Last Half 2022 – October

Good Morning ALL! How are you this morning? Alvin and I are well. We slept through till 3:00 a.m. and then at 5:00 a.m. from the sofa, I heard this low noise and jumped up as I realized it was the alarm clock on my phone. When I get to the office I turn the sound for notification and such, all the way down so that I do not disturb anyone should the phone “ring.” I must ask my daughter if there is any other way to do this function. Remember I am not the most tech savvy person on the planet. Not even remotely close! Anyway, I reset the alarm to 5:15 for an extra few minutes and then we were up. Mr. Alvin had his breakfast and then we went outside. Once back into the house, made our bed, brushed my teeth and then hit the shower. That felt good. I stopped showering everyday a while ago as I found that my skin got dry and who likes dry skin. When we were outside around 5:25, I noticed that the stars seemed to be more bright and noticeable than usual. I wonder if there are more satellites in the sky now? Perhaps not even stars but man made objects taking up space above us. The moon did not appear to be anywhere in sight? I scanned the sky with my eagle eyes (lol) – with my glasses on. I did attempt to take a photo with my phone but all I got was black. We are having a great morning thus far.

Yesterday when I arrived home from work, I unlocked the door and called out to Mr. Alvin. He did not come and I called him several times. I thought that I saw him standing at the window but wasn’t sure. My heart sank to my toes for a brief moment or three. Kicking off my shoes, I walked into the living room and over to the chairs by the window and there he was standing looking out the window. I thought he would have saw me or maybe I made it to the door as he was going to the window, not sure. Anyway, I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I saw him standing up and breathing. My mind went to a place that I was scared to even think about at this time. Anyway, all is well. Perhaps the boy’s hearing is going. I noticed that when he was in my bathroom this morning waiting for me to get ready. He was laying on one of the small rugs and when I spoke to him, he did not move. When I lightly touched him he jumped. I walked around him so that he could see me from the front and he did not immediately jump up. Today I am noticing his age. My poor boy. The joys of getting older! We had a good night. I took him outside right away for a pee and then fed him his supper before we head out for a walk. OMG, it was so beautiful outside last night after work. I am getting home by 4:30 which is early. When I carpooled before, it was usually 5:00 or later. Definitely helps catching a ride with someone you directly work with that is for sure. I am grateful that at least at night I am only losing 1/2 hour of personal time. The morning well that is a different story and time away from Alvin a total other story. Yesterday my neighbour Sonja popped by a couple of times to check on him, make sure he goes outside, has something to eat and to drink and then she has snuggle time. I appreciate that. We are like family and she feels like a daughter to me. We both love her very much. She is a kind-hearted lovely human being. I am so grateful that I am surrounded by good people. Very grateful.

Tonight after work, my daughter is picking me up from work. We are going to get some keys cut as I want to ensure that everyone looking after Alvin has a key so that I don’t have to play “chase the key” when the schedule changes. Amanda is sleeping over and I am so excited. Last night I made a huge apple crisp with some of the apples from my friend Pauline. I had to try some even though it was late to eat at 8:07 p.m. Turned out pretty good, I must say.

Well time to head on downstairs so that I can take Mr. Alvin outside again. He will need to poop (yes, I am talking about that subject again, lol) again before I leave for work. Remember p-o-o-p is important to keep track of – it can tell you so much about your health.

I hope that you have a great Friday. Another sunny warm fall day on the way. I am so happy.

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

Thank goodness coffee is free at work especially with the soaring prices.

Always, Carol & Alvin

PS: thank you for this day and I am grateful it is almost the weekend.

Last Half 2022 – September

Good Morning All! Another smoky looking sky morning. Alvin and I were up and out for a walk earlier. The diarrhea had started to go in the other direction but then back again. We were in bed by 10:00 p.m. last night and then up at 3:00 a.m. to go outside (only pee), it was so nice out there. Clear sky. I don’t know if the bright shiny objects in the sky were stars or satellites or the space station but I could see them all the same. Then back into the house and settled down on the sofa for some additional sleep. I set the alarm for 6:00 a.m. as then is when Alvin needs his probiotic, the alarm went off and Alvin was still sleeping so I turned off and then got up a few minutes later. Today I can start mixing in his food with the chicken and rice. Now that is quite the mixture. I am quite sure that I am over feeding him by a bit but hard to measure them all to come up with 3/4 cup total. Oh well. After he ate we went outside, I was sad to see that the starting to firm up poop from yesterday was back to not being firm. I know, poop, poop, poop, poop. But it is my reality at this moment. We do not realize how important the state of one’s poop is in our overall health whether you are human or a dog. Any animal for that matter. The “stuff” that our bodies dispose of tells the story of how well we eat or not and our state of health. So it is a big deal and I take that very seriously. After that I had planned to stay up but the sofa was calling my name and I just laid there for awhile thinking about things, my things, what to do, what can I do, what should I do. Also thinking about how grateful I am for the life that I have lived thus far. I will say this it has not been dull. There have truly been incredible highs and equally lows. But that is life, right?

We were up just before 8:00 and I ran upstairs to throw on some clothes, because no one wants to see me out walking in my pj’s, I am quite certain of that. So once done and back downstairs, I grabbed his harness and put on him before filling his water bottle. Then grabbed my keys, leash and put on my flip flops (my Clark’s, which I absolutely love) and out the door we went (oh, I put on my sunglass clips), locked the door and carried Mr. Alvin down the steps. We did not come across anyone during our walk to our happy place. We just doddled along with Alvin smelling each and every blade of grass and me, taking in the morning air, admiring the trees, the ponds, the stones I could see in between the trees and the roses still blooming. We did not go into our friend’s yard but tomorrow we will. We both love it there and while Pauline’s flowers are blooming we want to enjoy them. I shall email her tonight to give her a head’s up, just in case she happens to look out the window and see us sitting in the yard. On the return trip home – Alvin stopped and pooped, yup still you know what. Not my favorite word in the English language or any language for that matter. I gave him a couple pieces of his hard food when we got home. Positive thoughts. His poop will get firm over the course of today. We saw a woman in the entrance way to the park and we both said hello. She told me that she was enjoying the area and that she was visiting from Vancouver. I said we live in a beautiful neighbourhood. Then we were off for home.

Once home, I removed our gear and put on the coffee to perk and then went out to water all of the plants. I read last night it is better to water in the morning than in the evening. So will give that a try. Alvin stayed on the deck like the good guy that he is while I watered the front. Then I watered the back and then took the watering can to water the Begonias on the front porch. As I walked across the lawn, I noticed a woman who then noticed me and we realized that it was a friend who lives in the neighbourhood who I have not seen in literally years. We chatted and caught up and remarked on how things have changed since COVID came into our lives. It was so nice to see her. I miss seeing her on a regular basis. She is a very sweet and nice person. Then we said our goodbyes and she continued on her walk. I finished watering the flowers and walked to the backyard where Mr. Alvin was patiently waiting for me. I actually was very surprised that he did not jump off the deck and come to find me.

Back into the house, poured some coffee and upstairs to make our bed and do some things. Now I am sipping on coffee and writing this post.

Oh, yesterday I accidentally clicked on my gmail – email on my phone and noticed that I had over 7000 emails. Yup, that many. So I started reading some of them and deleting others. I found emails from my daughter from 2016 with photos and videos of the original three amigos: Elton, Penny and Alvin. OH, my goodness such good memories. I loved reading the emails and remembering back before COVID and before we were that much older. I have to start deleting them. No one needs to have 7000+ emails and I have another email address as well but I do keep it more respectable, lol.

Life, this is my life. Trying to keep cool. Hoping that Alvin stays healthy. Sometimes thinking about miracles and trying to remain positive despite the curveballs that come my way.

I hope that you have a great Sunday. Time to head downstairs. Finish my coffee. Do a few things. This will be another quiet day. Tomorrow will be cooler so I can get some things done outside and in the house for that matter. I did vacuum the main floor yesterday and do laundry but hard to do much when it is 36 degrees outside as the more active you are inside, the more the house heats up.

Have an awesome Sunday.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

PS: thanks to my friend for picking up bathroom tissue and bread. Two staples in every household.

It is a NEW YEAR.

Good Morning All,

What a lovely morning and awesome day  this is already.

We of course were up at 3:00 (actually this time I woke up and then there is no going back).

Downstairs and gave Mr. Alvin his Glucosamine chew and then back to the sofa for a couple of hours.

 

I settled right into a dream.

This dream has come to me on several occasions.

What it means or doesn’t mean is beyond me.

I am at a party, a big corporate party.

Everyone is dressed to the nines.

I decide to change purses in the hotel and bring only a small purse with only the necessities.

Somewhere before the buffet dinner, I lose my purse and spend a great deal of time trying to locate it.

In fact, dinner carries on without me.

I do sneak and fill a bowl with turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy.

Back later for a piece of cake as the dessert table is massive.

I look in the kitchen (why, don’t know) and everywhere.

No one seems to notice me including my date (not sure who that is).

The night ends without me finding my purse.

I give instructions to the coat check person and to the staff.

I think it was held at a big HOTEL, for some reason.

Back at the hotel, I am distraught at the loss of my purse.

My debit card, a new lipstick, keys and other small items.

I decide that I had better cancel my debit card.

Keys well no ID had an address although with the debit card maybe they could figure it out at some point.

I don’t know what technology is out there and I know thieves are smart.

That is providing someone actually stole my purse.

I loved that purse.

I know I did but for the life of me when asked for a description I could not provide one.

It was the strangest dream.

First time I have remembered such details.

Oddly enough, I keep going back to the same party night after night.

Every night the same story.

At some point, I think I even found the purse or what I thought was my purse.

The housekeeping staff located a purse.

No memory of what happened to my debit card, lipstick and keys and other small items.

So strange.

Just one big loop.

Around and around.

Well that is it, all of the dream.

So weird and odd.

 

Almost time to head back downstairs and finish our morning routine.

Grab lunch out of the fridge.

Go outside with Alvin ….

Boots on ….

 

We enjoyed a walk last night and changed it up and got in a bit longer walk.

Oh how we long for dry sidewalks.

Last night on the way home from work in one of the neighbourhoods along the way that we drive into to get around a traffic bog, I noted a couple of small caterpillars clearing snow.

I remarked that possibly the City had contracted them to clean the neighbourhoods.

What do you think I saw when Alvin and I were walking home ….

A Caterpillar.

I was grateful but upon looking out of the bedroom window this morning, I realized that he had pushed up a ridge in front of Humphrey and our houses.

ARGH.

Oh well he did help somewhat for sure.

 

Time to fly.

Have an awesome day.

I hope that you have funky odd strange weird dreams, too.

Gets the imagination working trying to figure them out.

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

 

Living … One day at a time.

Hello,

Wednesday already.

Sky is a mix of clouds and sunshine.

The past month or so we have had on average four days with rain per week.

Crazy.

The rest of the week was not all sunshine …. but there was the occasional rainbow.

 

Yesterday Alvin and I enjoyed a walk after work, we took our usual route.

Always makes my day to see the geese and the babies almost grown up.

The families of geese were spread out on the grass and up to the sidewalk as we approached the park.

We would have to walk almost right by them.

Mr. Alvin totally ignored them …. I don’t think he even took a glance in their direction.

He stayed on the right side of me which was the furthest away from them.

Alvin just sniffed in the grass beside the sidewalk.

I was proud.

NO barking.

NO chasing.

He just had respect for those beautiful creatures.

Mama, well I was taking in the view and trying to miss the goose poop which was everywhere.

Alvin somehow and I don’t believe intentionally seemed to miss the poop.

Thank goodness.

As we neared Master Teddy’s house as per usually Alvin took a beeline across their lawn.

I called him back only to see Teddy’s Dad sitting in his work van; he saw Alvin and quickly opened the door to the van.

He called Alvin over and invited us in for a visit.

Alvin raced to the door.

I unhooked his leash as he had his nose right in the crook of the door.

He was not going anywhere but inside once the door was opened.

So cute.

We had a great visit with our friends.

Teddy might be joining us on Saturday for the day.

It will be great as we will also have my grand-pups here while my kids attend a friend’s wedding.

Lots of four-legged babies on Saturday.

Love it.

Friday will be busy getting my laundry and stuff done.

I like to have a free day when have the pups around so that I can play with them.

Once home after our walk last night; I went and picked up Humphrey.

Who was at the door …. waiting for me.

He had his nose in the crook as well.

Guess he could smell me.

Anyway the boys had a good night.

Inside and out.

Later on when I was getting sleepy I took Humphrey home which was about 9:00 p.m.

Humphrey had been laying on Alvin’s big doggie bed surrounded by Alvin’s toys.

I called him and said “Come on Humphrey, time to go home.”

He actually got up and ran to the door.

I scooped him up grabbing my keys.

After I locked the house; I noticed a brown bundle by the tree.

Well here it was a bunny eating the bird seed that my friend leaves for the birds.

We were only a few feet … maybe 5 feet from him.

He just chewed and watched us go by.

Humphrey looked over my shoulder very intently as we walked by and up the steps to his house.

I even managed to walk right by him and to my house.

Once inside I grabbed my phone/camera and snapped these photos.

So cute.

 

Well here we go again … another day ….

Have an awesome Wednesday.

I hope that this post finds you in good health, filled with great joy and surrounded with love and abundance.

Always with Kindness and Respect.

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Sunday the 4th day of December, 2016.

The countdown is on – only 20 sleeps until Christmas Eve Day.

Yesterday we had baby Milo here for a visit while his parents were out for a Birthday/Christmas party.

Wow, he is for sure a puppy as his energy level is through the roof.

But he as are all babies is so cute that even when his yellow fur ball self was running from one of the house to the other all his Grandma could do was smile and say “Alvin, you once upon a time

had that much energy.

Bless his heart Alvin did play with the little one.

They both love to fetch ….. and then pay tug of war.

It was cute.

I took a video and will post it soon.

I was able to get everything done before his arrival so that was nice.

This morning at 4:30 which seems to be Alvin’s new wake-up time came quite fast after we went to bed at 11:30 p.m.

So up we got and after what seems like 3 seconds Alvin was done eating (actually I think it takes longer for me to make the bed and for us to get downstairs) and I let him out.

When I opened the door I could hear a dog barking which is odd for that time of morning.

At first I didn’t think much at first.  (it was early).

Alvin after doing his business stood on the deck and raised his shoulders and head to the sky and let out this yell, not his usual thing.

So into the house and for the time it took us to go back upstairs I realized that I had better investigate.

I opened the office window which opens to the south side of our house and to where the barking was coming.

I could tell from his bark that it was a small dog – likely smaller than Alvin.

So I closed the window, told Alvin I gotta go and help him/her.

Ran downstairs donned my coat and boots and grabbed the keys to the garage (it is detached from my house).

Opened the back door and across the deck and unlocked the garage, turned on the light and opened the big door.

Once out I listened for a moment to get my bearings.

Once done, I knew it was the folks behind me but there is no access to the front door without going down the length of the back alley and then up the block and around the corner and into the

crescent to their house (and I had to listen once again to make sure it was the right house).

I could hear the little one still barking.

So I rang the doorbell, once twice and three times no one came.

So I opened the screen door and knocked as loud as I could on the door.

Finally a woman came to the door.

I told her when Alvin and I got up this morning I could hear your dog barking in the backyard.

She seemed kind of confused as first and then acknowledged that they must have left her in the backyard.

She said Thank you and closed the door.

After a couple of minutes the barking stopped.

Thank goodness.

It was cold outside.

I am grateful that it is not tonight as it is supposed to be almost minus 20.

Lesson learned anytime you hear a doggie barking in the night or early morning go and investigate.

Well I am off to a coffee date.

I definitely need coffee this morning.

Have a great Sunday.

Special Hello to: all those folks who help others including the four-legged kind and all creatures.

Always, Carol and Alvin

Thought for the day……

Good Morning and Welcome to Tuesday the 14th day of April, 2015.

YAY, my last day of work for the week.

I am so excited to have the rest of the week off and also the weekend.

Five days in a row.

Sad, part of the week is that tomorrow night is the last night the kids will sleep in my house before moving into their brand new house.

We are all excited.

I am excited to see the house all done and they are excited to live in it.

The pups will be wondering what the heck is going on but we will all adjust.

So many last ones …. so many first ones.

Another chapter over another one beginning.

The sky is overcast this morning …..

I hope that it shines tomorrow and Thursday for the move.

The kids pick up the keys tomorrow and then we (me and the pups) get to see the new house.

We will move some of the smaller stuff and then Thursday the movers will arrive.

It will definitely seem strange without them here.

The past eight months have flown by …. seems like yesterday they were moving in with us.

Well time to go and tackle my last day at the office ….. lots to do there.

Busy place.

Special Hello to: to all those people confronted by change ….. just go right at it……. you can do it.

Always, Carol and Alvin

Thought for the day….

Good Morning and Welcome to Sunday the 30th day of March, 2014.

“SAY SOMETHING” by A Great Big World and Miss Kristina Aguilera ….

It is my favourite song ….

One of the best songs ever written.

I love the lyrics …. the melody.

The piano …. I feel each key as it is being touched.

Each word ……

It always makes me cry.

There are some songs that just tug at your heart strings.

They make you think.

They make you feel.

It touches my core ….. my heart …. my soul.

This is one of those songs.

I love it.

I love it so much.

Thank you to these artists for bringing this song to me.

I downloaded it from iTunes and have listened to it about ten times in a row.

I love it so much.

Thank you again.

Today is the day to listen to your favourite song.

Really listen to the words and feel the music.

Happy Sunday everyone…..

Say something ……

Special Hello to:  to all those people who can sing …… and to those who try ……

Always, Carol and Alvin

Story Line by line – September 8, 2013

Chapter Two:

September 1, 2013

“Alvin, you found me”, I cry as my heart and soul are filled with a gratitude magnified by the love I have for my friend and I know we will find our way together.

September 2, 2013

There is silence between us – no words or barking – just silence in knowing that as long as we are together we will figure this all out and get back home where we belong and we continue on our way side by side.

September 3, 2013

“So me Alvin, what now?” as I search his body to make sure that he has no wounds and give him hugs  and wished that the fog would lift so that I could see where we are going.

September 4, 2013

“Well Mr. Alvin, I guess we had better get moving so maybe we can eventually walk out of this fog and actually find some help” with this Alvin begins to move forward slowly and we are on our way.

September 5, 2013

I have no idea how far we have walked or where we are but I know one thing it is getting colder ….. freezing in fact.

September 6, 2013

Thank GOD, Alvin has a fur coat and that I had not cut it recently but me on the other hand, I only have flip flops, cotton capri pants, a t-shirt and light jacket; the jacket hadn’t really been needed that morning but I needed a place to put my keys and poop bags for Alvin; my keys?

September 7, 2013

I reach into my pocket and touch the coolness of my keys; I am not certain how they are actually going to help us at this point but they give me a sense of peace in that they are our link to home.

September 8, 2013

At this point I am really grateful that I have my Alvin with me and that we are okay despite being cold and now we will just continue on – one step at a time.

Story Line by line – September 7, 2013

Chapter Two:

September 1, 2013

“Alvin, you found me”, I cry as my heart and soul are filled with a gratitude magnified by the love I have for my friend and I know we will find our way together.

September 2, 2013

There is silence between us – no words or barking – just silence in knowing that as long as we are together we will figure this all out and get back home where we belong and we continue on our way side by side.

September 3, 2013

“So me Alvin, what now?” as I search his body to make sure that he has no wounds and give him hugs  and wished that the fog would lift so that I could see where we are going.

September 4, 2013

“Well Mr. Alvin, I guess we had better get moving so maybe we can eventually walk out of this fog and actually find some help” with this Alvin begins to move forward slowly and we are on our way.

September 5, 2013

I have no idea how far we have walked or where we are but I know one thing it is getting colder ….. freezing in fact.

September 6, 2013

Thank GOD, Alvin has a fur coat and that I had not cut it recently but me on the other hand, I only have flip flops, cotton capri pants, a t-shirt and light jacket; the jacket hadn’t really been needed that morning but I needed a place to put my keys and poop bags for Alvin; my keys?

September 7, 2013

I reach into my pocket and touch the coolness of my keys; I am not certain how they are actually going to help us at this point but they give me a sense of peace in that they are our link to home.

Story Line by line – September 6, 2013

Chapter Two:

September 1, 2013

“Alvin, you found me”, I cry as my heart and soul are filled with a gratitude magnified by the love I have for my friend and I know we will find our way together.

September 2, 2013

There is silence between us – no words or barking – just silence in knowing that as long as we are together we will figure this all out and get back home where we belong and we continue on our way side by side.

September 3, 2013

“So me Alvin, what now?” as I search his body to make sure that he has no wounds and give him hugs  and wished that the fog would lift so that I could see where we are going.

September 4, 2013

“Well Mr. Alvin, I guess we had better get moving so maybe we can eventually walk out of this fog and actually find some help” with this Alvin begins to move forward slowly and we are on our way.

September 5, 2013

I have no idea how far we have walked or where we are but I know one thing it is getting colder ….. freezing in fact.

September 6, 2013

Thank GOD, Alvin has a fur coat and that I had not cut it recently but me on the other hand, I only have flip flops, cotton capri pants, a t-shirt and light jacket; the jacket hadn’t really been needed that morning but I needed a place to put my keys and poop bags for Alvin; my keys?