Last Half 2022 – December

Good Morning ALL! How are you this morning? I am doing well. Had a great long sleep. As I look out of the office window the sky is grey and I almost think that I can see the trees swaying ever so lightly back and forth. Today is Saturday. The weekend has begun. I am so grateful for the weekends. Time to relax, readjust, clean the house and do all those things we do on our days off from work. Almost forgot that there is some shoveling that needs to be done. I can see the deck has snow from a few days ago and I imagine the same could be same for the driveway. So shoveling is in my near future. In fact, I might get that done in the next little bit. Tonight my friends Gillian & Signe are coming over for our Annual Christmas party. I cannot wait. We will have a multitude of appetizers, sweet treats and different kinds of drinks. We girls laugh, sometimes “cry” but above all we treasure our time together. They are such good friends and I love spending time with them.

I have some things to get ready for the party. Food wise. There would be some vacuuming in my near future, washing of the floors, some dusting, cleaning the bathrooms. Odds and ends. Make sure that the house looks perfect for my company.

My daughter dropped by last night on her way home to pick up some things. I also made sure that she tooks some Christmas baking. We had a nice visit. Alvin seems to be settling in well as yesterday morning for the second day in a row he slept through the night. In fact, everyone else in the house was up yesterday except for Alvin which had an immediate concern for them. Amanda carefully went over to ensure he was breathing and he woke up. She breathed a huge sigh of relief. Two weeks till Christmas and the boy comes home. I do miss him but I also realize that it is good for both of us to have some time apart. This is the first time in years and never for this amount of time.

Countdown to Christmas: 14 sleeps till Christmas Eve. Time is flying.

Yesterday we had a Secret Santa & Christmas party at work for our immediate three departments. There are 17 of us in total. Everyone brought something whether appetizers or sweet treats. So good. Then we opened gifts. I became the photographer of the event as I happen to have my phone out. There were giggles along the way and deep roars of laughter. During the gift opening people started to throw down the tissue paper as most gifts were in gift bags and I made a comment about recycling the tissue paper and of course the bags. We had some fun with the tissue paper. Some people folded it up and gave it to me. I found that another coworker also reuses the paper so we shared the excess tissue paper. Everyone was happy with their gifts. We had a fun couple of hours. Then back to work (some of us). Always hard for people to settle down after they had a big lunch and gifts. Then it was time to go home and start this weekend. I almost forgot our Manager had this gift exchange where she had wrapped as many gifts as there were people in the group and had a bucket of numbers for everyone to draw one. The person with no.1 got to pick any of the gifts and then went from there no. 2 and so on. If you did not wanted to “steal” the gift from the previous person you could and then you chose a gift for that person and so on. The first person got to choose from all of the gifts or one of the remaining ones. It was great fun.

Okay time to get downstairs and get this day hopping. Lots to do before tonight. I need coffee.

Have an awesome Saturday.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

Last Half 2022 – October

Good Morning ALL! Well almost noon. What a morning already! I am grateful that I booked today off. Poor Mr. Alvin. We are just back from the vet where once again he is suffering from ear infections. One ear was way worse than the other. I have a difficult time keeping them clean as he does not like me poking around or touching them. So another round of meds which will keep them okay for a month. I spoke to the vet about our options. There are two different surgeries that can be performed. One is where they remove his eardrums and ear canals and he would not be able to hear but he would no longer suffer from these nasty yeast infections. She does not perform this surgery. The other she can do and it would mean leaving the eardrums intact but opening up the ear canals so that the yeast cannot grow and he would still have hearing. I think the second option is the better of the two, for sure. Cannot imagine having my hearing taken away like that but she also thinks that his hearing is compromised now. The idea of another surgery with him turning 14 in January, scares me but I am not sure that we have an option at this point. I just want him to have a good quality of life. Yesterday he was panting and work was driving me over the edge and I was raising my voice to him. I feel incredibly guilty and overwhelmed. My poor boy. I just hope he has forgiven my bad reaction to the situation. It is difficult when you are alone. Anyway for now, he has medicine in both ears and it will get rid of the yeast infection soon. I think his paws are bothering him as well.

I do have a beautiful story to share. Earlier this morning I noticed a little girl waiting on the sidewalk across the street from our house. Clearly she was waiting for the school bus which never came. It was cold out there earlier. My neighbor (whom I borrowed her car to take Alvin to vet) had popped in to grab a cup of coffee as she had run out. Sonja said that the girl was waiting for the bus which is always late. I decided to check on her so I opened the door and called out to her to check on her, I think that I scared her. She then started walking away from where she was standing which appeared to be toward home, when an older child came out. I should have asked what school she went to and then called them but I did not think of that. I watched them from my window when a dark blue Toyota Rav4 pulled up and a woman got out. Poor kid was scared not because the woman was trying to hurt her but because of the attention and she was cold. The woman talked to her for a few minutes and the older child came back out. The woman walked back to her car and grabbed her cell phone and then after speaking to the older child, she made a call. Likely the school. Nice to see good samaritans. This woman stood outside chatting with the kids for over 30 minutes closer to 45 minutes. At one point she grabbed a kleenex out of her car for the little girl. After awhile, the little girl got into the car while she waited outside with the older child (early teens, I think). The girl must have been frozen. She had a good warm coat on but her face and hands would have been cold and she was carrying a heavy backpack. Near the end, just a few minutes before a school bus showed up, the woman and the older child, a boy got into the car. They must have been cold. My neighbor told me earlier that the bus is always late. So this bus driver for whatever reason makes these children late for school everyday and nothing has been done. This is deplorable. Hopefully now, they will do something about the driver. This kindly woman who was just driving by put my faith back in humanity. She took almost one hour out of her day to help strangers, two children. She had a smile on her face and appeared to be trying to keep the children in good spirits. I am grateful to her for helping. Doing something that I should have done. Not that I did not want to help but I thought that the bus would have showed up sooner than it did.

Well, I made another pot of coffee as I just need one. It has been quite the week. I am beat. We will just relax on the sofa for awhile and then go for a walk. I hope that you are having a good day.

The sun is shining now which is great so it is warming up now.

Thank you Universe for good people in my neighbourhood.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

PS: wow, how could I have forgotten this. Yesterday Alvin and I received a package from our friend Val in Regina. So many treats. We are truly spoiled. Alvin was so excited when I went to the mailbox and came back with a box. There were homemade treats for him which he opened. There were three kinds of buns/scones, mini loaves, biscottis and so many other sweet treats. I also had a package of some items that I had ordered from RICKIS. Just needed some clothes. I was happy to see that they all fit. I guess time to do some laundry, too. Coffee first. I think that Alvin just wants to have a nap. Poor boy.

Last Half 2022

Good Morning ALL! I hope that you are well. We are doing well. We were to bed later than usual as we were over visiting at Cookie’s home, the visit lasted over 4 hours and we had the best time. We laughed so hard. Mr. Alvin spent quite a bit of time sniffing about the main floor learning about every nook and cranny and also, I am quite certain looking for food. He is always looking for food. No, he is anything but starving. What a guy? I have known these neighbours for several years and even worked with the Dad for a few years although not in the same department. We became closer friends after looking after Cookie at Christmas time. They are such a lovely family. I always love learning about people. They had so many yummy treats, I felt extra special. We chatted about everything from government to work to family to different cultures as they are originally from Iraq and came to Canada thirteen years ago via Saudi Arabia. Perhaps I will even be able to learn some Arabic. That would be most interesting. It was a great night. Alvin took some time to get used to being in a different house – not his own. He does not visit many other houses except for his best friend Teddy so this was a big deal for him. They love Alvin and were very attentive to him. I am so blessed to have so many wonderful neighbours. Cookie’s Dad has a different job now so I don’t see him at work but then again, I am working from home so I am not seeing work people on a regular basis. I love working from home. I love working from home. I love working from home. Did I say that I love working from home. It is great. More “family” time and I get way more accomplished at home for my job than when I was in the office. Less distractions.

We also watched the weather change from a few clouds with sunny breaks last night to these big bad very eerie clouds. I knew something was coming. We had strong winds and the rain was being blown in sheets temporarily flooding the street. It was incredible to watch but scary to think of what damage it may have caused. I was thankful that I had closed all of our windows before leaving the house. Oh, now with all of the rain, I am being attacked by mosquitos. Yup, they are back. Surprised they have not shown up sooner. I was very happy to arrive back home from our visit to find most of my flowers intact. I had much concern about the ones at the front of the house as the wind and rain were coming in from the north west. Just a few petals were laying on the porch. Same in the back. So they survived. Hardy little things. WE just need some sunshine. I am asking for sunshine and the long range forecast is for 30’s next week or at least for a few days and that may not be the most forecast.

Well it is time to go and plug in the coffee and get to work. I have lots to get done today. That is the one thing about deadlines. So much of my job is about deadlines and timelines that are very tight. Oh well, I can do this and it is Friday. The sun is shining at this moment and the sky is light blue. We are good.

Have a great Friday.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

PS: 32 days till 65.

Living … One day at a time.

Hello,

It is the first full day of my 2019 VACATION.

I feel like jumping and down and screaming it to the world.

So happy.

Can you tell?

Yes, I am so excited to be on vacation.

I wanted to sleep in a bit.

Alvin was up at 3:28 a.m. so we moved from bedroom to living sofa where we remained until 6:53 a.m.

I was thinking “Really” this is my vacation …. I would like to sleep until 7:30 a.m. – so I did.

Then up threw a coat over my nightgown and out the door to go and look after Cinder and Humphrey.

When I had finished everything – I asked Humphrey if he wanted to come home with me and see Alvin.

He ran over to the steps going to their upstairs and waited for me to slightly bend over and scoop him up.

He perched himself on my shoulder and I am glad that I had my coat back on …. because he was holding on.

So locked the house and went back home.

At home the boys are like it has always been this situation.

They do well together.

As I have mentioned before Alvin has just a bit of uncertainty about Humphrey to make it a perfect relationship.

Hi Humphrey who has just joined us.

 

Last night after I arrived home from work, did the usual, let Alvin outside, got changed, we went for a walk, brought Alvin home and then went to pick up Humphrey.

He spent the evening with us.

Made a huge salad for supper and I must say that I love my thrown together homemade salad dressing.

No recipe that I can even share.

Just after I had eaten and finished the dishes the phone rang and I saw that it was my friend V from Saskatchewan.

She had left me a message on my cell but I was busy and had not noticed.

Instructions to go and pick up the mail …..

We all know what that means.

A parcel.

In this case …. an early Birthday parcel.

Grabbed my keys, locked the house so that the fur babies could not escape and ran to the mailboxes.

Okay, perhaps that was a stretch, no running but walking quickly.

Lots of flyers in the mailbox along with a key to the BIG BOX.

Quickly picked up the parcel locked the mail boxes and was on my way home.

Once inside the house – Mr. Alvin started to get excited.

He knows all about those boxes and very likely he could smell the contents.

So I quickly went about opening the box with Humphrey and Alvin standing by not so quietly, especially my boy.

First thing was to locate his special treat from our friend and then grab my phone to video him opening his present.

OMG, so cute.

Wishing that I could show you the video.

If you follow me on INSTAGRAM @  carolylewis

You can see the video with Alvin opening his treat.

After he was finished I gave him some of the treat and then proceeded to the rest of the box which was filled to the brim with all sorts of sweet homemade delectable treats.

Two kinds of cinnamon buns, cheese buns and regular buns, chocolate biscotti and some other bought sweet treats.

 

As I was opening my packages – Alvin had taken the box that I had set beside the pantry door on the floor and pulled it over to where the photos are which is a few feet.

He was looking for more treats.

I laughed so hard, what a boy.

Photos above are of my sweet treats.

What a decision to have to make?

It was lucky that I had a salad for supper.

So in the end I had a cinnamon bun and one chocolate biscotti.

Heaven …. truly.

 

The fragrance emmanting from these gorgeous lilies is intoxicating.

Humphrey and AL relaxing last night.

Pleasant surprise as the solar light inserted in one of my flower pots came alive last night.

The colours were glorious.

 

Well time to have breakfast and get these boys outside into the backyard to enjoy some fresh air.

Wishing my niece-in-law “S” a very Happy Birthday.

Wishing my friend “K” a very Happy Birthday.

So many August Birthdays.

Happy Birthday ….

 

If you spend each moment treating others with kindness and respect then you will be living your life with kindness and respect.

 

Always, Carol & ALvin and Humphrey.

 

Thought for the day ….

Good Morning and Welcome to Saturday the 17th day of November, 2018.

Another new day.

The sun is rising in the eastern sky and the air is crisp.

Hoping it will warm up throughout the day.

This morning Teddy goes home.

We are going to miss the little guy.

I will miss his patience and energy.

Alvin will miss his company, his being here throughout the day.

 

My young friends and I always have a Christmas party every year.

It has changed from a Saturday or Sunday morning coffee Christmas party to a night out for supper and then the past couple of years we have gone to each other’s

homes for a “nightcap” and treats.

This year we are opting out of the dinner out and having an evening at home hosted by one of the three.

We were going to have our party on Saturday, December 1st …. but a huge surprise.

One of the gal’s is from eastern Canada and her husband surprised them (my friend and her daughter) with tickets home for two weeks so they will not be home on the 1st.

So the party was changed until tonight.

We will have appetizers and sweet treats and liquid refreshments.

I cannot wait to see the girls.

 

Well lots to do.

Housework and I have to have a cup of coffee.

We were up at 4:00 and the boys went outside and Alvin had his glucosamine chew and then we laid down on the sofa, thinking it would be perhaps 5:30 or 6:00 when they woke me up

for breakfast and when I woke them up it was 8:00 a.m. – crazy.

So boys have now ate of course and I am ready to have some toast and coffee.

 

I hope that you have an awesome day.

Enjoy your Saturday.

 

Special Hello: my friends and family all over this country and beyond.

Always, Carol and Alvin