Hello Wednesday...

Love is what dreams are made of.

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams,

live the life you have imagined...

Yesterday may have started out pretty stormy, but it sure cleared up fast.  The dark skies

 turned blue and the rain stopped.  Here in Florida it rains fast and hard, then suddenly ceases.

There was a parade of boats all day long coming back from the Boat Show in Miami.

Started very early in the morning.  Rain or no rain the boats kept coming.

During all of this Arvid was still asleep.  I am an early riser.  He's not a morning person.

Yesterday morning I dreamt Brutus.  First time ever since he died.  103 since he died.  The

 dream was strange.  I was sad and somehow both Brutus and I seemed to know he was 

going to die.  Brutus hugged me and he said "I love you mama."  I don't know what dreams 

mean.  I wish I did.  I woke up feeling very sad.  Shadow was on the bed with us.

This morning I had the best chat with Michelle Desiree.  Arvid's youngest daughter.
We met when she was just 7 years old.   I saw her change into a beautiful young woman
and now into an amazing mother of two.  Yes, she and Emil gave us 2 granddaughters.
 For that I am always grateful.  Life may not always be easy for her, for no one for
 that matter, but Michelle makes it look easy.  Her speciality.  At ease always.

 For her being a mother came naturally and she does it with grace and lots of patience and love.
 We admire her for all she is.  He quiet calm and always her patience and just because she's
 Michelle.  She is an amazing woman and I am fortunate to be part of her life.  I LOVE
 you Michelle Desiree and I admire you for all you are!!!  You make us really PROUD!!
Michelle, you made my morning special and it felt as if I was walking on sunshine.

I'm walking on sunshine and don't it feel good.  It is not how much we have,
 but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness...

~Nadiya~

Friday...

No one looks back on their life and remembers the nights they had plenty of sleep...

Windy is the word of the day.  Went out to the balcony as usual to have my cafe.

Mistake.  All of it spilled everywhere and all over me.  The wind almost blew

 me and the phone away as well.  On the good side, it is warmer today.

It is almost 5pm here in Florida.  Still raining.  Made for a good day to be at the mall.

There are huge clearance sales everywhere.  Seems like everything winter is marked down
50-80% off.  Guess soon the spring collection will be coming in.  Can't wait.  I did my part
and stocked up on some winter gear.  Never know when they might come in handy.

The food court at The Galleria mall is finally taking shape.  It was a great food court,
but it's been close to 2 years that it has been under renovation.  Finally 2 additional food
vendors opened up with a few more coming.  Really a cool spot to meet and eat.

This will be a relaxing stay at home Friday.  Love it.  Watch movies and snacks.
Had a good time with friends yesterday evening and it also rained then.

To all hope the weekend brings you lots of sunshine.  If it does not,
then do as the saying says,"make your own sunshine."

Enjoy the weekend with the people you love...

~Nadiya~

Time With Danielle....

The moments of happiness we enjoy take us by surprise. 

It is not that we seize them, but that they seize us...

The days are busy with Danielle.  For that I am very happy.  Less time to think, but no 

matter what, a little face creeps into my vision and into my thoughts.  For a few moments 

I am taken over again by sadness, but I make an effort to pull myself out of it, and to be 

cheerful again.  Truth is, it's easy with Danielle.  Having her with us is doing us good.

During the day she and I spend time doing lots of different things.  Girl stuff.  It's always 

good to get out and to stay distracted.  Yesterday we did Indian Buffet for lunch.  Good that 

both she and I like it, and to make it even better the featured dish was chicken tikka masala.

At home she and Arvid actually spend quite a lot of time talking.  He's been giving lessons

 in trading and she seems to be enjoying it.  He's been helping her find out the distances

 between her college in England and a few key places.  Arvid is good; he is very

 helpful with everyone and I'm always grateful he enjoys spending time with 

all my nieces and nephews.  Danielle really tells it to him like it is.

The other day she was actually questioning him why it is that he turns off the phones 

every night at 6pm.  Of course he gives his explanation of...don't want to be bothered by anyone

and so and so.  She asked him a legitimate question.  She said, "but what if there was an 

emergency?" He said, "well then they will just have to call me at another time."

It is how it is.  Here at home the home phone gets turned off, well the volume gets turned

 down and his cell phone is rarely on.  Arvid is not happy when he get a call on his cell phone.

My phone is always on.  Never gets turned off, but if it rings I rarely hear it because it's on vibrate.

Our home phone, though the volume is turned down, it will still ring.  Arvid  does not like that.

Danielle and I had a full day out.  We came back stuffed from all that good Indian food.

We walked around the mall for quite some time and she picked up a few fancy 

tops to take to England for those days that she's sure there will be parties.

What are aunts for if not to pamper her nieces and nephews.  Whichever spends time with us 

will be given the royal treatment and of course go back home with a few more items than they 

came with.  Hopefully her carry on will take everything because we still have a few more days.

Arvid has been wanting to play a few games with her so that they can do some betting.

Danielle is also busy writing and editing during the times we are "relaxing" at home. Arvid 

said, "she does not have that much time like she did when we were in Chicago."

True again.  She's grown up and she now has a full schedule.  Playing games

 does not fit into it as readily as it did a few years ago, but hopefully she

 will find some time to play with him and bet with him.

To all a very good day.  My days are pretty OK with Danielle here.

The nights are not so great.  When silence sets in my heart aches for Brutus. 

I am missing that kitty kat like crazy.  At nights as I try to not cry Arvid holds me.

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....

~Nadiya~

Friday..

Taking things one day at a time, one step at a time, and remembering that

 not all things can be explained always.  Missing you is taking up a lot of my time..

A big part of the today will be spent getting everything ready for tomorrow.  The 

good thing is that it will keep me busy and for that both Arvid and I are very grateful.

As always I am going to prepare quite a lot of different foodies for tomorrow.

Cooking is something I always enjoy, but for some reason i don't enjoy 

food as much.  Trust me I eat, but I don't enjoy the experience as 

I did before.  One day this will be better as well.

The day is looking good for today and for tomorrow.  Happy about that.  Would 

be a shame to have rain when the boat parade is on.  With Brutus it was 

never an issue if he would run out, but wit  Shadow we will have 

to be very careful.  He is constantly ready to take off.

The other day I drove by Fort Lauderdale beach.  The day was bright and sunny. 

 Clear blue skies all day long.  Made for an OK outing. Yesterday neither Arvid nor I

 were not having such a good day.  Brutus is never far from our thoughts.

Soon we will be going to Mexico for a few days.  I know Arvid is super eager to get

 away from here.  First we both love it there, but now for him it will also be therapeutic 

because as he says, "that's the one place Brutus has not been with us."

Right now I am not keen on going, but plans were made before Brutus died.

Arvid says he thinks it will do us both good.  I am definitely going to try and have

 a better time.  As for Shadow he is doing very good.  Gaining weight all the time.

Tis the season to be jolly and I wish you all the very best of times.  For now, 

my days are still moving very slowly, but at least it's moving.  I'm grateful for each new 

day no matter how sad they are.  Others are not that fortunate to have another day. 

Everyone is getting prepared for the Boat parade tomorrow.

Live one day at a time; because the future will 

come your way no matter what anyway..

~Nadiya~

And So Begins Another Day...

Good Morning.  No matter how good or bad your life is,

wake up each morning and be thankful that you still have one..

It's been days, maybe weeks since I last saw the sun shining as I woke up.

There has been rain and more rain like never before.  Unusual for this time of the year,

especially when you add the high humidity in the air.  Hopefully today will

 be the start of better days to come in more ways than  one.

Big boats are back out cruising under clear bright skies.  Makes for a pleasant sight.

The annual boat parade is on on Saturday.  same as in past years we will be

 having company.  Last year Brutus was a part of it.  Not this year.  Will be Shadows first 

of many things to come. He unlike Brutus, is a rascal (cute) maker so have to be on the lookout.

This year it will be 8 of us.  7 adults and 1 child, Madeline. Looking forward to the company 

and the best part is that I know no one will overstay their welcome. As I have said

 before, dear friends and family,  thanks for visiting, but just remember don't overstay 

your welcome.  I am still not ready to be social for hours and hours. 

That being said I am sure we will have a good time.  

Already started preparing some of the food we will nibble on.

 To all a good day. As always let it be better than yesterday.

Missing you is what I do, but everyday the sun is new as well..

~Nadiya~