The weekend went too quickly and soon it was Monday again, which meant it was time for Monday Movers exercise group to start the week off right! Noel led residents through 30 minutes of gentle arm and leg exercises, which got everyone’s blood pumping. Karaoke Sing Along was next on the agenda and the lovely harmony of voices that came from the dining room was wonderful to hear! After lunch, folks came back to the dining room for Crafty Corner; although the outside temps reminded us of summer, inside it was already autumn with our Apple Slice paper craft. Everyone made beautiful stained glass apples and they looked apple-solutely lovely suspended from the tree we made on our gallery wall! Tic Tac Toss rounded out the afternoon and our big group of gamers cheered as Mary Asher scored fourth place, Yvonne Sinz came in third and Kevin Bauer placed second. Carol Campbell was our first-place winner this week! A little supper and then it was on to Monday night Bingo with Marie and Joyce Berger – thank you for all of your help ladies!

Mass on Tuesday morning was led by Father Jojo and Terry Pelzel, and folks were very happy to spend their morning in prayer while another beautiful and sunny day started. Lunch was served afterwards and then Stacey brought out the much-loved popcorn machine to pop bowlfuls of everyone’s favorite snack for the weekly Popcorn Social! So many residents always come for the party that a double-batch is usually made for everyone and no one leaves hungry. A little while later, with Stacey on guitar and Willow on vocals, an afternoon hymn sing commenced and lovely church songs floated out of the dining room until suppertime. After the evening meal, Willow brought everyone around the table for games galore!

As the week progressed, we soon made it to Wednesday and our morning game of Bowling! After five exciting rounds, Janet Robelia and Ivan Mason tied for fourth place, Jeff Halverson scored third, followed by Kevin Bauer and Judy Thorn who tied for second. Mary Matzek came out on top this week with a first-place win! Lunch renewed everyone’s energy and then it was on to Fruit Bingo in the afternoon with Irene Helmueller to assist with set up, clean up and passing prizes. Stacey called numbers as Irene and Noel raced to keep up with all the shouts of “BINGO!” as we yet again had a huge group of 30 players seated at eight tables! For the fifth time in almost as many weeks, Carol Campbell was the Blackout Bingo winner – everyone decided she should buy a lottery ticket with the luck she’s been having at bingo lately! Once the cards and chips were collected and cleaned, Noel brought out crunchy apple slices drizzled with caramel sauce for our Mid-Week Social. They sure were sticky, but oh so delicious!      

After the excitement of Wednesday, Thursday morning was the perfect time for a relaxing Local News and Coffee group, this week with Lana Ingli here to read residents the newspapers and to share any entertaining stories she had gathered since her last visit! Once everyone was caught up on the week’s news, lunch was enjoyed and then Noel went around to give all the ladies manicures. There were quite a few who wanted to freshen up their nails and she was busy for the whole afternoon! Willow was here a little later and after some one-on-one visiting with folks, supper was served, followed by an evening of Pokeno fun with Willow!   

And just like that, it was Friday again! Noel brought folks together for a morning game of Shuffleboard and the rowdy crowd had great fun as Yvonne Sinz placed fourth, Jeff Halverson won third place and Milda Bautch took second. Judy Thorn beat everyone this week with a first-place win! Once lunch was over, there was a lot of time for soaking up the sunshine outside, UNO card games and plenty of visiting.  It was a very pleasant afternoon, which continued into Happy Hour, with The Earney’s at the care center for musical entertainment! Toes were tapping and fingers were snapping as everyone enjoyed the music while snacking on chocolate milk and sugar cookies. All too soon, the party was over and after supper, we settled in for Movie Night with the 1943 film “Stormy Weather!”