The Next Chapter

Good Morning. The morning sky is slightly overcast. How are you this morning? I am well. Just going to sneeze. ARGH, holding it which I know that I best not do. Okay, was only a little one, lol.

Last night after work I went for an extra long walk about 45 minutes which was great. I desperately needed to clear my mind from all things “work.” I know that these days a great many people have issues with or at work. Unfortunately seems to be the norm. I am trying to keep a positive attitude throughout but sometimes I fail and walk to the dark side. That is why getting out in nature and breathing that fresh air is not only good for your body, it is good for your heart and soul and brain. Decompressing, I texted my neighbour as I had to drop off the oven element to be sent back to Amazon as I did not use it in the end. So grateful to have a stove that works.

Yesterday at noon, I walked to the neighbourhood mall where I picked up our new office lotto tickets. I sure hope that our tickets were lucky and that we won a huge amount of money. Nothing like a lotto win to boost the moral of everyone. Also at the mall, I had previously noted that they had a M & M’s shop and I was eager to go and check it out. We used to have one close by in our neighbourhood and I had one in the mall close to my apartment back in Regina. I am not a huge fan of “processed” food but they have a few items that I love and for a treat occasionally, why not? So I picked up some “quiches” and I had one of them for supper last night. They also had a display of kitchen items by the checkout which included some fibre made pot cleaners and I picked up two. I first came to know these handy dandy little items when one of my friends gave me one as part of my Christmas present. So now I have four. Lucky me.

Cookie will be coming over this evening after I return from dress shopping with my friend Gillian. We are going after work to West Edmonton Mall. I have not been shopping for anything “fun” in a long, long time. Usually groceries or “oven elements” so this is exciting. Also my grand pups will be hanging out at Grandma’s house as of today for a bit. Not that this is a secret so I guess I can say, my son-in-law and his coworkers are going on strike. I do not even like to say that word. Scary. I hope that the employer agrees to their terms and it does not last long. Unfortunately these days, income increases are extremely small like 1% or nothing. The cost of living is like 8-10%. Seems like everything from food to utilities have increased hugely. So as always, the big corporations continue to make huge profits while their employees have to decide what they can afford to feed their family this week and what activities, if any their children can partake in, very sad. I am grateful that the pups can stay here and not have to be alone at their home which is one hour away. My son-in-law will be out for part of the day so they will not be alone for long and I leave later and home early due to my short commute, which I love. Anyway, I am excited to have a house full for the next bit. Cookie will be with me until the last Saturday in April, I believe the 29th. Last night Cookie and her Dad came over for a visit to discuss the handover plan. She was sporting a hair cut and I mean hair cut. Very short but it had been very long and poor Cookie, I would say is hyperactive. She is this bright light that never turns off. I love her and will be nice to have a pup sleeping over.

Okay time to sign off for this day. This morning we are outside at the site checking a list of things. Should be fun. Hopefully it will warm up a bit.

Have a wonderful day.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin (My Forever Angel).

The Next Chapter

Good Morning! Happy April 1st. The sky is slightly overcast and there is no wind this morning. The house is quiet except for the sound of the furnace rumbling away keeping me warm. There is also the sound of the odd motor vehicle driving by the front of my house.

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Good Morning and Welcome to Tuesday the 1st day of April, 2014.

YAY, today is the first day of April.

March is over.

I hope that this finds you happy and excited for another day.

Time to crank the music and dance your happy dance.

Dance to the  music.

Even throughout the day …. find your quiet space and do your “happy dance.”

If there is no space without people ….. just sit in your chair …. close your eyes ….. smile and tap your toes …. to the music whether on your iPod or in your head…

Even standing in a line or anywhere ….. you have the space that your body occupies ….. use your imagination and go.

Imagine you are dancing in a big hall with the best floor.

Imagine yourself in a meadow ….. or on a hilltop.

Anywhere …… maybe on top of your bed.

Just let your body go ….. move to the music …… get your groove on…..

Not only is dance is the best exercise on the planet but you will feel so much better – body, mind and soul.

Clap your hands …. today is the day ….. dance your happy dance.

Smile and Be Happy …… Let go ……

Special Hello to: all the dancers on the planet.

Always, Carol and Alvin

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I have been trying to copy and paste in posts from April 1st and only able to succeed with the one from 2014.

I can tell you that on April 1st, 2016, the temperature in Edmonton was 20 degrees celsius and that it is far from that today.

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On April 1st, 2019, I was home sick and Mr. Alvin was keeping me company.

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On April 1st, 2020, I was just a few days in from working from home due to the pandemic. We were enjoying having me at home 24/7. Alvin was having a hard day as the arthritis in his paws was bothering him.

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Back to April 1st, 2023, I just heard my neighbour call out to “Bogart” her cat and as I looked out the window I saw a massive grey cat sitting on the fence between me and my neighbour in the other half. When he saw Sonja come into their yard (they leave the gate open), he jumped off the fence and back into my yard and then back home. Another temporary great escape for Bogart. What a guy! He is a beautiful big guy and definitely has a mind of his own. He likes to be outside and go for walks. Bogart has on his GPS (in case he gets out of the yard). Good way to track him. They still keep a close watch on him. If he got out and was on the street he could be hit by a car. People are not known for driving slow when they go through this neighbourhood. Makes me sad but grateful that so far all beings on our street have been safe from tragedy. Well it is time to get this day going. I have spent a lot of time trying to copy and paste from previous posts. I hope that you have a wonderful April 1st and I hope that the weather begins to warm. We still have quite the bank of snow on our front lawns as we face the north side of the street but I am grateful that most of the ice has melted by the sidewalk. YAY. Happy April 1st, 2023.

Have an awesome day.

Time to get more laundry going. Plans changed from this morning to last night and in between. I did some laundry and work last night so that I can concentrate on the income tax and photos today. Always lots to do when you are on your own.

Happy April Fools Day.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin (My Forever Angel)

The Next Chapter

Good Morning! Another overcast morning. I cannot believe that my Alvin has been gone for three weeks. I think that I shall always miss him. He is everywhere in the house. Last night I washed some of his harnesses that I found in the closet. Some no longer would fit him. They are washed and clean and perhaps someday will find another home. Every day I go through the bouquets of flowers and plants that we received and make sure they have fresh water and remove the ones that have passed. Surprisingly, there are some cut flowers that are still doing well. I am so grateful to all those friends and neighbours for the most beautiful flowers. Alvin would have loved them. He really did love flowers and always had his nose in the flower pots in the spring and summer. He was always watching me while I watered the plants in the house and sometimes wanted me to bring them down so that he could see them. Yes, he did. Very curious he was.

Last night I started the preparations for his sister’s Birthday party. She turns 43 tomorrow and Alvin was 13 in January. Lots of the number 3 and 4 combinations, if you are into numerology. Just thought that looked cool. I will keep the decorations for her party a bit on the low key side because we are mourning our beloved Alvin and I just do not feel that it would be right. The house will be full of celebration for a birthday and also celebration of a life well lived. I know that we will be talking about him tonight. He loved a good party especially when there were gifts for him to open, even if they were not for him. To Alvin it was all about opening the gift. Now if there was food inside, he was wanting the food for sure but at the end of the day, he loved to open gifts. At Christmas, he seemed to have started Miss Aspen to be interested in opening a gift, so perhaps he has passed his talents to her. That would be nice. I guess we shall see over time.

This morning, I have a list of things to do. Last night I boiled the eggs and potatoes so I will cut them up for the salad. I may have to put the chicken in cold water for awhile as last night it was still frozen solid. I guess my freezer works good. Shovelling is on the list. Also making the fruit pizza which has a few steps so that takes a bit of time. I put up some Happy Birthday Balloons (I know, they are helium ones that I keep reusing each year and two are from my 65th Birthday but they do not say a year). Not sure my daughter would appreciate a birthday balloon that said Happy 65th Birthday, lol. I may have the chicken cut up and ready to go. I just received a text from daughter that she sent last night and they have a slight change in their plans and won’t be here until around 2:30 so that gives me a bit more time to get things done. I washed my clothes last night so that is off the plate for today. Towels and bedding can wait until tomorrow. I have lots of towels so I could easily do them once every two weeks. There is shovelling on the list. Did I mention that already? If I have time I will vacuum upstairs otherwise that is for tomorrow. I am excited to see Miss Aspen, Mi-Mi and Miss Betty Ann this afternoon for a few hours before Amanda & Steven come for the party.

So the office. Yesterday I left the house at 7:05 and walked to the bus stop to catch public transportation for the first time since pre pandemic. Yes, I was a little bit anxious but just making sure that I had the right one and good thing that I asked because one of the two that I was supposed to be able to catch would have meant a further walk for me so glad that I asked the driver. The bus was on time and I waited for a few minutes because I left early to ensure that I did not miss the bus. The bus ride was less than 5 minutes (for real) and then I walked to the new office. The walk took just under 10 minutes. When I got to the office, I realized that the front door had a FOB entry and not key and it was cold and snowing and I was cold from being outside waiting and walking. I walked around the building as it is small and did not see the other entrance due in part to my glasses being fogged over so I pulled out my cell phone and texted the gal that I carpool with as she was going to the office for further training. I think I mentioned that we will end up working together after all as she will be in a different position. Anyway, she texted our Manager and then I remembered that I had our Director’s phone number so I texted her, she texted me and then called me. She said that the other entrance had a key entry and did I have a key. I said yes to the key but did not see the other door and I did know there was one but just in the moment did not see it. She stayed on the line while I walked and located the door and let myself into a dark building as I was the first one to arrive. Yes, I am always early. Habit of mine. I thanked her and then started to remove my coat etc and settle in. I picked one of the desks, the one closest to the door, lol. Then I set about setting up the Keurig coffee machine so that I could have coffee. It was awhile later after I was enjoying some coffee that another staff arrived followed by the Manager and later another staff. The Manager for our Systems arrived to get us set up and the movers with filing cabinets etc. I even managed to get some work done. The best part of all was that I got home at 4:31 p.m. I made sure that I was out the door at 4:00 as I wanted to see what time the bus arrived. I ended up waiting for a few minutes so now I know that I don’t have to rush rush out the door, just in case. Another new chapter ……. the office is not and sparkly like the downtown one but it does possess a kind of 80’s charm.

Time for me to head downstairs and put on some coffee. It is 7:53 now and I was up just after 7:00 and awake much earlier but chose to lay in bed and just mull over life with constant thoughts of Alvin. Doesn’t seem fair to him or to me that he had to leave what seems like way too soon.

Have a wonderful Saturday.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin (my forever Angel)

A New YEAR 2023

Good Morning ALL! The sky is overcast but it is quite pleasant outside. Almost feels like spring. Mr. Alvin was up a few times during the night but I did have a stretch of three hours of continuous sleep so I am okay. The night before with seven hours of sleep seems like a dream. I guess it was!

Alvin was happy to see me last night when I arrived home from the office. I was so happy to see him, too. We took the bus route as it was on our way home from the office (my coworker and I) to see where I would get on the bus and off and to see the walk. Definitely the walking is longer than the bus ride. There is a bus shelter where I get on so that is great. I have about a 10 minute walk to the bus first thing in the morning and then when I get off the short ride there is about another 10 minute walk. All is contingent on the sidewalks being clear and not icy. Likely good idea to wear the ice picks for the first while. Not sure how long it will take me to get home because I will have to walk to the bus and I only hope that I don’t have a long wait. Somedays I wish that I had a car because it would be such a short distance from home but when you add public transportation it always adds much more time. I understand. Anyway, I have two weeks vacation coming up and I am focusing on that for now. Lots to consider and think about and do over that time. Isn’t life interesting! We all have our stories, our dreams and our nightmares. I am trying over all of this to remain mainly positive although it is difficult somedays – especially at the office because by oneself you can focus elsewhere but collectively it is not easy.

After I arrived home, I gave Mr. Alvin his supper and then we went for a walk. The walk was short but at least it was fresh air and a bit of exercise for Mr. Alvin. His poop was starting to look good again last night but not sure about through the night. Not bad though definitely on the upside. Oh, my poor boy. I feel for him and wished that he was well again.

I was supposed to be moving photos from the computer to the external hard drive every day and that has not happened. So definitely Thursday and Friday when I am working from home, I can do that right after work or in the early evening. Moving the photos will give me a chance to look them over and also to delete ones that are duplicates or bad shots. I love to look at the photos.

Well it is almost time to head back downstairs. Initially I had left Alvin downstairs and then he started to bark so I went back down and brought him upstairs. Carrying him up and down has been interesting. He is not light and I guess it is building up my arm muscles, lol! I understand that he wants to be with me especially when I am gone all day. I sure hope that I can work something out and be at home with him all of the time (soon).

I am getting too old for all of this drama. There is no way that anyone could have predicted this last “major change” but what can you do. New people want to make their mark and they do not think of the ones that are living all of the change. I sort of understand. We all know that the higher ups are not undergoing the change. They still sit in their offices with a door while we change up our entire lives. I swear if I hear the words” change management” one more time, I am going to …….

Okay time to grab Mr. Alvin and head downstairs to finish getting ready. You know that I am smiling after the above paragraph, I got it off my chest.

Happy Tuesday Everyone! Be safe and I hope that you have an awesome day.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

P.S. definitely a multiple coffee morning and I must start drinking more water at the office.

A New YEAR 2023

Good Morning ALL! How are you this morning? Well, I will leave the “sleep” alone for this post. I will say this that the moon last night was so full and awesome. The moon seemed to be more bright than usual. The sky was clear and I could see “stars” and likely sateilttes taking up their position in the sky. Looks like the sky is overcast this morning and there is no wind at this time. We were up a bit later this morning but not too late for a Sunday.

Yesterday was a great day. Woke up having my daughter, Alvin’s sister in the house which was awesome, we so love having her sleep over. I was dressed and ready for the birthday party while the coffee perked. We girls had coffee and visited while she worked on transferred my photos to the external hard drive. Surely is not a quick process but thankfully is not super difficult. I will report exactly how that goes the first time that I do it for myself. Yesterday afternoon I was supposed to do some more but did not happen. Amanda left just before I was leaving for the birthday party. The sky was a magical blue and the sun so bright and mighty. I wore my fav sweatshirt, my only sweatshirt, but I love it and jeans. Instead of wearing a winter coat, I opted to throw on my winter down vest. Perfect. Alvin had gone pee before I left and was settled on the sofa with the television on for company. The birthday girl was running late as she now is working two jobs and overshot how long it would take her to be done (I think she slept in as did I, actually I think she mentioned something about that, too). Gillian and I had coffee and chatted. I filled her in on my latest drama. Sure would be nice to have a light hearted comedy going on, instead, lol. Just as we were about to dive in on the “food” (what a spread), the birthday girl arrived. Food went on the table and then we were eating and chatting, laughing and crunching on food. Friends around the table, enjoying a beverage (tea and coffee), good food and each other. Oh, how I love these girls. They are the best. Gillian’s boys joined us for us food. Then it was time to open gifts and then the birthday cake. Signe had two cake a strawberry one and then a chocolate one. Both so yummy. The birthday girl is not fond of chocolate cake. We did not more chatting and then cleaning up and then it was two hours later and we were on our way home. Signe lives closer to Gillian than I do, across the alley actually and me well a few doors down. Maybe a two-three minute walk, maybe. Then I was home, I turned on a load of laundry and had more coffee, chilled with Alvin and of course, let him outside. We went for a walk about 40 minutes later. Oh, it was so warm and I could have kept going. Alvin surprised me and instead of walking into the park by the ponds, he made a dash towards Teddy’s house. Yup, I let him led the way. Exactly where he was going. When we got to their house, he darted up the driveway before I was able to stop him and explain that his BF was not at home. I felt so badly for him, I am sure that he misses the little guy. He has not seen many friends as of late. Lots of human friends but no puppies or kitties. Might be a good time soon to have Humphrey come and spend some time with us. Unfortunately will not be today. Maybe tomorrow when I go to the office Alyaa could bring Cookie with her, I will ask. On the way home from our walk, close to home, he went up the sidewalk of another friend and just so happened she was by the window and saw him so she came to the door. Next thing we were in the house. He was having a treat and we were chatting. It was 4:00 p.m. when we got home and was 2:39 when we left so it was another nice break. More social happenings yesterday than not. Back home I finished up the laundry and vacuumed the main floor.

One more thing, there has been a foul odour coming from under the sink. Last week I took everything out from under there and did a deep clean. But no luck, the smell was still there. I even left baking soda under there to no avail. So yesterday once again, I took everything out and did an even deeper clean and still. I have no idea where this is coming from? There is the wall and then there is a partial wall under the sink, maybe something got in there? Food or something? So frustrating. Or is it coming from the dishwasher. Anyway, I put an open candle (unlit) under there and last night it did not smell bad. I will keep investigating. Perhaps a vinegar wash in the dishwasher would help. Life in the fast lane.

We had a quiet evening. Oh, my friend Signe picked me up a lottery ticket and I have not checked it, still living the dream.

Finally the movie that I have been waiting for was “streaming” on Disney, “WAKANDA FOREVER.” I ended up watching the making of this movie and the making of the new Avatar movie as well before hand while I was feeding Alvin, cooking some chicken for me and cleaning up. Then I watched WAKANDA FOREVER, what a great movie. Not sure if I liked it better or not, I think both movies could hold themselves up individually. I did miss Chadwick Boseman, and nice to see Michael B Jordan playing a cameo (he passed in the first movie). Anyway, two of my all time fav movies.

Okay, I have to fly. Time to get the coffee going. I have to give Alvin a haircut and bath. This afternoon I will be chatting with my sister and then going for a walk. There is more laundry to do and then get ready for working at the office tomorrow. Oh, how I wished that this was not my new norm as I loved working from home.

Have a great day.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

P. S. I am planning to move some photos to the external hard drive this afternoon. Lots to do.

A New YEAR 2023

Good Morning ALL! Well here we are at Sunday already where has the time gone. I know, I know. We had our wonderful cousins over for a visit yesterday. In the morning, my daughter was here until sometime around 10-10:30 a.m. and from early in the morning I was preparing for the visit. I spent the morning doing some cleaning, baking and food prep. I was able to have most of the meal or at least the fussy stuff completed before they arrived. The COUSINS were arriving at 1:30 so that meant that I had to be done and have time to get ready, not ball gowns or anything like that but just get freshened up and put on some eye makeup and change my clothes. I elected to wear blue jeans and my new fav sweatshirt, my only sweatshirt. But I love it so much, I wore it. Everything went pretty much to plan. I was not as happy about the end result of the biscuits but they were okay. I made the gingerbread cake and the peanut sauce and cleaned up the kitchen, main floor bathroom, looked after the Alvin, did some laundry and a few other things on my list. Luckily I was finished before they arrived so I had a few minutes to just snuggle with the Alvin on the sofa. I feel like yesterday he was making progress. Oh and his sister more easily got his medicine into him! Just today, tomorrow and Tuesday left for the medicine so I have to just hang in there. Back to the visitors. They arrived pretty close to 1:30 and we were over the moon happy to see them. Actually it felt like a long time since I had seen them and was shocked when L had done the math and said it was 2019 before the pandemic. YIKES. I guess I really did not see many people over the last three years. Anyway, they were here and we were going to get caught up. L had a brain tumour removed last June 2022 which I knew about and she is doing amazingly well. Although she joked about her memory, it is still better than mine, lol. Her husband, W had a bad car accident in February 2022, I believe. He is doing well. Both are seeing different types of therapists to help in their recoveries. They are both retired which has helped. I am so grateful that they are on the way to be “fully” recovered. We talked about family, politics (yes, a bit), food, work and retirement and life in general. There were stories about family history. Lots of laughter. We had a great visit. Drank two pots of coffee over the course of the afternoon and early evening. I administered Alvin’s medicine while they were here and it went a sight better than this morning and gave him his supper at the appropriate time. Perhaps I am overthinking and just need to give it to him. Anyway, I popped the chicken into the oven and continued to visit. In between set the table for supper. When the chicken was almost finished baking, I put on the peas to cook and the rice. Heated the peanut sauce in the microwave. The menu: baked chicken breasts with greek spice seasoning, rice, homemade peanut sauce, green peas, biscuits and cucumbers. They both loved supper even the biscuits. Dessert was also a hit and that was the gingerbread cake with real whipped cream. I was so happy and relieved. They left just after 7:30 p.m. – what a great visit. I am so happy that we had this wonderful visit.

After they left, I finished cleaning up and doing the dishes. Why would one stop to do dishes when you can visit. That was my thought process anyway! We had a quiet night and I watched a movie. Which movie was it, I just forgot. Gave Mr. Alvin his medicine around 10:00 p.m. and got most of it into him in a decent amount of time. We came down stairs about 3 or was it 4? I honestly do not remember, the time is mushing together. Outside for a pee (him not me, lol). Then back inside to the sofa. I should have set the alarm because we overslept the scheduled time for medicine. So then he did not eat until almost 8:00 a.m. Just, maybe five minutes after the medicine, he started to fuss and threw up. Not vomit but a bit of foam like liquid. Not much. Just a bit. So I made the decision to just go for it and give him his breakfast. I cut back on the amount of rice and gave him the normal amount of chicken. So far so good. He is resting in the hallway while I write this post. Sorry for the babbling but I am quite tired. One of our friends is coming for coffee at 10:00 a.m. so that will be nice. I think this afternoon, it will be just nap time. The sky is overcast. I was thinking as it is so nice out – that we should go for a walk but then I was thinking perhaps not. He is a bit wobbly these days so I do not want him to slip but I will see later. Today is the last day of chicken and rice, the bland diet. His medicine is finished at end of Tuesday. Monday and Tuesday, I slowly reintroduce his regular food back and then Wednesday back to his regular food diet. I hope it all goes well. I have been thinking that perhaps I will just go to the office on Thursday and Friday. Wednesday is a tricky day and without knowing how he is going to react, I cannot take the chance of something happening while I am away. But I am going to try and go to the office on Thursday and Friday. Life in the fast lane.

I am grateful that so far Alvin has kept his food down.

I am grateful for my daughter, son-in-law and grand-pups and family.

I am grateful for my cousins coming to visit. L asked if she could have a slip of one of my plants and as luck would have it, I was starting a few so I sent her home with some.

I am grateful for good food, my good health and fingers crossed Alvin will keep improving.

I am grateful for all my friends.

Gratitude is what keeps me going.

Have a wonderful Sunday.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

Last Days 2022 – December 28th

Good Morning ALL! Well Mr. Alvin was up and down all last night. So we slept in until just a few minutes ago. The phone rang at 9:00 and it was my Optometrist’s Office. They left a message as I did not get to the phone fast enough. Jennifer was calling to let me know that they processed my insurance towards my new glasses and that the balance was XXX amount. Two years ago when I went for my eye checkup I had gone on the 11th of December but for some reason had gone back again on the 28th therefore my insurance used the 28th as the date for payment of insurance. Anyway, does not matter but at this appointment they were not able to process my insurance benefits until today which they did and were calling me to give me the news and the final balance. In the message Jennifer said “cute message” which was my Christmas message. A reminder to change that sooner than later. I called and spoke to Jennifer and mentioned that the balance did not seem like it included my sunglass clips, she checked and said you are correct, it did not. She recalculated the total and gave me the amount less the insurance. I said that I would be over this morning to pay the balance owing. After this post, I will be walking over to their office which is a few blocks away. Not too far.

Well yesterday I decided to take down the Christmas Tree and most of our decorations. I left up a few things so it still looks like Christmas. Feels better to have the chair back where it belongs opposite the other chair by the window. Opens it up inside. I love Christmas and all the decorations but it was time for me to put things away. It took the better part of the day to do so. Bye, Christmas 2022 was great.

In the background I was playing Disney+ ….. Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, 101 Dalmations and other classics. I love those movies. One day I will sit down and watch each one from beginning to end. Last night I watch the Taylor Swift conversation about the album that she put out in 2020. I do not remember the name of it but it was made remote during Covid. Really enjoyed it. Quite the departure from her usual albums which I love. I am a fan of Taylor.

Mr. Alvin needs a haircut and bath. The plan is to do it when I get home from paying for my new glasses. Looks like the sky is brightening so perhaps the sky will clear and it will stop snowing. I called the Vet office to make an appointment for Alvin but no one was there or maybe busy. They may be closed a few extra days, will try again. Alvin needs his nails trimmed and the usual.

I am waiting until I get home to make coffee so I need to go as I NEED some coffee.

Have an awesome day. Wednesday.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

P.S. looks like we are back to our normal, lol.

Last Half 2022 – December 27th

Good Morning ALL! I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas Day and Boxing Day. I cannot believe that it is already Tuesday and that Christmas Day was Sunday. The days are already passing by so quickly. I am very grateful to be off from work this week. Alvin came home on Christmas Eve. I have a few days to catch up on in my post. Back to Christmas Eve, my daughter and son-in-law arrived late afternoon with all three pups with their SUV full of gifts, pup stuff, Alvin’s stuff, food and their sleepover bags. I was ready. We put things away and then Amanda & Steven were on their way to St. Albert to have Christmas with his side of the family. I was excited to spend the evening with the pups. I guess that I watched way too many movies because when Alvin saw me he just ran, not from me but all over the main floor. Sniffing and looking as if he wasn’t sure where he was at the moment. There was no running to each other with tears streaming down faces. He was anxious but not in a good way. Is there a good way to be anxious. Not sure about that. Anyway, even though I was disappointed that he was not happy to see me, I just carried on with things. It was almost time to give them supper, so I fed the pups, all three. Feeding did not go well. Alvin ate his supper but Aspen and Milo, not. I tried hand feeding them which worked to some degree. In the end some of Aspen’s wet food sprinkled on top of her wet food was agreeable. Milo, seemed to like it as well. I found out later that her wet food is more of a treat but they have had to resort to sprinkling some on top as well or she won’t eat. I have never had a problem with Alvin eating his food, thank goodness. Or I should say only once and he wasn’t feeling good. Once pups were fed, I prepared my supper. Leftovers which were roasted vegetables and chicken breast. Of course, Alvin wanted some of the chicken. ARGH. After supper was over and clean up was done, we settled down on the sofa. I snapped some photos of the pups. Watched a Christmas movie. I had raised one of the blinds and secured it so that Miss Aspen would be able to look out of the window. She likes, no loves to check out things. At one point all three were barking at some dogs that went by and Miss Aspen almost took out my Christmas Tree. Not on purpose – just because there was not much room between the chair, the tree and the windows to turn around. She is a yellow lab shepherd cross so she is long. I forgot. Just a little moment of panic and then all was good. Amanda texted around 8:00 saying they were on their way which was perfect as it had started to rain and no one wants to be driving in freezing rain on highways or anywhere. Such massive relieve when they arrived a short while later. Once they were in the house, we nibbled on food, made drinks and then times for pups to open their gifts. Alvin is such a master gift opener that we always watch in awe and always take a few videos. By the end Miss Aspen had decided that she wanted to open hers, too. We did our stockings next. So much fun. There was a massive amount of gifts to open as we had all gone overboard. I felt like we needed to or at least I planned as I figured with the way things have been for us all, we needed some extra gifts. Everyone was over the moon with their gifts including me. I received a “fire stick” which gives you more apps. I wanted to have Disney+ and now I have it thanks to my kids. YAY. I am so excited to watch all the Disney movies new and old. I have watched “Finding Nemo” and my very favorite “A Bug’s Life.” That was yesterday. Some of my gifts were “Kelly Ripa’s book “Live Wire,” navy cardigan, notebook, package of scratch tickets, candle, relaxation items and I am sure that I missed something but I was spoiled. Christmas Eve was a blur. Christmas Day was quiet. We took the pups for a walk in the early afternoon after a late breakfast. I should say we girls, took the pups out as my son-in-law was so excited that his fav football team was planning so he was watching the game. Slowly Alvin was becoming more comfortable. The walk was awesome. All the pups were happy to be outside. The past week or so was too cold for them. Time for a new paragraph!

The kids went to pick up the Chinese Food which had been ordered a couple of hours earlier by Amanda. They left the house about 4:00 p.m. and I fed the dogs about 4:30 p.m. They were back about 5:00 p.m. and I had the table set and was ready to unpack the food so we could eat. Amanda told me of a close call while they were out. She was driving and making a left turn, the light turned red for the through traffic and she noticed a car coming fast and thought it was not going to stop, so she waited (people behind were not happy). The car ran the light. Had Amanda not waited and just gone without checking they would have been broadsided. I am grateful that she is such a good driver. She said that she was grateful that she took lessons and part of it was defensive driving and her instructor said to always look, even if you have the right of way, always check. Being in the right and being dead. Anyway we had a lovely dinner. I did the clean up as I did not have to cook. I had made an apple crisp for dessert. We girls, had it much later while we were playing a new Christmas game.

We had a great Christmas. So much to be grateful for and about. I am going to head downstairs now as I need some coffee and to start laundry and then start taking down the Christmas tree and ornaments. I think this is the earliest that I have ever taken the tree down but feels like time. I have to call the vet and make an appointment for Alvin. He needs his nails trimmed and stuff.

I will post photos later.

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas. The sky is overcast so we will need to walk sooner than later, I think. Need to check the weather report.

Happy Tuesday.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

P.S. I forgot to mention that I won $24 on lotto tickets that I bought and a freeplay and on the scratch tickets from Christmas another $20. YAY me. When I used the scanning app, and it told me I won, felt like I won a million dollars with the balloons flying and the happy noise. Time for coffee.

Last Half 2022 – November

Good Morning ALL! I hope that your Sunday is going well thus far. I am freshly showered and feeling GREAT and Mr. Alvin is resting on the rug outside the office, so I am going to go out on a limb and say that he is doing great as well. Sky is overcast and it is windy.

I would like to wish my nephew in Heaven a belated Happy Birthday and to a friend here on Earth, Kris, a very Happy Birthday.

Today is I am going to do some shopping. I am hoping to pick up any last minute gifts and most of the groceries that I will need for the next while including for the Christmas parties, baking and Christmas. There will be another trip to the store later for those items that were forgotten and fresh produce. I will also mail my Christmas cards inside and outside of Canada. Yesterday I wrote cards and letters most of the day in between doing laundry, going for a walk with Alvin and some cleaning. A very productive day.

They started out in order but somehow the tree photo with only the lights ended up last, lol. Anyway more Christmas decorations photos, my favourite time of year. The bannister turned out great.

Time to head downstairs and make some coffee, then have coffee and then go shopping.

Have a wonderful Sunday.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

Last Half 2022 – November

Good Morning ALL! Welcome to Saturday. It is overcast here in Edmonton and it was snowing ever so lightly a little while ago. This morning is give Mr. Alvin a haircut and bath. I am sure that he is over the moon excited, not. Not something that he enjoys but it needs to be done and then he will be good until after Christmas (hopefully). We have laundry on the TO DO LIST and doing up Christmas 2022 lists to include Christmas cards and gifts and baking. I like to write everything on paper so that I can see with my own eyes and that way, I do not miss anyone or anything. Organized is how I always do the Holiday Season. Just makes sense to me. I think that this year I will only bake Sugar Cookies, Chocolate Chip Cookies and Fudge. That is the plan but it may change once I am in the kitchen. Lists also help when you are baking and cooking to ensure that you are not short one ingredient or more. I am pretty good at swapping but sometimes with certain things it makes a notable difference. How do you do Christmas? Lists or just by memory?

I am trying to set FONT size for my post and it was working for awhile and now every paragraph I have to reset it. OMG. One would think after using this platform for more than ten years that I would have it all figured out but I do not. Actually that is not completely true as WordPress has changed things over the years. Oh well, it works out in the end.

Time to wash the Christmas towels (I almost forgot). Usually it takes me a couple of weekends to make sure that everything Christmas is set out properly. My daughter picked up some new Christmas tree lights for me so next week or weekend, I will be redecorating the tree. Seems like a lot of work but in the olden days, some years ago, I used to sometimes redecorate the tree 5-6 times during the holiday season. Sometimes you just look at it and it needs some tweaking. Sometimes! This time I have a legitimate reason. The new lights. Anyway, now that I am hosting the office Christmas party, I certainly need everything to be picture perfect (or at least my version of picture perfect).

Well I think that I figured out how to change the font and it stay that way – oh no, how did I do it?

Alvin is giving me that look, perhaps he has to go outside. So will have to cut this short.

I hope that you all have a fantastic day.

Forgot to mention that we had a wonderful walk yesterday. Bumped into friends that we have not seen for a long time. Nice. We had an interesting conversation! COVID and politics not good topics of conversations but sometimes it just goes there. Oh well, that is life. We are all entitled to our feelings, thoughts and opinions. That is what makes us human. We are emotional beings and throughout the past almost three years that has been extremely evident.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

PS: oh, coffee………..