Wednesday February 19th~

Good morning! May a positive 

and caring word be in your day...

Yesterday I saw my endocrinologist.  This is the first 

time ever since diagnosed with thyroid cancer a doctor 

has told me that, "everything appears to be within 

normal limits."  That for me is progress.

She asked if there was anything "new" happening. 

 If course I mentioned my torn meniscus and all the pain

 that I have.  I did tell her I try to do walks with Arvid

 in the afternoons, but that afterwards it really hurts.  

She says, "go swimming.  It does not cause pain,

 but just remember it's not good for your bones because 

your bones are brittle and can break easily."  

Well I had to laugh at that.  Yeah did I forget to 

mention I also have bone loss ever since I had to have

 an emergency hysterectomy.  Yeah, I almost died during

 that hysterectomy, but as you can see, I'm still here.

I have had guardian angels watching over me. 

 Someone told me that many years ago.  In the big picture, 

I am very grateful for all the goodness in my life.

So far it has been a good week.  A bit cooler, but I love 

it as long as it does not get too cold.  We still need rain 

badly.  Here in Fort Myers we have not had much rain.

Rima catered the wedding cake in New Orleans for

 one of her best friends.  The cake made it all the way from 

Virginia to NOLA.  As she told us, "Oh what a night."

A good day to all.  Sniff continues to hog my television in the 

bedroom.  I now find myself watching cat videos as well.

I am resilient.  I am grateful for 

everything I have in my life...

~Nadiya~

Tuesday February 18th~

Remember today is the tomorrow 

you worried about yesterday...

 Today is Rima's birthday.  My baby sister is celebrating

 in New Orleans.  She says it is her favorite place/city right 

now.  She and George do it right.  That's all I can say.

Getting Sniff to run is an accomplishment.  He prefers

 to throw himself down on the floor or just lay on the bed.  The 

other day I tried the laser again. He chased it for 5 seconds,

 then dropped down on the chair.  He had enough it seems.

Another picture perfect day begins.  While most of the 

nation is under a freeze, here in Florida we are cruising by.  

Warm weather all day long with a little cooler temperatures in

 the evenings.  Perfect paradise.  The place to be right now.

Flowers are in full bloom, and the sunsets are unending.

  Life in The Sunshine State is good to us.  Grateful.

It's strawberry season at Publix.  I walked over yesterday 

got my strawberries, even better when it's buy one get

 one free.  Sadly the strawberries are not sweet.

Wishing everyone a very good day.  If you're 

going to be weird, be confident about it.

We cannot solve problems with the kind of 

thinking we employed when we came up with them...

~Nadiya~

Monday February 17th~ New Week

Opportunities don’t come easily, 

you have to create them...

Another week to get it right.  If there is one thing

 I have learned it's that no matter how many times we fail, 

we always have the opportunity to try again and do better.

I read this the other day:  Life is a journey, and we 

each travel our own path.  No one is ahead or behind.  

We're all on our own unique timeline, so always trust 

the process and celebrate every step you take.

Arvid and I had a good outing yesterday. 

 Rumrunners is fastly becoming a favorite.

To all a good day and a great week ahead.  Always 

stand up for yourself even if nobody is on your side.

Challenges make life interesting and

 overcoming them makes life meaningful...

~Nadiya~

Sunday February 16th~

 Life is a long journey so enjoy it and make 
some beautiful memories along the way...

Yesterday was mostly a pretty quiet day at home. 

 We all watched a lot of TV.  Sniff included. 

 For Sniff it is always the same video

Early afternoon we took a trip to the house where 

mom and dad stayed. It felt sad as I told to Arvid.  He said 

it does except for the garage which was bursting with life.

  Arvid loves garages.  Always loves fixing them up.

After checking on the house we went to listen

 to music at Buckingham Blues Bar.  Very cool place. 

Saturdays there is usually an outdoor bluesfest.

It was a warm an beautiful evening.  At some point

 the clouds got really dark and angry, luckily no rain. 

 We need rain otherwise there will soon be a drought.

As always we had a good time, and even though it 

was nice and warm I was beginning to get cold.  

Now how weird is that.  Happy Sunday to all.

Enjoy the journey. Enjoy every moment and 

quit worrying about winning and losing...

~Nadiya~

Remembering Life in Eleuthera~ February 15th~

We set a goal many years ago to change our lifestyle 

from one of the hectic city life, ….. to one of a slower

 island pace, working on things that makes us happy 

and gives us the freedom to enjoy our time together....

A long time ago we lived in The Bahamas. 

We would wake up up to the beautiful sound of

 the waves and the smell of the salty ocean.

Here everything was so relaxing so we almost never

 kept track of time as we did/do while living  in Florida. 

 In the islands everything was at a different/slower pace.

 Back the we lived in  Ft. Lauderdale it was always a mad 

rush to get up at a certain time because so and so needs to 

be done.  Here we just got up whenever we felt like it.   

Yes, it's nice to look back a and remember this

 wonderful Island that was once home to Arvid, Brutus

 and I.  We had cute little house right on the beach.

In Eleuthera the big thing is outdoor living.  

When we lived there, we were always out just running 

around, meeting people and doing small chores/errands 

which kept us busy and happy.  We are most happy when

 doing something.  We are not the type to just sit...we are 

constantly on the move.  Even after all these years, we 

both still thrive on being busy.  It makes us feel alive.

Life in Eleuthera was very good to us and we 

enjoyed every moment we had on this special island.

 The last few times that we have been back has 

been as tourists.  That also felt very good.  

As visitors, it gave us time to appreciate the island all over 

again, and to have more time to enjoy a few of the sites, restaurants

 and some of our favorite places from a different perspective.

Though we are no longer "regulars,"  we do look forward 

to many more years of being able to enjoy Eleuthera.  The 

beauty and the magic that we fell in love with is still here, and

 the people we met are still as nice and hospitable as always.

Life in Florida is good to us.  There is no other place we 

would call home.  We have loved all the places we have lived, 

but home is and always will be Florida.  A good day to all.

You only live once - but if you work it right, once is enough...

~Nadiya~

Friday February 14th~

 Love isn't what makes the world go around.  

Love is what makes the ride worthwhile...

Today there will be many marriage proposals

 and a lot of babies in the making.  Among 

other things.  Love is never wrong 💘

Money can't buy happiness. But, it can buy a 

chocolate, which is pretty much the same thing. If you've 

never had Norwegian chocolate, I feel for you.  It's the best 

chocolate hands down.  Once you've had it you will

 never go back to whatever it is you ate before 🍫

Arvid and I had on early Valentine's Day.  Just so

 happened that our outing yesterday took us to Naples, 

Florida Of course we made it into a celebration.

The day was beautiful, just a little too warm 

to be walking around in the heat for very long.

As always we made the outing into a celebration.  Why not?

We said we will be taking it easy today.  Let's see how that goes.

After about 20+ years of marriage, I'm finally starting to 

scratch the surface of what women want. And I think the answer

 lies somewhere between conversation and chocolate....

~Nadiya~

Thursday February 13th~

Happiness never come to those who fail 
to appreciate what they already have...

Another beautiful sunset greeted us on 

our walk yesterday.  I am always in awe of it.

A few things going on today.  As always we're 

most happy when we are busy.  Today is Thursday 

after all, and today I do not cook 🙌  Always good

 to have a little "break" in the middle of the week.

Yesterday Nina in Pennsylvania and Rima in Virginia had 

huge snow storms.  Pictures below are of Rima's backyard.  

It sure looks beautiful from far.  Both doggies, Marley the

(black Labrador,) and Kingston (golden Lab) love the snow.

Hopefully when we visit in May it will be lots warmer.

Mornings are always the same here.  Breakfast, tea/coffee 

on the balcony if not too warm.  After that Arvid takes pleasure 

in doing the dishes.  He sure enjoys it and says that while doing 

them he plans his day and comes up with lots of ideas.  I 

told him he can do dishes all day long if he so wishes.

 Yesterday I enjoyed a few chocolate covered 🍓strawberries 

and grapes just to get into the feel of Valentines Day.  Didn't 

work 😂  Of course Arvid did not try any.  More for me.

Yesterday I had another trip to the mall.  You can 

tell by the shoes.  Arvid was busy watching soccer and

 I was bored.  Had a good time browsing around and

 checking out all the Valentine's Day displays/stuff.

A good day to all.  Arvid and Sniff are still asleep. 

 I am loving my quiet time in the mornings.

Life becomes more meaningful when 

you realize the simple fact that you’ll

 never get the same moment twice...

~Nadiya~

Wednesday February 12th~

 I can say that life is good to me. Has been and 

is good. So I think my task is to be good to it. 

So how do you be good to life? You live it...

 As soon as I wake up I open Facebook.  Not to see

 anyones story or what they are eating or who they know.

  I open it because I look for news/pictures/videos of M15

 and F23.  Since their babies died it's not too often they 

appear on camera view, so I keep checking all day

 long.  You can say that I "stalk" M15 and F23.

My day is always better after "seeing" them.

This morning as I opened FB I  saw a post that 

made me pause for a second because it is so true of 

so many of us.  I want to think I am better than this, 

but I have to admit to doing the same at times.

I wake up everyday with a grateful heart.  Of course there 

are days when I feel like things could be better, should be

 better, but then I get busy with my day and realize that

 I am indeed blessed and for that very grateful.

The boys enjoyed quiet time, soccer time and water time.

It's been several months now since I have been on 

one of my morning walks.  Unfortunately my knee always 

hurts really bad in the mornings.  By afternoon it's better. 

 Yesterday was not a good day.  We were supposed to go 

for a walk, but I was limping so badly that we didn't. 

 My guess is that eventually I have to have surgery.

Life.  Does not always pan out the way we want 

or expect it to.  It's a balancing game, and many a times 

my balance is not great.  I learn something every day.

It takes no more time to see the good

 side of life than it takes to see the bad...

~Nadiya~