November 5th💓 ~ Six Years Without Our Brutus 💔

 You left this world but forgot to tell 

my Heart how to live without you...

You’ve been on my mind a lot Brutus 🖤 

not a day goes by that thoughts of you don’t

cross my mind.  When you’ve loved someone 

as much as we loved/love you, it sure gets a little 

difficult at times remembering and missing you.

  The other day we saw a little kitty.   Your dada

 stopped, and for a long time looked at the kitty

 and all he said was, "he looks like Brutus.”  

Wherever we go you are always with us.  

Your picture hangs in every place we live in.  

We have no pictures of anyone else but 

you hanging on the walls of our homes.

This picture of you has gone everywhere with us.

You Brutus will forever hold a place in our

 hearts no one else will have. I am grateful for 

every moment we had with you. Of course I 

would have loved to have so much more. 

Your dada always used to say that we would have you

 with us for a long long time, unfortunately life decided

 otherwise.  For the time we had together just know that 

the impact you left no one else has been able to do so.  

Your mama and dada miss you and love you 💓

I am grateful for the time we had.  Life has given us

 many wonderful reasons to smile and to be thankful.  

You, Shadow and Sniff.  Sniff makes me happy .

It is six years today that you are no longer with us💔.

And there in not a day that a thought of you does not come to me.

It matters not what my brain knows

 but what my 💚 heart feels....

~Nadiya~

Sunday September 6th ~

Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of 

darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it 

were not balanced by sadness. It is far better to take things 

as they come along with patience and equanimity...

Arvid to me this morning, "I have been walking non-stop talking 

to the family.  Man this is a workout."  And so begins our Sunday.

Sniff has already found his cozy spot close to us.  Sniff 

has given me extra, extra work, but I am not complaining 

because we have him close to us.  I have to clean every 

spot I think/know he will climb onto, because he does.

Every so often even Sniff gets really hot.  He has learnt 

that the fan will help to cool him down even more.

Yesterday we had time to check out a few places close by. 

 Walking distance, but for now we will drive because it 

is just too HOT!  The  heat is really wearing us out, 

but I'm sure we will be getting used to it soon.

Sunday in Puerto Rico.  Most restaurants are closed today, 

but we are free to discover the beauty that lays ahead of us.

Happy Sunday all.  In Puerto Rico the skies are

 blue as can be.  Happiness is a direction, not a place.

It isn’t what you have or who you are or where you 

are or what you are doing that makes you happy 

or unhappy. It is what you think about it...

~Nadiya~

Tuesday August 18th Humor Speaks ~

A sense of humor is a major

 defense against minor troubles...

As the new week progresses, I find it best to approach
 it with a good sense of humor and a carefree attitude.
 With all that's going on it's the best way to survive
the day.  That's my attitude these days.

Humor can be one of our best survival tools, 

and right now with all that's going, on Floridians find

 lots of time to be creative and to see the humor in

 every situation. It's not only a Floridian thing, but I 

live in Florida so my focus is Florida 🌴🌴.

I've reached that age where my brain goes 

from "you probably shouldn't say that." To 

"what the hell, let's see what happens."

 To all a very happy day.  Just remember everything 

is gonna be all right.  Just have to give it some time.

A well developed sense of humor is the pole that adds

 balance to your steps as you walk the tightrope of life...

~Nadiya~

July 17th Chicago 😍 ~

Sometimes we need the fog to remind ourselves 

that all of life is not black and white 😁...

And no, I did not manage to go back to sleep 😩, but I
did enjoy the morning so far.  Too much caffeine as well.

Our mornings are mostly on the foggy side.  Since we
have been here the fog has not really cleared always
during the day, but today hopefully it should.  Even with
the fog, I see the beauty of the city and its enchantment. 

 It kept us coming back since 2006 🙌.  That 

was the first year we came to Chicago.  That was

 the year that settled our fate.  We fell in love with 

Chicago and nothing has changed.  We still love it.

Fog or no fog, there is no denying its charm. 

 As they say, beyond the fog lies clarity.

Arvid and I have been busy.  Packing and dismantling.  

As always we say, more like he says, "We will never

 move again.  I'm getting too old for this."  But Arvid says

 that every year.  I stopped listening.  I go with the flow.  

With Arvid you can never be too sure what comes next.

One thing for sure, life is always interesting 👫

Good morning to all.  It's Friday and for those not 

affected with COVID, it's even better.  As they

 say in Puerto Rico, es viernes social 🍻.

Always remember, your focus determines your reality...

~Nadiya~