Monday June 20th ~

 To reach a port, we must sail—Sail, not tie at anchor—Sail, not drift...

On Saturday Almost Home hosted lunch for the tenants.  

We had pizzas and sodas.  More pizzas than you can imagine. 

 At the end of lunch Arvid and I were giving away pies

 to the tenants.  Overall it was a good time for all.

A few of the tenants were not feeling god enough to 

show up, so I took the pizza and sodas to them.  Everyone

 was happy.  Even Pookie, the kitty I help out with.

As the new week begins, Arvid and I are smiling because

 it's looking good.  We have worked really hard to get to 

this point.  Hopefully we now have a more relaxed life.

We started by driving for almost two hours to

 Rogers, Arkansas just for lunch.  Lunch was good, and

 it was good to see new surroundings for the day.

As you can see, Sniff is already exhausted, and the week has 

just begun.  These birds are keeping him on his best behavior, 

and at the same time taking up a lot of his sleep time 😂.  

Wishing everyone a productive week ahead and 

may you always live in interesting times.

Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible...

~Nadiya~

Sunday June 18th ~

 My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could
 give another person, he believed in me/us....

Daddy your five daughters, 5 sons-in-law and

 your 9 grand children wish you the happiest of days.

  Today and always.  You set the bar high from day one.

Why I have on no shoes is still a puzzle to me.

All dad's are special, but our dad has always made 

his presence felt in our lives.  No matter how busy he was, 

we together with our mom were always his firs priority.  

He always gave us his time.  Because of my dad

 and mom, our childhood was one of beautiful memories 

and times spent laughing and doing fun things. 

 We didn't have much, but what we had was shared

 with friends and family.  My dad took us to the beach every

 weekend.  Memories that will forever be a part of our lives.

As the saying goes, "anyone can be a father, but it

 takes someone special to be a dad."  That someone 

special is our dad and I'm sure your dad as well 💖

I think my mom put it best.  Little girls soften their daddy's hearts...

~Nadiya~

Almost Home Lodge ~ June 17th

 Winners embrace hard work. They love the discipline 
of it, the trade-off they’re making to win. Losers, on the other

 hand, see it as punishment. And that’s the difference...

After the previous tenant left, we worked really long

 hours to fix the room.  They were there before our time, 

and let's just say that the room needed LOTS of TLC.

Most of the credit goes to Arvid, he is the most hard workingppens.

 man-person I know.  I will never stop saying, "he does not know 

what quitting means."  Most times works himself to the bone.

When things seem to be flowing just fine, something

 unexpected happens.  It's a good thing Arvid is a master of 

all trades.  Better than any maintenance man we have ever 

had.  Only thing is, we have a maintenance guy already, 

yet Arvid is the one doing most of the work.

Almost Home has the most beautiful flowers blooming. 

 We have hundreds of red roses and quite a few pink ones.  

Makes coming to work every day a pleasant experience.

Many a day we are bone tired, but at the same time we

 feel very good because we got so much done-accomplished.

  You have to take the good with the sometime not always

 so good to get to that better place.  It's called life.

This time around it seems as if we are working harder

 than ever.  I guess after taking back the hotel we just have

to bring it back to the Almost Home we left behind.  Slowly 

but surely, we are doing that.  The tenants would tell us, "We 

have never seen anyone work as hard as you and Arvid."  

Arvid works non-stop.  I cannot cease to be amazed by

 this man.  Some days I worry that he will work himself to death,

 but he tells me he feels good.  He's almost 70 years old as he 

tells everyone, yet he can out work and outlast everyone here.

These last three months have been a learning

 experience all over again, but what is life if not a learning 

experience? Everyday has it's challenges, but together 

we face it and always give it our best shot.

In life there are no shortcuts. Only hard work. 

 Work hard and be patient.  It will pay off.

Good morning everyone.  It's Friday and for many it's time to party.

It’s not about money or connections – it’s the 

willingness to outwork and outlearn everyone...

~Nadiya~

Thursday June 16th ~

 No one is so brave that he is not 
disturbed by something unexpected...

The other day my arm was very swollen from these 

bites that I really cannot explain.  All I know is that every

 time I step outdoors withing a half an hour I develop another

 red welt or two.  It got to the point where a couple of my 

tenants said it loos really swollen and bruised.

I am now convinced that my right arm is allergic 

to something on the outside.  The what I am not sure about. 

 Makes it really difficult to run a hotel and not have to go

 on the outside.  I guess I will just have to live with it and

 hope that soon whatever it is that's affecting me

 will disappear from the environment.

I did give in and went to the doctor.  I think he was more

 afraid to touch my arm than anything else.  He maybe

 thought I was infected with some weird disease.  I really

 hope I'm not.  Just to be on the safe side I asked if if 

he thought I would die from it, but he didn't think so.  

On the other hand, the vet that treated Brutus also told 

me that Brutus won't die from his amputation surgery.  

Well, our Brutus did die from it.  There were 

other factors involved in Brutus' death.

The doctor recommended a tetanus shot. Well I got it. 

 Here I was thinking that I had to be bitten by something

 or someone or step on a nail to need a tetanus shot. 

The skin broken by an insect bite could become infected

 with tetanus bacteria. You can prevent this type of infection

 by keeping up to date with tetanus shots. Adults should

 have a tetanus booster shot every 10 years my doctor said.

That is life.  One of these days it will "stabilize"

In the meantime there is good food to make me feel better.

Life has many ways of testing a persons will.  

Either by having nothing happen at all or by

 having everything happen all at once...

~Nadiya~

Wednesday June 15th ~

 Life is a long lesson in humility...

Today is Kimsy's birthday.  I miss her so very much 

and I love her more than she knows.  She lives in Boston, but 

during the pandemic times when we lived in Puerto Rico we

 were very fortunate that Kimsy was also living there for a 

while.  According to Arvid, Kimsy is one of the calmest

 people he knows.  Arvid also loves her very much.

Good morning everyone.  Another very warm day in store for us. 

Sniff is already set up for the day.  These birds just

 don't want to leave him alone, and he sure is loving it.

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams...

~Nadiya~

Tuesday June 14th ~

Always remember, your focus determines your reality...

Today is flag day😲.  Have no idea what that is,

 on the other hand it does allow me to take pictures with

 Sniff as a representative for flag day.  As my mom says,

 "Sniff is very patriotic."  Who am I to say otherwise 😂

Plans for the day?  We do, and it's called work 😂

Sniff is the only one in our household who

 has the time to slack off, and he does it so well. 

Whatever it is your day holds do it happily and with joy,

 even when it feels as if you just want to "quit" and walk away 

from it all.  Life is a combination of good and not so good

 days. We all have those, but giving up is not an option.

Focus on the outcome, not the obstacle...

~Nadiya~

Monday June 13th ~

 Monday is like the rising sun.  It's time to shine brightly...

Talk about hot, this was yesterday and the

 rest of the week promises to be as hot if not hotter.

  I am definitely not liking this right now.  I loke cooler

 temperatures.  Not winter, just a little cooler.

  As in maybe as in 35 degrees cooler 😂

A new week begins.  I only we had more rooms at AHL.

  The calls coming in to rent a room is constant.  It just

 goes to show the lack of living quarters 🏡 available 

for the people here in Branson.  Very sad indeed.

Whenever I know I will probably have a room available for rent,

 it's rented even before the tenant leaves.  I have one room which 

I was told for the last two months that the tenant will be leaving 

because she need to be in an assisted living place.  That room

 is already spoken for by many.  Unfortunately for all 😐

my tenant cannot seen to have a date for her move.

To all a good day. May the new week be one filled 

with positivity and may we work hard to achieve

 those goals we set out for ourselves 😀

Believe you can, and you're halfway there...

~Nadiya~

Sunday June 12th ~

Life is not always perfect. Like a road, it has many

 bends, ups and down, but that’s its beauty...

The verdict is still out as to how relaxing a day we will have 😂

My right arm keeps getting additional welts every day. 

 I did ago out by the grass and I did replant some flowers,

 but I had on gloves.  Two of my fingers on my 

right hand is also bitten up and it hurts a lot.

No matter how tired, how busy or how painful I may 

be on any given day, Sniff still gets his brushing twice a day.

  Early in the morning and in the afternoons when I get home.

  He may be alone for many hours, but he's not neglected.

To all a very good day.  yesterday after a few hours 

at work Arvid and I took some time "off" for ourselves. 

 Where better to go that at The Landing.  Was a very

 beautiful day, and today promises to be the same.

Spend time thinking of what you 

want rather than what you don't want...

~Nadiya~

Saturday June 12th ~

Just because I don't always share my troubles, 

doesn't mean I don't have them.  At times, I may 

be fighting battles you know nothing about...

As I lay awake in bed, just about every morning  

 my thoughts take me everywhere.  It always leads me 

to Puerto Rico.  My morning walks, and faces of

 the kitties that would be waiting for me.

That's what it's like when my thoughts are not

 100% occupied with what needs to be done at work.

  Not like there is so much, but there is always someone

 I need to meet, talk to straighten out.  Yesterday

 I had to have one of those serious talks. 

It's going to be a busy Saturday.  Yay! no time to 

complain about boredom, not to let my thoughts wander 

away too much.  It's time to get busy and to get the

 most out of the day.  Happy Saturday everyone.

Sniff is having a really good time fighting with his toy.

I used to have all these plans and think “Ah, I have my 

whole life figured out”, but then I realized no matter how 

much I plan: life happens! So I find myself living day to day 

trying to do my best, embracing every moment as a learning 

opportunity and chance to get to know myself a little more...

~Nadiya~ 

Friday June 10th ~

 I'm an early bird, partly because I like to have

 some quiet time and partly because by 9am emails 

begin arriving, the phone starts ringing and I 

have dragons to kill of one sort or another...

Another week soon over.  Even thought this was

 a less hectic week, it still won’t by very fast.  It’s been

 really quiet at AHL 🙃 not complaining, but I have to say 

I am getting a little restless. Used to being busy, busy.

We have taken care of a lot that needed to be done. 

 Finished with the remodeling of 2 rooms, so now

 it’s back to how it usually is.  Very quiet 🙃.

I will never complain about quiet or boredom 🙏

 at least not for now.  Being Friday it will be a 

bit busier 🙃. Get to see many tenants today

 because quite a few pay on Fridays. 

Weather has been beautiful. Clear skies after

 a little morning fog.  Perfect days here as one of my 

previous tenants would say, “don’t get any better.”

Sniff staying busy with the birds.  Arvid finds

 stuff to do no matter what.  I’m trying to not go 

near grass.  My bites are not healing too well because 

every time I scratch them I make them worse off .

Plans for the weekend?  For us it all depends 

on how the day goes.  Work a little tomorrow and

 hopefully make dinner at home. Just perfect 😀.
To all a good weekend and a relaxing time.

Weekends are days to refuel your soul and to
 be grateful for the blessings that you have...

~Nadiya~