The New YEAR 2022

Good Morning ALL! I hope that this post finds you doing very well. Both Alvin and I are good. I think that Alvin has had a turnaround in how he has been feeling. Part of how I can tell is from his “poop.” Argh, yuck, you might say but poop is important for animals and humans alike. It can tell a lot about your current state of health. Al was having some loose stuff happening, I will skip the details. This morning it was more firm and that is a good thing. Yesterday was an odd day. I had BIG plans but then they completely changed. OH well, I say, Oh well. I did some laundry in the morning, cleaned bathrooms and reorganizing a bit. By the afternoon, after being up so often Friday night, that I laid down beside Mr. Alvin on the sofa and ended up falling the asleep. Yes, I had a nap. I woke when something happened in a dream. This is what I remember: I happen to see our old neighbour Sherry outside looking around as if she did not remember she used to live in the other half of our duplex so I opened the door to check on her. I was so caught up in what was happening with her that I did not notice that Mr. Alvin slipped out quietly through the open door and was gone. When I realized he was not there, I happened to look down the street and there he was walking down the sidewalk toward the park. That is when I screamed and woke up. I really did scream. Poor Alvin in real life. I hope that my now neighbours did not hear me, I don’t think I had the window open at that time. Anyway, no one came over or called. So all good. But when I woke up to find myself drooling and Alvin right beside me on the sofa, I breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed so very real. Yup, drooling, I was. I had fallen asleep sitting up with my legs up on the sofa and head back on the back cushion of the sofa. Very comfy. Anyway, I still have that scared feeling running through my veins.

The sun shone for most of the day and it was nice out. After I woke up I checked on the laundry and then decided it was time to go for a walk. We had a great walk to the park and did our usual walk. When we first got into the park we came across this woman and a little white dog. So cute. Anyway, Alvin decided he wanted to say hello. We, humans decided to chat. I found out that her dog’s name was Bailey and Bailey is 16 years old. She has a heart condition but is on medicine. Bailey’s Mom’s name is Gail (not sure if this is how she spells her name or not). So they are going to be moving into our neighbourhood in June and she was just bringing Bailey here to get her used to the new place. What a good Momma. We had the nicest chat and I learned so much. I happen to mention to Gail about my concerns about Alvin, about how I thought that perhaps he may have the onset of dementia. She said that one day a while ago, Bailey would get lost (at home), starr into nowhere and have accidents. She took her to her vet and found she did have the onset of dementia. There is a human drug for Parkinson patients called “selegiline” (not sure of the spelling, I forgot to look it up) and you can buy it at Safeway. So she gave her the medicine and after 5 weeks, she was much better. The vet said if you catch it in time, you can stop or greatly reduce the effects. So I will keep an eye on Alvin and take him to the vet if required. I had no idea that there was a drug out there – that helped with dementia to that degree. If you catch it soon enough. All about the timing. We had a great chat. I am so happy that I fell asleep and that the dream woke me up when it did and that we met Gail and Bailey. After our walk, I worked on the laundry, cleaned up my plants and watered them. Baked a banana loaf. I checked a basic recipe and then decided to have some fun so I added pumpkin instead of oil or butter and orange zest. OMG, it turned out so good. I cannot wait for the girls to try it this morning. This morning is coffee visit with my pals Gillian and Signe. In less than one hour.

Considering we had a quiet day yesterday, I am going to clean out the office closet. I have things neatly put away in there and I think that there are items that I can sell or give away or even toss. Better to see if someone can use them. Remember spring is the time to go through closets, things stored away and decide if those items bring you JOY. Do they make you happy? How often do you look at them? Do you really need or use them? We in North America get so stuck on keeping things. Hoarding is getting to be a problem for a lot of people. That is a whole other topic for another day.

Time to get Mr. Alvin downstairs as he is patiently waiting. I will make myself a cup of coffee before putting on the pot for Gillian. Signe is not a coffee drinker she likes a specific kind of tea and she always bringings her own. I have the banana surprise loaf and some oranges for a snack. Which will be breakfast for us all.

I have decided to hold off and plant my flowers, tomatoes and oregano next weekend. If it gets colder after that, I will have to put them in the garage overnight. I do love having the plants filling the kitchen table.

Have an awesome Sunday. Thank you so much for reading my posts, this blog. I love to write, share stories about my life with Alvin and my thoughts.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

P.S. do what makes you feel good ….. you can clean the toilet tomorrow…..enjoy the sunshine!

Living … One day at a time.

Good Morning and today is Saturday the 14th day of December 2019.

We are coming closer to Christmas with each passing day.

Some folks are stressed as they have not started shopping, baking or decorating or wrapping.

Some folks have stressed as they have finished shopping, baking, decorating and wrapping but feel as though they are missing something.

See how it does not matter at which point you are at someone is always going to be stressed.

As I age, keeping it simple is the most important.

Now sometimes I may do/change my plan as I did with the cookies/baking.

Just to be a “cookie hero.”

New phrase but same meaning as “people pleaser” or “cannot say NO when someone gives a compliment.”

That is what happened with me and the baking.

I had decided that I was only going to bake sugar cookies this Christmas and a small batch of fudge for one little boy.

I had decided that I was not going to participate in the “cookie exchange” at work.

It is not really an exchange but there ended up being 15 people participating.

We were supposed to bring enough for everyone in the group to have some.

Now people pass by where the cookies are that are not participating and of course, have one.

But at the same time we always have treats out and about so doesn’t really matter.

I am doing as I have done other years, wrapping them individually for each person.

So they will be just for that person.

I ended up baking fudge, sugar cookies and couple of kinds of chocolate chip cookies.

I would say that I have more than enough for every person/group/event.

 

Story from Friday December 13, 2019.

As I mentioned yesterday my daughter was going to pick me up from work and we were going to go to PETSMART and pick up the clipper head so that I could give Mr. Alvin a haircut.

She would then drop me off continue to COSTCO (pick up my few items, as well) and then come back to my house for supper.

So ended up she did not get away from work on time – much later as they were short staffed and she is in Management, so she could not leave the new staff person alone.

By the time she left her office, got to her car and over to me it was 4:45 p.m.

She was tired and frustrated.

No blame there.

The car needed gas so we stopped at a nearby SAFEWAY GAS BAR and I ran to the SAFEWAY store and grabbed a couple of items.

One of our long time staff members had retired and we had a big party for her at the office.

There was so much food that they were asking folks if they wanted to take some.

I took a few things for us for dinner and grabbed some salad as well.

After we were done (which was quick) we found that there was a PET store nearby so decided to stop there and grab the clipper head and some Christmas gifts for our fur babies and their friends.

I asked one of the staff at the pet store and no they did not carry that particular clipper head.

There was no way that I was going to spend more than $100 to buy a new one so we picked up a few gifts and left.

The traffic was so bad and backed up and SLOW that we just continued home.

COSTCO would wait until next week (better for me, anyway).

Poor Alvin was waiting patiently.

We arrived home at 6:30 p.m.

CRAZY.

Snowing …..

Anyway, Alvin got to go outside and have dinner and all was forgiven.

We had a bite to eat and visited before I filled a tin of Christmas goodies and she was on her way.

It was almost 9:00 before I actually sat down for a break.

Dishes and tidying up and stuff.

 

So my plans changed for today.

I was going to be giving Mr. Alvin a haircut right about now.

Needless to say we were not up when we should have been.

But that is okay.

We are having company at 1:00 p.m. so time to eat breakfast and put on some laundry.

Tidy up the house (which to be fair looks good) but I want to vacuum and wash the main floor and do the bathrooms before she arrives.

So there is time.

It is almost 9:00 a.m. – the coffee is brewed.

Time to throw on some clothes and get going.

 

I hope that you all have a wonderful Saturday, December 14, 2019.

Remember that no matter what is thrown your way …. you just take a deep breath and if you need to scream going into the bathroom and SCREAM.

Not an actual SCREAM that would wake the neighbours but a silent scream at the top of your lungs.

It is amazing how wonderful you feel after releasing all that anxiety and frustration.

It works.

 

Have a great day.

Remember there are not many things that happen in life that cannot be changed, fixed or put off.

Of course, there are some things not the majority of things that we deem to be so important are not really in the grand scheme of life.

 

Happy Saturday.

Coffee is ready.

Yes, I am going.

 

Always, Carol & a patient Mr. Alvin.

 

Living … One day at a time.

Hello, welcome to a wet Saturday morning here in Edmonton, I guess that it is almost noon.

We were invited out last night but due to weather Alvin stayed at home.

I was home later than usual, so bed much later than usual.

We slept in this morning and then had company, so I apologize for the lateness of this post.

 

For the last Friday of the summer worked allowed us to leave at 3:00 p.m.

I walked over to the Motor Vehicle Registry to renew my licence.

It would appear that everyone else had a similar idea.

Also I did not really think about the Friday before the long weekend.

So it was busy.

Luckily the line went quickly and I was in front of the Customer Service Attendant advising the purpose for my visit.

She asked me about eye colour, hair colour (laughing) and weight.

So the weight question.

Did your weight change?

Yes, of course it changed.

How much do you weigh?

Me, I have no idea as I do not have a scale at home.

Attendant … giggled, agreeing with my statement.

Can you take a guess?

She said 10 pounds more than what was on the licence from five years ago and I went with that.

I did not tell a tall tale or a lie.

I simply do not have any idea.

I did tell her that really if something happened they would need to know my face more than my “exact weight.”

She asked me if my vision had changed and I told her no and that I was wearing glasses that were an older prescription as they had sunglass clips.

Which is true.

Likely more information than necessary but that is how I roll.

My eyes have not significantly changed over the past several years.

We laughed.

Signed the document.

Then the dreaded photo.

Please remove your glasses looking at the camera with no expression.

Yikes.

Then she asked me to move my bangs as they covered my eyebrows.

Which I did.

Too bad that I did not check out what I had done in the mirror.

CLICK.

The damage was done.

She asked me to sign the electronic signature for my licence and then showed me the photo.

ARGH, gasp….

Not great, I will say that.

Thankfully no one really looks at my licence anyway, thank goodness for that.

After I was done, I walked over to the DOLLARAMA and processed to pick up some cards and miscellaneous paper items.

I had texted my daughter advising of my progress and location.

Finishing there I stopped at the SAFEWAY gas station and picked up the winning LOTTO TICKETS (have not checked the ticket that was drawn last night).

So there remains hope!

Then I was waiting outside the SAFEWAY store and realized that perhaps I should pick up some broccoli, cauliflower, avocados and bananas.

This would mean not necessary to go out on the weekend.

Done.

Then texted my daughter to advise my status.

She was on her way and picked me up a few minutes later.

It was interesting to see all of the folks going in and out of Safeway, the folks hanging in the parking lot etc.

Then we were on our way to my house.

We had a great chat on the way.

Once home, my daughter assured Mr. Alvin that he was not going home with her.

I think he was nervous thinking he was leaving again.

After she had left, I fed him supper and then we went for a nice walk.

This time by ourselves.

Cute story:  as we neared home we were at Humphrey’s house.  

Humphrey, the cat was in the window on his cat tree.

Alvin walked over to the living room window looking in – I saw Humphrey jump down and run in the direction of the door.

My boy beelined for the front door dragging me behind…. up the steps whining at their door.

Door opened and there were my neighbour and Humphrey.

Both were excited to see each other ….. My neighbour said that Humphrey whined all the way to the door …. excited to see his friend.

Friends come in all forms.

This melted my heart …. a cat so excited to see a dog.

Only in my world or perhaps in yours as well.

Once home I had supper and then went to our friend’s house.

Alvin stayed home.

I had froze some of my birthday cake so that I share it with them.

I had a great visit with our friends down the street.

Such great conversation ….

So much so that it was 10:30 p.m. when I arrived home.

Then bed.

Alvin had a bit too much cauliflower etc. after his supper and had gas.

Definitely not feeling well.

Also I think my leaving him for that long …. put him out of sorts.

My neighbour and Mr. Humphrey came earlier as I had invited him to spend the day with us while she is out.

We had coffee together ….

His friend Humphrey is here now and we are back to normal.

Definitely Alvin is a homebody and somebody who needs this body with him.

Well time to get this day really going.

Alvin is resting on his blue blanket beside me.

Laundry is waiting for me.

 

Life goes on…..

 

I will share more vacation stories and photos tomorrow.

Have an awesome Saturday.

Super moon tonight?

 

Always be willing to be respectful of all creatures big and small and treat all with kindness.

 

Always, Carol, Alvin and Humphrey.

 

 

Thought for the day ….

Good Morning and Welcome to Thursday the 30th day of August, 2018.

Almost another August onto the books.

Our temperatures have dropped below seasonal averages to anywhere between 14-18 degrees.

Still not bad that is for sure.

It has been raining here off and on for the past couple of days.

I pray that it reaches the FIRES and puts them OUT.

 

Last night my daughter picked me up from work.

We stopped at Safeway and picked up a few items.

One of the things that I wanted to pick up there as I only recently found out that they sold was ADULT BUS TICKETS.

So instead of going to Save-On and Shoppers as my daughter had to stop at Safeway …. I figured one stop shopping.

When came time to pick up the bus tickets …. alas they were sold out.

We ended up going to Shoppers ….. always have to have a PLAN B.

I laughed because what else can you do.

I do enough “crying” at work … not really.

After our shopping we came home and threw together a little supper for the two of us.

I made some corn on the cob in the microwave.

A trick that I learned from my brilliant sister earlier this month when she was visiting us.

We also had some Chicken Curry Soup …. from the deli at Safeway.

Crackers and cheese.

YUP, I even bought “saltines” for the occasion.

Simple but yummy.

Sometimes that is the best, right.

We had a great visit and supper.

 

The plan was to go for a walk after supper with Master Teddy and his Aunt J but alas it was raining.

So no walk for us.

I hope that tonight it is not raining as a walk is a must.

Perhaps if only a light rain ….. we will go.

 

Other quick story.

Yesterday in the afternoon at work.

One of the Managers came to my desk.

I was about to call a client and she motioned for me to hang up.

So I did.

She said come on, let’s find a empty space and play JENGA.

What … JENGA.

YAY, I love JENGA.

We had played during some down time at work on day and it was so much fun.

So we played a couple of games of JENGA.

When the blocks came down the first time, we both yelled/screamed.

Brought a staff person running.

After that …. we held it.

I am so grateful to her for giving me a much deserved break from the craziness that is my job.

We are so busy …. that made me take a break …. which most days I do not in the afternoon.

The second game I WON as well, and we were more quiet.

YAY, JENGA, I love that game.

I would like that game.

 

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

It does not appear to be raining at the moment.

I hope that you all have a great Thursday.

I hope that if you are farming …. you are finish the harvest or at least that it is dry so that you can finish.

Happy Thursday.

One more day before the long weekend.

 

Special Hello to:  YOU, thank you.

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

Thought for the day ….

Good Morning and Welcome to Monday the 18th day of December, 2017.

My last Steeped Tea order for this year arrived on Friday – I packed it all ready for delivery.

As the whole order goes to my co-workers my neighbour was kind enough to give me a ride to work.

Taking it on the bus wold be almost impossible – in one trip.

 

Today feels like a day to share photos of Christmas Time now and then, just a few:

 

2017

2009-2016

Me and my sister from a Christmas long ago …. I think about 1960…

2016 – I love what is under my Christmas Tree …….

We had a lovely weekend.

We walked each day which was great and it was the nicest weather yesterday afternoon.

I spent a couple of hours shopping with my friend “P.”

She had to run to Safeway and some other places so I tagged along.

I had decided not to cook a turkey this year and was going to make chicken breasts.

When we went to Safeway – my friend remarked on the sale on turkeys.

Well ended up she decided we should have a turkey and bought me/us one.

She said instead of giving me baking …. she went with a turkey.

I have such sweet and thoughtful friends.

Maybe turkeys are on sale where you live and maybe there is someone who needs a turkey.

I was not in need but am grateful for her generous spirit.

Not quite certain but I THINK that Mr. Alvin was not happy that I went out without him.

Poor little guy.

When I delivered some Christmas Sweets to some of the neighbours – he was not happy as I could hear him howling.

Yikes.

Thank goodness that was short lived.

I wrapped everything but two items that I am working on – have to put things into high gear.

Not long now.

 

Well almost time to start the final prep to leave the house for work.

 

I hope that you all have a wonderful Monday.

Just breathe ….. I know…… time is going so quickly.

 

Special Hello to:  my sister ……

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

Thought for the day…

Good Evening and it has been Saturday the 10th day of January, 2015 all day!

Slept in ….

Good sleep….

Quick breakfast …..

Doggies shared banana …..

Shower….

Dressed …..

Wrote up Birthday card(s) for my youngest brother who turns “50” on the 13th.

Yes, I know …. may not reach him by birthday.

YIKES.

Bad sister.

Grabbed bags of clothing for goodwill.

Out the door …..

To Doctor’s office where my daughter and I waited for over one hour to see Doctor.

Nothing serious.

Now I can hear again out of my left ear….

Oh …. that wax build-up …… “AGE”

Out the door ….

To Shopper’s to mail said Birthday cards and some late Christmas cards.

Mailed cards.

Out door ….

To Safeway ….

picked up few groceries ….

HAD CUP OF COFFEE AT TIM HORTON’s IN Safeway.

OH, how we needed that coffee….

Out the door …..

Dropped off bags at drop off boxes for goodwill….

Back to Shoppers where I picked up a few more things….

Then home …..

Only to find we still needed more things at the grocery store ….

This time to Save-On …

It is closer to home.

Out the door again ….

This time by myself….

“Did you notice all of the name dropping?

In between started laundry.

Home ….

Walked the puppies….

Few things done ….

Now time to start supper at 6:10 p.m.

Time to relax after supper …

Wow …. that day sure flew by.

I hope that you had a HAPPY SATURDAY.

Special Hello to: YOU.

Always, Carol and Alvin