Monday morning means Monday Movers seated exercise began after breakfast and Stacey and Noel had the group working up quite a sweat! Although we remained seated the whole time, that doesn’t mean that we didn’t get a great workout, moving our arms and legs in various exercises. There was time for a water break and then it was on to Karaoke, where everyone sang along to numerous classic hits! We dispersed for lunch and once the last dish was washed and the last table wiped down, Stacey and Noel brought out tubs of Christmas trimmings to decorate the dining room. Folks gathered to watch, help decorate the tables and trim the tree; we are all ready for the holidays! Christmas decorating took up the rest of the afternoon and took us all the way to suppertime. Afterwards, Joyce and Marie Berger were here for Monday night Bingo; we always appreciate all their wonderful help.  Thanks ladies!

Father Jojo arrived Tuesday morning to perform Mass for our Catholic residents; everyone gathered began reflecting on their Advent intentions and preparing their hearts for the celebration of Christmas. Lunch and mail delivery were next on the agenda and then Aaliyah was here to warm up the popcorn machine in preparation for the Popcorn Social! Bowls of crunchy, salty kernels were passed out to all who clamored for the delicious snack and there was time for plenty of visiting throughout the afternoon. Pastor Phil from Evangelical Free Church arrived for afternoon church and those attending worshipped and sang hymns together until it was time for supper. After a yummy meal, Aaliyah gathered everyone together again for an evening of fun games!

Wednesday morning came before you knew it and so did the bowlers! We had quite a crowd assembled for the game and Ave Maria Academy students, Seth and Ava, were also here to help with pin re-setting and score keeping. Shirley Klinski and Milda Bautch tied for fifth place, Dorothy Pfaffe came in fourth, Alice Brantner nabbed third and Jeff Halverson and Kevin Bauer tied for second. Bill Joyner was the big winner this week, with a nearly perfect score of 29 points out of 30! After the noon meal and mail delivery, folks came back to the dining room for Fruit Bingo, with Kathy Shingledecker and Marlene Zimmer. We played our hearts out and Barb Halling won the $1 jackpot at Blackout Bingo! Everyone stayed in the dining room for the Mid-Week Social where we enjoyed wine, cheese and crackers.

Harriet Rothe stopped by Thursday morning to visit and read from the newspapers at our Local News and Coffee group. She has such a wealth of information of what’s happening in the community and it is always a pleasure to chat with her! We concluded the activity just in time for lunch and afterwards, Aaliyah arrived to give all the ladies pretty manicures. Cranberry reds and festive greens, both with a topcoat of glitter, are the popular colors right now and it is one of the many signs of the season! There was time for visiting as nails were drying, with supper right around the corner. Aaliyah stayed into the evening to lead everyone in a pleasant game of Pokeno after supper – always a fun way to end the day!

Exercising bookends each week and this Fitness Friday we brought out the drums and made a mighty racket throughout the care center, beating along to upbeat polka tunes. A lot of folks really got into the rhythm and it turned into almost a full-body workout! A quick water break concluded the drumming session and then we moved on to a couple rounds of Shuffleboard. Ivan Mason came in fourth place, Bill Joyner took third and Alice Brantner was second place. Shirley Klinski came in first place as this week’s Shuffleboard star! Lunch was soon served and then Noel had a couple handy helpers at Snack Makers in the afternoon; we whipped up a chocolate-y brownie Chex mix in anticipation of Happy Hour! Jim Sexton arrived before you knew it to entertain us with upbeat tunes on both the accordion and guitar; an hour of toe-tapping music flew by fast and then it was on to suppertime. We soon dimmed the lights for movie night and laughed our way through the Christmas comedy “Elf!”