The New YEAR 2022

Good Morning ALL! What a beautiful morning as I see the sun rising. Just behind the houses to the east and south, I can see the colours coming up in the morning sky. How are you this morning? We are doing well. This morning just seconds after I turned on the shower, Alvin started barking from the bedroom. I knew why. He wanted me to be with him when he is having a drink, in fact, he won’t usually even drink unless I am right there and stroking his back. I don’t remember when this started but this is our new norm. I have tried to break him of this “habit” but to no avail. So I am not sure what will happen on those days when I go to the office (hopefully few and far between). Perhaps when I am not around he won’t be so fussy. I made an appointment for him to get his nails done etc and he is due for a bordetella shot (did I get that right?) and he needs food, toothpaste and movoflex. What a guy!

I am loving this beautiful weather despite the fact that it is almost impossible for us to walk. The streets are so messy icy in spots and the sidewalks in most spots are glare ice. I found the storm drain on the weekend but it is near impossible for me to get at just yet. Now if I had hours to spend out there chipping and shovelling away, yes, I could certainly do it. But there are so many people that do not even try to get the ice removed. That kind of makes me sad and a little mad. Here I am almost 65 and I am out there shovelling and chipping at the ice and cleaning it so that no one falls. Oh well, I cannot change some people or any people for that matter.

So nice to see it getting light earlier each day. This makes me so happy. Yay, we are one more day closer to spring and closer to clear dry sidewalks so that we can safely and happily go for walks.

I am thinking that I should do a VISION BOARD! Have you tried doing one? I think that I did one years ago but never really followed up and not sure where it ended up. So it is feeling like spring and time to make some changes. Never too late. Besides the world is quickly changing and if I do not make some changes soon, I fear that I shall be left behind. We cannot have that.

Oh yes, quick story before I sign off for today. Yesterday I received an email from one of our staff that receives the mail and uploads to our client files. The email had an attachment which was a photocopy of a beautiful THANK YOU card which was to me from one of my clients. I was so touched. Truly made my day. The power of a THANK YOU card. I am going to grab some THANK YOU cards and with as many stamps as I have – mail them to random people. Of course, I have to have their addresses, lol.

Maybe today is the day that you send your first card, make it a THANK YOU card to someone. I guarantee that you will make their day.

Have a wonderful Wednesday.

We must all say “thank you” to the people in our lives.

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

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

 

 

 

 

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Friday the 8th day of February, 2019.

The sun is rising and is bright in the late early morning sky.

The sky is clear and blue.

We are in for another cold day.

 

Well Mr. Alvin had his surgery yesterday.

The growth on his eye was benign, which was such a massive relief.

His teeth were cleaned and polished needing NO extractions.

We were happy about that.

This is the second year in a row.

He had his vaccinations, nails trimmed and the anal gland checked (we call it the bum squeeze).

I received a call from the Vet Clinic about 12:45 p.m. that his surgery was over, gave me the above details and that he was just starting to come out of the sedative.

We negotiated the time he was to come home.

Said okay for 2:30 p.m.

I called my ride right away and then waited for the time to arrive.

It seemed like forever.

I just wanted my boy back home.

When 2:30 p.m. did roll around and my ride picked me up, I was ready.

Upon arriving at the clinic, first off, I gave them a “thank you” card from us.

Then one of the staff went over the post surgery care, the bill (which was $200 under the low side of the estimate).

I was also given some pain meds for him, one per day for the next seven.

I was very happy.

Finally one of the staff went to get Alvin …. it was like seeming someone after being apart for many years.

We ran to each other.

I will admit that he was perhaps a bit wobbly.

He had one of those dreaded CONES around his neck.

My heart fell on the floor for him.

We were both relieved to see each other.

Finally as it had seemed forever.

I had brought his winter coat and harness so we had to remove the cone before putting his things on.

Just in case he needed to pee when we got outside.

Didn’t have to go so into the car with my friend.

It was awkward with the cone but we managed.

When we got home I realized that the cone would have to come off in order to get his coat and harness off of him.

First things first, some water.  He had a good drink or two.

Cone on and cone off as we figured things out.

He had some food and gobbled it down with no ill effects.

He definitely was hungry.

He laid down beside me on the sofa.

I figured if I would keep an eagle eye on him …. the cone would stay off.

Even the post-surgery care stated it only had to be on when unsupervised and at bedtime.

I was not looking forward to that….

My daughter and son-in-law had stopped at COSTCO and picked us up a few things.

Stopping in for a few minutes before heading home to their babies.

For the evening as we shared the sofa …. the cone stayed off.

When we went to bed …. I placed it on.

He made some heavy sighs that meant he was not comfortable.

Finally he seemed to settle in only that did not last.

I ended up removing the cone and placing my hand on his paw to keep him from placing his paw on or near his eye.

Even in sleep.

Now that worked for awhile before I had to move.

I placed the cone back on in the middle of the night.

He moved about and finally did lay down on sheet that I had folded up for him and his cone.

Unfortunately it did not last.

So off came the CONE so we could sleep.

We came downstairs at 2:30 and he went outside to relieve himself.

Then we went back upstairs until about 6:00 a.m. and back downstairs.

He had breakfast and his pain med.

Then to the sofa where we both crashed until just after 8:00 a.m.

What a night we had.

He is once again resting on his blanket near me.

Time to get dressed and get on with this day.

Breakfast and COFFEE.

Thank you to all our friends for the “best wishes” and concerns of Alvin.

He is doing well and we are safe and sound in our warm home.

Just happy to be spending the day together.

 

I did manage to get some housework done yesterday after Alvin went for his surgery.

Cleaned the main floor …. vacuumed and washed the floor …. dusted and stuff.

Which will give me a quiet day …. perhaps do some laundry.

 

Time to go.

Have awesome Friday.

Sun higher in the sky …..

Coffee time…. 9:10 a.m.

 

Special Hello to: my family and friends, thank you.

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

My boy yesterday afternoon just a short time after arriving home.

Oh, that dreaded cone.

 

 

 

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Sunday the 8th day of May, 2016.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY.

I want to wish every Mother out there – a very Happy & Special Mother’s Day.

To all the children out there – make sure that you tell your Mothers that you LOVE THEM.

Treat them with the love and respect  that they so richly deserve.

Remember they changed your diapers, read you books, made your Halloween costumes, put band-aids on your “boo boos”, made cupcakes or cookies for the school bake sale,  and were always there when you needed guidance and support.

Take your Mother in your arms and give them the biggest hug that you can.

Moms, you deserve nothing but the absolute BEST.

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

This morning I asked Alvin the following questions and I will give you his response each time:

“Alvin, did you buy Momma a card for Mother’s Day?”

“He looked at me and wagged his tail.”

“Alvin, did you buy Momma flowers for Mother’s Day?”

“He looked at me and wagged his tail.”

“Alvin, did you get me a gift card for Mother’s Day?”

“He looked at me and wagged his tail.”

Me Alvin loves me and that is all that matters.

What a good boy.

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

I hope that you are happy, safe and secure this Mother’s Day surrounded by your loved ones.

Happy Mother’s Day …. Moms.

 

Special Hello to:  my sister who is a Mom and a Grandmother …. I will talk to you about 6:30 p.m. via SKYPE if that works for you.

 

 

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Wednesday the 2nd day of March, 2016.

WOW, we are now in March.

How exciting!

Spring is just around the corner and then summer.

We had such a beautiful winter for this part of the world.

Now we just had a dump of snow and it has almost all melted.

But March is one of those months that are tricky.

You just never know …..

But it will be short lived and whatever comes – comes.

 

Last night the doorbell rang and there stood the birthday girl.

My friend who celebrated her birthday last week and for whom we had the party on Saturday.

She was returning the plate that I had sent home on Saturday with some cake and a CARD.

A card for me ….

So sweet she gave me and Alvin a “thank you card.”

You certainly do not see that much anymore.

So sweet …. the girls gave me flowers for hosting and then a card.

WOW.

Feeling pretty great right now.

I must download the photos that I snapped of the flowers.

They are so pretty. ….. will try and do that tonight ….

 

Well here we go again almost time to leave for the bus.

One more sleep until I meet my friends from Saskatoon.

They should be in Edmonton now.

But I am meeting them at West Edmonton Mall tomorrow night after work for supper and a visit.

I am so excited.

 

I hope that you have a wonderful day.

Remember to thank those folks who host a meal, give you a gift or just for being great people.

Special Hello to: all of my friends …. thank you.

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 1st day of May, 2015.

Well I was off to a great start this morning.

As I was writing the first line in my gratitude journal about 5:00 a.m. …..

I wrote “I cannot believe that today is the first day of Easter”

I looked at the words and then started to giggle.

Really, no idea where that came from but it was funny.

What a great way to start a Friday.

Laughing.

Laughing at oneself, no less.

I know that today is going to be great.

Alvin likely thought his Momma had lost her senses.

On top of being the first day of May and one month closer to summer ….. I noticed that it was starting to get light out at 5:30 instead of 6:00 a.m.

Note to self: remember to flip all of my “paper” calendars to May.

They are forecasting some rain and that would be so nice.

Oh, I must share a few of the most wonderful things that happened to me on my first day back to work from being sick:

– a co-worker had written me a hand-made thank you card in appreciation of “me” and two home baked cookies

-another co-worker had returned all of my phone calls from the past couple of days

-others showed appreciation by making sure that I was okay

-others took on a few tasks to help me out

-my daughter picked up a jean jacket from a swap that they are having at her work (she is always thinking of her Momma)

-after work while waiting for the bus I noticed a gal that usually catches the bus with me and who lives in the same neighbourhood …. she waited for a couple of lights to come over and ask me if I wanted a ride home.  She had driven to work.  So thoughtful considering she had to walk the total opposite way to her car.

WHAT A GLORIOUS DAY ….. it was so wonderful.

It is the little things that make a person glad to be alive.

I wish you only grand “little things” today to make you feel as great as I did yesterday.

Have a great Friday.

Gotta go.

Time to catch the bus and of course, snuggle for a couple of minutes with me Alvin.

Special Hello to: my sister ….

Always, Carol and Alvin

Thought for the day….

Good Morning and Welcome to Monday the 15th day of December, 2014.

Our weather here in Edmonton has been great over the past couple of weeks.

Sure makes for a great holiday season when the temperatures are not minus 30.

Okay crazy Christmas Eve is one week from this Wednesday ……

Where has the time gone?

How are you feeling on this Monday?

Seems like so many people are suffering from colds or the flu.

I hope that you are feeling well.

I am feeling great.

I was able to wrap all of the Christmas gifts and finished off the Christmas cards.

There might be the odd card that I forgot and can always send them this week.

We are having guests for Christmas Day …. so that will be nice.

Just wondering if you had noticed if folks are “naughty” or “nice” this holiday season?

You really notice how people are feeling when you work in retail.

But I will say this much most people seem to be patient and pleasant.

Which is great.

If you have been feeling impatient and not to pleasant then take some time to be alone and just relax.

Sip on a cup of tea and listen to some of your favourite music ….. maybe even a Christmas song.

You will find it much easier to get through the day and the season if you are “nice.”

I am using both naughty and nice in the broad sense of course.

We always want to be around people who are “nice.”

Almost time to go to work …. seems like I just left the office ……

Special Hello to: “ALL THE SANTAS OUT THERE.”  Keep up the great work.

Always, Carol and Alvin

 

My Daughter Amanda…..

On Saturday afternoon – my daughter Amanda surprised me by dropping by with a beautiful bouquet of flowers (purples and greens) and the most thoughtful card.

An early birthday present….. lucky me.

The flowers matched my table place mats ….. just perfectly.

If I imagined her speaking – she would say those words.  So perfect.

It was unexpected and so lovely.

I have the most thoughtful daughter and she is such a generous and loving human being.

Makes me proud to be her Mom and proud that she is my daughter.

Thank you so much Amanda for that unexpected “treat”…… next to my kids ….. flowers and words are my favourite things.

Always, Carol