Last Half 2022 – December

Good Morning ALL! How are you this morning? Well still bitterly cold here in Edmonton, I don’t even want to check to see what the windchill is this morning. I am sending out gratitude to the Universe for my furnace who is working overtime to keep the house warm and for my coat, boots, scarf and mitts that keep me warm when I am outside. Gratitudes for meltdowns and quick pick me back ups and back to business. Gratitude to my body at the cellular level that keeps me healthy. Gratitude that I am able to smell all the scents of the Holiday season. Gratitude for my hands and feet and body that I can feel the warmth and the cold when it surrounds me. Gratitude for my eyes that they can see my family, my friends and all the beauty that surrounds me. Gratitude that I can taste all of the good food and the treats that enter my mouth. Gratitude that I can hear the sounds of music, of the voices of family and friends and the world that surrounds me.

Sometimes during the holidays we tend to overreact to situations and yes, at other times of the year. There is something about the holidays that makes us emotional. I think it is due in large part to the high expectation that we put on ourselves for perfection. We want the gifts to be magical, the food to be the best ever, the company to be kind and the house to stay clean with no unpleasant surprises along the way. Of course, does this happen? Sometimes but not always. So this Christmas be easy on yourself. Let the perfection stand aside. “Let it go.” Your guests will love whatever you make and if they do not, well that is okay. If there is one thing that I have learned over my 65 years on this planet is “that you cannot please all of the people all of the time.” If they are not tickled pink by the gift that you spent hours selecting – smile and walk away. DO NOT ENGAGE. It is always in how we react to a situation. We cannot change people – no matter how hard we try. This Christmas do things that make you HAPPY and in turn all around you will be okay. I do not want to promise that they will be as happy as you because “their happiness depends on them.” Okay, you got this! WE got this!

Time for me to head downstairs and get ready to leave the house for work.

COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS EVE: OMG, only four sleeps, I am so excited to see Alvin, Aspen and Milo, Amanda and Steven. This is going to be a great Christmas. I am ready!

Have a wonderful Tuesday. Take some time for you!

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

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The New YEAR 2022

Good Morning ALL! I hope this finds you doing great. It is raining here in my neighbourhood in Edmonton. The sky is overcast. A pretty gray colour. There is no sound other than the click clack click of my fingers touching the keys as I write this post. Alvin is napping on the hallway carpet. He threw up out of the blue last night. Not sure if he managed to eat something off the ground that I did not see on one of our two walks yesterday or if it was the cauliflower, not agreeing with him. I gave him a bit of cauliflower after his supper last night and during mine as he was “asking” for some. Perhaps it is time to keep him on his own food diet. I actually have been giving him his food as a treat during the day instead of “human things” and as a result need to remeasure and ensure that he is not overeating. He always is eager for more but in all reality he is no different than we humans, we sometimes will eat until we are sick. Overeat. Not the first time. He was shaking and I helped him outside and then carried him upstairs to bed as I figured that would be long way to climb on a sick tummy. He, thank goodness settled down pretty good. I made sure that he had a good drink of water before going upstairs and outside. My poor little guy. Yesterday I made an appointment for him at the vet for his regular 6 week stuff. I have noticed that he is starting to become more and more anxious about walking across the floor. Time to pick up more yoga mats or rubber backed long mats so that he can cross the length of the kitchen without freaking out. I am slightly worried that because he runs across that he is going to hurt himself. Have to keep a close eye on him these days. I am so happy that he was able to take in a full walk at noon yesterday. We kept it slow and easy and he clearly loved it. After work we just walked as far as he wanted to which is usually how we walk and that was almost to our friend Pauline’s house and then home which is about half of our usual walk.

Well friends it is getting late and I was bad with the snooze button this morning, I pressed it countless times.

I hope that you have a wonderful 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 ALL! How are you this morning? We are doing very well. I did hit the snooze button a couple of times this morning but otherwise doing great. My body seems to be almost back to normal from my spill on Sunday early evening. I have figured out different ways to get up from a seated position so that is good. Learning new things does not hurt one. We went for a walk yesterday at lunch and it was a bit slow going for me which Alvin loved because he got to sniff more. The sky is overcast this morning and from my office window the ground is almost bare. No more you know what! I don’t even want to utter that word. There is a breeze you could say this morning. So that will help dry things out. The deck is almost completely bare. Thank goodness the grass area is starting to dry out. There is forecast for rain today so that will help to clean up the yuck that I fell into on Sunday.

We had a quiet evening as I elected not to do the second walk right after work and instead gathered up the trash and put it all out. Today we can put out the garbage, food scraps and recycling as we start the summer schedule. YAY.

I am going to make this short this morning as I honestly cannot think of much more to say and why babble but perhaps I babble most of the time, lol. Life.

Wishing you a wonderful Tuesday.

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

Thank you for reading.

Always, Carol & Alvin

2021

Good Morning ALL! How are you this morning? We are well. Alvin was up in middle of night but then slept until 6:00. YAY, Mr. Alvin. Only handful of times where he has eaten breakfast that late. Yesterday was a good day. Good for work. Good because we had Teddy sleepover Sunday night and good because Teddy’s Mom dropped off Kobi and good because of the beautiful weather. Filled with gratitude. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I think that these photos say it all: FRIENDSHIP, LOVE, and CUTENESS IN ABUNDANCE.

What I could not capture in the photos of on my lunch break we were all sitting on the sofa. Everyone where they are in the above photo except Teddy was sitting on my lap. At one point I had my left hand being held by Kobi’s front paws and my right hand resting in between Alvin’s front paws. They bring me joy.

Well time to head on downstairs and get ready for work including putting on coffee.

Wishing you all a great day.

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

Always, Carol & Alvin

2021

Good Morning ALL! How are you doing this Tuesday morning (almost keyed Monday)? Alvin and I are doing great. We had a good sleep. Bed around 10, up at 3:30 and then again 5:43 and then 6:45 which does not look wonderful but it was ….. all depends on the time you get up and the in between time. Anyway, we are good this morning. Hard to believe that four days has passed since I was thinking that I had a four day weekend to enjoy. All in all, we had a great weekend. I managed to get most of my TO DO LIST accomplished, we walked, visited with my daughter, went shopping to COSTCO with my daughter, finally found and purchased a BISSELL CROSSWAVE dry vac/wet cleaner and I am excited to use it next weekend, cleaned out closets and cupboards and cleaned up the neighbourhood. Of course, there is always the usual bathrooms and laundry to keep things interesting. I have raked my little piece of grass area in the backyard a couple of times while 98% of the ice has melted. Most of the ice and snow has melted from the front so once the ground has thawed completely, it will be time to take the lawn. Almost forgot I gave myself a haircut as well. Guess we had a busy weekend.

Today is the birthday of a friend and fellow co-worker from back home in Regina. Happy Birthday Lisa. Wishing you a wonderful day.

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  Photo by Giftpundits.com on Pexels.com

I love having all these beautiful photos at my fingertips. How is it that I missed seeing them all this time? I do not know. The sun is up and the sky is I would say a grey blue almost looking like rain clouds in the distance. Just heard the garbage truck and saw them picking up the trash. What a job, thank goodness for these guys. I say guys because I have not seen any women. I am sure there are women out there doing this job. I am grateful to all of them men and women for doing this job. Not a fun one and sometimes smelly, okay, likely always smelly.

How wonderful to start back to work on a Tuesday – a short week. The weather is to be double digits for the next few days and then cooler on the weekend. Spring has definitely sprung. Looking forward to it. I will be happy to have the furnace vents, a/c and dryer vents cleaned. There will be fence painting this summer. Lots to do. One of the most exciting things for me is planting some flowers. I have several geraniums that I can transplant outside once the temperatures are consistently warm. So exciting. I cannot wait.

Other than a warm feeling of gratitude this Tuesday morning – I do not have much else to say. I am grateful to my daughter for our time together. I am grateful that I was able to have four days off with my Alvin. I am grateful that we are all in good health. I am grateful to be alive. I am grateful for the garbage guys for picking up my trash. I am grateful for spring. I am grateful for every blessing in my life.

Continuing to live this life, my life with kindness, respect, compassion and patience.

Always, Love Carol & Alvin

Second Half of the NEW YEAR.

Good Morning,

Another hot one on the way.

We just returned from a nice walk.

The air is still a bit cool and refreshing.

Then I opened the door to the house and could feel the difference.

Even with the windows open early on to let in the cool morning air, it has warmed up again.

I have the electric fans on to help combat the hot stuffy temperature.

 

The sun was shining brightly at 6:58 a.m. when we left the house.

The sky is that clear blue.

I am amazed at how green and rich looking the grass has remained.

I was checking out the leaves on the trees.

Each one is different …. just like each one of us.

 

Today is going to be and is already a great day.

I moved my work computer downstairs once again to the kitchen after Alvin had a rough morning.

He threw up twice.

The first time I think he had too much fruit and that was my fault.

The second time …. was a bit later.

More than likely due to the heat.

So downstairs on the main floor with both fans blowing from one end of the house to the other is cooler.

It only takes me a couple of minutes to hook the computer up so easy peasy.

I can bring the equipment and stuff upstairs on Friday after work.

That will work out fine.

 

I will say that after I have been at home with him now since March and then for two weeks vacation, he is even more clingy and demanding.

He used to come into the bathroom when I would have a shower and muss up the bath mats.

Now he stands in the hallway or on the area rug in the bedroom and whines.

He does not like walking onto the laminate floor.

I guess this all comes with age.

So I sing a little song to coax him to come into the bathroom and then to leave.

It seems to work.

Everyone is surprised when I tell them he will be 12 in January 2021.

Looking at him – he has no gray.

He moves with the agility of a puppy.

Oh, my Alvin, my buddy, my pal.

Aging …..

 

Well it is almost time to head back downstairs and pour that cup of coffee.

Get the computer going and start my day.

Lots to do.

 

I hope that you are well.

Be safe.

Be strong.

Be kind.

Be respectful.

 

Have an awesome Tuesday.

Keep cool … if you are living somewhere with high temperatures.

 

Living with kindness and respect for all.

I/We shall remain,

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

It is a NEW YEAR.

Good Morning All,

Welcome to a bright, blue sky, breezy morning here in Edmonton.

We seem to having a lot more wind here than we did when I moved here over ten years ago.

The garbage truck just went by ….. stopping and starting as they do along their route.

Geese honking and other birds chirping away.

Our window is open in the office so we are hearing all of the sounds that our neighbourhood is making as it slowly comes to life.

Not many people up and out.

So many of our neighbours are working from home.

I do know some of my neighbours that are slowly beginning to go back to their places of employment.

I love this time of day.

Perfection.

If I had my poop in a group or ducks in a row, I would have been organized earlier and sat out on the deck and drank a cup of coffee all the time enjoying the morning.

But alas did not happen.

Oh well, next best thing, window open, coffee in a travel mug and will enjoy as I start to work.

I have my coffee up here and ready to go.

I have been dragging my keister the past few mornings likely due to my watching how much I stand and such.

But anyway that is okay.

Perhaps on Saturday morning …… read my book on the deck and drink some coffee.

Alvin loves to lie on the deck and enjoy the sun until it gets too hot.

 

Did you plant flowers this year?

What kinds?

Are they doing okay?

Flowering?

 

Thanks to my darling daughter I have impatiens, petunias and marigolds.

Most of my perennials are up and some are even flowering.

I cannot believe that one day my ferns in the front flower bed were barely a spot of green and already they are several inches tall.

Before I know it they will be reaching for the sky …… over two feet tall.

They grow so fast.

The irises and others are up.

Unfortunately I don’t remember all the names of the shrubs and plants I have in the back and front gardens.

Oh and lilies.

Love the lilies.

The recent rain has definitely helped plants and the grass and trees grow, bud and bloom.

The grass is this most beautiful green, I guess kelly green.

So, so pretty.

The dandelions dot most lawns and they were in full glory a week or so ago.

Then they go to seed.

I hope that the bees got to them before they were sprayed or went to seed.

I feel so bad for Mother Nature and then Man happens.

 

Well time for coffee and get signed onto work computer.

 

Wishing you the most grand of Tuesdays.

Filled with some laughter, even on a Tuesday you must have a giggle or three, oh come maybe four giggles.

Our life is way to serious.

We must laugh along the way.

If we all live in kindness and with respect.

Even if we slip or have a moment, we all do.

Climb back up and live again in kindness and with respect.

 

Happy Tuesday.

With kindness and respect.

I/We shall remain,

As Always, Carol & Alvin

Living … One day at a time.

Good Tuesday Morning,

As we wind down the month of November, 2019.

Again, I say, time is passing way too quickly.

I try to live the most that I can in any one day but that does not seem to stop the hands of time.

 

Alvin and I went for a walk after work.

We started to make the bend at the entrance of the park and he stopped.

He looked both ways and turned toward home.

So that was it …. I tried but he wanted to go back home.

Thankfully we had a nice long walk on Sunday.

I think that perhaps he does not like to walk in the dark.

At the beginning of our walk just past the poop station it is quite dark.

It can definitely be off setting for sure.

There are houses that line the outside lines of the park and perhaps they did not wish to put too many street lights out there or it would be distracting and annoying for the

homeowners.

But then there is the public who walk in the park with and without their beloved dogs.

It is truly pretty dark.

There are street lamps but not enough to light the area.

If someone or something was in the bush/trees near the water you would not see them.

I have resorted to carrying a flashlight.

The main reason was to find Alvin’s poo …. as I always pick it up.

Unlike so many others.

Seems like in the winter people don’t care.

What is up with that anyway?

Anyway, the flashlight does help us feel more secure.

In the end we turned around and headed for home.

It was a bit of a walk and being a Monday I was not heartbroken to take a short walk.

We did have some fresh air and that was a good thing.

 

So guess what I did last night?

I had just finished supper and had made some tea when I decided to “quickly” go upstairs and check my email.

While doing what I had gone to the computer to do ….. I saw my most recent TELUS bill.

When I opened it to see the amount and to write it down, I almost fainted.

It was over $170.00.

My usual bill is somewhere around $130.00.

I know that I had not rented more than one movie.

So I checked the statement.

Low and below I found out why.

They had charged me for the PVR rental to the tune of $39.00 (and change).

So I called TELUS and the wait was up to one hour.

Really, is that anyway to do business.

Have you ever waited in line at the grocery store or bank for one hour?

The only exception is the hospital or Doctor’s office and I get that …. whole different ball of wax.

But your internet/phone/cable provider.

Really.

Really.

Really.

I was mad.

I do not get mad often but I was mad.

So as I was on the computer I checked out the online assistant.

Well after they said “put in simple terms” and still did not understand, I connected to CHAT.

There were 3 people ahead of me so I figured the chances of me getting served in the next little while were good.

Finally after what felt like forever, I was connected.

She identified herself and then asked for me to verify who I was and asked what the issue was.

So I explained.

After several minutes she ended up checking my bill ( as I suggested in the first place ).

Came back on and said that she would credit my account for the rental amount and ensured me that it would never happen again.

Anyway, my bill is back to normal.

After one hour on the phone/computer I went back to my cold cup of tea.

Not exactly the way that I had planned to spend most of my time for the evening.

I could also see that Alvin was annoyed with the whole being in the office bit.

Anyway I was happy to have my bill corrected and it only cost me “one hour of my time.”

So how much is my time worth?

I guess $39.35.

 

Well time to go back downstairs.

Grateful it is a new day.

Alvin is as well.

Tonight will definitely be working on those Christmas cards because that did not happen last night.

Happy Day.

 

Have an awesome Tuesday.

Remember with Kindness and Respect we will live our lives.

I will admit that last night I was not feeling very kind.

To say that I was not wholly respectful would not be a true statement.

But anyway !

 

Always, Carol & Me Alvin

Living … One day at a time.

Good Morning and today would be Thursday.

November 21st, 2019.

Can you believe it?

I am trying to make the best use of my time but I will admit that some days it just gets by me.

I guess we all have those days.

I felt like a bad Mom as Alvin missed walks two days in a row.

Tuesday there wasn’t enough time before the Snowflake Tea and Cookie Sale and it was raining/snowing.

Oh, my daughter picked me up from work.

I love our rides and time together.

We have the best conversations.

COSTCO wasn’t too busy.

Last night by the time we got home from Costco and I had supper it was too late and Humphrey was over.

I did not want to leave him shortly after he arrived for the evening.

Oh well, we will be going this evening.

He did spend a lot of time outside last night so am thinking that Alvin is trying to tell me something.

I do get it.

 

Again I tried to download the photos from Tuesday but for some reason I am running into technical difficulties.

Always tomorrow.

ARGH.

What is it with me and technology.

Some things work all of the time and others it seems to be hit and miss.

Oh well.

LIFE, right?

 

Well here it is time to head back downstairs.

No pearls of wisdom today.

No great stories.

Just a 62 year old woman trying to make the best of each day and sometimes failing miserably.

Just me and my Alvin ….

Please don’t get me wrong …. I do have a pretty great life all things considered.

There are just moments within some days that I would like to crawl under a rock until I can breathe again.

Okay enough with the self pity, here.

 

Happy Thursday.

I am happy today is Thursday.

 

I will live my life with kindness and respect.

 

Always, Carol & Alvin

 

Living … One day at a time.

Hello, a soft easy Tuesday morning here at our house.

We were up not too early.

There has been a bit of rain overnight so my flowers, plants, shrubs, trees and grass had a nice drink.

Alvin is resting on his blue blanket per our regular weekday routine.

I am working on this post.

 

Trying to say something new, something to bring a smile to your face and maybe give you food for thought.

We are all different but yet so much the same.

There is something to learn from every person on this planet.

You just have to be willing to do two things?

1.  Be a teacher – share your expertise / give back
2.  Be a student – be willing to learn / to soak up new things

Each and every day we should be learning and teaching.

Life is a huge classroom.

We all can teach someone something new or a new way of doing and we can all learn.

In fact as we age it is LEARNING that keeps our brain “young.”

So be the teacher and the student.

 

On this Tuesday, I am most grateful to live in a beautiful home with my doggie pal “Alvin.”

I am grateful that we are both in good health.

I am grateful that we live in this beautiful home.

I am so grateful to be surrounded by loving and supportive family and friends.

I will say this I have the best friends and family on the planet.

I am grateful to have sight so that I may watch the leaves turn from their beautiful shades of green to yellows, oranges and reds.

I am grateful to have the sense of smell so that I can smell the pretty flowers when Alvin and I are enjoying our walks

I am grateful to be able to hear all sorts of sounds and most especially music.

Thank you.

 

I hope that you all have an awesome Tuesday.

 

Spread kindness with respect to all those you meet everyday.

 

 

Always, Carol & Alvin