By Laura Kadlec Activities Director & Music Therapist

Starting ou the week with music is always fun. We never know just what topics of discussion might accompany our singing time.

However, it is always sure to be interesting.

Our folks like to tell us that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn’t appeal to anyone. And they are always correct! It was nice to receive a fresh calendar after lunch, full of many activities to look forward to. The scent of fresh popped corn beckoned us to the dining room.

It is a great time of socialization around a yummy snack. A dozen bowlers found time in the late afternoon for a competitive game of bowling. There were many ties and even more cheers! Winners this week were: Nancy Bishop, Shirley Klinski (fourth place); Beryl Anderson, Lorraine Anderson (third place); Barb Smith, Alvin Bergmark, Jean McDonough, Frances White (second place); Milda Bautch, Darline Abst, Ivan Mason (first place). Our evening finished ou with bingo and our faithful assistant, Joyce Berger who delivered candy rewards.

Sunshine and Father Jojo welcomed us on Tuesday morning with mass and communion.

It was a nice service and soon we followed up with Name That Tune. Some of our Seasons friends joined us and we had fun teaming up and trying to remember the song titles. Penny Stauord was the top winner this week with 16 correct answers. However, Carol Bauer was only one point behind with 15! Barb Gruwe came in third with nine followed by Shirley Klinski and Aileen Wayne with seven. The crafters were eager to arrive for the afternoon event of shaving cream painting.

Yep, it’s just like it sounds. Folks were given a pie plate filled with shaving cream. They chose three liquid watercolor paint colors to dropperful (is that a word?) into the shaving cream. Then, freshly stolen from the nurses, we used tongue depressors to gently mix and stir and swirl the colors just so. The next step was to place our canvas frames down onto the mixture, wait a few second and then lift, scrape, and voila! A gorgeous, magical design to hang on the wall. Most people made two or three using many diuerent colors and designs. Just before our evening meal, Pastor Phil from the Evangelical Free Church led us in a nice time of worship and song. Our evening concluded with a rousing game of Cover The Number!

Wednesday brought out residents looking to play Uno. Our game is a bit tweaked with some of the “mean” cards taken out, as our folks like to say. They still have fun and for some it remains good mental challenge. It was time for fruit bingo after lunch. Kathy Shingledecker and Marlene Zimmer came early to help set up cards and chips and to pass candy. Black out winners this week were Myrna Buchholtz and Mary Nelson. Folks stayed for our Watermelon Wednesday. Harriet Rothe materialized to bring us the news from the galaxy – and beyond! It’s fun to bring up stories of the past while we vis- it over couee, cookies, and current events. Manicures were on the agenda just before Brad Richardson brought his adorable fur babies. We never tire of holding these critters, talking and singing to them. They are certainly calming to everyone. Supper soon arrived and a few folks stayed up to watch the Brewers lose a close one to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The drummers brought their best rhythms to the dining room on Friday morning. Someone mentioned that it sounded like the clothes dryer! A strange but comical comparison I’d suppose. It was a good time had by all as we played songs from every decade and often times talked about their origin. Later in the afternoon, we were treated with music from Rich Schroeder. He’s got great music and we topped it ou with some fantastic cook ies (courtesy of Ann Heath) along with our favorite beverages. Supper was served and soon after we settled in for our Friday night movie. This week’s movie was “Jumanji.” It was a little out of the norm for us, but we really enjoyed it and the special euects! We encourage you to stop by for a visit. Surprises are never far away! See you soon!

A large St. Bernard, only 4 weeks old, was still not too big for Aileen Wayne to handle. She simply sings them to sleep! Photo courtesy of Laura Kadlec

Our friends from the Seasons, like Monie Van shown here, often join us for the puppy visits.

Photo courtesy of Laura Kadlec

Lorraine Anderson can attest to all the warm fuzzies that Brad’s puppies bring us. Photo courtesy of Laura Kadlec