My best friend Ada

 We have had sadness as my bestie, Ada, passed away a couple weeks ago.  I'd had lunch with her two days before and shown her my trip video. She seemed to enjoy it!  We had no idea that would be the last time we'd see each other before heaven.

I brought home our funeral flowers after church this weekend.  I wanted to enjoy them before they'd wilted too much. Maddy had done some research before ordering them and found that Ada's wedding bouquet 50+ years ago had been primarily daisies so she was inspired.

I strung them up yesterday so they could dry out better and will split them up with the girls.

 I'm going to miss Ada something fierce.  I had lunch with her once or twice a week for the past several years.  Well, at the beginning, it was once every other week when I was pregnant with Meri, so 27 years ago.  She and her husband are Meri's God-parents.  Ada and I could polish off a large pizza between us.  And later, when we couldn't finish it all, Ryan loved the leftovers I brought home.  In honor of her, he made Rueben sandwiches the day we heard the news.

Then recently. when there was a danger of her choking. I came in an extra day a week to eat my sack lunch with her in her room so she wouldn't have to go out into the dining room with the other residents.  Eating out in the dining room made her feel old. :)

She would listen and offer advice on anything I wanted to talk about and I listened back.  Some aides were better than others and some of the rules that were put on Ada were just plain dumb.  Do you have friends that you can talk to about ABSOLUTELY anything and everything? She was mine.

I watched Dirty Dancing with her 6 times in the last 13 months.  The last time was on her birthday last month because she told me that that's all she wanted for her birthday.  Just to watch it again! Oh and definitely remember to bring popcorn.  I got her some Wizard of Oz squish mallow plushies too though.  COULDN'T pass those up for her!

So now she's in heaven with no MS, no Sclera-derma, no eye troubles and no teeth troubles.  She got to meet Jesus in person and I'm pretty sure she's ecstatic!

And best of all, well probably not BEST of all, she didn't have to go to the oral surgeon last week to have a tooth surgically removed!  She has always hated dentists since a kid when their family dentist didn't use novacaine. Seriously!!  Can you believe that?!  

Here is her high school grad picture. Or at least I think it is.  Might be a college grad pic or one of her staff photos as a teacher.  Not sure. I didn't know her then.  I'll have to find out.

Maddy pointed out how much she reminded her of this actress!  and YES I can see it!

Anyway, her husband isn't visiting the nursing home every day now and his life has changed a lot.  I know he saw it coming but it still comes as a shock.  I certainly didn't see it coming or maybe was in denial of it happening.  Meri came out with me to his place Monday to fill up his TiVo and we had a nice visit.  Maddy had made him a mug in her pottery session and I almost forgot to leave it with him.  He's GOT to have his coffee!

I'll get back into the swing of blogging again because I have a whole mess of pics to show you!  Our Irish meal, my international trip, etc.

But today, I'm remembering my best friend, Ada.

Frandom Friday!!!

 Whew what a week!  Work has been NON STOP all morning and I need a bit of break.

Blogging is my water cooler chit chat.

I suppose you all heard by now that Meatloaf died today.  What a shame! What a voice! Paradise by the Dashboard lights has always been a favorite of ours.  Not that we were promiscuous!!  But Robb thought that the "So now I'm praying for the end of time" part should be played on the electric piano REALLY SUPER slow during our recessional at our wedding so no one would know but us.  I didn't think my aunt Dorcas would agree to that and didn't think to white out the title and words...  So I vetoed his idea.

Looking back now, I really should have agreed to it. :)  Boy was I was stick in the mud!  I was PRETTY sure he was joking...

He always said celebrities die in threes.  Not sure how scientific that is, but it just so happens...  First Betty, then that guy from Full House, now Meatloaf.  I hope deaths take a break for a while.  Whoops - JUST heard that Louie Anderson just died too... cripes.

Ryan just came out to my office to announce his death and there were tears in his eyes as he remembered the wedding story.  He's playing it inside to honor Meatloaf today.

I stopped by the cemetery yesterday but didn't get out of the car.  If Robb could hear me if I sat next to the stone, he could gosh darn hear me from the car too.  The temp this morning was -17 when I woke up. YEP!...  I'm not getting out of the car.

Was planning on going to the nursing home today for my bestie's birthday but found out that it's been on a "sort of" lockdown.  Visitors are NOT encouraged to come in due to Covid in her wing. DANG!  I just got OFF quarantine and now she's IN it.  And I'm not going to visit with her from outside her window, because -17.  Well, it's only -2 right now, a veritable tropical heat wave...  But I'm still not going to stand in the 3 foot drift outside her window.  We'll talk tho.  and I'll drop off her present of Hawaii Five-O dvds and Patrick Swayze movies that she hasn't seen.  

She's a HUGE Wizard of Oz fan but has exhausted all the WOZ memorabilia that one person can legally own.  So I also knew she loved Hawaii and the old series. She'd never seen the new FIVE-O so I got her the first season of both the old and the new.  She can compare them.

AND she was a HUGE fan of Patrick Swayze also but hadn't seen a bunch of his movies.  She mostly loved him in North and South, Dirty Dancing a couple others but not these.  I had IMDB open one day when visiting her and went down his whole list of movies. OOH No I never heard of that one!. Ohhhh that one sounds interesting!  So I heated up Ebay and got all the ones she'd sounded interested in.  So she'll have time without any company to just binge watch his whole repertoire.   I gave her a couple at Christmastime and saved the rest for her birthday.

I hope she likes them.

Her son and I must have been on the same wave length this year, because he got her this pillow for Christmas.  

Ok, I need to be done at the water cooler. Work is yelling at me from "down the hall" or rather "Instant Messenger"...  Stay warm people!!!!

S'no Wonder

Can you tell it snowed here?  We got a couple three inches and Leon is in heaven.

We got home from the bus yesterday and he wanted to play outside for a bit before coming in.

He carved out a snow platter and I happened to catch him with it.

I used to do that all the time too when I was young.

Apparently he was using them as chalk.

He saw me and grabbed a snowball and headed for the picture window.

Changed his mind for another snow platter.

and pitched it in the air...

I thought he was going to throw it at the glass, but not so.

Whew!

Straight up and then crash back down.

 Then ran back into the yard to build more creations.

It's not packing at all, but with the snow plates and bits, he can use them as blocks.

 It's been cold here!!!  We're hoping it reaches the 30 degree mark soon as I'm already sick of winter.

And Robb doesn't like us to play Christmas music yet...

I've got yogurt in the Instant pot today and made hard boiled eggs just before that.  I've got lunch with my bestie and I'm always promising her that I'll be creative and today I will be.

I've got ALL the fixings for chef salads, which she loves.

lettuce - chopped

green pepper, red pepper - chopped

a bag of bacon bits

a bag of sunflower seeds

shredded cheese

chopped cucumber

chicken bits

chopped luncheon ham

chopped luncheon turkey

chopped up hard boiled eggs

three kinds of dressings and I made some poppyseed dressing too.

I feel like I'm forgetting something...  Maybe I'll grab some Craisins before I leave too. mmmm

 With this weather, I just feel like cooking!!!!