It is a NEW YEAR.

Good Morning and Welcome to the DEEP FREEZE.

ARGH, cold temperatures for the next week.

On the plus side our winter has been relatively mild until this cold snap.

Should we be complaining?

Likely not.

But will we?

Likely yes.

 

My carpool decided to take today off from work.

Usually this would mean that I would be taking the bus.

Lucky for me, my neighbour is giving me a ride to work.

I am on my own going home.

One way is okay.

 

Well this has placed a damper on our walks for the next days.

Usually Alvin likes to mull around outside when he is out doing his business or just hanging out.

Not now.

He does his business and runs back to the house.

Not much coaxing which is fine by me.

No offer of a treat to come inside.

Likely best for the waistline.

So we are playing more ….. Alvin is playing more if truth be told.

 

Tonight down comes the Christmas tree and then I will spend part/most of the weekend taking down the decorations.

Thankfully I only have a couple of items outside.

The wreath on the door and a small tree on the porch.

The wreath I can quickly grab despite the cold but the tree can remain on the porch until the temperature warms up.

It will be good to get back to the normal decorations although it does seem bare in the house for a few days.

But sometimes BARE is good.

Actually I have so  much Christmas ….. it looks like a store.

The rest of the year is much more low-key.

So that is good.

 

I was thinking of something as I was going to bed and of course, did not write it down.

A topic to write about this morning.

Note to self: when a great idea comes to your mind – WRITE IT DOWN, you silly girl.

 

I am also going back and forth between glasses this morning.

I have two pair.

One is older but as my prescription did not change, I can continue to wear them.

One pair has plastic frames, and the other are wire/metal.

The metal/wire frames sometimes bother by my ears.

But they have a slightly bigger lens and I like that.

I have to decide before wearing them for more than a minute or two otherwise will have a headache.

Small decision.

Will check out in the mirror and then decide.

 

What is new with you?

Did you set out with New Year Resolutions?

I did not, really.

I just try to do better than I did the year before in all aspects of my life.

Body, mind and soul.

 

Well almost time to head off downstairs.

On poop patrol.

Now those brown packages freeze before they hit the ground.

Easy to pick up.

 

I hope that on this cold Friday that you are warm and safe.

I wish that rain would extinguish ALL of the fires in Australia without massive flooding.

I wish that there would be PEACE in the Middle East and around the world.

I hope that everyone has a good day.

Yes, everyone.

Remember to breathe.

Go to the bathroom and fake yell if you need that release.

Shake it off.

Put one foot in front of the other!

Soon you will be walking out the door or opening doors to better things.

 

Happy Friday.

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

It is a NEW YEAR.

Good Morning and Welcome to a WINTERY WEDNESDAY.

Last night it started snowing and has not stopped.

The snow was up to Alvin’s neck on the deck when we got up at 3:30 a.m.

Yup, we were up and I fed him and shovelled some of the deck.

Not quite sure why but we were both wide awake at that time.

There will be shovelling to do again before I leave for work.

 

Yesterday was UKRAINIAN Christmas.

I realized after I wrote and published my post yesterday that I completely forgot about writing about Ukrainian Christmas.

The reason for me leaving up the Christmas Tree and decorations.

I was honoring my friend of forty-seven years who passed last year.

He was a kind, sweet, gentle Ukrainian man.

He would give you the shirt off his back or the shoes from his feet.

He cared for animals and life.

He loved his garden and flowers.

He farmed with his brother and when his brother passed he farmed alone.

Managing it all by himself.

A big job for two but for one, so much.

He would always call me and teasingly, ask, if I had a boyfriend or if I had got married.

I would always say “No.”

I know that he was just checking to make sure I was okay.

I would call him from him to time, as well.

He was fond of the photos that I sent him at Christmas time with a card.

A photo of me and Alvin.

He had a smile that would light up the saddest of folk.

He was generous to a fault.

He was like an older brother and treated my siblings as such, as well.

When I learned of his passing; I felt as though I had lost a part of me.

Well I guess that I had.

He was my older brother.

You left us way too early and I will miss you, always.

Yesterday you were in my thoughts and will never leave my heart.

I see your star shining on a clear Alberta night keeping watch over us all.

Thank you my brother.

********

 

Please be careful out there ….. lots of snow.

I pray for rain in Australia.

Please save the animals in Australia.

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

 

 

 

It is a NEW YEAR.

Well today is Saturday, January 04, 2020.

I love writing those numbers.

2020.

Feels futuristic.

We were outside a few minutes ago in the backyard to pick up you know what!

Alvin’s little parcels of love.

The air was warm and the sun is just coming up.

 

YAY, it is the weekend.

Once I have written this post, had a shower and breakfast; we will pop over to the Vet and pick up some food for Alvin.

There be laundry to do, floors and bathrooms to clean, walks to be had and whatever else I find the time to do.

My neighbours have agreed to help me bring in the cabinet/cupboard from the garage to the basement over the weekend.

Then I will be able to get the basement sorted out.

Now the Christmas tree and ornaments will remain until next weekend but I will have everything else in order by then.

 

Everyday on the news and on social media we hear stories and see photos of the massive fires in Australia.

The loss of wildlife is staggering.

I heard half a billion animals have lost their lives.

This will change the landscape of Australia forever.

My heart goes out to the people and to the animals both wild and domestic.

I know that Canada has been sending firefighters to help as have other countries.

Maybe if we collectively as a planet turn our thoughts to rain; we could bring rain to them.

Hoping for rain but not too much that they then have flooding.

Positive thoughts, positive energy.

Please save AUSTRALIA.

 

I wish you all a Happy Saturday.

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

 

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Tuesday the 12th day of April, 2016.

Sometimes it is good to take a step back and in this case to April 12th, 2012.

Here are my thoughts ….. funny how they are similar to what I am feeling today.

Thank you.

 

*******************************************************************

Good Great Thursday April 12th, 2012 …..

Good Morning All …..

I just want to start by saying thank you to all those folks who take the time out of their busy schedules to read my blog.

I really appreciate your thoughtfulness.

I think with this wonderful technology it is amazing that someone can read my words from across the world.

I have always wanted to write a book and have people all over the world read my stories.

Now with my blog ….. my dreams are becoming realized.

This is a first step for me, and I do want to write an actual book(s) one day soon.

This prairie farm girl turned small town gal, and finding her way to the big city along the way ….. is so amazed by all of this.

Often we look at how fast it works, and what it can do for one but at the end of the day it is a simple fact….. you can write a story or your thoughts and within seconds someone in Greece or China or Australia can read what you have written.

It just boggles the mind ….. I LOVE THIS.

Can you imagine what the past great writers would have thought of this ….. or perhaps they did in some way.  🙂

So for this wonderful Thursday ….. my final thought is this ….. even though you have this dream and you think that it is too big ….. just start moving in that direction and where the mind goes …. the body will follow.

Simple fact.

Take care and have a great Thursday.

Special Hello to:  all the writers and dreamers …. you ROCK!

Always, Carol and Alvin, er Mr. Alvin, I mean….. LOL

Thought for the day…..

Good Morning and Welcome to Sunday the 28th day of September, 2014.

Well it is a windy overcast Sunday here in Edmonton.

We had a great time with Steven’s family and friends celebrating his 40th Birthday.

His niece who lives about 5 hours away came with her two little boys.

So nice to see everyone.

We chatted, ate, laughed, ate and laughed some more……

Well in less than one hour I will be off to work again at the store.

I wonder who I shall meet today.

Sometimes we meet people that are visiting from all over the world.

Other times people from all over Canada and sometimes people from Edmonton.

That is the one thing that I truly love about being at the store is meeting nice people from all over the world.

Our world – our planet has become so small now with air travel and the internet.

We know more about other places than ever before in our history.

How very cool.

Really, I can write these words and once published they can be read from someone in Australia, or South America or on the east coast of Canada.

I never thought when I was a small girl that any of this would be possible.

So food for thought …… the changes that happen over our lifetimes.

I hope that you all have a great Sunday.

Time for me to go and sip on a hot cup of coffee and learn something on the computer via my daughter.

She is the technical guru in our household…… that is for sure.

Special Hello to: my sister ….. where are you?  We have to talk. ……

Always, Carol and Alvin

Thought for the day……

Good Morning and Welcome to Saturday the 9th day of August, 2014 and my “57th” BIRTHDAY.

The sun is shining and there is a cool breeze coming in through the office/bedroom window.

Just back from driving my neighbour to the airport as she is going to Saskatchewan to attend a family wedding.

WOW, I AM FIFTY-SEVEN.

CRAZY ….. three years from being sixty.

Now that is crazy.

 

I wanted to impart some words of wisdom or maybe some fun facts about the year I was born.

But instead I shall just say what comes to my mind, as always.

I have not always been such a positive soul but I always wanted good things for others.

I always dreamed of living a life where I helped others.

I thought at one point that I would be a nurse.

I would have the house with the white picket fence and be surrounded by four children, and later grandchildren, and the husband.

Every summer we would host a big family reunion and everyone would come from far away.

We would celebrate our family and we were happy.

 

I always let my imagination guide and protect me when I was younger and quite possibly that is the reason why today I harbour no ill feelings to parts of my childhood.

I always love to write and create.

I always wrote in a journal and wrote poems and stories.

Somewhere on the shelf I was a writer just waiting for that moment.

My time to be that “New York Times” Best Selling Author.

Even though I am a Canadian.

I always dreamed of travelling to Australia, Europe and Hawaii.

Possibly South America.

 

I guess for the most part I have been pretty comfortable and at times things have been easy.

I have been disappointed in my choices.

Sometimes sad along the way.

But when I look back at my life thus far overall I am pretty content.

Content in choices, content in my own skin and content to try even though I may fail.

Success is nothing without failure.

Failure and Success are both opinions.

Like beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

We are all beautiful …… I think.

 

So on this day …… a day that I was pretty sure would come along but sometimes scared that it would not …. I am grateful, proud and happy to be alive.

I am grateful to be Carol.

I am grateful to be surrounded by much love and laughter.

I am grateful to have my own house …. bought on my own.

I am grateful that I have one most beautiful and amazing daughter.

I am grateful to have a son-in-law and grand-puppies.

I am grateful to have me “ALVIN” ….. a son like no other.

I am grateful to learn everyday.

I am grateful to meet new people every week.

I am grateful that I took a chance.

I am grateful that I have learned and not been afraid.

I am grateful for my past, grateful for today and grateful that tomorrow will come.

I am grateful for each and every moment.

I am grateful that today at 6:20 a.m. – I turned fifty-seven.

I am grateful for every wrinkle …. for having great genes ….. barely any wrinkles ……

I am grateful that I can see the world, smell the world, taste the world and hear all the world.

I would post a photo of me but the most recent one is from last fall.

So that will be for tomorrow …… possibly photos of birthday celebrations.

 

Happy Birthday to my cousin “M” who turns 47 today ….. he was born on my 10th Birthday.

That was a cool birthday.

 

Special Hello to: all those folks with a birthday on mine ….. or mine on yours ….. Happy Birthday also to one of my favourite television personalities “HODA KOTB,” who turns 50 today.

 

Always, Carol and Alvin

 

 

 

Thought for the day…..

Good Great Thursday April 12th, 2012 …..

Good Morning All …..

I just want to start by saying thank you to all those folks who take the time out of their busy schedules to read my blog.

I really appreciate your thoughtfulness.

I think with this wonderful technology it is amazing that someone can read my words from across the world.

I have always wanted to write a book and have people all over the world read my stories.

Now with my blog ….. my dreams are becoming realized.

This is a first step for me, and I do want to write an actual book(s) one day soon.

This prairie farm girl turned small town gal, and finding her way to the big city along the way ….. is so amazed by all of this.

Often we look at how fast it works, and what it can do for one but at the end of the day it is a simple fact….. you can write a story or your thoughts and within seconds someone in Greece or China or Australia can read what you have written.

It just boggles the mind ….. I LOVE THIS.

Can you imagine what the past great writers would have thought of this ….. or perhaps they did in some way.  🙂

So for this wonderful Thursday ….. my final thought is this ….. even though you have this dream and you think that it is too big ….. just start moving in that direction and where the mind goes …. the body will follow.

Simple fact.

Take care and have a great Thursday.

Special Hello to:  all the writers and dreamers …. you ROCK!

Always, Carol and Alvin, er Mr. Alvin, I mean….. LOL