Last Half 2022 – October

Good Morning ALL. Back to work Tuesday.

We had a great weekend. I accomplished most of the things that were on my TO DO LIST, we went for walks, relaxed, drank coffee, gave the boy a hair trim and a bath but not ready to go to work. I was thinking this morning about going to the office in the winter. What a dreadful thought!

Did you have a big meal for Thanksgiving? Alvin and I had a quiet time together. I baked sweet potatoes & brussel sprouts with onion, stove top stuffing and cranberries with pumpkin pie for dessert and it was yummy.

I could see my breath last night when we were outside before bed. The moon was shining so brightly the Harvest – Hunter’s moon, full as full can be.

I am always amazed by the different trees and how some can still be green and others almost void of leaves. For example: my tree has lost almost all its’ leaves and Sonja’s next door, her tree is still green and has all of its’ leaves. How can that be? Every year it is the same. Lucky for us, I suppose that the trees lose their leaves in stages. That way we can enjoy the colour change longer.

So the patio furniture remains on the deck. Definitely will be putting away this coming weekend and cleaning out the remaining three pots.

I was watching a recorded episode of THE VOICE last night. WOW, there are some great singers this year but whenever I watch I have that same thought. Just when you think they could not possibly find anyone else to top the previous season, they do. The mix of judges is great this year. John, Gwen, Camila and Blake. I like having Gwen and Blake on together and John. Great chemistry. Just getting to know Camila. I do love her voice.

It was difficult to get up this morning. We did do the start getting ready for bed at 9:30 last night but somehow Mr. Alvin was up at 3:00 or so, then I kept hitting the snooze button at 5:45 until we finally got up at 6:30. That is not going to happen tomorrow as after today I am in the office. I guess will have to find that sweet spot for going to bed. Where is it? I was so sure that I had found it but apparently not. Mr. Alvin is only consistent in that he is not consistent when it comes to sleeping. ARGH.

Today is another drawing of $70 million lotto MAX, I would love to win that jackpot. Financial freedom is what most of us long for, hope for, pray for – need. No mortgage and the ability to do what needs to be done when it needs to be done, instead of waiting. Today is the day that all my dreams come true or at least start. Not having to go to the office in the winter would be a huge win. Please, let it be me.

Well it looks like the night sky is beginning to lighten and the sun will shine in a bit.

Plug in that coffee pot and enjoy a big mug.

I hope that you have a great Tuesday (almost said Monday, lol).

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

PS: Mr. Alvin had loose poop this morning, oh no!

Last Half 2022 – August

Good Morning ALL! I hope that you are doing well. Another beautiful morning out there which will be great for our walk in a few minutes. As the day progresses it is forecasted to be 32 degrees celsius with a humidex factor of 35. That will not be fun and I am hoping that because the house is relatively cool at this moment that it will remain that way for several hours. After this week it looks like the high temperatures will have dissipated. It is not that I want to see summer disappear but not many people do well in those temperatures especially when we see them so seldom during the course of a year. I do however, look forward to fall or autumn and hopefully it will last until December. A girl can dream.

I do love fall. The crisp early mornings and the easy warm days and the cool evenings. The leaves on the trees turn to the most glorious colours. The bunnies start in time to turn white for winter. The air, the sights and the sounds and the fragrances of fall are so enticing. Pumpkin and spices.

Last night one of my friend’s came over for a visit. We had more of a “venting” session but that is okay as we both clearly needed to get some things off of our chests. Sometimes you just need to get it out. Nothing serious – just the little things – those things that eat at your mind – causing more damage in the long run. So happy that we spoke our truths and said what we needed to say. We also talked about her sons returning to school tomorrow. Christmas. The weather. So there were definitely some positive thoughts going about the conversation. Not all negative. I would like to think that venting or getting things off of your chest is not a negative action but rather a positive way to dump the negative energy without anyone getting harmed in any way.

On this sunny Tuesday, Alvin and I are going to enjoy our walk. I filled his water bottle and have his pooping bags just in case. More often than not, I use one of them to pick up trash. Today is garbage day in our neighborhood so hopefully it will not be windy and blow about the recycling. There is always someone who just lays things loosely in a cardboard box or a blue bin. Always someone!

Well I am going to grab the fan and take it downstairs, instruct Mr. Alvin to come downstairs and then get ready for our walk.

I wish you a glorious day. Remember always good to remove the negative energy / thoughts from your mind. If you can release those thoughts by “venting” them with a good friend – then you are definitely going to feel better.

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

As the sun fills the morning sky I bid you adieu!

Always, Carol & Alvin

PS: so grateful for such great people that surround me.

The New YEAR 2022

Good Morning ALL! How are you this Wednesday morning? Wow, does it ever seem as though I just said those very words. The sun is shining brightly and the sky is a mix of clouds and clear blue sky. Kind of a ripple effect happening this morning in the sky. But the sun is shining and for now that is all that matters. Gone is the blanket of snow from yesterday morning that covered the ground. The snow incredibly stayed until late morning. It was pretty cool outside but warmed throughout the day. We went for a walk after work and it was okay. Definitely warmed than our previous walk. The temperatures are to be warming and that means only one thing, I CAN PLANT THE FLOWERS THAT I BOUGHT ON MOTHER’S DAY. Hopefully that means on the weekend. The flowers/plants are doing well as they have a nice southern exposure window and are warm and I have water ready for when they need a drink. My kitchen table has never looked more pretty. The lavender smells amazing even though I am congested with allergies. The begonias, pansies, violas, impatiens are all looking so beautiful. There are another two flowers that I do not remember their names. Pops of colour. Orange, Yellow, Purple, Pink and White. My tomato plants are doing well. I need to start thinking about where to plant all these beauties. Some out front while others in pots.

The buds on the trees are turning into leaves, the most exquisite green and even the grass is turning green. I sure wished that our front lawn was green instead of brown. It definitely needs a boost. Even the backyard is green in more places than not.

Soon we shall be seeing the goslings out and about with their Mamas and Papas. They are so cute. Baby ducks, or ducklings will be hatching soon, I think. Spring turning into summer.

I really need a cup of coffee this morning. Mr. Alvin was up and down all night. Quite possibly he may have an ear infection or his paws are really bothering him. I will check his ears and really wished that I could smell better. Poor guy and poor momma with not much sleep.

I hope that you have an awesome day.

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

Thank you for reading my blog over the last decade plus. I cannot believe I have been writing these posts since April 2010. Time flies.

Lots of changes and more to come, I suspect.

Always, Carol & Alvin

The New YEAR 2022

Good Morning ALL! How are you this morning? Alvin and I are well. Happy that today is Friday and that the weekend is almost here. The sunrise is beautiful. Pale colours that give a warmth to the morning. Love them.

Some weeks do seem longer even though each day is the same. Part of being human the ying and the yang of it all. We struggle with the work / life balance. Why is it that we spend more of our days, months and years working to earn money to live our lives, to enjoy those short two days called the weekend? Well obviously I know the answer but it still remains a mystery as to why things have not changed. We are in 2022. Just coming out of a pandemic. Why not work 4 and get 3 off or any combination! Increasing the time off for people to relax and enjoy their “home” life is so important. Especially with the rate of mental health issues rising each year. If you are able to hire more so that your staff can have a better work / home balance, please do so. We used to work a bit of extra time every day and get every second Friday or Monday off and that was great. Then you could do appointments on that day or some of them plus errands and then have your weekend to do maybe some “fun” stuff. Anyway, I am sure that you get the idea. It always amazes me how in 2022 we have not figured it all out. When will we and will we do it in time? I am not sure. I suppose as long as corporations are just looking to make money – then it will not happen. To all those corporations and businesses out there who give your staff extra time and ensure their life / work balance is more equal, I applaud you. Thank you Now we just need to get others on board.

I love looking at the sky. We had a full moon last night. It was so great to be able to actual see the moon and the night sky. Maybe not many stars likely all satellites and such. I am so grateful that I live near the outskirts of this city as it allows me to actually see the sky and some stars.

Time to slide over to the other desk and get things ready for work. Another sip of coffee.

Last night after work, I did some ice chipping out front and behind my house. What an endless job. It is going to take a bit of time before that is gone. The ruts in the back lane are horrendous.

Have a great Friday.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

P.S. we even found right after work a place to walk where we did not get soaked. YAY us.

2021

Good Morning All! How are you this morning? My first day back to work since last Thursday and I will admit that I HIT the snooze button more than once, yes I did. I am up and going in the direction of work.

I was listening to the news yesterday. Next week in our Municipal Election they are asking us to vote on whether or not we want Daylight Savings Time. A Doctor was stating the cons of the sunrise and how it negatively affects us. So the sun would rise at 9:30 instead of 8:30, something like that. My home to the east Saskatchewan has been on DST for years and I don’t remember hearing that they were enduring problems. I like the idea of having everyone on the same time instead of having to think about the time everytime you call someone outside the province. Hopefully people will want to make the change.

Guess what I missed the Northern Lights show on Monday night. I cannot believe that I did not hear about it or SEE the light show. We were even outside and still up when the show was happening. Perhaps I do not have a good vantage point from here! I guess not if I did not notice the green sky. Hopefully it will happen again in the near future and I am sorry that I missed the show. Green is my favourite colour.

The last few mornings have been very crispy outside. Had to don a light winter coat. Still surprised by how many leaves remain on trees around the park and in our immediate neighbourhood. When we were out for a walk yesterday afternoon, I took notice of all the sizes and shapes of leaves from all of the different trees and the colours. Do you remember as a child collecting leaves for school projects? I do and that was a long, long time ago. There were long narrow leaves, round leaves, pointy leaves, almost square leaves, oblong and on and on. Colours everything from a plum, burgundy to golden yellow and orange. I love this time of year. My favourite time, actually. Walking and crunching on the leaves.

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I took this photo a little while ago but I love the leaves from my tree. Now they are crunch and much fewer. I raked these ones but left the remaining ones as they fell to the ground. The wind has been so strong that there was no point in raking. Some of mine have gone to the neighbours and some of theirs to mine. If there is a point in the near future where there is calm outside I will give them one more rake before the season changes. One of the neighbours north of us has a tree that has red leaves. So pretty and such a vibrant red.

Well time to get downstairs and get the coffee on. See if Alvin has to go outside before I start work. Then turn on the computer and start work.

I hope that you have an awesome day. Wednesday already.

Continuing to live with respect, kindness, compassion, patience, understand, love, laughter and gratitude.

Always, Carol & Alvin

2021

Good Morning ALL! How are you doing on this Wednesday morning? We are doing well. The sun is rising earlier each morning and although it normally gives me that extra boost to get up and go, not so much the past few mornings. Last night we were in bed a bit later about 10 p.m. and Alvin basically slept until 4:30 a.m. which was great. He did try to get up earlier but I instructed him to go back to bed and he actually did. So I did get a good amount of sleep this morning. There is something about just snuggling under the blanket that keeps me from getting up and going some mornings. Oh well, we up and after this post ready to get to work for the day.

I was wondering who do you admire? Who were your childhood heroes? Did you have any? What did you learn from them? Are you continuing to learn from those people? Perhaps they have passed. Did you learn life lessons? Did they make an impression on your life? on your future? on your personality? on what you chose as a career? So many questions.

The above questions were asked yesterday. Did you ponder them? Maybe you even made some notes. I was thinking since yesterday that I will just start with the first question.

Who do I admire? I admire a great many people. Topping the list are my daughter and son-in-law, my sister, my brothers, my cousin LL, my friend since we were toddlers Deanna, a dear friend Val, I call them my young friends G & S, teachers and another longtime friend LH. Really when I think about it there are way too many to write. I admire a great many people and definitely so many over my almost 64 years. There are also people that I do not personally know that I admire from afar. Also some folks that I worked with in Regina for many years GM, RH, RB, LE, and KS. So many more …… I admire them all for different reasons but mainly for being in my life and teaching me so much about the world and myself.

Who were my childhood heroes? I would say my grandparents topped the list for sure. They were the ones that were always there. My mother and father but for different reasons and people that know me will understand this. My best friend’s Mom who happened to teach me in grade 5/6. I would say Walt Disney from a distance for his vision and for creating the Walt Disney Show. Also I had some wonderful Aunts and Uncles and I treasure their presence in my life for all time.

Are you continuing to learn from these people? Absolutely. Life lessons all round. I have learned something from every single person that has entered my life and that includes my four legged friends.

Did you learn life lessons? I guess that I answered that above, yes, very definitely.

Did they make an impression on your life? on your future? on your personality? on what you chose as a career? Absolutely. I believe, well actually I know that every single life force that has entered my life has made an impression, some positive and some negative. But that is how you grow. The information, the knowledge, the incredible impressions, so much brought me to this place. On my personality, for sure. How can every person that you meet not help to form who you are, who you will be and what you will do in your life. It takes a village, right! I have found that certainly to be true.

There are so many folks that have help formed who I am today. I am grateful for each and everyone of you. If you read this post and were not mentioned it is not because I did not value you in my life it is because there simply is not enough room to write everyone’s name. I value everyone and for a multitude of reasons.

Well time to head downstairs and get this day going. I can almost smell the coffee perking (I have to turn it on, of course). Today we are celebrating our new company name, yes there was a name change. Shorter and that is good. Sometimes change is good. This is good.

Continuing to life my life with kindness, respect, compassion and patience.

Always, Love Carol & Alvin

It is a rainbow kind of day …… bright …… positive …. time to celebrate!

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It is a NEW YEAR.

Oh Happy Days and Good Morn to YOU ALL.

The sunrise is spectacular.

I can see the sun coming up.

It is so beautiful as the rise is filled with delicate shades of pinks and oranges.

The SKY is blue beyond the rise so we are off to a great start on this Thursday, April 2, 2020.

 

Today was my Grandpa Jim’s birthday he was born in 1909 and passed in 1973 months before his 65th birthday.

We will remember him forever.

 

Well here we are in April.

Starting our second quarter of the year.

How did that happen?

I guess we have been busy.

Yes, we have.

 

I hope that this finds you well this morning.

I am running late because of course we were up at 3:00 a.m. (glucosamine for Alvin) and then up at 5:00 a.m.(Alvin’s breakfast).

I put the microwave timer on until 6:15 a.m. which should give us lots of time but somehow I am a bit pokey this morning.

Oh well.

My office …. is close by.

The most important thing is the coffee is brewing and with one quick trip downstairs and back up to the office, I will be ready to go.

There is maybe okay there is two steps between my home computer and the work laptop.

I have two desks from IKEA that line one wall.

So one desk by the window has my personal computer and the other by the door is work.

I am lucky to have such a great set up.

Also I am lucky that my daughter is bringing me a more suitable office chair.

The one I have is not meant to sit on for hours on end.

I have more padding than the chair I currently am sitting upon.

We looked through the online catalog for STAPLES, and we found one that I like.

It is actually a GAMING CHAIR that is black with a bit of bright green.

So my daughter ordered the chair as her husband, my son-in-law also likes the chair and I will get his black comfy chair.

I really like his chair ….. I think it will work perfectly in my office.

Now I will have two chairs.

Excited to have the new chair.

My daughter will drop it off at lunch today.

YAY, Momma.

 

Time to go and grab that coffee.

It takes a few minutes to get signed onto the laptop.

Well we are almost done the second full week of working from home.

Actually it has gone pretty smoothly for the most part.

 

Live in kindness and with respect.

Have an awesome Thursday.

Take care and be safe.

Stay home as much as you can.

The sooner we FOLLOW instructions the sooner we will kick this VIRUS gone.

 

We/I remain in kindness and respect

As Always, Carol & Alvin

 

Living … One day at a time

Good Morning,

We had a 20 degree dip in temperatures last night.

The daytime temperature was about 16-17 degrees celsius and then minus temperatures overnight.

We had rain that over the course of the evening.

I noticed at one point some of the dreaded white stuff was infiltrating the rain.

The rain won out and other than a few crisp bits of white on the deck that is all for this moment.

Thankfully.

It is one thing watching it come down over the course of the day but to wake up to SNOW – well that is just too sad.

 

We walked as soon as we were able to after work.

During the first few moments of our walk we could feel the dampness on our skin/fur and see the wet on the sidewalk.

Although there were deep dark clouds the rain held off until after we arrived back home.

I even managed to pull my remaining flowers mainly SNAPDRAGONS.

I snipped the flowers and placed them in vases/jars.

There are so many colours …. yellow, coral and pinks.

Into the garage went the remaining four flower pots.

I have three others sitting on the deck and they will have to go into the garage perhaps tonight.

They are heavy and I have to drag them …..

Such pretty flowers, I just had to bring them into the house.

There were lots of dried blooms with seeds …. have them, too.

On this Tuesday, I wish you all good health, love and joy.

I hope that you are as blessed as we.

Alvin is resting on his trusty blue blanket beside me.

Life is good.

Even did some texting with my beautiful sister already this morning.

 

With kindness and respect we will live great lives.

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

Living … One day at a time.

Hello,

The sky is overcast and the wind is blowing this morning.

No rain overnight.

We slept through the night.

All is well in our household this morning.

Back to work.

Canada Day weekend coming up.

Always love a long weekend.

 

Have you ever snapped photos that made you think of a different time and place.

Perhaps reminded you of a story line or gave you inspiration to write a story all your own.

These photos were taken several years ago on a beautiful late summer, almost fall weekend day.

Alvin and I were out on a walk.

We went to a park north of our home.

One place that we seldom visit.

For no reason other than it does not come readily to my mind.

It reminds me of a magical place.

A place with many trees.

The soft shadows.

The colours of the trees that were already beginning to turn.

I love the way the sun creeps into the space.

Lightly touching the trees and grass.

 

I know that it is barely the first week of summer but somedays you just need to see a magical place.

A reminder of the beauty of a single day.

A day with your buddy.

Just hanging out.

Taking in the spirit of the day.

We all need these days.

Reminder to self to go on this walk this coming long weekend.

 

Happy Monday.

Mr. Alvin seems to be back to his own self.

We had a good sleep.

 

BE Kind and Respectful to yourself and to others.

One small thing can make such a difference in your life and in the life of another.

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

Thought for the day ….

Good Morning and Welcome to Wednesday the 24th day of April, 2019.

Another gorgeous morning as the sun rises filling the sky with hues of pinks and oranges and yellows.

Well my five day weekend has come to an end and it is back to work for me.

What a glorious five days we had – working – walking – working and walking.

Alvin saw his friends and spent some time with Humphrey the Cat.

I am grateful that I had the opportunity to get some tasks completed around the house.

Always things to do but I made a large dent in the list …. perhaps dent isn’t quite the right choice of words but you know what I mean.

We even lounged on the deck for a bit yesterday afternoon.

Sometimes we walked just me and Mr. Alvin and other times we were joined by our friend P (once with Georgie her grand pup).

I am grateful for the kindness of my family and friends.

I am grateful for this spring wonderful weather.

I am grateful to have beautiful parks so close by.

I am grateful to have seen swans flying in our neighbourhood as they passed through Edmonton.

I am grateful to have seen the return of robins in our area.

I am grateful that both Alvin and I are in good health.

I am grateful for our life.

 

Today feels like a good day to share a poem that I wrote many years ago.

 

FROM DREAM TO REALITY

I had a dream late last night,

Of sparkling white sandy beaches,

Palm trees swaying in a sweet scented breeze,

Of clear blue skies and water, clear blue,

Of monkeys, elephants and parrots, too.

When I awoke and looked all around,

It was a dream, so I had found.

The picture is somewhat sadly different.

My sandy beaches are cluttered with garbage.

The palm trees have been removed, replaced with malls.

The breeze smells bitter — terribly so,

The monkeys, elephants where did they go?

We have come too far, too fast,

The signs have been there,

But we did not see, due to our hungry greed

From horse drawn sleighs to gas powered cars,

From tin and glass to Styrofoam and plastic jars,

From all that technology we still didn’t learn

That we’re literally burning our planet — our Earth.

The time has come to join together,

Mothers, Fathers, Sons and Daughters,

If we learn to reduce, recycle and reuse

We can save our planet —

The gem in our universe.  Our Earth!

Written for Amanda’s school play at W.H. Ford School

By Carol Lewis on November 28th, 1990

This is so bizarre that I wrote this twenty years ago for my daughter’s school play.  It is even more prevalent today.

Now it has been almost thirty years now.

What has changed?

 

Well almost time to go downstairs and finish getting ready to leave for work.

Alvin is nesting on his blue blanket which has been made even more comfy by adding a lap blanket my Grandmother made in about 1990.

Talk about lots of older things.

It remains almost as new.

 

Have an awesome Wednesday.

Sending out our thoughts and positive energy to all those in need.

Happy Wednesday.

 

Special Hello to: my friend V who is such an amazing person……

Always, Carol & Alvin