Last Half 2022 – August

Good Morning ALL! Well we were up at 5:30 Alvin had his glucosamine chew, went outside and then had breakfast before we settled down on the sofa until 7:30. We have been up for awhile now. I am happy to report that we had a full walk. Alvin sniffed happily all round our walk. I had to watch him very carefully to ensure that he did not eat something that he should not. It is foggy and humid this morning but with a cool breeze making it comfortable to be outside. There were a few big rain drops during our way and also our large dog friend name Grizzly whom we met a few weeks ago, I believe. Grizzly is a playful big guy and he reached out with his large paw to pet Alvin and Alvin got scared. I guess I would be scared if a huge paw came down on my head. He is truly a gentle giant our Grizzly friend. I did not freak out so Alvin was okay. Just an initial bark and he was okay after that.

Last night before bed I applied for the Canada Pension Plan for which I have been paying into for over 40 years. I wished that I would have applied for OAS at the same time but I had this voice in my head saying it is automatically paid as I had been listening to a YouTube guy speaking about applying for these benefits. Anyway, I just went to apply for OAS and their Government of Canada website is down. So will have to try later. Just wishing I would have done it last night, woe is me, lol. I will keep trying over the course of the day and tomorrow. I did the hard work last night getting all of the signins worked out. Nothing is straightforward with the government or so it would seem. Anyway, it is what it is.

Yesterday we were happy to have Teddy, his little sis Kobi and Aunt Janine stop by for a visit yesterday afternoon. So nice to have company, we thoroughly enjoyed their visit. Alvin was over the moon. So excited to see his friends. It was a great day. Janine and I had coffee and I shared some of my birthday biscotti with her. By the way, Val if you are reading this post – Janine loved the biscotti.

Last night for dessert, I baked an apple crisp with the remaining apples before they spoiled. For the supper portion I made large chicken stir fry. Both were yummy and I will have leftovers for a few days.

There is such a refreshing breeze coming in through the office window. I appreciate it so much. Looking forward to having a cup of coffee earlier than yesterday.

I am so grateful that Alvin had a good weekend. Today is looking good as well. Tomorrow we take an urine sample. That should be interesting.

Oh, I had a lovely chat with one of my brothers, the older of the two who will be turning 60 in a few days. Two days after mine to be exact. I will be having a video chat with my sister today so I want to get everything done. At least I have leftovers for supper so we can always chat after an early supper.

Now I just need to reach out to my youngest brother and have a chat. Also wonderful to chat with my siblings. I miss seeing them. It has been a long over two years since we were together. I am hoping that next summer we are able to have a get together. Time flies and we need to see each other.

What a busy but yet relaxing weekend. There was plenty of time for snuggling with the Alvin and time for visiting with friends, chatting on the phone and doing a bit of work. The work part – well let’s be serious, my house does not really get dirty. I am always picking up and putting things away as I go. That is the secret to keeping things tidy. A bit of dust can easily be wiped. If you keep things clean as you go – less work in the long run. I have learned that in my almost 65 years on this planet.

Wow, today is August 1st and now only 8 days till my birthday on August 9th. Janine and I made plans to have our “Mexican Supper” on my actual birthday so that will be great. I did not have any plans for my actual birthday and now I do so that is great. She is putting together the meal and I am doing dessert. Not sure what yet but I will figure it out. Maybe it should be cake or cupcakes since it is my birthday. I can always run to the grocery store and pick up a couple of pieces of cake or cheesecake, that would be lovely.

I am enjoying the over a week long celebrations. Why not!

Well time to go and perhaps I will try again to apply for OAS which is Old Age Security here in Canada. It is nice that you can apply for and start these benefits and still be working.

Have a great Monday. I am enjoying this long weekend. So great to have the extra day. This Friday is my last day of work before I begin my vacation. I took one week and one day and will enjoy every moment.

Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus, possibilities, coffee and with Alvin.

Always, Carol & Alvin

PS: only 8 sleeps till I turn 65. I cannot wait.

Living … One day at a time.

Hello,

Well today is Friday, August 9th, 2019.

It is the second day of my 2019 VACATION and

TODAY is my 62nd Birthday.

I will be spending the day with these guys:

Notice anything different about Humphrey?

No cone.

Alvin and I were out for a walk a little bit ago before we brought Humphrey over.

These were snapped at the park near our home.

Looks like my day might be overcast ….

But I know every cloud has a silver lining….

No I am not worried.

Well time to go and have my birthday COFFEE and breakfast.

Later will have coffee and BIRTHDAY BISCOTTI (treat from my friend V, thank you).

One of my coworkers does CAKES.

So I commissioned her to make me 24 cupcakes for today which I will share with family and friends.

I have asked for chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing and vanilla cupcakes with key lime icing.

AND

Then my 3rd CARROT CAKE which will be delivered next Friday/Saturday when I will be having yet another party when my sister arrives.

Part of that cake will go with us to our brothers for yet another party.

This time will be celebrating his birthday and mine.

Lots of partying going on.

 

Well it feels like things are just getting better and better.

I am going with that thought.

Life is great.

I feel wonderful.

I am surrounded by thoughtful and caring and supportive family and friends.

Alvin is my constant companion.

I live in my own home, something I have wanted my whole life.

I am able to have flowers in my yard.

We have fur babies that visit us often.

I have two of the cutest grand pups ever.

Life is very very good.

Happy Birthday to me and also to HODA KOTB who shares this day with me.

I am the older between us.

I have a cousin who was born on my tenth birthday and some friends.

August 9th is a good day.

 

Time to fly…..

I guess this is one of the most recent photos of me ….. October 2018.

Perhaps time to take some more.

I like this one so it is a good one to share …..

 

Spread your kindness with respect and the world will be a great place to be.

 

Always, Carol, Alvin and Humphrey

Thought for the day ….

Good Morning and Welcome to Tuesday the 6th day of November, 2018.

It would seem that winter is now upon us although I did see “0” temperatures in our no too distant future.

So whether or not the snow is permanent for the next few months – time will tell.

Today is a big day ….

Alvin’s BFF Teddy is coming to stay with us until the 18th of November.

The U.S. mid-term elections are today.  That should be interesting.

 

How about favourite things Tuesday?

Food, Nature, Food, Coffee, Flowers, Sweets, Wrapping Gifts, Christmas?

 

 

What are you favourite things?

I hope that you all have an awesome Tuesday.

I am grateful for everything in my life.

Happy Tuesday.

 

Special Hello to:  the best sister on the planet.

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

 

Thought for the day ……

Good Morning and Welcome to Friday the 8th day of July, 2016.

It is partially overcast and breezy here in the City of Edmonton this morning.

YAY, it is the weekend.

So excited for this one.

Time with Alvin, tea tasting with my team leader and team mates, coffee with my girls and a visit from my daughter.

Does not get better than that.

In between I had better get some laundry and cleaning done, ah, do I have to???

Last night one of my neighbours have me a hair cut.

It has been awhile since I actually paid for a hair cut.

Normally I do it myself.

But I was feeling like I needed to treat myself and so I did.

She was going to charge me $25.00 (came to my house) but was late getting here so only charged me $20.00.

Close to being FREE, gotta love that.

I feel so refreshed and free and NEW.

So today I am going to present a new me and a cheery fresh outlook …. get back to me.

Sometimes all it takes is a hair cut to get you back on track.

I feel GREAT this morning.

So that is my thought for the day ….. try something new or just do something you have not done for awhile to refresh your outlook.

Something that will give you that little boost to get going.

I honestly have felt blah, not sick or anything, just that my get up and go had got up and left.

Now is that not a mouth full.

But so true.

If you do not have that get up and go ….. it is hard to do anything other than what you immediately have to do and even that is a strain.

But I am back ….. better than usual.

I feel GREAT.

So here we are once again ….. almost time to leave for work.

Oh, great news.

My friend “V” from Regina …. the one that bakes a wicked biscotti and I mean the most delectable creation on this planet and her treats for Valentine’s and Easter were to die for ..

Well anyway she is coming to  Edmonton to see her brother and she is going to spend some nights with me.

I am so excited.

A visitor.

Well gotta run.

Life is so good.

Something even more wonderful is coming, I can feel it.

I could not before but it is coming …. a dream fulfilled, I think, I know.

Happy Friday.

Special Hello to: my friend “V” so grateful that you are coming to stay with me during your trip to our city.

Always, Carol and Alvin

Thought for the day ….

Good Morning and Welcome to Saturday the 13th day of February, 2016.

One day before Valentine’s Day.

I am going to start this blog by sharing a great little story from yesterday.

Sometimes you have a day that is well not exactly what you had in mind ….. less than perfect.

Perhaps part of it …. began with me going to empty a glass of water into the sink but instead literally tossed it the opposite direction and onto the countertop.

The countertop that help my electric percolator and electric mix stand, and other stuff ……

But as the water travelled in slow motion through the air …. I realized what I had done. 

I never moved so fast ….. where was my brain at that moment …

During the day I struggled to accomplish what I had planned because I had several unexpected interruptions.

Now I did get several things done but not everything ….. oh well …. before I knew it I was on the bus heading home.

As I unlocked the door my friend “S” was just driving by and stopped for a moment to see how things were and to see if I would be making coffee later and I said “of course, I can.”

She had to carry on as someone drove up behind her ….

When I entered the house  Mr. Alvin was happy as ever to see me, and to go outside to relieve himself …. oh what the hay to go “pee” ….. much better word.

I decided to go straight outside and clean up after him ….. and also finished my conversation with the neighbour who had by now parked her car and was going into her house.

The plan was to feed Alvin, have supper and then make us a cup of coffee.

Originally I had planned to finish up canvassing for the Heart and Stroke Fund but it was snowing and blowing pretty hard making it hard to keep paper dry etc.

So another change in plans.

Oh well.

After I had given Mr. Alvin his supper …. I decided to go upstairs and onto the computer to send a FB message to a friend and to my surprise I had a message from another friend.

It read “GO CHECK YOUR MAILBOX.”

I blinked a few thousand times in utter excitement because when this friend says go check your mailbox …. you just know it is going to be GOOD … no I mean,  GREAT.

So I literally RAN down the stairs …. grabbed my boots and coat from the closet, a bag to put the mail in …. grabbed keys …. locked the house on my way out and carefully WALKED fast to the mailbox.

When I opened the mailbox door I saw the RED tag of the key for one of the PARCEL boxes and lots of flyers.

HEAVEN ….. I knew that I had a parcel ….

I threw the flyers and odd piece of mail into the bag…..

Holding my breath I opened the mailbox with the parcel inside ….

There was a huge box with my NAME and ADDRESS printed on it …..

The return address ….. yes it was from my friend “V” in Regina …..

I quickly closed the door and put the key into the letter slot and was on my way home.

I yelped with excitement and decided to stop and see my neighbour “S” ….. she was the one that I had seen just as I was arriving home.

She came to the door …. I was so excited …… quickly explaining that  there would be some good treats inside for sure.

I told her of the chocolate covered biscotti that this friend had sent me a couple of years ago AND said that we would have a treat with our coffee later.

Then she told me “thank you and to be careful walking down the sidewalk and home.”

I abided by her and in a couple of minutes was safely back home.

Parcel in my hot little hands.

OMG …. I do love receiving packages …..

Alvin was not sure what happened to his Momma.

So I grabbed the letter opener and some scissors and ran upstairs as my computer was on and my camera was upstairs as well.

I placed the parcel on my desk …..

THE PARCEL

THIS IS WHAT GREETED ME WHEN I OPENED THE BOX

THERE WERE DIFFERENT KINDS OF BUNS …. CINNAMON ….. CHEESE AND PLAIN AND THIS HUGE WHAT I THOUGHT WAS A COOKIE BUT TURNED OUT TO BE THE BEST BROWNIE EVER MADE.

The Brownie was/is heart-shaped and decorated with perfection.

I was totally overwhelmed ……

How extraordinarily kind, wonderful and thoughtful is my friend “V”.

My day went from being kind of a disappointment in some ways to being so WONDERFUL …. it felt like winning the lottery.

I had this overwhelming feeling that I was so extra special.

Alvin as I mentioned was not certain was had happened but he knew it all smelled great.

The next thing I did after snapping photos was to post my surprise to Facebook, thanking my friend.

Not only did she send all of the sweet treats but she wrote me a special letter, gave me a Valentine’s card, she put in some napkins with pink hearts and forgot to mention …. she had filled the card full of tiny red hearts that flew all over my desk and the floor when I opened the card.

I know that I am babbling and not using proper punctuation and all of that ….. but this is straight from the heart.

This gal knows that she is very blessed to be surrounded by the most wonderful people on the planet.

I do not take any of them for granted.

This morning I want to thank each and every one of my friends for choosing me to be a part of your life.

I know that without your love and support I would just be Carol.

This morning I want to send a special thank you to my friend “V” back in Regina ….

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

You are so kind and thoughtful.

You lightened my dreary day.

You made me scream with delight.

You made me feel special.

You filled my tummy with the most exquisite treat.

You are talented beyond words.

You are the best …..

Thank you.

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

So now I had better get this day going …. I have massive amounts of towels and bedding to launder as now my dryer is fixed thanks to other friends.

On this Saturday morning I am feeling so blessed to be surrounded by good, honest and caring people.

My friend and my family are the most incredible beings and I am so grateful to have them all in my life.

Thank you

 

Special Hello to:  “V” in Regina …… there are no words ……

Always, Carol and Alvin

 

P.S. ….. “V” …. my neighbour loved the brownie, too.

 

 

 

 

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Friday the 21st day of November, 2014.

What a surprise I had when I arrived home last night after working both jobs.

There on the middle of the kitchen table sat a parcel ….

As I drew nearer I realized that the said parcel had “my name” on it.

Quickly my eyes searched for the return address as I was not expecting a package.

Lo and behold I saw the name of one of my friends from back in Regina.

I grabbed the scissors from a nearby drawer and set to work to open the carefully done up package.

When I got it open I found a beautiful card and letter and a container with some goodies.

This friend of mine and I am going to name her which as you know I seldom use anyone’s actual name … I usually refer to them by their first initial ….

This absolutely thoughtful and out of the blue gift was from my pal “VAL” …. who is by far one of the most thoughtful humans I know.

This is the second time she has surprised me and surprise it was …..

Anyway the homemade treat of chocolate dipped biscotti is sitting on the table not opened as I wish to have it on a Saturday morning with my coffee and RELAX.

Now there is more than enough for several Saturdays ……

Perhaps over Christmas when I have some extra days at home and not at either job.

Well here it is almost time to leave for work once again ….. almost seems like I just got home ….. whoops yes I did …. it was midnight when I got to bed last night.

I had a great Thursday night at the store.

I hope that you have a crazy wonderful Friday and that perhaps you will take the time to surprise a friend or family member.

Doesn’t have to be anything big ….. something homemade and from the heart will do.

Have a great Friday ….

Tonight will be the third night in a row for working at the store ….. so much fun.

I will be back tomorrow …. thank you for reading my blog ….. this is too cool…..

Special Hello to: my friend VAL from Regina ….. you are absolutely the best and have perfect timing.

Always, Carol and Alvin