It's All About Family...

A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost....

These are mys sisters....they are my best friends.....

I have four younger sisters. We fought, we patched up. We laughed at jokes that no one

 can understand. We said some of the meanest things to each other. We defended each

 other when others won't. We did some of the silliest things together and there's so 

many stories to be recalled when we are together.  Always the best of times.

I consider myself lucky.  We are five sisters and I am the eldest.  We all live in different 

parts of the USA and one lives in Puerto Rico.  This makes it difficult sometimes for all of us 

to be together at the same time.  Even so, we do manage to see each other at least once a year.  

Sometimes if we are lucky we may see each other twice.  Even though we are all so far 
apart we have maintained a bond that is unbreakable.  We are each others best 
friends.  Whenever I feel I can't talk to anyone, my sisters are always there
 to listen.  It does not matter when or what time it is.  I know I can
 count on them and they know they can do the same with me.

We are all going to meet this year in Virginia.  Going to Rima's home.  Gabby is graduating 

 from high school and it seemed like a good time for us to all get together.  Unfortunately,

 my sister Nirvana who lives in Puerto Rico will not be able to come.  She is going to

 India with her daughter Kimsy.  Kimsy has an internship in India for the next

 two months.  That is one trip I would not pass up on either.

My parents will be there.  All of my nieces and nephews except of course for Kimsy and her

 brother J.  It promises to be a good time.  For time spent with family is NEVER wasted.

To all a very good day.  May you day exceed all expectations.  Today and everyday.

When everything goes to hell, the people who stand by you 
without flinching-they are your family...

~Nadiya~

Hello Thursday...

I know everything happens for a reason.  
But sometimes I wish I knew what that reason was...

The last few days we have been doing rearranging the unit a little.  Arvid assembling furniture,

 and always lots of cleaning involved.  It is finally starting to look cozy and more like

 home again.  Sniff is so comfy these days that it is just a pleasure to see him so

 happy, not afraid and eating normally again.  He's happy we're happy.

Here in Chicago we do not have a washer and dryer unit in our apartment.  For many this would

 be disastrous, but for us it is no big deal.  Arvid actually is happy about this.  Says we get 

less dust, and the apartment does not get so hot.  Yes he always see's the bright side

 of everything.  I agree with some of it.  Not all.  I do the laundry and he does 

he fixing up of whatever needs fixing.  Then we clean up together.

We live on the 34th floor and the laundry room is on the 2nd, somehow it seems just
natural when in Chicago to do it this way.  Of course before doing laundry I check the
schedule of the elevator.  Everyday there are move in and move outs, and deliveries.
Depending on that is when we do the laundry.  Everything has to be perfectly timed.

Arvid and Sniff have become very attached.  Sniff loves his Dada very much and every
 morning you will find him snuggled close to Arvid.  Arvid loves it because he
says it keeps him warm.  If Arvid moves, you guessed it, Sniff moves.

My sister and Kimsy are having a blast in India.  Yesterday for Kimsy's birthday
their guide treated them to dinner complete with a cake and roses for Kimsy.

Here all is well.  We have been interviewing different sitters for Sniff Sniff.  Not so
easy to come across someone you can trust.  We thought we had a teenager in the building,
but unfortunately it did not work out.  Let's say I was not happy with her, so she was fired
before she even started.  Sad because having someone in the building is best.

The above was just thorwn in for fun.  Do I believe it?  Not necessarily, but FB thinks
that this best describes me.  I really like the one that says I have someone watching over me.
  I have always know that I have a guardian angel up above.  His name is Paul Michael
Riley.  I want to believe that Brutus and Shadow are playing together and they
 know how much I love them and how much I miss them.  I will always love you.

To all a very good day.  I leave you with a few scenes from Chicago.

They say, "difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations"...

~Nadiya~

Nirvana Kimberly... A Force All By Herself

Some people are special cause of what they say or what they do, but you are special 
to me because of  who you are in my life, and the way you care and 
treat others. Just by being you,  you've made all the difference...

Kimsy was born in Puerto Rico in 1997.  She is 19 years old today and just like Reshma, 

I look at her and I don't know where the years have gone by.  Time is going by too fast.

 We last saw Kimsy May of last year.  Arvid and I went to Puerto Rico for her graduation. 
 I look at her and seeing the beautiful young lady she is today made me realize that I 
am a very lucky aunt and it makes me miss her very much.  I have beautiful
 nieces who are both wonderful inside and outside and who loves me.  
Can one get any luckier?  Don't think so.  I am blessed.

Kimsy grew up Bilingual.  Now she is also fluent in French and I think she has picked up
 some additional languages due to all the international travelling she has been doing.  
On Sunday Kimsy and her mom took went to India.  Kimsy has an internship at a hospital
 in India and will be living there for the next two months.  Honestly I can't keep up
 with my nieces and nephews.  The are always on the move.



Kimsy is the celebrity in our family.  Her life is centered around the who is who,
but even so she is one of the most kindhearted, grounded young lady always there to help
out. To know Kimsy is to love her.  She is soft spoken and a fierce defender of 
her brother J.  After graduation she began college life in Harvard.  She now
 lives in Connecticut, but still jets around. I just adore her free spirit.

Just thinking of her and I smile.  The girl is just lovable.  I remember one year when
 visiting them in Puerto Rico, she insisted we go to the Care Bear Shop, and get
 ourselves a care Bear.  She already had a huge collection, but just seeing her 
so excited made me get caught up in the moment.  So we both walked 
out of there with new care Bears and a big smile.  Brutus had some 
good times with Lil Mysulf as mine was called.  My Brutus.



Thinking about her makes me long to see her, J and my sister.  

All my nieces and nephews are SMART!, but there is something about the girls 

that take them to another level.  Kimsy is no exception.  She excels in everything. 

 If there is something that needs to be done, guess who was volunteering?  

My beautiful niece is all grown up.  You are unique and special, and the 
world is an open book.  Happy Birthday and we hope we can see you all soon. 
 Go on and conquer the world.  Don't ever stop Kimsy.  Live life to the fullest always.

There will always be people in your life to tell you U can't.

Look them in the eyes and and say WATCH me....!

~Nadiya~

Moments At The 2016 Chicago Blues Festival...

I like my music's volume high enough to not hear you...

Just look at his face. Arvid could not wait to get going to the festival.  He said to me,

"this weekend no one can get hold of me.  I'm not turning my phone on."  And he had a big smile 

on his face.  The man is happiest when he hears the Blues, and Friday did not disappoint.

Said Arvid, "dear music I will never be able to thank you enough for being there for me."

As always I love being outdoors.  I may not always sit still, but I'm having a good time. 

 I enjoy watching everyone and capturing moments.  Makes me happy.  Very happy.

People of all ages were there.  Old, young, infants.  You name it they were there.  

Some came on bicycles, wheelchairs, strollers and of course many like us just walked.

The first day was HOT!  Just about everyone wore a hat.  Unfortunately, 

I have too much hair and no hats really stay put on my head.

Saturday on the other hand was even hotter.  Neither Arvid nor I felt we wanted to go out and
 sit in the heat, even for the Blues.  As you know we live in Florida, and we rarely go out
 in the heat.  So on this day we stayed home with Sniff Sniff and listened to the music from
 our balcony.  Was a treat and best of all we were in the shade, yet heard everything.

I took the above pictures from our balcony.  Not too shabby after all.  We like it.

Yesterday the temperatures dipped into the 60's F, of course we were cold, but more
so Arvid.   As you can see he had to borrow my scarf for the remainder of the evening.
 After that it was good.  We moved around a bit and at some point we had a
 little sunshine which help quite a lot in warming us up.

As far as Arvid and I are concerned there is no place better than Chicago.
In the summertime  The Blues Festival has the best place to call home.  Chicago.
The views from each stage is just breathtaking.  Arvid and I are just fortunate to
 be living in the center of all the amazingness that is Chicago.

In the mist of all of this, tragedy surrounds us.  As the world now knows, Orlando,
Florida an American-born man who's pledged allegiance to ISIS gunned down 50 people
 early Sunday at a gay nightclub in Orlando.  The deadliest mass shooting in the
United States and the nations worst terror attack since 9/11 according to authorities.


Life sure is put into perspective,  There are hundreds of families mourning the loss of loved
 ones.  Tears that will forever be a part of their lives.  It makes one really appreciate what
 we have and who we have in our lives.  To all, what are you grateful for today?

Good morning all.  Remember to never let the things you want make you forget the
 things you have.  I also remind myself of that quite often these days.
If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.  As we express our gratitude,
 we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them...

~Nadiya~

Sunday.. Day 3 Of The Chicago Blues Festival

Music expresses that which cannot be put into 

words and that which cannot remain silent...

The Chicago Blues Festival is the largest free blues festival in the world and remains 

the largest of Chicago's Music Festivals.  During three days on five stages, more than 

500,000 blues fans prove that Chicago is the "Blues Capital of the World."

Yesterday was just too hot.  Arvid and I did not go to the Festival instead we listened to the
music from our balcony.  We also did some shopping for Sniff.  Now he has his own scratch pad.
 He loved it right away.  Of course Arvid went on his knees and did some scratching on the
pad.  Sniff followed suit.  He did the same for Brutus and Shadow.  Arvid is special.

As Sundays go, Arvid talks to his family.  Today we go and listen to more music,
hopefully it will not be as hot as yesterday.  Sniff is good, but here he does not get as much
 exercise as he should.  The apartment is much smaller than our Florida home,
 and Sniff is not used to it as yet.  Hopefully soon he will be all adjusted.

To all a very happy Sunday.  Smile more than you cry.  Give more than you take,
 and love more than you hate.  It's a beautiful day here in Chicago.  Check out our view.

A painter paints pictures on canvas. 
 But musicians paint their pictures on silence.

~Nadiya~

Chicago Blues Festival..Day 2

Play the moments.  Pause the memories.  

Stop the pain.  Rewind the happiness...

Arvid is not a morning person neither is Sniffer.  If we slept in until 9 in the morning 

Sniff Sniff would also be curled up next to his Dada.  They both love their sleep.  

Sniff likes to roam around these days, and Arvid says he is not rested because he's 

awake all night long.  Last night Sniff slept quietly and so did Arvid.  For a change

 the morning was fairly relaxed and not too much stress going on.  Love it.

Good morning everyone.  Today is day 2 of The Chicago Blues Festival.  Brutus loved music.

Whenever Arvid turned on the jukebox or any of his Blues music Brutus was always there.

  Together he and Arvid listened to music all the time.  When Shadow came along Arvid tried 

to do the same with him.  Shadow was not afraid of anything, and when Arvid blasted the

 music he was right there.  Now it's Sniff's turn to listen to the Blues with his Dada.  

As of now Sniff Sniff also has shown an interest in the music.  Happy kitties. 

Today is Arvid's mom's birthday.  Happy birthday Molly.  See you soon in Norway.
Hope your day is a good one.  Arvid and I send love to you and a big hug.
Thank you for everything and for always being so good to me.

Last night after the Blues Festival we watched the Copa America game between Argentina
 and Panama from our balcony.  That is we were able to see the screen from our
 balcony as the game was being broadcasted.  Pretty cool.  Messi did not disappoint
 his fans who paid anywhere $100 to $1200 to see the game.

Let us never know what old age is. Let us know the happiness time brings,
 not count the years.  The more you praise and celebrate your life, 
the more there is in life to celebrate.  Happy Birthday Molly...

~Nadiya~

Chicago Blues Festival...

Music gives soul to the Universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination,
 and Life to everything else.  It's 106 miles to Chicago. We got a full tank of gas, half 
a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses!....................HIT IT!!!”

We have had some very long days since getting to Chicago with lots and lots to do,

 but hopefully this weekend all we will do is listen to some good music, relax and enjoy 

some good food.  You see it's our yearly Chicago Blues Festival Weekend.

Here we are at our first Blues Festival in Chicago.  Once we experienced the city

we knew we had to come back every year for the summer.  The city is just amazing.
As you can see in the above picture, even Brutus was all into the Blues.



This is Sniff Sniff's first time for everything.  So far he is doing pretty good.  Yesterday
he met with a second pet sitter.  She is also a cat lover.  Lives in our building and Sniff Sniff
was immediately all over her.  Good sign for us.  It's not easy leaving kitty for so long.



Soon we will go to Norway.  Looking forward to seeing everyone, but of course NOT happy
about leaving Sniff for so long.  With Brutus I agonized every time we went to Norway.
 He always had issues with the paw.  No one knew how to give him his medicines like I did.

When we left Brutus I counted the hours until we got back home.  It was always stressful
 for me because I worried always about his paw.  Even when the paw was OK I worried about
 my Brutus.  I would like to not have to worry this year as much.  Sniff is healthy,
 and that in itself is a big relief, but knowing me I will worry no matter what.



For the next 3 days we will be enjoying good music, we are just happy to be here 
and we are looking forward very much to the weekend and The Blues Festival.

To all a very good weekend.  For those who like us are enjoying a musical weekend,
let's get this party going.  It's soon time to rock and roll.  Sniff says hihi to all.
He's doing better and starting to jump into all the cupboards again.  Yes,
he now can open them.  We will be child-cat proofing them.

Happy Friday to all.

Music in the soul can be heard by the universe.  Behind every favorite 

song there is an untold story.  Where words fail, music speaks...

~Nadiya~

It's A New day...

There are things in life we don't want to happen.  But have to accept; things we don't 

want to know, but have to learn, and people we can't live without, but have to let go...

One of the many favorite things I like about living in this city is the fact that the grocery store

 is just a few steps away from us.  Mariano's is just the most awesome place to shop. I have 

seem some arrive there in a limo, but most walk since it's in the middle of everything.

Aside from the huge selection of cooked foods, there is a pizza bar, a salad bar, a wine bar,

and there is music on the outside.  You can buy whatever cut of meat you like and if

you like it will be grilled for you any which way you want it.  We have not tried this as yet,

 but with the weather so beautiful maybe one day we will have a steak grilled there. 

We had a pretty busy day yesterday.  Had to stock up on food, litter, toys and treats for 

Sniff Sniff at Pet Smart.  The a trip to the Whole foods market to stock up on dried fruit,

bread and some other favorites.  Arvid can never say no to Home depot so that was our next 

stop.  Last, but not least was Jewel Osco, another grocery store where we shopped and shopped.

The scenery here in the city is so beautiful, but the traffic is a killer.  A trip that should

 have taken us less than 15 minutes took close to an hour to get home.  Did not help 

that it was the 5 o'clock rush hour.  Once home it was playtime with Sniff Sniff.

Brutus and Shadow are always in my thoughts and always in my heart.  Not a day goes by

and I don't miss Brutus.  I look at Sniff and sometimes I think I see my Brutus. 

 I really do.  Sometimes I forget and when I see Sniff I call him Brutus.  I try to not

 do it, but sometimes it just happens.  How I miss my Brutus.  So very much.

Life is good.  Sometimes it gets a bit stressful, but overall we can't complain.  

Sometimes I just have to stop and remind myself that even though everything is not 

exactly the way I want it to be, it is still a very good life.  Yes, I remind myself 

everyday that there is always something to be grateful for.  Always.

Good morning all.  Just a reminder to all of us.  Be thankful for what you have 

today,  because it could all be taken away tomorrow.  Happy Thursday everyone!

No we don't always get what we want.  But consider this: there are people who

will never have what you have right now.  When life is sweet say thank you 

and celebrate.  When life is bitter, say thank you and grow...

~Nadiya~

A Little Stressed...

I don't think people understand how stressful it is to explain what's going

 on in your head when you don't even understand it yourself...

Monday we took Sniff to the vet. He was still not eating and he had also started to sneeze. 

 Plus I just knew I would feel better knowing that he was OK.  This is the same vet we

 took Brutus to when inn Chicago.  Lots of emotions went through me as we sat

 with Sniff waiting for the doctor.  It was Brutus all over again.

I looked at Sniff Sniff and he was scared.  I saw Brutus and he was scared.  It was

overwhelming especially when the doctor alarmed us rather than put us at ease.  We knew 

Sniff had a cold and we knew he would need antibiotics, but the doctor carried on on 

how we needed to do a "comprehensive" blood test to rule out organ damages because 

Sniff had gone so long with out food or water.  Like I would let that happen.

 I'm not stupid.  I fed Sniff with a syringe for all those days.  I gave him food and water. 

 I even pushed soft foodies in his mouth by hand.  It was messy, but that's what you

 have to do.  Sniff Sniff is such a good kitty.  I could tell he was hungry because 

he did not fight me.  He just stayed on the counter top as I fed him.  I believe 

he was not able to smell his foodies that's why he was not eating.  

The vet also gave him an appetite stimulant.  That worked lie a charm.  As soon as we 

got home Sniff ate soft foodies all by himself.  Yes, sounds like nothing, but for me 

it was a great relief.  I just hope he stays healthy and gets better again.

Arvid and I have been busy with so many things that needs to be done in the apartment.
  Always something to do.  Sniff has not been sleeping throughout the nights, and of course
Arvid hears everything.  Says he's not getting enough sleep.  That's putting it mildly.

Last night we actually went to listen to music.  Here in Chicago our lifestyle is so different
 than when in Florida.  Here there is live Blues everyday in many places, and the fact
 that we don't have to "work" so much as when  in Florida makes it a little easier
to do a few fun things during the week as well.  Let's see how it goes.

My priority is to make sure Sniff Sniff is better soon.  That he feels safe in his new home, and
that our stress level is low.  The days have been beautiful so far.  We take little walks everyday.
 Sniff is sleeping peacefully right now.  Eating better and is playing a little more.

Our apartment has one picture hanging on the wall.  It's Brutus.  Last year before we left
the last thing Arvid did was hang that picture.  He said, "so when we come back
 next year it's the first thing we will see.  Means we are home."  That Brutus
 stole my heart, and I miss him all the time.  Everyday.  How I miss him.

Wednesday already.  The day is looking good and we have a lot to do.
Happy Wednesday all.  Have a beautiful day.

You may not be here with me, but thoughts of you are always in my heart...
I'm missing you so so very much.  I miss you.  I don't know what else to say...

~Nadiya~

New Week Is Here...

With the new day comes new strengths and new thoughts...

Good morning all.  Yes, it's Monday and though not the favorite day of many just 

think how terrible it would be if you did not have the opportunity ever again
 to see another Monday.  Now you get the picture :)

Yes, there is something good in everyday.  Just the fact that we are fortunate to see
 it is already a good start.  I like Mondays because once the week begins and the "craziness"
 takes over it seems that the rest of the week just flies by.  Yes time is going by way too fast 

when one is busy.  Even here in Chicago, at least for the start things are sure hectic.

Not being here for 8 months means lots of cleaning, lots of little things that need to be done,
and on top of all of that we have Sniff who is not acting or behaving in his "usual" way.
That is a stressor added to the ones I already have.  Right now lots to and take care of.

An exciting week awaits us.  Lot of new things to experience and to do.  New ventures, and
new beginnings. Yes, everyday I am happy to be able to wake up to the promise of another day.
 I'm thankful for what I have and for the wonderful people who make life worth it.

To all a very good day and week ahead.  It's good to be back in Chicago.
Strange without Brutus.  I just miss him very much.  Sniff is a good fit for us.

I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start,  
with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning...

~Nadiya~