Good Morning ALL! I hope that your Sunday is going well thus far. I am freshly showered and feeling GREAT and Mr. Alvin is resting on the rug outside the office, so I am going to go out on a limb and say that he is doing great as well. Sky is overcast and it is windy.
I would like to wish my nephew in Heaven a belated Happy Birthday and to a friend here on Earth, Kris, a very Happy Birthday.
Today is I am going to do some shopping. I am hoping to pick up any last minute gifts and most of the groceries that I will need for the next while including for the Christmas parties, baking and Christmas. There will be another trip to the store later for those items that were forgotten and fresh produce. I will also mail my Christmas cards inside and outside of Canada. Yesterday I wrote cards and letters most of the day in between doing laundry, going for a walk with Alvin and some cleaning. A very productive day.
They started out in order but somehow the tree photo with only the lights ended up last, lol. Anyway more Christmas decorations photos, my favourite time of year. The bannister turned out great.
Time to head downstairs and make some coffee, then have coffee and then go shopping.
Have a wonderful Sunday.
Continuing to live my life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus, possibilities and coffee.
Good Morning ALL! How are you this morning? We are doing well. Alvin is snoozing outside the office door as I click click away on the keyboard writing this post. I am so grateful that we had such an beautiful fall thus far.
Even though the wind is howling and sounding like it is blowing things away, the air outside is warm. Fingers crossed for another warm day. Yesterday was beautiful. 20’s for October is amazing. Makes me want to do a happy happy dance. My friend Pauline came over and looked after Mr. Alvin. They even went for a walk to the park. Good to know that if I am not at home, he will walk when someone tries to take him outside. After work, I so wanted to go for another walk (went for a walk at work) but someone had other ideas so it was very short lived.
Did I tell you that I was having monitor problems which have now been rectified? Did you know that the port can actually break? You learn something new everyday. Thanks to my friend and coworkers’ husband who works in IT for fixing the problem. I truly learn something new each day. So I am happy to have the monitor working again. I could work with just the laptop but much easier with a second screen/monitor.
I took tomorrow off and have a full day planned between vet visit etc.
The wind howling made me think that I should change out my closets and bring up my winter wear. I don’t think we will have many sandal/flip flop days ahead. Would be nice but not likely!
I am looking forward to a cup of coffee this morning.
My friend Val said that a surprise package is being delivered today. I can hardly wait. Did not tell Mr. Alvin as he would get overly excited and anxious. He loves opening packages. That makes me happy.
Well it is time to head back downstairs. Plug in the coffee perk. Get this day going. I am up early as it is only 6:28 but that is okay. I have lots to do so might as well get an early start. One more trip outside.
Have an awesome Thursday.
Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus, possibilities and coffee.
Good Morning ALL! What a wonderfully cool Monday morning this is. The sun is starting to rise, the sky is a pale blue as the night leaves for morning with pale orange hue on the horizon away from the sun. Beautiful. The house is cool this morning and I even forgot to open our bedroom window last night. How did that happen? I even got up just before I turned the lights out to turn off the fan which I had briefly turned on at the lowest setting. I have closed the bedroom windows and blinds except for the office one for now. I will close them once I am done writing this post. Monday morning here we come. I am so happy that Mr. Alvin slept until almost 4:30 and then he woke up at 5:57 (still beat the alarm). So we have been up for a few extra minutes. Today is shower so I need a bit more time and we are still walking in the mornings due to the heat at lunch time and after work. Yesterday when we went for a walk in the mid morning, it was so beautiful out that we just kept walking and before I knew it we had walked our whole “old” route. This time it took us 45 minutes. Alvin is slowing down. We used to do it in 25-30 minutes. But I figure 45 minutes of fresh air, sniffing in that beautiful air, checking out the grass, the trees, the flowers and just being together is great. I am happy that he is still able to walk. I am so proud of Mr. Alvin. We bumped into an older gentleman with his dog, a girl, I do not remember her name now but Alvin liked her. She was 9 years old, I think the man said. Anyway, Alvin took a shine to her and she was timid but did not seem to mind the attention. The love fest carried on for a few minutes before we both went on our way. So nice. Whoa, the sun is coming up and reflecting off of the neighbours garage, looking oh so pretty. I am glad that we are up and getting things done.
A good weekend and I am so grateful that the temperatures were less hot. Way less hot. Yesterday I spent some time cleaning out some of the flower pots where most of the flowers had already passed on. I also did some rearranging and cleaning of the garage preparing for putting the patio/deck furniture away. Won’t be for a bit but not too far off, I would think. I have already prepared the front flower bed except to trim back the perennials that remain. There are three of them. I was going to clean the blinds on the main floor and that did not happen. Just putzed. It was a wonderful day.
Off the subject, I have had this computer (new) in 2009. It is a 2009 model. So it has served me well. The computer can no longer accept updates so it remains behind. I have an Apple iMac. I have been researching to find out which would be the best one to get and am shocked by the results of my searches. I found that the Shopping Channel had some on sale and you can pay for them by interest free monthly payment which would be ideal for me. Upon some research between myself and my daughter (whom I could not do anything technical without), found that the newer Catalina operating system will not be supported after this year. So I do not know if this means that there would be no more updates. Who wants to buy a computer that is basically obsolete before you even pay for it? The new ones that were made in 2022 are thousands of dollars. I love Apple products but seriously do we need to charge so much. Aren’t the Apple people rich enough. How about making things a bit more affordable. You have the “customer base.” Anyway, I have some serious thinking to do before I spend any money. More research and time. I hope this old gal can work for some more time. She has done pretty darn good. Fingers crossed.
Well time to head back downstairs and go for a walk with the boy. Alvin is resting on his bed in the office here beside me.
I hope that you have an awesome day. Cannot believe that the long weekend in September is only a few days away. September, FALL ……. I love fall.
Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love, laughter, understanding, gratitude, focus, possibilities, coffee and …….
Always, Carol & Alvin
PS: I am so grateful to be working from home ….. I love that we can go for a walk and come home and then I can plug in the coffee pot and then start work. I love that I can drink home brewed coffee all morning long if I chose.
Good Morning All! How are you doing this Friday morning? We are good and just back home from one of our three daily 10 minute walks. I must say that I enjoy this first one the most. We had a bit of rain earlier when we were outside and now just cool and chilly.
Last night after working the late shift till 7 pm and having a quick bite to eat, one of my friends G came over for a visit about 8 pm and we chatted till 1015 pm. The night just flew as we chatted catching up in our news. To be honest there wasn’t to much new with me. We had the odd laugh about something or other but mainly serious talk which sometimes is necessary and we all need to “vent” and get things off our chests. We did just that. Alvin was so happy to see her that he spent most of the evening sitting beside us on the sofa.
I think it is supposed to be nice over the weekend so will get more yard work done and obviously house stuff as well. I am going through things in the basement to downsize the things that have accumulated down there. Sell a few things, give away and recycle. Always a big job. If I am going to be downstairs for any length of time I will have to carry Alvin down there so he doesn’t bark. Life.
well it is almost that time once again. It seems lately I am always running a bit late. Sure will enjoy coffee this morning.
I hope that you have a great Friday. Someone just grabbed his Teddy to play and looks like he wants me to play. Better ho.
Hard to believe that I started this blog when I was 51 and newly retired and now I am 64 and working full time for ten years. Life is interesting I will say that.
Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, understanding, love and gratitude.
Good Morning ALL! How are you doing this GREAT Saturday morning? Alvin and I are well. Going to head out for a walk after I write this post. Now I am wishing when we were up earlier that I had actually got my butt up off the sofa but sometimes you just want to snuggle under a warm blanket especially when you know that you do not have to be at work just a few steps away, lol. Anyway, no matter, a decision was made actually several times as we were up and down since about 4:35 a.m. That is the state of our household. A hot mess, most mornings. We manage to get through it and each day. The sun is shining and has been since earlier. There is a breeze but thankfully not gale force winds. So grateful for that. Getting bad when the wind blows over your flowers pots on the deck, okay only one but it was not light. I love looking at the sky. There are clouds which appear to be forming on the southern horizon and actually are taking the shape of mountains, how cool is that? Absolutely beautiful. I believe that the forecast is for 22 degrees celsius today with cloudy periods. So perhaps now would be a good time to go for a walk. The laundry and house cleaning can wait. Yesterday we walked twice which was great. We spotted the families of geese in the park snacking on grass by the trees close to the water. The goslings are no longer little fluff balls but are beginning to get their feathers. I am quite sure that I heard or read somewhere that young geese / goslings are not able to fly until they get their “flight feathers.” No wonder the adults stay close by.
There are 997 lovely souls that are now following this blog. WOW, I cannot believe it. The number has grown so much in the past year and I am grateful to each and every one of you for taking the time out of your busy lives to read my posts. It brings me immense joy. I wish you great joy, much love and laughter and abundance. Thank you.
Well tomorrow is Father’s Day and the official First Day of Summer in the Northern Hemisphere. Two huge events.
I am going to sign off for now. Get out there and get one or two with nature and get some exercise. Getting older has done nothing for my waistline, lol.
Have a wonderful Saturday. Enjoy the day.
Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love and gratitude.
Always, With much thanks and gratitude, Carol & Alvin
Good Morning ALL! How are you this beautiful Friday morning. Alvin and I are doing great. Just had a refreshing shower. Going to write this post and then head out for a nice little walk before starting the last work of the week. I thought that I would share something that is most important to me. We all lead hectic, busy, sometimes stressful, sometimes anxious, lives and we sometimes need to be reminded of the words we say to ourselves.
This is the Daily Affirmation that I say to myself in front of the mirror every morning three times. Now of course, affirmations should be repeated multiple times and with meaning so that you believe what you are saying.
Daily Affirmation
I am healthy. I am strong. I am powerful. I am happy. I am grateful. I am wealthy. I am loved. I am appreciated. I am lucky. I am prosperous. I am divine. I am confident. I am proud. I am blessed. I am beautiful. I love the person that I am. I release my obstacles and make room for new opportunities. I love my life.
We all need to be more positive and this gives us a boost in the right direction. If we show love and love who we are, love what we have …. our lives will be filled with love.
Positive talk. Positive chatter.
Time to go for a walk with Mr. Alvin. Have an awesome day. Look after you. You are important.
Happy Friday.
Continuing to live this life with kindness, respect, compassion, patience, love and gratitude.
Good Morning ALL! How are you on this beautiful bright and sunny Wednesday morning? Alvin and I are okay. For some unknown reason he was up starting from midnight and every couple of hours until I am up for the day. I am feeling a bit on the tired side but hopefully it does not affect the day too much. Perhaps some caffeine soon will perk me up and I hope that night we sleep through the night.
I was looked through my posts back to near the beginning of this blog and found one that I thought was pertinent today and always and will share it now:
April 2010
I have been thinking lately of family and friends. About how easy it is to lose track of people. Recently I have connected with old friends on Facebook, and am thrilled to hear about their lives. I find people fascinating, and it pleases me a great deal to hear from them. To hear their stories.
My thought for this day is: send an email or SKYPE someone you care about, do it right now. Time is of the essence. It can get away on you. Take advantage of this new technology.
Make someone’s day……. you just made mine.
I am not sure how many people still use SKYPE now, likely more TEAMS or ZOOM but the idea remains the same. There is also INSTAGRAM in addition to Facebook and other Social Media platforms.
The point being reach out to family and friends. They might love to hear your voice over the telephone.
Whether you phone, use messenger, FB, Instagram, SKYPE, Teams or ZOOM or something else, the point is our family and friends need us more than ever.
Time can pass so quickly and it is very easy to say “I will call her or him tomorrow.”
Reach out today.
Continuing to live with kindness, respect, compassion and patience.
Good Morning ALL! How are you this morning? We are doing well. Had a fairly good sleep and even slept in this morning. No reason to get out of bed and stay up at 5:00 a.m. or even at 6:00 a.m. other than I guess it is better for one to keep the same sleep schedule which includes going to bed and rising. I will admit that I am trying to find the best times and it appears to be a work in progress for us although we usually go to bed within an hour. At this very moment the view out of my office window reminds me of a snow globe. The snow is accumulating as it is below zero. I can see more shovelling in my future. Just when there was only a small amount on the deck and in the backyard. We still have a fair amount on the front yard but that is due to us facing north. All about the shade in the front which is nice as the living room faces in that direction. On those hot summer days when it is +27 or so degrees celsius that shade does not keep the living room cool …… we have fans for that…. The sky is completely overcast with no breaks so looks like this is set in for the day although the temperature is to be plus double digits today so if that happens we will end up with rain and the snow will melt quickly. Tomorrow’s forecast is for plus double digits tomorrow and rain. I am so glad that we had an extra long walk yesterday as we may not make it out today. I don’t mind walking when it is snowing or raining but for Alvin not so good. He runs the risks of moisture getting into his ears (even though I dry them when we get home) and getting a yeast infection. Not much fun for either of us.
What is going on the in world today? I have literally no idea. I only know what is going on in my house. With Alvin I have no idea what he is thinking. I can only react to his physical appearance which makes it hard. It would be nice perhaps to know what he is thinking although between the just moments ago shaking his head and sneezing, I am willing to place a bet that he is not so happy with me at this moment. Clearly he wants something. Now he is whimpering. Perhaps he has to go outside. When we arose from the sofa, he drank quite a lot of water and I coaxed him to go outside but he would not so likely now he has to go for a pee. Well we went down and outside and we are back. Guess you did not miss us as you did not know we were gone, lol.
The house is quiet as always other than Mr. Alvin running across the room. I like quiet but sometimes you need the company of other humans, right?
This is a good time for me to do some further writing.
Do you notice that when it is snowing or raining or the skies are just plain overcast and there is no sunshine that you somehow lose your get up and go? I sometimes do, okay actually lots of times I do. But sometimes when it is snowing or raining – I have the urge to clean out a closet or rearrange furniture. Always a good thing to do. Go through those closets and the pantry. Cupboards and drawers. I will say that one advantage about living with no other humans is when I put something down it stays in that spot until I move it. When I put something away – it stays away until I move it. So there are advantages of being the only human in the house but then sometimes it is just lonely. I would not say that I am lonely often as I usually find a way to entertain myself and after all, I have Mr. Alvin and he keeps me busy. I would think when you are part of a busy household filled with humans and perhaps a pet or two that sometimes you just would like to be alone. I guess for us humans it always remains something to find a happy medium. Like the work life/home life balance.
Well I guess it is time for me to get dressed, take the laundry down to the basement and get that started. There will be vacuuming to do and dusting as well. Bed has been stripped and made already so one thing off my list. I look forward to a cup of coffee on a Saturday ….. it does seem different than during the week. Mainly because I actually can drink it while it is hot/warm. Very enjoyable.
I hope that you are doing well amidst all that is going on in our world and in your life. If we remember to live with kindness, respect, compassion and patience then we are doing our very best. I think that I could add love and passion to that list as well. If we love ourselves and live our lives with passion in addition to living with kindness, respect, compassion and patience ….. we truly have all of the bases covered for a well lived life. Food for thought.
Thank you for taking the time out of your busy life to read my words. I see and know that some of you read this post faithfully everyday and I am truly grateful.
Good Morning ALL. How are you this morning? Friday morning no less. The weekend fast approaching. Mr. Alvin whining loudly from the hallway. What is wrong now? He just was outside a little while ago, actually just moments before we came upstairs. We were both out on the deck. Bogart from next door was doing his walk on his deck railing. He finally stopped and perched looked like an owl still and perfect in one spot on the end of the railing. I thought he may fall as I watched in silence. A couple of minutes later he moved back onto the railing with such perfect balance. I was in awe. Cats are amazing. I cannot imagine Mr. Alvin trying to walk the railing with the expertise of a tightrope walker. I guess cats have been doing this longer. The sky was overcast but is beginning to clear as the sunrises. I guess this shall be a short post. I am not sure/certain what the boy needs/wants. I do need coffee. We had a night of up and down every couple of hours. A boost of caffeine will be required to keep me going this morning. Temperature to be plus 1 degrees celsius today so we will be going for a walk.
I hope that you all have a great Friday.
Living with respect, kindness, compassion and patience.
Always, Carol & Alvin
“Sleepless in Edmonton”
Baby Bogart is all grown up now. I need some new photos.
Good Morning ALL. How are you doing this morning? We are great. Alvin slept pretty much until 3:00 a.m. or at least I was able to get him to lay back down on the bed until then…..up and has his glucosamine chew and outside for a “bathroom break.” On the sofa ….. until 5:00 a.m. although I think I remember him wanting to get up before then but again I coaxed him to lay back down. So at least this morning although choppy – I do feel like I had a decent night sleep. I guess for the most part I am so used to this routine of get up in the middle of the night although I understand why. We are both getting older. I have been getting up and going to the washroom for years and he just started maybe in the last year or so PLUS he dozes from about 7:30 p.m. until we go to bed at 9:00 ish. So by 3:00 a.m. he has slept long enough. Anyway, this is not breaking news and likely not interesting to anyone but me. I am sure that actually a lot of people can sympathize with me. If you are getting older, if you have a pet or children?
We are back into a deep freeze. We had quite a bit of snow yesterday morning but by the time I shovelled snow which was at a late lunch break for me; the falling snow had stopped. No more snow has accumulated. YAY. I still have to shovel the driveway. That is one thing about having the garage detached from the house and not having a car – I sometimes do not think of it right away. I will say that shovelling is a good source of exercise when one cannot walk. I did start walking in the house ….. on the spot ….. using weights but that lasted three days and then I stopped. For no real reason. It would seem that I cannot seem to do anything consistently as of late. Are you feeling this way as well? I think it is the WINTER TIME BLUES. Really all I want to do is to snuggle up on the sofa with Mr. Alvin. Hibernation. Hibernate. Sleepy time. Yup, that sounds good to me. I have to find something to perk me up and get me out of this funk. I am so grateful that I do not have to go to work and can get up and stay warm in the house. Although I do have to go outside from time to time each day. Once the cold weather subsides a bit and we can get back outside and walk ….. that should help. I have also been thinking and thinking and pondering the reasons why I cannot seem to get a “book written.” For many many years I have been wanting to and saying and wanting and saying that I want to be a published writer and then I do not go anywhere with that ….. I have more than enough ideas and actual data to write several books but somehow I cannot seem to get any further than that. Well I guess that is not quite true as I have started the first chapter of a book about Alvin and me. I have to get my butt in gear. Perhaps I am afraid. Of what exactly I do not know but likely that is the reason. Fear of failure, perhaps. Fear of the unknown, although that is never really bothered me before ….. I honestly do not know. So please bear with me as I navigate this dream of mine. I know that I will get it done ….. sometimes procrastination gets the better of me. Isn’t it always easier to say that I will start tomorrow and that I have lots of time. Well at this point in my life …. even though I feel that I have a great many years left to live …. one never knows. After all, I somehow write this post almost everyday. In the almost 11 years that I have been writing this, I have only missed a few days.
Okay time to head on downstairs and get this work day going. Coffee sounds like a plan. Maybe I will listen to hits from the 80’s again as the soundtrack of the 70’s seemed to be repeating. I have been listening to the Stingray Music (Telus) on the television. T.V. Such a great selection. Every type of music imaginable. Perhaps it is time to try something new???
Continuing to live each day with kindness, respect, compassion and learning to be more patient.
Wishing you a wonderful Wednesday, yes it is mid week already.
My New Life @ 51 