Everyday Is A Good Day To Be Kind....

Generosity, the habit of giving freely without expecting anything in return...

Arvid and I are soon expecting our second grand-daughter.  Our first was born in March

of 2013 and the new addition is expected also in March of this year.  Very excited we are.

Today in Norway there is a baby shower for little Vanessa.  Yes it is now going to

be Aleah and Vanessa.  Needless to say we can't wait to see her and hold her.

Aleah is officially going to be a big sister.  How cute is that!

This baby shower is being organized by Michelle's sister Victoria.  Victoria as I have always 

told you all, does everything in style.  The decorations for this event have been carefully 

planned.  Victoria even ordered the decorations via EBay from London.  As you

 can see from the above pictures, everything is super super adorable.

She has sent us pictures of them so I know it is going to be a beautiful time.  Michelle is

 going to be very surprised and very happy because she will also be getting many of

 the things on her wishlist for little Vanessa, and a beautiful baby shower thanks to

 big sister Victoria.  Would have been nice to be there with them today.

Here in Fort Lauderdale it is a beautiful day.  Still a little chilly for us, 

but nonetheless beautiful.  Last night Arvid and a friend went to listen to music.  I choose

to stay home, just watch movies, and relax with Brutus.  We both had a good time.  YAY!

Wishing you all a good day.  Victoria, you are one very kind person and this is you:

Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; 

the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind.

Let us always meet each other with smile,

 for the smile is the beginning of love...

~Nadiya~

Interestingly Funny...

A good snapshot keeps a moment from running away...

Here are a few interesting things that have caught my attention recently on Facebook.  

Sometimes the humor on Facebook sure hits the right spot.

Not the language I use, but in this instance it's just right!

We all know a few crazies like this!  That's for sure.

Once when Arvid and I were travelling to the Bahamas in one of those 8 

seaters, the pilot was a little crazy.  At some point he made Arvid pilot the 

plane all the way while he just sat back, relaxed and chatted with us passengers.

Anyone with a camera phone today (just about everyone), can

definitely relate to this.  I'm guilty.  The things we will do these days 

just to get that "perfect" picture.  So what if others are "suffering" a little?

Well everyone have a great day.  Capture the moment cause in a

blink of an eye it can all be taken away from you.

Happy Friday everyone.  Last night we did the Norwegian thing.

In photography, you don't really take a moment to capture something

but to capture something in that moment...

~Nadiya~

Nothing Planned...Yet Happy

I will be so busy doing nothing today, that I can't do anything else....

Always good to start you day in an upbeat way.  Sometimes even if you are not exactly

 having the best of days, being positive has that effect of making it a better day

I can't complain.  Brutus, Arvid and I are doing good.  The sun is shining and we have

 each other.  Simple things, yet it is the simple things that makes one happy.

Today Arvid and a friend will be doing some running around together.  Yay!!!

I get to have time to do my stuff.  A little me time is always so good.

Not that I have any big plans, but it's always nice to have a little lunch with Liliana.

Talk for a while and have a few good laughs at both our expenses and that of everyone else.

No harm done just a good time and a great way to get over a few stresses that we have in life.

Doing nothing is very hard to do. You never know when you are finished...

~Nadiya~

Chilly Morning in South Florida...

Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, 

always bring your own sunshine....

Brutus and I woke up to a beautiful, but chilly morning.  I managed to "trick" him into eating 

some foodies so that I was able to give him his pills early.  Now he is back in bed with 

his dada.  They are both sound asleep to the world.  Good morning everyone.

Already the middle of the week.  We have been experiencing for quite a few days now

a little colder temperatures than we would like.  Truth is I am really enjoying it, 

but Arvid who hails from Norway is "freezing his butt off" as he says.

The other day I received an email from one of my aunts.  Pretty useful information so 

as usual I will share some of it with all of you.  Who know someone might benefit from it.

As usual I read it to Arvid.  He was very excited because as he said, "I eat a banana everyday"

Yes, Arvid is a very simple man.  He was happy for the rest of the day because now

he is extra healthy he says.  He has been also making us hot chocolate, his specialty

 on cold mornings.  According to him he makes the best hot chocolate and I

 have to agree with him it's pretty good.  Says it's better than everyone's.

As you can see, Brutus is still all covered up in bed.  Yes, he is very spoilt.

Just like it should be.  He is after all our baby and we love him more than words can express.

Wishing you all a good day and hope for all living in the cold climate that warmer weather 

is in your near future.  Stay safe all and bundle up.  If you need a little pick me

 up try some hot chocolate.  Arvid claims it does wonders on a cold day.

If the world seems cold to you, kindle fires to warm it.

~Nadiya~

One Of Those Days...

I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself. 

For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is 

determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition...

Yesterday was a very intense day.  For hours and hours we waited for Brutus' bet to call and 

to just reassure us that we were doing the right thing.  By 5 pm still no call and by then I 

had already called their office two times.  Just when I thought there was not going to 

be a call the phone rings.  The vet and I had a 15 minute or so conversation.  

You see the vet that recommended Brutus to be amputated was not Brutus' vet, but another 

vet that worked in the same office.  So I talk to his vet and just for reassurances I ask 

him what is his opinion regarding this amputation.  Well he was very firm 

that Brutus not be amputated. He said that this was not called for.  

Well as you know Arvid and I had already decided that this was how it was going to be, based on

 the opinion of the other vet.  I also found out that the surgeon who would have performed

 the amputation is the husband of this other vet that saw Brutus. To say we were relieved 

was one thing, but that still means medicines everyday.  Brutus' vet said we have to

 give him the opportunity to heal with the medicines.  For now Brutus

 has a reprieve from becoming a three legged kitty.  For now.

That was good news.  I also got some more good news from a very dear friend living in

 California.  She sent me a picture of a plant and she said, "do you remember theses?"  How 

could I not, I gave them to her a little over 20 years ago when I left California.  She 

and I formed a bond and friendship over the loss of a loved one.  

We became friends that even with the distance nothing has broken that bond.  We share

 a love of cats, California, a therapist in common, living with loss and grief and overcoming it. 

 We share a lifetime of things that have made us stronger and we share our lives even in the 

miles that separate us.  Today she sent me a picture of my plant, now hers.  It brought

 back memories, tears and a little longing for a life that once was and no longer is.

I have a good life, but years ago I also had another life.  I don't dwell in the past,

 but sometimes just the smallest of things can bring back a flow of memories,

 emotions and a moment of thought to what was.  What used to be.

Here it is a very loud morning.  Our condo has it's annual alarm testing so every 2 minutes

 there is this loud beep of an alarm.  Fortunately Brutus is not afraid of it.  For me 

it is more annoying than anything else.  Oh well in the next 2 hours or so they 

should be done.  Have to find some ear plugs to save my hearing.

Have a good day all and to those with birthdays....Happy Birthday.  Today I actually

 have several friends with birthdays..that I know of.  Here we are still dealing with the "cold front."

 I always remember this, life brings tears, smiles and memories. 

The tears dry. The smiles fade, but the memories last forever.

Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them - that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.

~Nadiya~

Monday Again...

Monday is the perfect day to correct last weeks mistakes.

Happy Monday All...

Waiting here is the worst.  We are waiting for a call from Brutus' vet for an appointment to do

 the amputation.  Nerves are on edge, but nothing we can do but wait.  Hopefully soon

we will hear from him and then the anxiety will start all over again.

Good morning everyone.  Hope you have all had a relaxing and pleasant weekend

Arvid and I went to a car show and to an art exhibit.  Was a beautiful day so it was nice to be

outdoors and enjoy some cool air for a change.  Also it is always good to

see pretty cars and see people having fun.  There was also music 

so it made the day even more enjoyable.

Today is is a "cold" day here in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, cold for Floridians that is.

Pulling out the heavy sweaters, scarfs and for Arvid long pants.  Even though cold, it is
 a very beautiful day and we are thankful to not be living in the cold.  My
 sisters are having a terrible winter storm as is many parts of the nation.
 Driving conditions are hazardous and all I know is that we have
it pretty good right now.  To all of you please be
safe out there and stay bundled up.

We become strong only after we acknowledge our weakness..

~Nadiya~

Sunday...Funday

Everyone has highs and lows that they have to learn from, but every morning I start off

 with a good head on my shoulders, saying to myself, 'It's going to be a good day!!!...

Now that we have made the decision to go ahead and amputate Brutus, I look at him and I 

try to imagine what it is going to be like for him to have 3 paws. There has been a lot of friends 

telling us how this will not be as difficult as we seem to think and for that we are

 extremely grateful.  Sharing your stories with us and a few even called 

to tell me that Brutus will be a well adapted kitty even with 3 legs.  

Makes one feel better.  Now we await to hear the final opinion of his vet.

  Come tomorrow I will hopefully be able to talk to his vet and just have him go through a little

more of what this procedure in involves.  If Brutus will still be on medications after amputation 

then we see no reason to go ahead with it.  I am sure this will not be the case, but you never know.

Giving him his medications these last few days has not been easy.  More and more difficult everyday.

It's Sunday and as Sunday's go it is going to be a relaxing day.   One hopes.

Many plans for the day including believe it or not an art exhibition and a car show in 

West Palm Beach.  Let's see if Arvid does not get distracted with a Soccer game. 

 Hopefully we will also go to one of our favorite restaurants called Three Forks.

For now good morning everyone.  He is to a good day for all of us.

There was never a night or a problem that could defeat sunrise or hope.

~Nadiya~

Changes....

It happens to everyone as they grow up. You find out who you are and what you want, and then you realize that people you've known forever don't see things the way you do. So you keep the wonderful memories, but find yourself moving on....

Change is inevitable.  As we grow we change and there is nothing we can do to stop this.  People as they say change basically for two reasons: either they learned a lot or they've been hurt too much. Take your pick!

I have heard it said many a times, "Feelings come and feelings go. There is no need to fear them and no need to crave them. Let them come, and then let them go. No feeling is your permanent reality, no matter how intense it is."  

At the end of the day the one thing we can't stop is change.  What we can do is to change our attitude.  Remember the saying, 

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

May you all have a good day and remember if you want something to change start with yourself and remember that the future comes one day at a time.  We must embrace the good with the not so good.

One fine day, it will be your turn. You will leave homes, cities and countries to pursue grander ambitions. You will leave friends, lovers and possibilities for the chance to roam the world and make deeper connections. You will defy your fear of change, hold your head high and do what you once thought was unthinkable: walk away. And it will be scary. At first. But what I hope you’ll find in the end is that in leaving, you don’t just find love, adventure or freedom. More than anything, you find you....

~Nadiya~

Cheers To Better Days....

We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong.

The amount of work is the same....

A beautiful Friday here in Fort Lauderdale.  We are doing good and just about everything

is looking up for us.  We are dealing with the fact that Brutus will soon be a 

three legged kitty.  This is something we have difficulty with right now,

but more and more we realize that this is the best option.

We are still awaiting a call from the vets office.  Need to ask some questions and to figure 

out what's the best way to proceed with the amputation situation.  I think Brutus knows

 whats happening.  He looks at us with big eyes all the time. This breaks 

my heart more than anything.  He trusts us and I hope we are doing 

the right thing for him.  Here he is with his dada.

Nothing much planned right now, but to be home with Brutus and wait for a phone

call from the vet.  I am really not in the mood to do much right now.

It's Friday and there is no place I would rather be than right here at home.

To all have a great day and a very good weekend.

I know that better days are coming.

You have to fight through some bad days

 to earn the best days of your life...

~Nadiya~

Decisions...

One of the hardest decisions you'll ever face in life is

 choosing whether to walk away or try harder....

Back home.  Happy  of course.  As we opened the door last night a tiny little face was there

 waiting for us.  Brutus always knows when we are home and is always waiting for us.

As soon as we walked in I saw his paw.  Was a bloody sight.  We left him for 8

days with a healthy looking paw.  We came back to a bloody mess.

Once again, the decision to amputate is what we are facing.  We have decided to 

go ahead with it, but you can imagine the turmoil this is causing us.

My baby is hurting and now we have a difficult task head.

We are home with him.  He's a happy kitty, but we see he's hurting.

I think it's time we did the right thing and stop his pain.

To all a good day.  For us it is a difficult day.

Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach.

Sometimes it's the smallest decisions that can change your life forever...

~Nadiya~

And So We Say Goodbye...

Life is like a bicycle.  To keep your balance you must keep moving...

Today we say goodbye to our little getaway from home.  Today we also go home to Brutus!

Though I love vacations, and who does not, for me the best part is always going

home.  Don't care where we are, there is no place like home.  Home where

Brutus is and where our bed is and all things familiar.

As always we have a great time here in Mexico.  Here Arvid and I have more quality 

time than we actually do at home.  We take long walks every morning. We stop to 

watch the dolphins play and to see the manatees swim.  Just relaxing.

The mornings here are extremely beautiful.  I wake up to the sounds of the birds,

and to the voices of happy workers preparing their boats for their daily tours.

Every day I have a freshly squeezed juice.  My favorite of course is orange juice, but I have
 also tried the carrot and orange together pretty good.   The other day I tried a combination
 made with papaya, oranges, strawberries, carrots, coconut and raspberries.  Never
 had it before and I guess it is now one of my favorites as well.  Another very
good thing here aside from all the tropical frozen drinks is the freshly
 made lemonade.  Yes I also have one of those almost every day.

Yes the days here are lazy and relaxing.  I see the Dolphins everyday and one of my newest
favorites are the manatees.  They are four of them. Two moms one of which is 24 years
 old.  Weighs 1800 lbs and she eats 200 pounds of lettuce everyday. This according
to her trainer.  There are also two babies. One is 4 months old and the
 other is a newborn. They are too cute and I can pend a lot of time
 watching them.  As I say to Arvid they remind me of Bruts.
 He says to me, "all the animals remind you of Brutus."

Well it's time to go home.  Time to say goodbye and until next time.

 It's been good, but my most favorite place in the world is home.
 Home where Brutus is.   Home where we both belong with Brutus.

How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard...

~Nadiya~

Pictures... Puerto Aventuras Mexico

Taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second...

The best way to appreciate a place is to "see" it.  Today I will share with you some of the

 beautiful sites here in Playa del Carmen.  This is what keeps us coming back.  I love taking

 pictures and when the scenery is as beautiful it makes it even more of a pleasure.  Sadly 

though I dropped one of my cameras.  Somehow I seem to have the worst luck when

 it comes to cameras, the good thing is that the iPhone also takes amazing pictures

 and I do have a backup camera with me at all times, so all is not lost. 

This is the Pelican that tried to bite me.  Kinda cute really.

 For me everyday is amazing.   Life is good and we are enjoying ourselves.  The thing is no 

matter where we are, I find beauty all around us.  We do miss Brutus and everyday we

 see a little kitty cat and fortunately they come to us.  We have food for 

them and it makes us happy.

There is beauty in everything around us.

My intention is to capture every moment.  One day as I told Arvid, when we are older,
we will look back and smile at the beautiful times in our lives.

They say that a camera is a mirror with memory.

To all a good day.
Remember, each photograph is a story captured in a single moment.

I love photos, because the best thing about it is that it never changes,
even when the person in it does...

~Nadiya~

Relaxing Times...

Relax, drink a cup of coffee and go with the flow.  You will feel much better...

Many ways to relax, and these are some of our favorites while here in Mexico.
Remember it is so much better to take a deep breath and just enjoy life.

Or try a fruit cocktail with fresh fruit from the market.

Or do as Arvid does every afternoon.  Watch the boats come in.

One of my favorite ways to relax is just walking on the beach and enjoying
a piña colada, watching the birds and the people.  Total relaxation.

Soon we will be back home, reality will kick in and that's OK, but as someone said,
every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your
work your judgement will be surer.  They sure knew what they were saying.
Good morning everyone.  Wishing you all a good start of the work week.

When you try to control everything, you enjoy nothing.
Sometimes you just need to relax, breathe, let go and just live in the moment...

~Nadiya~

Interesting Facts About Mexico...

There are no facts, only interpretations.

If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts...

I always like to know a little more of each place we go to.  So today I just started

checking up on facts (not necessarily known) about Mexico.  For me it's always fun and

in the process I might pick up some useful information, but if I listen to Arvid this is what he

has to say, "who cares?"  This is the same answer no matter what country it is.  When I check up on

facts about Norway or read him some news from there it's always, "I could cares less"

I guess there is a lot of educating for me to do here.  Not going to be easy, but we have time.

Mexico introduced chocolate, corn, and chilies to the world.

The largest wildcat in North America is the jaguar, which can be found 

Mexico's southern jungles.

The first printing press in North America was used in Mexico City in 1539.

The National University of Mexico was founded in 1551 by Charles V of Spain and
 is the oldest university in North America.

The border between Mexico and the United States is the second largest border 

in the world (only the U.S.-Canadian border is longer.

Mexico is second only to Brazil in the number of Catholic citizens.

I'm pretty sure there are quite a few more interesting facts.
For now, fact for us is that we are really enjoying it here.
We have found another piece of Paradise where we can relax and 
enjoy the simple things in life.  Bond a little more with nature 
(something we never do in Florida) and just forget about everything
and focus on just enjoying life.  Little secret, I never stop thinking of Brutus!

 Here in Mexico everyday is Margarita time.
Looking forward to it again. Wishing you all good times and a good day.

Remember, facts are many but the truth is one!

People will generally accept facts as truth

 only if facts agree with what the already believe...

~Nadiya~

Market Day..

Life is amazingly good when it's simple,

and amazingly simple when it's good....

Two times a week there is a Farmer's Market with fresh vegetables, fruit and baked
goods just a few minutes walk from us.  Something we look forward to always.  

While I am looking around and making my purchases Arvid
is checking out the games being played in the local Pubs.

Just the idea of seeing all the fresh fruit and vegetables makes me happy. Of course
I end up buying more than I should and then it's a race against time to
 eat it all up.  So far have not have a problem eating all of it.
Have made all kinds of smoothies with the fruit.

I love market days.  Just looking at all the fresh goodies makes my day.

Wishing you all a good day.  For me the simple things
in life seem more meaningful now.

I find happiness in the simplest of things.
Yes, everything is simple.  It's people who complicate things....

~Nadiya~