The Next Chapter

Good Morning! Welcome to Saturday. Yesterday was the 40th Birthday of a close family friend for whom I call “niece.” June came in way too fast. Happy Birthday D. I have the office window open and a nice cool breeze is wafting in and gently touching me. It is not too hot in the house but the coolness feels refreshing. I am so grateful for the weekend. Last night after work I had supper and did some laundry. Eddie went for a walk with his Dad this time. Some alone time which I understand. Oh, I just got a whiff of smoke, even though the sun is shining the sky is a bit on the hazy side. I had not smelled the smoke at first but now it is apparent. Perhaps better to close the window before the house starts to smell like a fire. Certainly do not wish that. It was in the early evening that I prepared for planting my new flowers that had been inhabiting the kitchen table. I filled several pots with two kinds of petunias and geraniums and there is one flower that I do not remember the name. Will have to find out. Almost looks like a type of geranium. I took my time and even had Mr. Alvin outside with me. I know it likely sounds a bit off but he used to enjoy that time of year hanging out with me. He would always check out what I was planting and where. Those were some of the best times. I filled nine pots adding to the six other pots that were already out on the deck. Actually I suppose there were two that had in the house. I am debating whether or not to put out my other succulents. I put one of them outside and will see how it does. They like the heat for sure but …… Unfortunately last night I only took a video of all of the plants to send to my daughter and Pauline (had to show her where I put the geraniums that she gave me the night before). So no photos to share today. I will take some photos this morning before I leave for Gillian’s birthday party. Seems like forever since we three were in the same place at the same time. Time passes so quickly! Thank you to Signe for hosting this birthday party. We take turns and it is so great when it is my turn to host our get togethers whether to visit and catch up or for a special occasion like a birthday.

My friend Lucy turns 65 in a few days and Pauline will be 70 in a couple of weeks. So many milestone birthdays. A sign that we are all getting older. A reminder to not get hung up on the little things like work situations and such. I am always reminded that I have so many wonderful friends and my family are amazing. To have them all is a true blessing. I consider myself very fortunate.

Time to go and have a shower and get ready for the party. I do want to take some flower photos before the sun gets bright in the back. Perfect time for photos now.

I hope that you have a great Saturday! Enjoy.

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

Always, Carol & My Forever Angel Alvin

Last year’s flowers ……..

Flowers to plant

The Next Chapter

Good Morning. So glad today is Friday. The sky is blue and the sun is shining. We had some well needed rain yesterday so the grass and trees all had a nice boost. I hope that the areas affected by wildfires were blessed to have this moisture as well. I hope.

Yesterday was a good day. I walked with Eddie and Jeanette after supper. So different without Bruno but he is no longer in pain or suffering even though he was a master of not displaying the appearances that something was wrong otherwise than the physical changes. What a dear guy he was. Handsome and regal and well behaved. He would even say “thank you” for the treats in his way. I shall miss him always. We had a good walk bumping into friends along the way including our friends Jaime & Sadie. They were walking with two other sets of friends. So many pups so lovely. Eddie enjoyed playing fetch with the ball. He even “laid down.” Something he did not do very much before that moment. During our walk Jeanette had to take a long distance conference call between her Father’s Doctor and her brothers. When I say long distance it truly was: Venezuela, U.S. and Canada. How is that for distance? During this time we walked and I looked after Eddie. We played fetch and enjoyed our time together. We were playing fetch by my friend Pauline’s house and I noticed that her windows were open so I texted her in the off chance she was home and not busy. Her husband Al noticed me and waved and a few minutes later Pauline was outside and we were in the backyard. It felt so strange being back there without Mr. Alvin. Eddie walked around and smelled everything and looked around which reminded me of Alvin. Pauline and I quickly caught up with all of our news. They are going on a small fishing trip in June to B.C., how lovely. Our friend Lucy turns 65 in a few days and is leaving for a three month visit to family and friends in China at the end of June. Pauline turns 70 in June as well. Lots going on. We are planning a little party for her and I volunteered to bring the cake and I was thinking to myself that we can celebrate Pauline’s 70th with Lucy’s 65. We will invite another neighbour and friend of theirs (and mine).

Photo time once again. I seem to have a lot of photos to share and that is nice. My dry eye is bothering me once again, the burning and then I am obviously allergic to something as my nose is running. Will have to get my eyedrops, they help right away. I have included some photos of Pauline’s yard and my plants from Costco. Yesterday morning before work I went to the garage and brought them all inside to sit upon the kitchen table hoping they would get some sunshine but we did not have much of that yesterday but today is another story. I will plant them tonight or tomorrow morning before Gillian’s birthday party. A busy weekend ahead. I still need to wrap the birthday gift and write up a card for Gillian. Where did the week go? LOL. I gave a few plants to Jeanette as I know how much she loves them and now she has something to plant right away and enjoy. Just in case they are not able to get to a nursery.

Flowers to plant

Eddie

Eddie & Jeanette

Eddie

Visiting with Pauline

Eddie checking for light

Flowers

Beautiful yard

My Flowers

From Pauline

Well time to hustle downstairs and put on the coffee. My eye is better now without the relief of eyedrops, yay. I hope that your Friday is awesome. Whatever happens today I feel good things are in the air. Our office group won $10.00 from Wednesday’s lottery draw so just adding a few more zero’s and we will be there. We are excited. Retirement is closer than we think.

Feeling so very blessed and fortunate this Friday morning. To be surrounded by such loving friends and neighbours is so wonderful.

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

Thank you Bruno for being my friend ……… I hope that you are out for a stroll with my Alvin!

The Next Chapter

Good Morning. How are you this morning? I am hoping you are very well. I am doing very well and very happy that today is Friday. The sky appears to be a little smoky but the sun is rising and shining bright and hopefully the skies will clear soon. To have the third day in a row where the sky is blue with the sun shining would be awesome.

Last night I looked after my neighbours Humphrey & Bogart and walked with my friend Jeanette and pups Eddie & Bruno. I made sure to take my phone with me to all places so that I could snap some photos and videos which I will share with you shortly. We did not walk the usual distance as Bruno is beginning to noticeably slow down, I guess he has been but more last night. Cute story. I was just chilling waiting till 5:55 p.m. to put on my running shoes and grab the water, my phone and lock up when I heard a sound. It took me a second to realize that someone was at the door and opened to see Bruno and Eddie on the step with Jeanette. Eddie, smarty pants that he is, was actually knocking! He put his paw up on the door to let me know that they had arrived. Bruno was patiently waiting. We had a good giggle over that and I so wished that I had been phone in hand and snapped a photo. It was priceless. No photo. So sorry. We had a good walk and stopped at our friends Jamie, John and Sadie. Again we were at their fence, John opened the gate with Sadie right there and before I could let Eddie off the leash he was pulling so hard, I almost lost my hand. I will learn (obviously the hard way). They had a good visit. Walking and running and playing frisbee, Eddie and Sadie that is. Bruno looked for bones. Looks like I need my eye drops as my eye is burning making it hard to see. I also had picked up a bag of freeze dried liver yesterday at my lunch bag. Quick story, last time I bought the bag it is was $32.99, this time it was $45.99. Talk about your price increase. But I would give the world to have something for Bruno to enjoy during his last days on this earth. I gladly paid the price. Oh, the boys inhaled some of those treats while they were on my porch. Sorry for flipping back and forth. Eye burning and I have to go and look after Humphrey & Bogart. So much for eye makeup. YIKES. Cannot see to type. Anyway, I have some photos to post. Wished that you could see the video of Sadie and Eddie at the garden hose lapping up the water. Sadie loves the water coming out of the end of the hose. It was like a game to her. Photos next.

Dragonfly

Dragonfly having a drink

Bogart

Humphrey

Dragonfly

Bruno

Park

Bruno

Bruno

Eddie

Bogart

Sunset

Red Sun from bedroom

I forgot to tell you all about the Dragonfly. Quickly. I found a package on the neighbours step and wasn’t sure if they were home so brought it inside but I left a message on their doorbell message thing. Jessica came over a few minutes later and she spotted a dragonfly on my porch. I picked it up as was not sure if it was alive. It was so I gently placed it on the wreath on my door while we chatted for a few minutes. Then when were were finished I went inside the house and then had a thought that maybe it was thirsty so I gently brought it into the house and on a dessert plate poured a bit of water and placed the dragonfly close to the water. Well it actually walked over to the water and was drinking or at least I can imagine it appeared to be doing so. It was alive for quite some time but after that I had to go to see Humphrey & Bogart and have supper. After some time, I placed it on one of my houseplants with flowers. But it passed. Poor thing. But it did have some water. I wished I knew what could have been done. I love dragonflies. Time to go here. Running late.

Have an awesome day. Be well and safe and have some fun. Be a good friend and neighbour.

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

The Next Chapter

Good Morning Everyone! I hope that you had an excellent Saturday.

My Saturday was very good starting out with a great walk and ending with watching a movie. The in between was pretty great as well. I did some cleaning, transplanted a plant, laundry, walked with one of my girl friends to Save-On and back and odds and ends. A productive day.

I also forgot temporarily in the morning that I had recorded King Charles III’s Coronation. The ceremony was spectacular. I can only imagine being in the congregation.

Charles was the 40th Sovereign to be crowned at Westminster Abbey. The first was William the Conquer in 1066. The Stone of Destiny from Scotland was present. St. Edwards Crown which was made back in 1661 was brought out from the vault and is only worn for coronations. This is a heavy crown and likely part of the reason that it is only worn for a short time. Queen Consort Camilla wore Queen Mary’s crown, her first crown. She had the crown remade so that it was lighter using some of Queen Elizabeth II’s personal jewels in the crown and removing 4 of the 8 arches.

The Archbishop of Canterbury administered the oath to the King. There were many prayers. The Coronation Chair was surrounded by Anointing Screens featuring embroidered trees representing the Commonwealth. The Anointing with Holy Oil is central act of the religious ceremony. A long golden coat was placed on King Charles III followed by the Coronation Girdle. The long golden coat is named the Supertunic. He was vested in Columbium Sindonis, Supertunic and Girdle while sitting on the Coronation Throne. Then there was the Investiture of King Charles III which involved presenting him with the SPURS – which symbolize Knighthood and Chivalry. The Exchange of the Jewelled Sword by Lord President of Council Penny Mordant who presented the Sword to the King. This was the first time in history that a woman has carried and presented the sword to the King. The Armies (bracelets) were presented to the King by Lord Kamala. Prince William presented the Royal Robe/Stole to his Father, King Charles III. Followed by the Orb – Sovereign’s power which was made in the 17th century, the Ring which signifies Kingly dignity and the Coronation Glove which signifies authority and gentleness and grace. Ending with the Sceptre & Rod which signifies equity and mercy, power and justice. He was then crowned with St. Edwards crown.

The ceremony for the Queen consisted of presentation of the Ring, the Crown and the Sceptre and Rod. A much shorter ceremony but beautiful all the same.

The King exchanged St. Edward’s Crown for the Imperial State Crown before leaving Westminster Abbey.

The Diamond Jubilee Coach is made of wood but covered in gold and weighs 4 tons. Eight horses pulled the coach.

After leaving the Abbey the new King and Queen stepped into the Diamond Jubilee Coach to make their way to Buckingham Palace. They were followed by the next in line to the thrown Prince William, Princess Catherine and three children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis in a separate coach. Prince George was a page to the King, his grandfather.

At Buckingham Palace they took to the balcony where they greeted the people who had come to the palace to see them. The working royals were all in attendance along with the pages to the King and attendants to the Queen.

The music was amazing and the sound in the abbey was heavenly.

They are having a concert to celebrate unfortunately it is not televised by any of the major networks so not so easy to watch. I am sure that someone will post clips on the internet.

This morning continues to be windy and the sky is overcast. I am going to my friend Gillian’s for coffee at 1:00 p.m.

Time to head downstairs and make some coffee.

Have an awesome Sunday.

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).

The Next Chapter

Good Morning! Looks like today and following days are cooling off a bit. So we shall have a reprieve from these 30+ days. I think of Mr. Alvin when it is hot and the many ways, I worked to keep him cool. A cool wet towel laid over him, the fans going full blast, opening the windows early in the morning before work and then closing the blinds to keep in the cool air. I cannot believe that it is going to be three months in a couple of weeks since he passed on. Sure miss the little guy and my life certainly is no where near the same without him. He was a good companion and the best little buddy one could ever ask for ever …..

I guess this is May 5th and CINCO DE MAYO.

I am so grateful that today is Friday. One day closer to retirement for some of us. Not rushing my life away or anything.

So yesterday I took the bus to my dental appointment. I really had no idea what was in store for me as I have never had crowns before and the prep work is a bit on the painful side. Well not really painful but lots of pressure as they prepped the two teeth for the crowns. Which is a whole deal, I am finding out. I will be getting two crowns on May 18th, 2023. YAY, me. I am so grateful that I have a good dentist. He really care and is gentle. All of his staff are very nice. There was only one that I had not worked with to this point. Yesterday I had Cheryl. She was wonderful. Explained every step and was so gentle and thoughtful. She helped the process in a huge way. The block that they place on the opposite side of your mouth from the “rubber dam/tent” was so big and my mouth is very small and it was causing me to gag. She realized and said we have a smaller one and got it right away. The assistant from Tuesday, did not pick up on that but she was clearly in training. I am also glad that I have good dental coverage and have a Health Spending Account so all the fees have been covered thus far. I will be paying for one crown come the 18th. On that appointment I will be having two front fillings replaced and two extraction all on the top. This should be fun. Better on the top though. Should heal more easily.

The sun is shining so brightly. I have a long list of things to do come this weekend. Time to get the deck washed, reorganize the garage and work on finishing washing the walls. The upstairs walls. Then will be the main floor. At least the blinds on the main floor were done recently.

The night before last the bargaining committee for my son-in-law’s employer settled. They did not come yesterday. I am grateful that they did not have to travel in the heat. Even with A/C in cars, not much fun for pups.

Well time to fly here. Have a wonderful Friday.

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)

The Next Chapter

Good Morning! Dark outside at this moment. I am up, bed made and had a shower, bit of makeup on and dressed. Yesterday was another productive and even had time to relax. Taxes done for another year. I did some cleaning and went for a nice walk about mid afternoon. Looking forward to this long weekend. Planning to get some “major spring cleaning” accomplished. Washing walls, baseboards, blinds etc. and going through the office/library and reorganizing and going through that closet. Lots to do but I would like to have it all done so that I have time for other things. It will not be too much long and I can start figuring out what to plant. Picking out flowers is so much fun especially if I am with my girl, my daughter. I always have a hard time deciding on which flowers and usually buy a lot. I am sure that they love to see me coming. Planting flowers is so much fun and I love to see them grow and fill out the pots and the flower beds. The front flower bed has always been a bit of concern for me. Some years the flower choices are good and others not so much. I have from time to time had perennials until the lilies had those dreadful red bugs and I ended up pulling them out although if you do not take out the bulb, they will come back. Last fall I thought of getting small ornamental bushes and I may this year. Depends on the quality and pricing. Time will tell.

Seeing as though we are talking flowers, I am going to post some of my favourite flower pictures from over the years. Oh, I can see it beginning to get light outside my office window.

For Mom

Flowers

More Flowers

A proper Gentleman

Photo Shoot

My Flowers

Flowers

Impatiens – for you Alvin

Temporary bedroom

Perfection

I just had to add some photos of my boy. He loved the flowers and to be out in the middle of me planting. Sniffing and watching my every move. I shall miss him dearly this planting season.

I hope that you have a wonderful Monday. Be safe and be well.

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)

The Next Chapter

Good Morning! How are you? I am doing well. Last night I did not toss and turn as much as the bed was less “apart.” Funny how that happens! YAY, it is Friday. Today is also the birthday of a long time friend of mine Paulette. We have known each other since the early 80’s. She lives back in Saskatchewan. I wish her a very Happy Birthday.

Yesterday was an odd day but not so much for the end of March. It was cloudy and cold for most of the day. After work I changed and went for a walk. There was a cold breeze but it was nice to shake off the cobwebs of the day and start fresh. I saw lots of “pups” while I was out and that was nice. I see Alvin everywhere. He is with me on walks and in my heart during the day at the office. Today is the last day of March 2023 so I wonder what Mother Nature has in store for us today. I had planned to walk at lunch break yesterday but decided against it so hopefully the sun is shining today and it is nice.

I found all of the information for the replacement heating element for my oven. So this weekend I shall figure out a way to go and pick one up. Sometimes not having a car or a vehicle is a pain in the butt. I am not a fan of asking people for rides or for help. I much prefer to be able to do things on my own but that is not always possible. Anyway, that is my cross to bear. We all have things that we do not like to do or to admit to ourselves or to others. Being independent has always been a big deal for me, just saying. P.S. I turned on the broiler in the oven last night and it heats up so it is only the bottom one.

This will be a busy weekend with coffee at my friend Gillian’s tomorrow morning. I have to complete and submit my income tax (so grateful can do on line now although seeing things on paper is sometimes easier, I should have a printer?), do laundry, clean out closets and figure out formatting the photos. I want to start next weekend as it is four days by going through room by room and doing a spring clean. I am quite sure that I have things that I no longer wear, need or use and that I could find a good home for them. One always feels better when they “spring clean.” I know that I certainly do.

Time to head downstairs and put on the coffee. I love having time to sit back and have a cup of coffee before leaving the house. I have also started to eat breakfast before I leave. Then I fast until supper time. Funny how one’s body gets used to changes.

Happy Friday to you. I hope that you have an easy breezy WONDERFUL day. Only good things happening to us all on this Friday, March 31st, 2023. See you on the other side. (Saturday).

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)

The Next Chapter

Good Morning! How are you this Monday morning? Yes, it is Monday already. Don’t you think that the weekends go far too quickly? I had a fairly good sleep but woke up around 4:00 and then dozed off and on until the alarm went off.

Yesterday a flock of medium sized birds of which I did not recognize flew into my tree. There must have been well over one hundred of them. They dangled and say for a moment while I struggled to take a photo or video. By the time I was ready most of them had flown away and to a neighbouring tree (I did get a short video there). It was like a beautifully orchestrated dance. Safe to say that spring is here. Oh, I hope so.

I had been thinking of reading up on the external hard drive and finishing off my taxes but after spending most of Saturday on the computer, I thought “no.” Instead I cleaned. The upstairs. Cleaned the bathrooms. Washed the cabinets, the sinks, the toilets, went through the cabinets (spring clean) and vacuumed. I vacuumed the stairs and the main floor. Just did some cleaning which is good for the soul.

Oh and big news. I had decided to bake a banana pumpkin loaf. Likely should have turned the oven on first to preheat but instead I put together the loaf and then turned on the oven. It did not warm up. I reached out to my neighbour but she did not get back to me and found out a bit later that they had gone out. By that time, I had googled two things. How long can you keep batter in the fridge and can you use the microwave to bake this type of loaf. Surprisingly enough positive searches for both. I ended up popping it into the microwave and after about 12 minutes off and on, it was done. Knife came out without batter. I let it sit for a minute before taking the knife and going around the outside edges to loosen it before turning it over onto a tray to cool. A little while later, I gave it a slice. Voile, it was cooked. Then to taste, well not the same consistency as baking in the oven but it was done and edible. So in case your oven stops working – you can use the microwave and not waste the batter. I had taken chicken out of the freezer so had to pan fry it. Not my favourite way of cooking chicken that is for sure but it works. Now I am oven less until I am able to get it fixed. I think it is the heating element, I had it replaced several years ago. Hopefully that is all.

Time to head downstairs. Have a wonderful Monday.

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)

The Next Chapter

Good Morning! Yay, it is the weekend. The sky is blue with wisps of night clouds slowly disapating and it is bright and sunny. I am so happy that it is the weekend. My daughter slept over last night and I am so happy to have her here. She brought Alvin’s special ceramic paw prints home from Guardian yesterday with here and she also found me some runners and run around shoes from thrift stores. Always good to buy second hand whenever you can. I do want to buy some good walking shoes for those long walks and those will be new and I will go and try them on and get the best ones for me. We happily devoured leftovers of the dish that my friend Alyaa had dropped off the night before and so good. I have a long list of things to do this weekend, well perhaps not too long but things that will take a bit of time like finishing to move the rest of the approximately 4000 photos from the old computer to the external hard drive and then do my income tax, in between do laundry, drop off cards at the vet clinic for the staff who looked after Alvin for 13 years and some cleaning. The streets and sidewalks across the street which is north of us but facing south are pretty much ice and snow free. On this side facing north is quite another story although I will say getting better. Hopefully the weather will turn and the temperatures will warm up so that that ice melts. It is a huge job in the spring keeping the storm drain clear and ensuring that as the snow melts and runs down.

I love Alvin’s paw prints and was emotional when I opened the beautiful case that they arrived in. There are so many reminders of my beautiful Alvin. He was the best. Missing him. I will always miss him.

Time to head downstairs. I have made my bed, gathered clothing to be laundered and need COFFEE. I woke up at 6:00 but some how just could not get my butt out of bed except to go to the bathroom. Time to get this day started. Happy for Amanda being here and for the sunshine. Happy Saturday.

Have an awesome Saturday. Remember to take some time for you. You are important. Thank you for your time and for reading this post. I appreciate you. Be safe and be well.

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)

P.S. Soon we shall get this photo thing figured out so that I can actually post some new photos. Technology is a wonderful thing and I keep telling myself that every day ……. all day long, lol.

The Next Chapter

Good Morning! The sun is rising and it is Saturday. I am so happy that it is the weekend and that we survived another week. I think that for most of us that is a huge deal. I am grateful for the weekend and that I am able to be at home, in my safe and happy place. Surrounded by the warmth of souls that have come and gone and by memories. Oh, the memories do truly help keep you warm at night and give you the energy to get going in the morning. Happy Saturday.

Last night our friends Iris and pups Teddy and Kobi came for a visit. At first the pups just ran up the steps and into the house with every bit of energy in them and back and forth once inside from back door to front door. Then they stopped and started to sniff about and we both knew they were wondering where their old friend Alvin had gone. Teddy and Alvin have been best friends for many years. They used to have sleepovers and Teddy was here for special occasions and just for visits with no reason other than to see his buddy. Iris could not even mention Alvin’s name before they got into the car because he would get so excited. Iris is energy sensitive and reminded me that she could feel Alvin all around and where else would he be but in his house with me. She always makes me feel good and she gave me wonderful comforting words of encouragement and support and love. They are family to us. In between the tears we even managed to have some laughter. Where are the tears without laughter. Both are so important to us all. I love watching Teddy and Kobi as they ran about. They went outside at one point shortly after arriving and were sniffing around as I am sure they could smell their friend. Kobi loves to watch the neighbourhood out of our front window and she stood on her hind legs and took in our world. Teddy played with a toy of Alvin’s. Joy returned to my house for a few minutes. I am so grateful that they were in the city and stopped by. Iris and the pups had walked over as she did not have her car in the city only her husband’s truck. I decided that it would be nice to walk them home. So we chatted and walked. I ended up staying at their house chatting until almost 10:00 p.m. and then quickly walked home. Home safe and sound. Our neighbourhood is good but you never know. Even coyotes could be out. We looked at pictures from their farm. They have two new cats and I saw videos of the pups and the new cats. The new cats were used to dogs so it was cute to see them interacting. I thoroughly enjoyed our time together. I cannot wait until the next time. Thank you Iris, Teddy and Kobi for the visit. We missed you guys.

Today is laundry day and some cleaning. Then back to moving photos from the old computer to the hard drive. Too bad there was not a more efficient, more faster way of doing this but alas there appears not to be. Just a footnote to everyone out there – make sure that you store your photos and edit them. Through out the bad shots, the duplicates etc. Always.

Amanda is stopping by in the early afternoon after a dental appointment and before she goes to spend some time with her bestie. Both my “kids” were/are so blessed to have good people in their lives. Alvin had a village, he had our neighbourhood. Iris reminded me that it was Alvin who brought us all together. It truly was. He was the best guy ever and my longest male relationship. I am forever grateful for the relationships that he helped me make and keep for well over a decade. Oh, how I miss him. I am excited to see my girl. Always good to see her. She is the best.

Have an awesome Saturday. Take some time to be with family and friends and for yourself. Remember better to live in the moment today than to get hung up on the future or the days ahead. For there is only today as we are not promised tomorrow. Enjoy this day!

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).