The Next Chapter

Good Morning. The sky is a beautiful blue with a few streaks of white clouds and the sun is shining so brightly. Sunday. Today is Sunday. I am missing my Alvin so much this morning. It is hard to write about life when someone is dead, gone and never to return. I guess I had always hoped he would leave me on his own terms, in his own time. My poor boy. The house is so empty and so quiet without him. I just miss him so much. What do I say – what can I can write. My heart is broken and I do not know what to do but to cry. There is nothing else to do.

He brought so much joy to my life. All the walks we had together. Even when I was having a bad day he was always there for me. I don’t think that I really appreciated him until he was gone. He did not ask for much. Just food and treats and to be loved. I did love him very much and I am sorry Alvin that sometimes I did not do a great job displaying this. It was never you – it was always me. Usually because I was stressed about work, always comes back to that job. Likely all those times when I was upset about work – those feelings did not help you and your anxiety. I now realize that you felt what I was feeling. We do not think about that when we have pets. They feel our joy, our sadness, our anxiety and our pain.

He was the best guy. Everyone loved him including me. The whole neighbourhood knew his name. When we were out for a walk, he was pretty chill with other dogs. Seldom would be bark. Sometimes though. He loved his friends and he had so many. He had cat friends, dog friends and human friends. So many including Alvin have now passed and that makes me sad. Why is it the best souls on this planet only live such a short time and then we humans live so long? I know but it should be reversed. I wish that he would have had longer with me, with us.

I have a photo of him on my computer, whenever I turn on the computer he is there. Those eyes, he had those eyes. Big and brown and beautiful. They touch my heart and I feel him. I wish ……..

If you have a pet, please take good care of them. Make sure they know that you love them. Remember they feel your anxiety, your pain, your heart. Be good to them. Treat them with respect. They deserve so much more than they usually receive from us.

Alvin, I loved you, I love you so much. You are in my dreams. You are in my thoughts. You will always be in my heart.

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)

Alvin, my heart.

One of many parcels & cards from Val

Impatiens – for you Alvin

The Next Chapter

Good Morning! The sun is shining and it is snowing. What a sight. The time changed today and the best news for today is that it is my darling daughter’s BIRTHDAY. We celebrated yesterday and had such a great time. First of all, I had Miss Aspen, Milo (Mi-Mi) and Miss Betty Ann here for a few hours while the kids went to see some friends in from out of town. The pups were in perfect behaviour. No grrr action between Milo and Betty Ann. We had a nice few hours just hanging out and snuggling. So great to have them here. Still hard to believe that it has been three weeks since my buddy Alvin left us. He is with me everyday and everywhere I go. I hold him in my heart and mind. Happy Birthday Amanda. Despite the time change, it is looking to be a great day.

We had “chicken fingers which are really homemade deep fried chicken nuggets” with homemade honey mustard dip, potato salad, peas and corn. Steven likes corn and we girls like the peas. I seldom eat deep fried anything but once or twice a year, I make this meal usually for the kids birthdays. For dessert I made a fruit pizza which in the pan transferring to the fridge felt like it weighed ten pounds. Not really but was heavy. Needless to say the kids took lots of leftovers home and I have leftovers for a few days. I love leftovers. We definitely missed Alvin at the party. Seemed strange to have three pups all of similar colour and no black & white one. No Alvin. He loved a good party and especially if there was something for him to open.

Well I have a busy Sunday planned. More laundry to do. I need to work on transferring more photos from the old computer to the external hard drive. NEED COFFEE now. I have to go through the box that I brought from work and see what needs to go to the new office. Minimal room. Vacuum upstairs and stairs. Some other photo work to do as well. Lots to do.

Photo by George Dolgikh on Pexels.com

Photo by Nubia Navarro (nubikini) on Pexels.com

Photo by Silvia Trigo on Pexels.com

Happy Birthday Amanda, I hope that you have a wonderful day.

Have a wonderful day. Oh, the 95th OSCARS are on tonight. I think I may try and watch some of the awards. Would nice to see Michelle and Jamie Lee win.

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)

Last Half 2022 – December

Good Morning ALL! How are you this morning? I am doing well. When I looked out of the bedroom window I saw more snow so there will be more shovelling in my future. The sky is grey so more snow. I was pretty sure that the temperatures were getting colder so not sure why the snow but not much one can do about this situation. Mother Nature does what Mother Nature does in the winter on the prairies in Canada. Happy December! I am grateful that today is Sunday and that I do not have much on my plate today except putting my winter coats back in the downstairs front entranceway closet and emptying the dishwasher. Oh, and shovelling! I have done lots of cleaning last weekend and on Friday and earlier on Saturday preparing for Christmas parties each weekend.

Last night was so much fun. There were five of us in total. Two ladies cancelled at the last minute. That did not stop us from having a great time. We laughed, we “cried”, we ATE (oh my goodness did we eat), drank and spoke about our ups and downs, some about work. I was actually surprised that we held off talking about the “W” word for most of the evening and then we had a good chat. We were all feeling the same as we shared our anxieties and all of that. Next time I ask people to come over – I will not ask them to bring food as I made enough for about 20 people. We laughed about that …..

Well, I am keeping this short as I just want to have a lazy day and I want to get that started now. In fact, I am going to stay in my pj’s for awhile until I go out to shovel, might as well wait until the snow stops.

Tomorrow is back to the office. I was thinking last night and shared, “Wouldn’t it be great if our employer decided to change our “schedule for back to the office” down to one or two days per week. Dependant on whether or not your job required you to actually be in the office” What a morale booster that would be right before Christmas.” A girl can only hope. Maybe changing my thoughts will change the outcome. Oh that would be so nice. Fingers crossed. Changing my thoughts to change things!

Have an awesome Sunday. Coffee here I come.

Countdown to Christmas: only 6 sleeps until Christmas Eve. Only 6 sleeps until ALVIN comes home. I cannot wait to see him, Aspen, Milo, Amanda and Steven. YAY. Happy Christmas to me!

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

P.S. last night was a reminder, if you are feeling something, it is very likely that others feel the same way! Always reach out and know you are never alone.

Last Half 2022 – September

Good Morning ALL! How are you this morning. Today is September 11, 2022.

To all those who lost a family member or friend at the World Trade Centre this date in 2001, you have my deepest sympathies. To all the first responders and others involved in the rescue operations, you have my deepest respect. To all those who were lost as a result of this terrible tragedy, I send my deepest sympathies to their family and friends. Time has passed but you have not been forgotten.

On this Sunday morning there is a bit of a breeze as I watch the trees gently swaying back and forth. The sun is shining. Yesterday the sky was filled with smoke from the fires in British Columbia and Jasper, Alberta. So hard to breathe.

Yesterday I did some yard work, laundry, baked some unbaked chocolate macaroons and other odds and ends before heading out for a walk with Mr. Alvin about 2:00 p.m. We had been invited to stop by for a visit and catch up with our friend Pauline. We had a great visit and I filled her in on all of our news including Alvin’s latest health concerns and the return to work order. She had lots of good news which nicely offset my news. Of course, not everything out of my mouth was “not good.” I am over the moon happy about the results from Mr. Alvin’s ultrasound from last Tuesday. We headed home just before 4:00 p.m.

When we arrived home Mr. Alvin was ready for supper so shortly thereafter he ate. I had supper early as last night was paint night. My painting the second from the left first row. The other piece of artwork was a piece of paper towel that I had been wiping my excess paint onto, it turned out to be a work of art. I might even frame it.

This morning Mr. Alvin wanted outside once again. There I saw Bogart straddling the fence. Alvin looking at him and Bogart looking at Alvin. Oh our boys.

I had a great time painting last night. For some reason I was not feeling very artistic but I loved the company. Signe and her Mom sure know how to host a party. It was wonderful to be out and about.

Lots of food and drink and great company.

Well time to head downstairs and have some coffee and get this day going. I have brought up the laundry and put away and made our bed and got dressed, lol, so that is something.

We are having some friends over for a visit and to chat about Alvin.

Happy Sunday.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

Last HALF 2022

Good Morning ALL! How are you this morning? We are doing well. I suppose if I am totally honest, I could have done with a few hours more sleep but it is what it is. Bedtime was in good time last night but I could not settle down. My mind raced as though it were in a huge competition for a large prize. I could not shut it down. A few hours of tossing and turning and Alvin was awake and needing to go downstairs. I managed to coax him to stay in bed but it did not last long. Next thing I know we are downstairs and the clock said 1:30. Yup, 1:30 in the morning but even anywhere remotely close to 3:00 or 4:00. So sweater on, poop bags in pocket and with the flashlight on my phone turned on, we were outside. The air was cool and crisp and lovely. Alvin went pee. Afterwards he walked the length of the fence doing some hard core sniffing and occasionally he would stop and start to paw the grass. I am not sure what he thought that he was finding but there was nothing there. Humphrey and Bogart were inside the house and very likely fast asleep but not me and Alvin. I followed him back and forth as he sniffed at the base of the fence and pawed at the grass. He did not actually dig it up. Thankfully. This carried on for what seemed like forever before I snapped him up and placed him onto the deck. I walked toward the back door as he stood there looking off the deck to near the fence. Something was enticing him. Finally he came into the house. I did not look at the clock but headed to the sofa where we both laid down. Of course, he did not settle down and neither did I. Next thing I know Alvin is up, I could see that the sun was shining through the partially open blind. I picked up my phone to check the time and noticed it was 5:53 (alarm set for 6:00), I got up and went to the kitchen where I gave him one of his glucosamine chews. Next I took his food and pumpkin out of the fridge along with the coffee can setting them on the counter. I grabbed the measuring cup and his dish out of the dishwasher as I walked by to the pantry where I scooped up some of his dry food. Back to the counter where the wet food and pumpkin waited. Next I added the pumpkin and wet food to the dry food in his dish and mixed it together. Then I set his bowl on the floor beside him and then set about to prepare my coffee. First filling the pot with cold water and then adding the coffee. I turned around to see him sitting on the yoga mat and he had not touched his food at all. He was sitting very straight and not uttering a sound. So I picked up his dish and carried it with me to the sofa where I placed it on the floor beside me and he followed. He took a slight bit of coaxing before he ate his food. Then I put on my sweater and my flip flops as I opened the back door and stepped out into the “actual morning” air. So refreshing. Still not quite awake, I followed Alvin as he went across the deck to jump down onto the grass. I took a slight detour and the steps down onto the deck. He did his business and started to sniff again but I took matters into my own hands and turned him toward the deck. I lifted him up onto the deck and then back into the house. In the house I noticed that the time said 6:13, so I decided to reset the alarm to 6:30 and headed upstairs. I quickly made the bed and then laid down where Alvin joined me. We snuggled and I just laid there. In my head, I was saying some affirmations with the hopes that I would feel more rested when the alarm went back off. I will say that I did somewhat. Now it is 7:00 a.m. and I am ready to take Mr. Alvin for a nice walk before starting work.

Work, everything revolves around it ….. money ……. time …….

I hope that you have a great day.

Happy Monday.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

PS: Only 22 sleeps till I turn 65. Yesterday was a good day. Mostly relaxing and I am most thankful for that.

The New YEAR 2022

Good Morning ALL! How are you this Sunday morning the 1st day of May 2022? Wow, May already. Alvin and I are doing great. We slept better than most nights and I was to stay up at 7:30 but awake since we were up at 6:30. It was nice to just lay on the sofa and think about life. Last night upon the suggestion from the girls yesterday at our coffee date, I posted the wood from the pergola and fence on one of our neighbourhood groups on social media. They all agreed that if I posted it for free, someone would be there right away to pick it up. It was absolutely amazing, I was contacted within the first hour or so, I think and they came to pick it up at 8:00 p.m. The couple were oh so nice and lived less than 10 minutes away. We had a great chat while they loaded the wood onto the truck. Definitely people I could be friends with. I was so relieved that I did not have to find a truck and take the wood somewhere or to hire someone with a truck to take it away. I never thought to post it for free. Best idea ever. Feeling like a huge weight was lifted from my shoulders. Also I was thinking about all the things in my house that I am keeping for sentimental reasons or because it may or may not be used once in a blue moon. The biggest break through that I had while laying awake on the sofa before I got up was this: I can keep one of two special items of clothing and blankets and even toys from when she was a child and the rest can be given away or sold or donated. My daughter is not really interested in anything and this way, I would have a few things and if she changed her mine or perhaps I could make something out of them. Also I am going to sell or give away my 7.5 foot Christmas tree and the 4 foot outside tree which is in its’ own pot. It is time to get a new tree. Today, I am going to clean out and reorganize the basement. It might take more than one partial day to do this but I am going to get started. I have decided to be very strategic in what I keep. Also am going to reorganize my second pantry and have this office closet to go through. There are lots of things to think about with respect to their future. Now is the time. My mind is all a flutter with ideas. This is a good time to sell, give for free or donate. I am hosting a garage sale in June with some of my neighbours. It is basically for two hours on a Friday night and then from 9-5 on the Saturday. So in the meantime, I am going to post the bigger items and perhaps some of the smaller things. Only the items that I believe will be bought at the garage sale will I keep and pack away for that otherwise post on social media or call to have some organization re donation. So exciting. There are so many people in need of things and I certainly do not need everything in his house. The most important things to keep are me and Alvin. I suppose some dishes and Alvin’s stuff might be a good idea.

I guess most of us older folk are such sentimental creatures. We cannot let go of things that belonged to our children when they were small or things from our childhood. I do understand and realize that my obsession with keeping my daughter’s childhood things stems from the fact that I have just a couple of small items. But you know they are so special. I have a seashell brooch that my grandparents brought me back from their one and only big trip which was a cruise to Hawaii and also the pendant with my birthstone and an emerald that my grandmother gave me when I was a teenager. The brooch I have carried with me on every move from the time I was 10 or 11 and I am going to be 65. That is through countless moves between three provinces and towns and cities. It is amazing that I managed to keep it this long. One of the pearls came loose but I managed to find it. The brooch is in a special glass jewelry box that my best friend in grade 12 gave me for Christmas when we were grown adults. The pendant is on a different chain and I still wear it to this day. I also have a Valentine card that I gave my grandparents when I was eight years old. My grandmother kept it and it fell into my hands when she passed. That is pretty much it. Not much but priceless treasures all the same.

Maybe it is best for us older ones to just keep a couple of items that were our children’s and make sure that they are extra special. They will become extra special.

I have a massive job in front of me and not too likely that I will get through everything today but even just making the decision and starting is huge for me.

I also do not wish to leave this job for my daughter to do when I pass. Oh and I am not planning on going anywhere soon. In fact, I am planning to live until I am 100 but then my daughter will be older than I am now, so definitely want to leave things easy for her.

Well time to head to the shower, then have breakfast and get going on this day.

I will post the Christmas trees and better than putting them in a garage sale and taking up so much space in the garage.

Have an awesome Sunday.

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

P.S. I have decided that the most years that I am going to continue to work will be 5, not past my 70th birthday. Okay another decision made. YAY. I have made some decisions about the mortgage and think that I have figured out a way to have it paid off before retirement. Feeling lighter all the time. It all starts with making one decision and then snowballs into more.

Coffee yesterday with the girls was awesome. One of my friends gave me four tops and a towel for the stove. I visited with another neighbour when out for a walk with Alvin. I trimmed my front tree although it needs some more but at least a start and raked the front lawn and did laundry. Things are moving forward. Having the pile of wood gone and to people who were truly excited to have it was amazing.

The New YEAR 2022

Good Morning ALL! How are you this Sunday morning? Alvin and I are doing great. We had a good sleep including an early start, but that is okay. The sky is that glorious hue of blue and the sun is casting its’ beams off any objects it touches. What a beautiful morning. Al and I have had a glorious weekend despite the rather late start to the day yesterday. I only had one load of laundry to do as I had done laundry on my last day of vacation. Bonus points. After coffee and breakfast and the laundry was washed and dried, Mr. Alvin and I headed out for a walk. I only needed a sweater as it was so beautiful and I took Alvin’s water bottle/dish as well. It was so nice. We saw friends Norbert and Irene out giving some TLC to their lawn and stopped to have a little visit. Alvin loves their yard. While we were visiting another person and her pup walked by, we said hello. Sunny, her pup immediately rolled about on the freshly mowed grass. He was covered in dry grass but looked so happy. His Mom just smiled. There was also a brief conversation with a couple of men, who were having a conversation out front of a house on our way to the park. Everyone was outside and everyone was happy to chat and say hello.

We took our time as we continued walking to the park and once inside, I just let Alvin take the lead and allowed him time to sniff to his heart’s content. I just breathed in the fresh air which actually spelled like spring. We continued on our walk until we spotted a friend out in her yard raking the grass. She noticed us and walked toward us remaining in her yard as we walked to her. We had a long conversation over the fence. I had not seen her for awhile. I always love speaking to Lucy. Alvin sat on the grass and watched other people and their dogs going by, he didn’t flinch, just sat like the good boy that he is. Lucy and I spoke about so many things. Work, her homeland China, the environment, pollution, weather, gardening, people, and more. We had been chatting for likely well over thirty minutes when I happened to turn my head to see another friend out for a walk. I was surprised to see her. It was time for us to keep walking so I said good-bye to Lucy and joined my friend Gillian on her walk. Alvin really had a long walk but I figured with the break in walking he should be okay. We had a good chat on our walk and Gillian walked us home and then was going to head out for another lap. When I got home I saw that we had been gone for almost two hours. WOW. I felt like a million dollars. Refreshed and energized. What a time we had! Once home, I did a few things which included sweeping the floor, moving the IKEA shelves to a different angle in the kitchen, watered plants, finished a necklace that I had been working on, almost finished it anyway. At supper instead of cooking a pasta dish I decided to just have pizza again with a bunch of raw veggies. In between it all I gave Mr. Alvin his supper. What a great day even though we had such a late start. I think being outside was just what the Doctor ordered. After supper I watched an interview on NETFLIX with Oprah and Viola Davis. I was surprised and enthralled by her story. There were several things that we have in common and not her Tony or Academy award wins. She has a beautiful smile and I was sad to hear that people had told her that she was ugly. She is not. It was a great interview. Perfect timing. Then I decided to rent a movie from TELUS ON DEMAND. I couldn’t decide which one and then saw a new movie with Liam Neeson. I love him and decided that from the preview it looked good, so I paid the $7.00 and continued. The movie was called “BLACKLIGHT” and it was really good. A good story. Aidan Quinn was also in the movie and I have also liked him. A good night.

Now for today. My friend Gillian will be here in about one hour for coffee and instructions for looking after Mr. Alvin as I have to go to the office on Tuesday. This afternoon my daughter is coming for a visit. So much company and visiting this weekend and clearly just what was needed. I will be making the pasta dish for supper tonight and setting up my workspace in the kitchen after supper cleanup.

I hope that you have a great Sunday. If you have the opportunity or perhaps make the time to GO OUTSIDE. Say hello to people. Enjoy the sunshine. I hope that the sun is shining wherever you are and that you are well.

I am grateful for the sunshine, warm temperatures and family and friends and for good health and for Mr. Alvin. Grateful for life and for spring. Renewal.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

P.S. life is good!

The New YEAR 2022

Good Morning ALL! Welcome to Sunday, April 10, 2022. I hope that this finds you well. We were up early and then back to the sofa until later. Seems funny that we were up and about at 6:00 a.m. yesterday morning and much later up to stay up this morning. I am not feeling guilty that is for sure. Sometimes you just need to do what feels right in the moment. At those moments one was getting up early and the other was not. It is WINDY. I am not sure what makes it so WINDY in certain places over others. But now that it is almost dried up out front and in the backyard I would most certainly love it to be calm. Yesterday we didn’t go for a walk because it was so windy – you could not walk without eating dust and getting dirt in your eyes. Then thinking about poor Alvin who was even closer to the ground. Thankfully last week we walked twice each day. It was windy then but not as bad as yesterday. Unfortunately by the wind the wind subsided it was after 8:00 p.m. and starting to get dark and we will not walk then. It is bright and sunny this morning. Hopefully by mid afternoon and I get all of my chores done it will be good for a walk. Fingers crossed. Keeping that in mind, calm and enjoyable for a walk, calm and enjoyable for a walk, calm and enjoyable for a walk …..

We had a good day yesterday. I even repotted some plants. I had to say goodbye to my poinsettia plants. They were kind of spindly and not doing super great. I find it hard to throw out living things like plants. They were alive and I mourn their loss. But I needed to do that. I had some other plants that had outgrown their pots so they were repotted. Cleaned up my plants and they all look so good. Getting ready for spring. Once the temperatures are consistently warm and do not freeze overnight – I shall take out my geraniums and put them on the deck. I am still trying to get things sorted out with getting flowers and vegetables. It is too late to start anything from seed so I shall have to see what plants I can buy that have been started and that would mean getting to a nursery. Hopefully that will happen when the time is right. I would love to have a few vegetables and herbs on the deck. With my grandpups coming to stay for a week coming this Wednesday and now that the backyard is pretty much free from ice, I want to rake up the many leaves that have blown from elsewhere. I spent so much time raking last fall and only to have so many leaves from other neighbour’s yards that did not rake. This coming up week is not to be too warm, in fact, the temperatures appear to be just over the minus celsius mark. Not much fun but at least it is dry. I will be going for many walks with the three pups. I can only walk Aspen by herself and then take Alvin and Milo together. Another reason for taking vacation days. Plus I really need a break from the chaos, I call my job. I was also thinking that I may move my workstation back downstairs and perhaps I may do that today. Will see how things go. Lots to do.

I did get lots of things accomplished yesterday with the exception of cleaning so that is on the plate for today. Now it is late and I need to pop into the shower although likely would be better to wait until tomorrow. Will have to think about that …… or maybe before bed.

I need that hit of caffeine this morning for sure. Coffee is ready but not plugged in just yet as I wasn’t sure how long before I was ready to drink some and don’t like it to sit for too long. Always better to drink freshly brewed coffee.

You know the more I toss around moving the workstation back downstairs for tomorrow, the more I like it. Time will tell.

Okay, time to get going here. There be floors to clean and bathrooms and more.

Happy Sunday Everyone.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

P.S. we had a change of venue for coffee as one of the girls woke up with a bad cold yesterday morning. My other friend then asked me over. It was nice to have a visit with at least one of the girls.

The New YEAR 2022

Good Morning ALL! How are you this morning? We are good except! I will tell you in a moment. Beautiful sunrise with dark blue clouds filling the bulk of the sky. Rain clouds? Not sure. But looks pretty nonetheless. Most of the snow has gone leaving behind chunks of ice, gravel/sand, and muck.

Yesterday started out to be a great day and ended with a thump. In the morning we were up early and I finished off some laundry, had a shower and had a quiet morning, just enjoying it all. After lunch I walked over the nearby strip mall and went to Shoppers Drugmart first followed by Save-On Foods. I haven’t walked over to the mall in a long time. The walk was so enjoyable. I was struck by how many folks including myself wore masks and by how many did not. When I was finished purchasing my groceries, I called my friend Gillian to come and pick me up. I noticed that she had called twice. It was so loud in the store that I did not hear my phone which was in my purse. I had used a good old fashioned paper list. She was there in a few minutes and we loaded up her car. My friend had been calling me because she needed to get a few things. So back into the store I went. This time I totally forgot to wear my mask until I saw others with mask and the store was so busy that I decided to put it back on. I was so happy to spend a bit more time with my friend. After she dropped me off, I put the groceries away and Mr. Alvin and I went for a walk. It was so beautiful outside, I only wore a tank top with an elbow length sweater. Once back home, I putzed for a bit before giving Alvin his supper and warming up leftovers for me. I decided that I might as well eat early so I did. After supper and dishes, I went outside with Alvin to see if I could do something to make it less mucky in the grassy area of our backyard. Not a good idea. I did grab a cardboard box from the garage and broke it down. I laid it on the muck and was thinking that at least that way he could take the steps down and walk on the cardboard and then onto the remaining snow and ice. Well, not quite sure what happened but just after I put down the cardboard, I slipped and fell backwards onto the still frozen ground which was covered in a dirty mucky something. I twisted my body as I went down but did not hit my head (good thing). Not happy I muttered something not nice and slowly got up. I was completely soaked and filthy and MAD. Anyway I have to make this short as I slept in this morning. After I got up went into the house, took off my shoes and went upstairs to change. I found that my red tank top under my black sweater was filthy dirty on the back. The only part of my back that was not dirty was my head. Thank goodness. Anyway, I changed and put the laundry in the washer and carried on. I was a bit stiff and sore and that just got worse over the course of the night. I was in a lot of pain as I tried to sleep. Getting off the toilet is not easy. I have taken a couple of Robaxin to help with the muscle pain. My left toes are swollen a bit. No bruising that I have seen. Just incredibly stiff and sore although I believe that the worst is over, thank goodness. Not sure how it happened, I was not being careless. That was the thump to end my beautiful day. LOL.

Well time to go as I need to slowly make my way downstairs to grab my coffee. Yes, I am holding the railing up and down.

Wishing you a great day.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

The New YEAR 2022

Good Morning and Welcome to Sunday, March 13, 2022! How are you this morning? Alvin and I are well. Adapting to this recent time change. Spring FALL and all of that! My clocks in the house all show the previous time and my phone tells me that it is 9:30 a.m. We were up according to my phone at 5:30 which was 4:30 (until we get used to the difference, I am always converting). So Alvin had his glucosamine chew, his breakfast and went outside. Then we were snuggling on the sofa for a couple of hours. It was 7:30 when we next awoke and it just did not feel like time to get up so we came upstairs, I made the bed and then we laid down and covered up with the blanket from the foot of the bed. For the longest time I just laid there and looked out the window at the sky and the street lamp. Alvin snuggled in and fell asleep. It was so nice. Relaxing. I know yes we should have got up and stayed up. But we do not have anywhere to go and although there is always something to do around the house, I just felt like staying in bed snuggling with my favourite guy “Alvin.” So that is how we started our first day of the spring forward, clock changing time.

The sky is slightly overcast and I think that Mother Nature still thinks that it is 8:30 not 9:30. I do. Alvin does. I wished that our clocks would stay the same all of the time. Changing them is a pain and takes our minds and bodies at least 2-3 weeks to adjust. Now we are losing an hour. But perhaps that means that we are one hour closer to spring. This next day and week to follow are supposed to be all plus temperatures so I hope that is the case. Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, I have to go to the office, which honestly I am not looking forward to, in the least. Not in the least. I would be okay with going to do our mail outs as we have had to do them for the past two years but for an all staff meeting, team building and such, not really! Any person (not just from my work) that I have communicated in the last while whether in person or by text or on the phone, they all say the same thing – “they love working from home and have no desire to go back to the office.” The world has been talking about working from home since the 1970/1980’s and it took a pandemic to lead us to this place. Perhaps it is time to rethink the whole work environment. If people can successfully do their jobs from home and want to work from home, let them work from home. I get the social aspect but seriously work is work. I do not go to work for the social part of it, I go to work to do a job and get paid for said job so that I can pay for the bills. I have friends and family for my social needs. Somewhere along the way – people got thinking that because we spend so much of our waking hours at work that we needed to make time to be social. Perhaps I am sounding like an old shoe but really I like my coworkers but I do not need to see them. Just me. Well how did I just go from time change to going to the office for two days this week. I do know that it makes me anxious just thinking about it. I am concerned for Alvin, too. He will have someone checking on him but it is not the same.

Off the above topic and onto something else. With spring right around the corner, I was thinking of the traditional “spring cleaning.” Have you started cleaning closets, basements, pantries, kitchen cupboards and drawers? I have done a bit but the one thing that I was thinking of is the “spice pantry.” I have a built in pantry that houses spices, Alvin’s food and dishes and odds and ends. I also have a cabinet that I got when we renovated the old work office and they were selling off office furniture. The cabinet is great, heavy duty and well made. It houses dry goods, small appliances etc. I clean it on a regular basis. The other pantry I need to reorganize and go through the SPICES. I think most of us hang onto spices for way too long – definitely long after we should. A lot of time we purchase spices for one dish and then never use them again or we but too much or we just forget to use them. I am going to go through mine and only keep the ones that I know that I should. It is likely a good idea to only keep what you are going to use. I don’t think it is necessary for one person to have 50-70 different spices. I am guessing on the amount that I have but I do have a great many. Perhaps this spring clean up should involved only keeping things that you at least use once a year or more often. How many of you have things that you are keeping for sentimental reasons? Raise your hands! Mine is up? I know that I have so much “stuff” and I know for a fact that my one and only daughter has no desire to keep my stuff. Oh, there might be the odd little item that she may be interested but they downsized and bought a smaller house so why would she take my stuff. So this spring I am going to get a lot more strict in my what to keep policy. If someone likes an item and I do not use it, it is going to have a new home. I no longer find the need to bring much other than food into the house. One thought for so many people, stop online shopping! I think it is addictive. Everyday I see delivery trucks on my street, yes every single day of the every week. Think of all of the packing that ends up in the landfills. Think of all the crap cause really no one really needs all of that stuff. We don’t. I don’t and you don’t. Tough love. Yup. We have to face facts that we are consuming ourselves to the end, yes I mean “consuming.” Not to rain on your parade and certainly I am not trying to tell you how to live your life but we need to seriously think about our buying practices. Especially with the costs of everything on the rise daily. So many people can barely afford to buy good food and pay for the utilities much less ordering daily from Amazon. Okay, I am done. That totally went from spring cleaning off the rails to buying practices. But it all ties in together. Just think about how much you consume. Do you really need 20 pairs of jeans? Do you need three different coffee pots? Do you need another throw pillow? Did you need to replace your living room furniture? Just because you can do something does not mean that you should. I hope that this has given food for thought, I know it has for me. Although I do not currently buy a lot of things other than food and that is the honest truth, at one time, I was one of those over the top consumers. We did not have online shopping at the time but I went to the stores and the shopping channel and bought more than I really needed and then ended up in financial distress. So there are multiple reasons for my “rant” this morning.

I hope that we all think carefully about our choices. What do we “need” versus what we “want.”

Please have an awesome Sunday. Thinking about our fellow human beings in Ukraine and Russia. Just trying to stay alive in a war that they did not choose. I hope that it the war is over today. Peace to all.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

Time for a refreshing shower. Get rid of the cobwebs and off the rant track. Honestly I am a happy person. One would not think that from the above post. Sometimes we just have to say what is on our minds. I apologize if I have offended anyone, that was not my intent. Just to bring my thoughts to light.