Second Half 2022 – November

Good Morning ALL! I hope that you had a great Monday and a wonderful Halloween. Last night we had 45 treaters of all ages arrive on our porch. I had put Mr. Alvin’s harness and leash on so that he would not get away on me and then realized that he wasn’t going anywhere. Depending on who was at the door he might walk onto the porch otherwise he stayed in the house. It was so nice to see some of the children from the neighbourhood. There were several of the 45 that I did not recognize but there have been lots of people moving in and out over the last year. We made note that several, actually a lot of our neighbours did not hand out treats. Some perhaps due to the expense and others because they were unable to buy any. I bought mine weeks before the big day. Not something you want to leave until the last minute. Our first treater was a little LION named Grayson, oh so cute. Just started to walk. On cue when Mum asked what sound does a Lion make he went “GRRRR” and then he blew me a kiss. Such a cutie. Alvin sure loves him and he loves Alvin. One of the few little ones that was not afraid of him. Other children we knew of course were not afraid of him. We even had a Samurai – so cute. Most of the children whether young or a bit older – all said THANK YOU. I was very impressed by that show of manners. It was 45 minutes bordering on one hour between the first visitor and the second. I decided early on that I would just give out a handful (sometimes more) as it was apparent that the numbers were down this year. Our neighbourhood is maturing I suppose and we do not have the numbers of children that we did for the first decade after I moved here. Very sad but that is life. Our friend Maddie even stopped by and I scored a bag of cheetos. Just needed something not sweet. I have managed to eat only a minimum of Halloween treats this year. Which is good! We had a good night and I turned off the porch light and closed the blinds at 7:51 p.m.

Alvin and I went outside to the backyard after that and as I waited for him to do this thing, I noticed these tiny, tiny snowballs hitting the ground and bouncing about. Some hit my coat bouncing off while others landed on Mr. Alvin and just stayed. I would not say that it was cold out but I guess cool enough for miniature snowballs.

This coming Sunday we turn our clocks back by one hour. That always takes some adjusting and will take more considering we are back to work three days each week. It is not something that I particularly look forward to, that is for sure.

Well, we turned our calendars over today to: NOVEMBER 1st, 2022 for this Tuesday. Today is back to the office for the next three days. ARGH. It will be okay.

My burning eye incident passed after about one hour but was miserable for the duration.

Well almost time to go downstairs and have some snuggles with the boy before I leave for the office. I am so grateful to have a ride to work. Very grateful. I am grateful that I have the time to snuggle with Alvin before I leave for work. I am grateful that I live in this beautiful house, our home. I am grateful for time. I am filled with a deep sense of gratitude for my life.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

PS: a mug of java will taste mighty fine this morning. YAY.

Living … One day at a time.

Good Morning and Wow, it is Friday, November 1st, 2019.

Hard to believe.

HALLOWEEN was amazing this year as it is ALL years.

The office staff did an incredible job with costumes.

So much imagination.

Part of the group that I work with dressed up as the Monopoly Game and Characters.

Wow, they were good.

They won the big prize for the group.

I think it was a PIZZA Party.

Very cool.

The individuals were everything from me as Harry Potter to a Mummy to Witches.

Some of the groups were Zombie Plumbers and Dancing Horses.

So great.

 

I was a bit disappointed in the number of treaters that came to our door.

I was very proud of Mr. Alvin.

He did not attempt a big escape or scare the children.

Most of the time in between he sat in his chair looking out the window for the kids.

It was so CUTE.

We had 53 and usually we average about 100 give or take.

Likely had to do with so many of my immediate neighbours either were not home or had their lights off.

My porch light had burned out a long time ago and sadly I forgot to change it.

That likely played a role in the low numbers.

But I am most happy that ALL of our friends in the neighbourhood with children came to visit.

The one that made me smile the most was our neighbour’s son who was 8 years old when I moved to Edmonton.

He turned 18 at the beginning of October; he dressed up as a turtle.

Came to show me and of course, teasingly I gave him some treats.

His little brothers are the ones that raked my lawn and of course, they received a special bag of treats customized for each of them.

My friend G and her youngest son came and stopped for a visit.

C wore this amazing chicken costume which inflates and is not exactly the easiest thing to maneuver wearing.

Anyway it was great.

We enjoyed ourselves.

Now we have quite a bit of candy left.

I guess I will freeze the chocolate for another day.

The weather held out.

No wind or rain or snow.

A bit cool but not bad.

Well I was going to show some photos but I am experiencing technical difficulties and it is almost time for us to head downstairs.

Tonight my daughter is picking me up from work and coming for a sleepover.

So excited.

We are putting up the Christmas Tree tonight.

My favourite night ….

Well I love Halloween, too.

 

Happy Friday.

Remembering we all have to be kind and respectful.

Me, too.

And patience….. I am working on that one.

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

Thought for the day ….

Good Morning and Welcome to Wednesday the 31st day of October, 2018.

Happy Halloween and last day of October, 2018.

Woke up to dry ground so that is a good start.

No moisture in the forecast as of last night.

Should be a great night for the treaters.

I, me and Alvin always look forward to the little ones coming around.

So many cute costumes.

Here are a few photos that I was able to locate from past Halloweens.

Some of me, some of the little treaters.

As I look at the photos – man have the children grown.

Well it is time to fly and I am not a witch.

I will make certain that someone takes photos of me with my camera so I have some for future postings.

Happy Halloween and Be safe out there.

 

Special Hello to: all of my friends and family … wishing you all a Happy Halloween.

Always, Carol & Alvin

My Grand-puppies Penny and Elton

My favourite treaters of all time if only I could have found them in their Halloween costumes that made it to the CTV National Morning Show many years ago.

Missing Penny and Elton.

 

Me ….. WHAT?

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Wednesday the 1st day of November, 2017.

Woke up to SNOW, SNOW and more SNOW.

Poor Mr. Alvin did not wish to go out to the back yard.

The first snowfall always makes him hesitant.

 

We had an awesome Halloween.

I dressed up as a Hippie and it went over well.

Pretty comfortable costume, I will say.

That is the mark of a great costume – if you can comfortably wear it all day or most of the day.

We got to pick the best costumes at our office and at noon we had the best POTLUCK ever.

The food was great and the treats even better.

I had a pasta (macaroni) with cheese and veggies.

It turned out so yummy.

I wrote the recipe down.

That is the trouble I always make up recipes and then do not usually write them down.

I am getting better at writing them down.

Last night the first treater showed up at our house at 5:45.

I was sort of surprised to see the boy get out of a vehicle.

I asked him as he was older, I would say 11-12 approximately “if he lived in the neighbourhood?”

He said no.

I asked him where and he named an area about 10 minutes or so away.

AS I was asking questions, asked him why they would drive to our area and he said we give bigger and better treats.

Yikes, I thought.

So because we give better treats people are driving their kids here.

There were several vehicles that stopped and let kids out.

Some would be due to the weather but some come from elsewhere.

Funny ….

I had about 92 treaters.

There were a couple of times that my steps were filled with children so I may have missed one or two.

This is the least amount that I have had since I moved to Edmonton.

Two cute stories from last night.

First one:  the doorbell rang and there were three boys and a man standing just a few feet away from the steps.

I answered the door with the obligatory “Happy Halloween” and proceeded to hand out some treats.

The man stood more into the light and said “Hello” …. we just wanted to thank you again for bringing our dog home ….

One of the boys said “yes, thank you so much for bringing (cannot remember dog’s name) home.

I almost cried.

This is a dog that had accidentally got out of the yard.

Anyway, it has been about three years since this happened and every year they stop by to thank me.

How sweet.

Good deeds do not go unnoticed.

The second story …..  Alvin was on his leash as he loves to check out the children and as we know so many of them ….. he was right with me at the door.

One of the Dad’s said from the darkness ….. “Hi, Alvin …. he is so cute” and stepped into the light and here was this guy that I had met on the bus.

So Alvin is a star.

We had fun.

I took some photos on my tablet but unable to get downloaded but here are some from work and home from my camera.

Then gotta run.

Decided better not to post photos of people as I do not have their permission.  The two officers (reflections) were/are masked.

Have an awesome Wednesday.

Special Hello to:  you

Always, Carol & Alvin

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Tuesday the 31st day of October, 2017.

The last day of October 2017 and Halloween.

Happy Halloween Everyone.

I am all dressed up as a “HIPPIE complete with the colourful bell bottoms.

Looking pretty groovy.

Starting to get a little warm from the layers but it is was cold in the office yesterday so I should be perfect today.

It looked dry out earlier when I looked out the front window and the back door but not now.

The street appears to be wet.

So will have a change of plans for footwear.

Drive carefully everyone.

I am so grateful to my neighbour who is giving me a ride to work today so that I do not have to change into my costume at work.  YAY.

Well this will be short today as I need to pack up the stuff for the potluck.

I made a pasta salad …. it turned out so good.

Have a Happy Happy Halloween.

Be Safe and Have Fun.

 

Special Hello to:  All the TRICK OR TREATERS out there – have a great evening.

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

Thought for the day …..

Good Morning and Welcome to Tuesday the 25th day of October, 2016.

Dark outside.

Rained overnight.

I could feel the moisture in the air last night as it cooled off during our walk.

Hopefully the roads are not icy.

Still reasonably mild.

Well almost Halloween.

Do you like Halloween?

Do you dress up?

Do you stay home and greet the “Treaters?”

I love Halloween.

I decorate my house inside and out.

I normally dress up.

We are encouraged to dress up at work.

We also have a Halloween potluck which brings out some truly creative dishes and treats.

Some years are more elaborate than others.

Most times I just pull together something from my “tickle trunk.”

Actually I had a tickle trunk so to speak years ago and when I moved to Alberta, I gave away most of my Halloween costume items and decorations.

So over the passed few years I have slowly amassing some Halloween items.

My favourite costumes have been made from take pieces from my closet and adding some makeup.

Surprising what you can do with little or no money.

Trust me if there is a way – I will find it.

There is no reason to spend a fortune on a costume that you will likely wear for only a few hours.

I have snapped photos of my decorations and will post them closer to Halloween.

Nothing fancy just a few things in my house and outside.

Some of my neighbours clearly enjoy decorating as they have strung  white spider webs all throughout their trees.

I think it might be interesting taking it down.

Well here we go again time to leave for work.

I want to get away on time just in case it is a bit icy.

Have a wonderful Tuesday.

Special Hello to: my sister.  Miss you.

Always, Carol and Alvin

Thought for the day….

Good Morning and Welcome to Tuesday the 29th day of October, 2013.

Well third last day of October and two days closer to Halloween.

Have you figured out your costume for the big day?

I spend most of the evening going through my rag tag items trying to put together a suitable costume.

I have a few ideas.

Definitely do not want to copy something from last year or the year before …. always good to have something new.

I do enjoy dressing up and even more importantly I enjoy greeting the treaters at my door.

When I lived in the apartment we did not have many kids that would come with the exception of family and close friends.

So this is all new and fun.

This year I am going to put up the “Alvin gate” so that he can stay in the kitchen instead of on his leash with me at the door.

Way too hard to hold him and hand out candy.

He gets so excited.

Only two more sleeps until the big day.

Special Hello to: my fellow lovers of Halloween.

Always, Carol and Alvin