Thought for the day ….

Good Morning and Welcome to Monday the 11th day of September, 2017.

Just starting to get light but too dark to put on my sun glass clips when I leave the house.

But partway into the bus ride the sun will be up and I will need them.

Funny this time of year.

 

I have just started reading a book that I acquired.

Written by past United States President Bill Clinton.

The name of the book “Giving” How each of us can change the World.

As I read the book and hear of how many and how much has been given for years and continues to be given, I wonder:

1.  How much would it take to fix the Environment, is it even possible?
2.  How much would it take to end world hunger, is it even possible?
3.  How much would it take to bring peace to the world, is it even possible?

Food for thought?

 

Well I am running late ….. just some questions that I doubt can ever be answered ….. not in my lifetime.

Have a wonderful day as we each ponder these questions.

 

Special Hello to:  all those who give and make a difference.

Always, Carol & Alvin

Thought for the day ….

Good Morning and Welcome to Wednesday the 26th day of July, 2017.

Today’s forecast is HOT.

Last night Ed Sheeran and James Blunt were entertaining those lucky enough to attend the concert here in Edmonton.

Sadly, I was not one of them.

But I am grateful to the videos posted so that I could hear just a bit of them perform.

So good.

 

Well here we go two weeks from today I turn 60.

I cannot believe it.

Six decades.

How did that happen?

In a blink of an eye.

So much to look forward to …. spending time with family and friends.

That is the best part of the birthday thing.

Time with family and friends.

 

All too often we take for granted family and friends until it is too late.

So take some time today, tomorrow, next week and call someone …. SKYPE someone …. spend time with those you love.

I hope that we all get to live a long, joyful life …..

 

Special Hello to: all those folks who take precious time out of their days to read this blog, means the world to me.

Always, Carol & Alvin

COUNTDOWN: 60 Days to 60

Today is Monday, July 10, 2017 and it is the 31st day until my 60th Birthday.

When I think back to all of the different professions of the people that I have meet over my almost 60 years ….. it has been incredible.

I have known leaders of major corporations, people who have started and grown their own successful businesses, mothers, fathers, ministers, teachers, tax collectors, reinsurance brokers, dancers, singers, musicians, policemen, lawyers, doctors of all kinds, nurses, veterinarians, all sorts of customer service personnel, firemen, policemen, postmen, sheriff, house and business cleaners, construction workers, hair stylists, cooks, servers, bartenders, real estate brokers, insurance brokers, farmers, volunteers, new reporter(s), DJ, children’s author, adult authors, accountants, private pilot, airforce pilot, airplane mechanic, bank managers, professional photographers, IT specialists, claims adjusters, underwriters, foreman, electricians, plumbers, tow truck owner/operator, pharmacist, jewellers, bus drivers, mechanics, oilfield workers, driller on oil rigs, directional drillers, housewives, contractors of all kinds, managers of all kinds, social workers, hospital unit clerk,  data entry operators, cashiers, customer service clerks, bank tellers, administrative assistants, dental assistants, dentist, and too many others to count.

 

If you sat back and made a list of all the people that you have known over your lifetime and what did they for a living the list would be massive.  I know that I am missing a great many.

Surrounded by incredible people my whole life.

These people who have helped form the person that I am today.

It truly takes a village.

I am truly blessed.

 

Always, Carol

 

COUNTDOWN: 60 Days to 60

Well today is Sunday, June 11, 2017 and is the 60th day until my 60th Birthday.

I would say that this has been on my mind, as of late.

Not that I am stressing over this upcoming date.

Just pondering the path behind and the road ahead.

Over my lifetime to this point;  how I envisioned my life is not exactly how it has turned out.

In the early days I wanted the white picket fence, the house, the husband, the four children-two sons and two daughters, summer vacations and to be a nurse and writer.

However that is not exactly the course that my life has taken.

I do not have the white picket fence.

Fences are not all that necessary.

I finally got the house on my own just months before I turned 52.

I do have have a husband, and that is okay.

I was married and have been divorced for several decades.

I do not have four children.

I do however have ONE amazing, wonderful DAUGHTER and a great SON-IN-LAW and GRAND-PUPPIES.

I adopted my four-legged companion, Alvin in 2010.

He brings great joy to my days.

I am not able to take summer vacations.

I am not a nurse.

But I write ….. this I have done since I was 6 years old.

So life changes as the days and years pass.

Our dreams change over time.

I will say that I never thought that I would be single, take early retirement after 30 years with a company and then start another “career” and am now almost 6 years into it.

Time flies.

I kid with folks and say that I am “OLD” but truth is …. I feel young even though somedays my body reminds me otherwise.

I love to laugh and when I find that I am taking life too seriously I change directions and find the laughter once again.

 

I watched a video last night of James Corden doing an interview with Ed Sheeran in a car.

They were driving along ….. singing and talking ….. talking and singing.

Enjoying life.

I must say I love ED SHEERAN and pleasantly surprised by James Corden’s voice (he easily could have been a singer).

You may wonder what Ed and James have to do with 60 days to 60 but in actuality it is partly the choices we make about music and such that keeps us young.

Think young ….. act young ….. be young.

 

Well I guess if I am to write things for 60 days about turning 60, I should stop now.

Safe to say the next 59 days worth of posts will be shorter.

I hope that my journey to 60 will perhaps inspire you, make you laugh, maybe even bring a tear to your eye but most of all I hope that it brings some joy to your day(s).

Now yikes only 59 days till I turn 60……………

 

Always, Carol

 

Thought for the day or perhaps a revelation ….

Good Morning and Welcome to Monday the 5th day of September, 2016.

Perhaps by now some of you may have noticed that I have not written on this blog since the last day of August.

My daughter noticed that I had not written on my blog for the first couple of days and asked if something was wrong?

I told her no.

But that was not one hundred percent accurate.

There are times in one’s life when the mere gravity of words and actions by those around you just makes you feel incompetent and makes you question

the things you do.

I am not saying it was a huge matter but it was enough to give me cause to pause.

Sometimes you just need to take a step back in order to go forward.

Or at the very least stop doing some of the things that you always do, and reflect.

Or sometimes it is just something you need to do for you.

It can be just as simple as that.

I just knew that I had to take a break, and that there was no way of explaining this to you.

I do apologize for that.

 

I had questions.

Was I really doing something that I truly loved or just doing something because I had been telling myself, and others for several decades

that “I am a writer.”

But was I?

Am I?

 

For as long as I can remember I loved books, I loved words. I loved the sounds of words.

They could take you near or far.

In my case it was the far that appealed to me the most.

I could imagine a new life, a different life.

I loved to read.

I loved to write.

Or perhaps it was the mere essence of the feeling that I got at the end of it all.

I do not know.

But questioning things ….. that is where I am at.

Can I write?

Sure I can.

But am I good enough that is another question.

Good enough compared to who, to what?

I had wanted to be a published author but at fifty-nine that honour still eludes me.

Perhaps there is a part of me that believes that I am not really good enough or smart enough to go the distance.

Short term projects; I can do and have done.

So this is part of the dilemma.

The other of the self-doubt is that I feel that I have worked very hard my whole life and somehow I feel unaccomplished.

But why?

Really, I should not.

I left my home of thirty years to start over in a new place.

I finally in my 50’s was able to buy my first house, and yes I have a mortgage.

After a lifetime of work I took a couple of years off for a mini retirement.

After which I found a job ( into my 50’s which is not easy these days ).

I adopted my first dog when in my 50’s.

I have made many many life choices and changes after the age of 50.

But perhaps the biggest thing of all is the fact that back home many of my friends are now settling into retirement or at least close.

Life is full of choices and we do the best that we can.

This was and is my choice for good or bad.

But sometimes we just would like things to have gone a different way.

 

I have tried to remain positive but sometimes that is just impossible.

So it is a combination of writing and life choices that brings me to this point.

I will continue to write not because I have to but because I want to.

 

Perhaps this does not truly or in full explain what is really in my heart but it will give you an idea of where I am at …..

Alvin in his cuteness, well he is Alvin and he just looks at me as if to say “Come on snap out of it.”

I say to him, “Yes dear one, I shall.”

 

Thank you for making the choice to read my blog.

I am so thankful for you.

Life evolves …..

 

Special Hello to: YOU

Always, Carol and Alvin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Saturday the 8th day of August, 2015.

Today is my niece-in-law’s 39th Birthday ….. Happy Birthday “S” ….. we hope you have a great day.

We have lots of friends and family birthdays in August.

Mine is tomorrow.

I will be “58”

Have you ever just sat and thought about all of the things that you have done and seen in your lifetime thus far?

I have …..

Here are some of the things that I have done or accomplished and seen from birth until today.

• lived on a farm
• had one sister and three brothers
• changed diapers before started Grade one
• went to school, learned to read and to write (loved biology)
• earned first money babysitting for neighbours at age 8 (back in the day)
• wrote poetry throughout my childhood (my Grandma kept ones I wrote to her)
• still writing years later
• drove a tractor and combine
• spent a winter in Texas as a child and swam in the Gulf of Mexico at Padre Island
• taught my siblings school that winter (they all passed with flying colours including me)
• lived in three Canadian provinces (Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Alberta)
• went to four different schools in three different provinces from Grade 9 to 12
• black and white to colour televisions
• computers
• man on the moon
• went in a prop plane to California in the 70’s.
• gave birth to my daughter
• visited Victoria, B.C. (twice) … love antique shops
• Canadian Cities visited: Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto, WInnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton
• Visited the Rocky Mountains in Canada
• Banff and Jasper, Alberta Parks
• visited the World Trade Center in New York in 1994.
• went to a musical on Broadway in New York
• visited Las Vegas twice
• visited Las Angeles, California and walked in the Pacific Ocean
• belonged to the Downtown Optimist Club in Regina
• was Optimist of the Year (very proud moment) and held various positions within the organization
• visited Montreal, Quebec and Quebec City ……
• continued with Volunteer work in Edmonton – Capital City Cleanup Block Captain (keeping area clean)
• retired early after 30 years (with same company)
• back to work now four years
• worked first real Retail Job after age of 50
• was top seller in said job
• adopted my first dog in 2010 (over 50) – me Alvin
• started my blog after age 50
• corresponded with a Wall St Journal journalist (after age 50)
• saw 58 years of the sun, moon and stars
• always had great friends ….. still do
• raised a gifted daughter ….. photographer ….. artist …. good person
• bought my first house on my own in Edmonton, this house (after age 50)
• started making jewellery with my daughter
• sold different things over the years like Tupperware, Fashion Two Twenty makeup ……
• visited several U.S. States over the years.
• most important, I am alive to celebrate another Birthday.

When you start making a list you suddenly realize that your life has been busy.

If you read this blog and you know me …. can you think of anything else notable?

Well time to have a shower and get ready for my “Birthday party”.

My friends “S” and “G” are having a party for me at our coffee date.

I have very thoughtful friends.

With the sun shining and a cool breeze I shall start this Saturday.

Grand-puppies here to keep Mr. Alvin company while I am out.

It is funny I keep thinking of things and adding them to the list ….. time to go though.

Make that list and see that you yourself have been an important part of this planet.

Have a wonderful Saturday.

Special Hello to: “S” Happy Birthday …… Also my cousin “M” who was born on my birthday.

So many birthdays……

Always, Carol and Alvin

Thought for the day ……

Good Morning and Welcome to Wednesday the 17th day of June, 2015

This morning I awake to rain…

Today as always, begins in a state of gratitude.

I begin each day writing as a physical reminder.

This morning part of my bus route is being detoured so I am catching the earlier bus.

This morning there is a Memorial March for a fallen Police Officer here in Edmonton.

Police Men and Women will come for all over to participate to show their appreciation and support.

I am grateful to the men and women who work to protect us all from harms way.

It does always make me think “but why?”

We should not have to place other human beings in harms way from each other.

You would think after how many thousands of years that we would have evolved to be more peaceful.

I am disappointed, but yet hopeful, that someday, perhaps not in my lifetime,it will happen.

So on this day I would like to say thank you to all those people out there who work to keep us safe.

I do appreciate your time away from your family, and to those who were taken from their families much too early you have my eternal gratitude.

Please take a few minutes today to show your support.

Our neighbourhood,and many others in our City have wrapped blue ribbons around trees and posts to show their support.

Special Hello today:  to all of our women and men in blue ….. you are the best.

Always, Carol and Alvin

Thought for the day…..

Good Morning and Welcome to Friday the 20th day of March, 2015.

Awoke to a fresh blanket of the white stuff covering everything.

The deck is white.

The rooftops are white.

The street is white.

One last snowfall ….. Mother Nature has a great sense of humour.

The past couple or so days at work have been odd.

Due in part to some staff leaving on a voluntary lay-off.

Government cut-backs …. funding…..

But there was something else that played a part in the mood.

Everyone has been feeling in a kind of “funk” …..

We figured out what was possibly making us all feel at odds with life in general and that is the MOON.

When the Moon is closest to the earth it is called a Supermoon.

WOW, what a connection

Also in addition to the Supermoon is the Solar Eclipse and Spring Equinox.

If that isn’t enough to throw us all into a major FUNK ……

 

At this same time, I have felt empowered to make some major changes in my life.

Might as well do it on the first day of spring….

Sometimes after going in the same direction for an amount of time you must stop and makes some changes.

I always consider things to the fullest.

I am not one to make a change without due consideration.

I felt a major relief once I gave myself permission to make this change.

It is a big one.

I think that we all find that happens at some point over our lifetime.

We just go about doing what we think we need to do and then one day it is like someone takes the blindfold off, and gives you permission to try something new.

Nothing ventured – nothing gained.

I am looking forward to this next chapter with a full heart and at the same time some “heartache.”

Life goes on.

Back to winter boots ….

Ah, it is Friday …… working all weekend at the store…..

Special Hello to: all those folks making changes.

Always, Carol and Alvin

Thought for the day…..

Good Morning and Welcome to Monday the 9th day of February, 2015.

It feels like it is warming up …..

Today is the 38th Birthday of my first born nephew “T” …..

He was born when I was 20.

That seems like a lifetime ago ….. guess that it was.

He was this energetic blonde haired little guy with “strawberry” coloured lips.

So so cute.

He was the smartest little one that I had ever known.

He asked the most absurd questions ….. things that I was pretty sure that I had not asked my Mother or Aunt.

So many stories to remember.

Whenever I take a trip down memory lane it always brings a smile to my face.

I always liked spending time with him as I was never bored and always kept on my toes.

NOW:

“T” has grown into this great father of three boys (payback) and husband…

He started his own directional drilling company ( he is the only employee ).

Works hard …..

I am always pleased when he stops by to see his Aunt on his way to a job.

We go out for supper and then visit at home.

Happy Birthday my darling nephew.

I hope that you have a great Birthday.

I hope that you have great memories of me and you.

I treasure ours very much.

Special Hello to: my nephew “T” on his 38th Birthday.

Always, Carol and Alvin.

Thought for the day……

Good Morning and Welcome to Monday the 26th day of January, 2015.

Last night I watched the Screen Actors Guild Awards or affectionally known as the SAG Awards.

I watched how each category was announced, and each winning actor took to the stage.

They thanked their partners, their managers, their fellow actors.

And I thought …..

How wonderful it would be if we had SAG Awards for the everyday folk.

To all those Moms who put on a smile on their faces when they would rather cry or scream.

To all those retail workers who give great customer service…..

Even when belittled and demeaned; tired after working two or three jobs just to pay the rent.

To all those fast food workers who run like crazy to get “food” to customers in record time.

Who also have to work long hours for minimum wage.

To all those Dads who go to work when they would rather be at home with the kids.

To all those people who everyday put on a happy face just to get through.

To all those who put up with cruel, bitter, angry, disrespectful, unkind human beings with a smile on their face, and maybe even a glow in their hearts.

To everyone who works hard every day of their lives with no award for their performances.

To everyone who volunteers to help both two-legged, four-legged and all beings on this planet.

We celebrate each and everyone.

I always dreamed of being an actor but just living my life I have found is one big performance.

Perhaps I do not always get paid for giving the performance of a lifetime.

But that is life.

I want to take this opportunity to say to everyone in my life … thank you.

You deserve an award.

This is my award to you.

We celebrate you.

Special Hello to: You, we celebrate you today and always.  Thank you.

Always, Carol and Alvin