Fun Friday!

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This and That

This week, my cremation heart-shaped locket finally arrived for my mom's ashes. It has her fingerprint etched into it ... 

Yesterday, my husband and I attended a special 60th Birthday celebration for my wonderful friend and co-worker, Miss Sonia. It was held about a quarter of a mile away from our house at a venue called, "The Fish Pond" near Blue Marsh Lake. There was delicious food, complimentary drinks, DJ's, and a great time was had by all. 

It was also Miss Sonia's granddaughter Ariana's 18th Birthday ...

Sonia's daughter, Shadae, who baked and created both of the birthday cakes (and owns her own cake business) flew in from Jamaica the night before to make the two birthday cakes. Aren't they simply BEAUTIFUL? ...

Miss Sonia looked GORGEOUS!!

There were many other of my fellow co-workers there as well ...

The lovely Ms. Myah!

Aydan, whom I have nicknamed "Sunshine" at work because his smile always makes me smile. 😀 

My co-worker Sue and her mother, Sarah.

Posing with my trainer and friend, Deb.

HAPPIEST OF BIRTHDAY'S TO YOU, MISS SONIA!!

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While at the party, we saw MANY stray kitties on the premises. It turns out that a nice couple set up shelters on the grounds behind the building and feed 30 HOMELESS CATS ... 

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and, apparently, a raccoon named "Rocky" ...

And, finally, some chill pics of our own kitties ...

Odds and Ends

Greetings, friends and Happy Mother's Day to all. To be honest, this is a very rough one for me because this is the first Mother's Day since my mom's passing this past April. Not a good one. Needless to say, I have been an emotional basket case this entire weekend. So much so that last night my husband and I got out of the house and had a nice dinner at the Sinking Spring VFW as a sort of "temporary" distraction. Good food and good company as always. The weekend special was homemade Chicken Cordon Bleu with Brussel sprouts and buttered noodles (my husband and I both forwent the Brussel sprouts).

Today, I am chilling out with my fur babies. Ginger rarely leaves my side ...

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I have also been very busy lately, when time allows me that is, going through the twenty-some bins we have stored at our house since cleaning out my mom's home a few months ago. While going through some of her photo albums, I found some old family pics I thought that I would share here on my blog. 

My mom's mother, Helen Bingaman (my maternal grandmother) whom I never had the chance to know due to her serious mental illness shortly after my mom was born.

My mom, me, and my brother Kerry. Not sure when this was taken. My guess is we were probably heading out to church services on a Sunday or perhaps even an Easter Sunday. The photo is dated the year 1970. 

Easter Sunday in 1973.

My brother and I taken on Christmas Day ~ 2015.

Pics from a family reunion sometime during the 1990's. Posing with my first cousins (two of my mom's only sister's five children) Karl (top photo) and his brother Robby (bottom).

And finally, one of my absolute favorite pics of my mom and I taken at Christmas Village a few years ago. 

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1. “Mom, in paradise, have a happy Mother’s Day. Every day, I think about how much I miss you, mom. I wish you were here right now.” – Unknown. 

2. “No one can ever take your place mom. You filled our lives with love and grace. We will forever miss you until we meet again. Happy Mother’s Day! Mom.” – Unknown. 

3. “I miss my mother; she’s now in heaven this Mother’s Day. The first grief experienced without a mother must be her death.” – Unknown. 

4. “Your life was a blessing, your memory a treasure, you are loved beyond words and missed beyond measure.” – Unknown. 

5. “The skies look beautiful every day because Heaven cannot contain the beauty that you radiate. I miss you, mom.” – Unknown. 

6. “Mom, because of your passing, I am trapped in this sorrow, torment, and pain. While it really hurts me, at least it has freed you. You are always missed and loved. Mom, happy Mother’s Day!” – Unknown. 

7. “A mother’s love surpasses time and space; even in heaven, your warmth is felt. Happy Mother’s Day to the angel watching over me.” – Unknown.

8. “My mother is a never-ending melody of solace, joy, and being in my heart. I may not remember the lyrics correctly, but I never lose the melody. Mom, happy Mother’s Day.” – Unknown.  

9. “I will never have the opportunity to give my mother a hug again. No matter what, I try to get over this horrible anguish that is devouring me. I miss you!” – Unknown. 

10. “Dear mom, if I had a flower for every time I thought of you … I could walk in my own garden forever.” – Unknown. 

11. “Mom, my heart is filled with so many things I wanted to say. So I whisper them to the stars and hope they reach you that way. Deep within my heart, you will always remain. Loved and remembered until we meet again.” – Unknown. 

12. “I now see why you constantly urged me to have courage. You knew I would need courage one day to deal with your loss.” – Unknown. 

(Shared from the site: https://avada.io/loveable/blog/mothers-day-in-heaven-quotes/)

Old Village Inn

This past Sunday, my husband and I treated my in-laws to a long overdue THANK YOU dinner at a cool old venue called, "Old Village Inn" in Morgantown, PA. It was with my MIL, my husband's cousin and her hubby and their daughter and her husband ...

As well as their usual menu, Old Village Inn features a delicious line up of various weekend specials. This was last weekend's menu ...

Me and Hubby ...

My MIL ...

I owe a HUGE debt of gratitude to my extended family for all of the sacrifices they made for four months and all of the time they gave up in order to help me clean out and sell my mother's house for her so that she could enjoy the remainder of her life living in an assisted living facility and NOT in a horrid nursing home.

Unfortunately, she declined so shockingly fast that my efforts to take care of her financially were all for not in the end. What is that old saying about 'while we are making plans, God sits back and laughs'? Yup. 

To be perfectly honest, this dinner was not so much a "celebration" as a sincere "Thank You" because as you may imagine, it was extremely difficult to let go of the home in which I grew up in AND the home which my parents loved so very much! However, I am extremely thankful to my "family" who have always been there for me when I needed them most. 

I'm back now!

 ... I think lol

More Blogger BS ... I can NOT sign out and onto my other blogs ...

Have a "Soulful" day

 Happy Friday, friends! I just wanted to share a few music video's of one of my favorite rock band's called, "Collective Soul." These are acoustic versions of some of their hit songs while they were filming a special in Morocco a few years back. I hope you enjoy! 

"The World I Know"

"She Said"

"Shine"

"Gel"

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Have a blessed weekend all!