was so careful but I guess not quite careful enough.

Luckily everything being me and my phone were okay.

When I got home I checked and even though my coat and my pants covered my knees there was a big patch of skin gone.

It was sore but not super painful.

 

I was not home very long when the phone rang and it was Teddy’s Mom.

She was wondering what we were up to as they were thinking of going for a walk.

I told her about my spill and that strangely enough I was feeling kind of nauseas.

She said that they could walk over and if we wanted to join them on the walk home that would be great.

Always nice to see them and this time the baby was going to walk on her on.

She followed right beside her brother and walked all the way to our house.

Pretty impressive for a 14 week old pup.

She is so cute.

We had tea and a visit.

Before they left Teddy’s Mom who is a “Energy Healer” gave me a treatment.

She said that I had been blocked by old old energy and that the new experiences/new energy were not getting in because of the old stuff.

She told me that it felt like old paper.

As she worked on my knee, I could feel something leaving and just felt so energized.

My friend told me she could see it in my eyes and hear it in my voice that I was feeling better.

So out with the old and in with the new.

Feeling like a new person today.

We are all energy beings.

Everyone should try this …. so cool.

Just to note that after the treatment I could actually kneel and put weight directly on that knee.

 

Well it is almost time to head downstairs.

One thing that I must work on is my posture.

Also sitting.

The computer chair that I have is pretty hard for me to sit back fully in and comfortably type on the computer keyboard.

But I am going to work on sitting tall and properly.

Will help with the sometimes achy back that I have.

 

I am catching a ride with Humphrey’s Mom as my car pool is off today so that she can drive her husband to a medical appointment.

 

May you have an awesome Tuesday.

Surrounding yourself with love, kindness and respect.

Happy Tuesday.

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

Living … One day at a time.

Well Good Morning.

I took this day off from work so that I could have an extra long weekend and to just relax.

We were up at 6:00 as Humphrey is spending the day with us.

Relaxing on the sofa we watched several episodes of “My Lottery Dream Home.”

It was interesting to see the amount that folks would spend on a home which was clearly dependant on how much they had won.

There were winnings from $1,000,000 to $7,700,000 in the shows that I watched.

I can honestly say that I have my Dream Home, without winning the lottery.

However, I would love to be mortgage free.

 

We had a great weekend from Friday night to now.

I managed to finish writing up all the cards and letters that are to be mailed.

I will be walking over to Shoppers Drug Mart to mail them sometime around noon or so.

Today is just a bonus so we will just enjoy each other’s company.

We enjoyed a full walk yesterday afternoon.

The weather is supposed to be nice today as well so we will pop out for a walk a bit later.

I want to call a couple of our friends.

One we keep missing each other so I want to chat with her today.

We also want to check in on Teddy’s Mom as she is not working today.

 

Well that is all for today.

Oh, I should mention this as it was quite disturbing in a way.

My neighbour had picked up some of the Almond Milk the containers not kept in the store coolers.

When I went to open a new one this morning, I realized that the outside seal on the lid had been broken (not by me) and inside the tab had been punctured.

So clearly not a great idea to use this.

I mentioned to my friend and she is going to see if the store will exchange for a new one.

Always a good idea to ensure that the safety tabs/seals are not disturbed.

You never know what could have happened.

 

Okay time to get dressed as it is getting late here.

Enjoying this day for sure.

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

 

Living … One day at a time.

Oh, what a weekend this has been so far.

Nice to see the sun shining this morning.

We were up at 5 a.m. for Alvin to eat and go outside.

Then headed back to the sofa for some extra zzz’s.

WOW, it was pretty late when we finally got up, I guess we really needed the extra sleep.

I was shocked to see the clock on the stove say it was 9:24 a.m.

Yes, we did not get our bodies up to stay up until that time.

Oh, well.

Yesterday was full of surprises.

I mentioned that Humphrey visited us unexpectedly arriving shortly after we got up.

I spent time between laundry and writing up letters and Christmas cards.

In the late morning Teddy’s Mom contacted me to see if he could come and visit Alvin for a couple of hours.

I said “sure.”

Teddy’s Dad dropped him by a little bit later.

In between doing chores and the Christmas cards I gave attention to my three buddies, Alvin, Humphrey and Teddy.

I had mentioned to Teddy’s Mom that I was just walk Teddy home when we went for a walk about 2:30 p.m. so that is what we did.

We were invited in for a visit and tea (for me).

So great to see the new puppy, OMG, she is so cute.

Just before 4:00 p.m. we headed for home as I had to shower and get ready for our girls Christmas party, finish drying some laundry and tidying up.

Humphrey was resting when we arrived home.

His Mom was to be home about 5:00 which worked perfectly as I was leaving about 6:00 p.m.

After I was ready and just finishing up a few things I texted Humphrey’s Mom.

She did not get away when she planned and was just leaving at that time.

Needless to say she was not home when I left for supper but the boys are fine together.

So it was nice that Alvin had company.

I was kind of surprised but more worried when Humphrey was still there when I arrived home two hours later at 8:00 p.m.

Cell phones are great, I texted his Mom and she said that she was only a few minutes away.

Whew, what a relief.

The girls had gone home to pick up a few things and then were going to walk back to my house (no drinking and driving).

Humphrey’s Mom was just leaving when they arrived.

What a busy day.

We, girls had a great time.

Laughing and venting and chatting up a storm.

Alvin laid mostly beside one of my friends wanting some attention.

There was no plan to exchange gifts but we all had brought a gift for each other.

Alvin even had a paw in opening one of my gifts.

The girls were surprised to see how well he could open a gift.

The one he opened was taped shut.

He found a place to start and between his mouth and paws, he did it.

There is even video proof.

I will share some photos of our gifts.

Funny just after 11:00 p.m. the party was over.

Everyone was getting tired after a long busy past few days.

We had such a wonderful time.

The food was great at the restaurant (company better).

I want to share some photos…..

Had some drinks.

Received some beautiful gifts.

I gave the hand made (not by me) Christmas tree ornaments in the Christmas tins and received the gifts in the photos above.

 

Now it is time to get some work done but before that happens it is time to make some coffee.

OMG, it is going onto 11:00 a.m. – how did that happen.

 

I wish you an awesome Sunday.

The sun continues to shine brightly this morning.

I think that Alvin is tuckered out after all of the company both two and four-legged.

He heard something and just sat up from a lying position.

 

Happy Sunday.

It is a good news kind of day.

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

 

 

Living … One day at a time.

Good Morning and welcome to a sky filled with a soft palette of pinks and oranges.

The sky looks as though you mixed some fog in with the sunrise.

It is absolutely gorgeous.

I just snapped a photo but the camera lens just does not grasp that wondrous beauty.

 

Humphrey unexpectedly has joined us today while his Mom is going out of town to visit family.

So Alvin will have some company while I clean the house and prepare for my girls to visit tonight.

We, three friends are going out for supper to a nearby restaurant called “Original Joes.”

This is our “Christmas party.”

Once supper is over we will retire to my house for a visit, perhaps a few drinks and maybe even a sweet treat.

Everyone can walk home from my house so not drinking and driving will happen.

There will be some cleaning and laundry to do today.

My friend who sells the FIFTH AVENUE JEWELRY is dropping off an order today around noon.

I will go with Alvin for a walk at some point.

We walked last night for our full walk.

Last night I visited my friends down the street.

We had such a great visit.

I was there for over three hours.

The time passed by so quickly.

 

With respect to our our family member who had surgery yesterday.

He is doing well and I pray that each and every report is great news.

It will definitely mean more hospital time but under the circumstances that is a must.

 

Well time to get this show on the road.

I actually took Monday off so that I would have some extra time at home finish Christmas cards and letters.

Some downtime.

Works has been crazy busy for me but I can finally see the light.

 

Well time to get dressed and start the laundry.

Check on the boys.

Alvin keeps walking back and forth so that means Humphrey is now upstairs.

I guess he likes to keep an eye on him.

Company?

 

Have an awesome Saturday.

I hope that life is treating you well.

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

Even though sometimes it is hard to be kind and respectful – we still have to put our best foot forward.

I had a bad day yesterday.

Not everyone is always happy about decisions.

I should know that by now.

 

 

 

Living … One day at a time.

Good Morning,

Today is even more about gratitude as we await news about a loved one.

Surgery is scary, and we know in our hearts that our loved one will come through and live a long healthy life surrounded by his family and friends.

So I thought that I would share a poem that I wrote several years ago.

Simply titled, THE THANK YOU POEM.

 

THE THANK YOU POEM

Thank you for the sunshine

Thank you for the rain

Thank you for the laughter

Thank you for the pain

Thank you for the cool nights

Thank you for the warm days

Thank you for the love

Thank you for the way it fills my heart

Thank you for each buzzing bee

Thank you for all the trees

Thank you for the roses

Thank you for their sweet smell

Thank you for my family

Thank you for the way

Thank you for my dog, Alvin

Thank you for this heaven

Thank you for the abundance

Filling my day – keeping me full

Thank you for the sun, the moon and the stars

Thank you for old ladies, young men

Thank you for music played on guitars

And then !!!

Thank you

Written by Carol Yvonne Lewis

March 2011 in Edmonton, Alberta

 

Please keep your loved ones close, and envelope them in a sea of love.

Near or far reach out and tell them “that you love them.”

Do this every chance that you have.

 

You are important to me and I love you.

Thank you

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

 

Living … One day at a time.

Hello, yes it is Thursday morning.

Dark outside and will be for several more weeks …. months but that is okay.

It is almost dark by the time that I arrive home from work.

In a short time it will be dark before I arrive home.

Last night I hitched a ride home with my daughter.

So nice to catch up and talk about what was on our mind.

Some work talk and Christmas.

After my daughter continued onto home; I ran, no actually I walked and picked up Mr. Humphrey.

He was to spend the evening with us.

After I brought him to the house a short while later, Alvin and I went for a walk.

Another short one but still fresh air and some exercise.

If Alvin wants to go home I let him lead the way.

I do not want him to get cold.

After we got home, I got Alvin settled in the house before going outside to the front to shovel the sidewalks for us and for Humphrey’s Mom.

I am so grateful that I have great neighbours.

Humphrey’s Mom shovelled the walk before I arrived home from work on Tuesday night after the large snowfall.

 

We had a nice evening.

Me and the boys.

I wrote some more letters for my Christmas cards.

Writing letters is a dying art form.

Most people do not send Christmas Cards.

They tend to send emails or a shout out from Social Media.

Maybe a emoji or GIF (is that the correct term) of something Christmas.

I will always send some Christmas cards and letters as long as I can hold a pen and write.

Sometime tells me that I have MANY good writing letters and cards left in me.

I would like to be doing this at 100 years old.

Wouldn’t that be awesome.

In fact, I started making cards when I was 8 years old.

The first card was a Valentine’s card for my grandparents.

Decades later when I was looking for something in my Grandma’s dresser drawers; I found a box with some cards and one of them was this card from 8 year old me.

She had saved most of the cards that I had sent to her over the years.

The Christmas Cards, the Birthday Cards, Mother’s Day and the letters that I had mailed from wherever I was living over the course of my life.

I spend a few years living with my Grandmother after my Grandfather died so she was like a Mother to me.

 

Well looks like time to sign off for another day.

I wish you well.

Happy Thursday.

 

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog, I am most grateful.

 

Special Hello to You ….

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

Living … One day at a time.

Good Morning and today would be Wednesday, the 27th day of November, 2019.

Yes, it is.

Can you believe it?

Less than one month till Christmas.

I love this time of year.

Yesterday one of my coworkers gave me a fancy outdoor light bulb that dances in multiple colours.

She had changed her outdoor light fixture; it no longer fit and was new last year.

There is no other way to describe it.

Photos, I took photos.

Just a minute.

There be a party going on at my door.

I didn’t have my tree on the porch lit up at the time so it would be even more colourful.

Love this bulb.

What a great invention.

I cannot help but to look over and over at the photos.

Alvin wasn’t quite sure what to think.

After I changed the bulb and had gone back into the house.

I turned on the light and opened the door.

Alvin slowly walked to the doorway but not all the way.

I think that dogs cannot distinguish colour but he would have seen the movement.

Likely wasn’t certain what to think.

He knew I was happy, though.

Sometimes it is the smallest things in life that can make you feel so good.

 

Tonight after work my daughter is driving me home.

I love when she brings me home.

We catch up in the 30-45 minute drive.

So much fun and I love chatting with my girl.

She is the best daughter ever.

Sorry, folks.

She just is.

 

Well we did not make it out for a walk last night.

It just felt too cold and I had a chill.

Hopefully tonight will be a bit warmer.

I know it will only get colder.

There was some ice mixed in with the snow.

It was icy when I was leaving the office.

 

Well I suppose it is almost time to go back downstairs.

Grab my lunch.

Go outside and do the poop pickup.

Not that I particularly like poop or anything like that but I do like the word.

For some reason it does not bring to mine horrid stuff.

Anyway …. that is how I feel.

 

I hope that you are having a good day thus far.

Wishing you all the best for this day and always, of course.

Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to read my post.

So grateful for you.

 

Spread kindness and respect and the world will be a better place.

 

Always, Carol & Al

 

P.S.  did I say that we had some …. yes, we sure do.