Another Goodbye...

It's great to be good at some things, to do them well and take pride in them.  We are fortunate at the Arc of Abilities, for we have many opportunities to learn, grow, and do things well.  For example...

Eaton Work...

Gardening...

Helping one another...

Tai Chi...

Volunteering in the school...

Drumming...

Collaborating (or is this plotting?!)...

Cooking...

And of course, dancing!

But as good as we are at many things, saying goodbye is not one of them.  We've bid farewell to a few AoA friends, and recently said goodbye to Becca, from Parks and Rec.  Yet even with this "experience," we weren't prepared to say goodbye to our beloved Soup...whose last day was Friday.  😢  We only got a few days notice to prepare for his departure, but we hopped to it and made it special.  We're happy that he's being sent to a school that needs someone who has experience and works hard...Soup sure does!  But we are not happy to lose this dear friend of our day support program.  If you've followed our journey from the beginning, you're familiar with what an important part of our day Soup is...he has formed relationships with each and every one of us and we will miss him very much.  

We mentioned last week that we were having a special lunch to honor someone who meant a lot to us, so we celebrated Soup with a farewell luncheon on Friday!  Here's a look at that very special occasion.

We began by making cards and decorations on Wednesday and Thursday.

Chris admires our centerpieces that consisted of pictures of tools and machines we've seen Soup use!

They were so cute, here's a closeup!  It took a lot of team work to get these made...something else we're good at! 😎

Most of Friday morning was spent preparing lunch.  Mini-cupcakes had to be made and decorated.  

Green beans needed to be cooked.

Chicken had to be "shaked and baked."

The guys wanted to write notes to Soup on the whiteboard.

From their hearts...

When it was time for lunch, we called Soup and asked if he could bring us some ice...there's nothing like bringing a contribution to your own surprise party!

Then this happened...

Soup and everyone else was happy to incorporate Fried Chicken Day (Wednesday) and Macaroni Day (Friday) into the farewell luncheon!  We "oven-fried" the chicken...and it was tasty!  Here, Soup and Mr. Howard enjoy a meal they described as "much better than school cafeteria lunches."  Wow!  Mr. Howard is the lead custodian at JRES, and he assured us that he will take good care of us until a new custodian is hired.  And while we look forward to meeting the new person, we can't call him or her Soup's replacement, because there could never be another Soup.😜

Here's our last picture with Soup.  We were only a group of 10 associates by Friday afternoon, missing many who are traveling, not feeling well, or had appointments.  Luckily, on the poster above, we had a picture of all 16 to send with Soup...as if he'll ever forget us!

  

Bye, Soup...you will be missed!

Soup's farewell was a big deal, but we had a few other great experiences this week too...

 Our Tai Chi lesson on Wednesday was superb.  Michael persists in finding ways to help our guys with what they need, whether it's a "legitimate" Tai Chi move or not.  We are developing our own routine, and it's working for us!  One thing we love to see is how the friends are helping each other...and you would not believe the amount of encouragement they give each other!  It's a joy to partake in this class each week.

Working on extending our arms...

...and raising them, too.

Balance is improving for all!

We also made a reduced sugar and fat version of apple turnovers to celebrate Apple Turnover Day on Wednesday.  Instead of pastry dough, we used a few layers of filo dough.  We cut down on the amount of butter and brown sugar used to sweeten the apples...and no one complained that the end product was anything but tasty, even if a bit of a flaky mess!

Our girls were surprised on Thursday morning when a nail artist stopped by and offered free manicures!  Her name is Ashley and her mom is the assistant principal, Mrs. Vallone, at JRES.  Mrs. Vallone is a fan and friend of ours, but she must work a little harder than Mr. Stutt because we don't see her as often. 😉  She told us Ashley just wanted to put some smiles on some faces...and that is exactly what happened!

Thank you, Ashley!  She's from Serenity Spa on Jamestown Rd. and we all agreed we would recommend her for your manicure needs! 

We went for our monthly visit to The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg on Thursday afternoon.  Christina took us on a tour to search for patriotic symbols in art.  We were proud of our associates having answers to a number of her questions about our country's symbols and their meanings!!

This is a jar of sand art.  The artist, Fredric Clemens, managed to layer sand in intricate designs and even created a flag and a bald eagle in the sand.  It's hard to see in this photo...you need to go to the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum and check it out!

In the Education Center for our art activity, Christina gave us tips on using watercolors and we created our own patriotic (or not!) designs!

What's up with these faces?  Oh...the door to the elevator opened and you were still on the top floor?  Well, you've got to push the button, guys! 😲

We find delight in everything we do.  It may have been a short week, but it was a fun one!

Here's what's up for next week:

Tuesday:  A return to bowling and pizza for lunch! Wear Arc shirts! 👕

Wednesday:  BIG NEWS for this day and a few more this month!!  Eaton Corporation has asked if we could send work crews over to their production facility to help with assembly and inventory during the month of July!  Their site is very near AFCC, off of Penniman Road, near Water Country.  Carol and Nan will accompany 6 of our associates each day, and we have high hopes that most of our guys will be able to take a turn at Eaton during this special assignment.  We are excited to show Eaton (in person) what we are capable of and our very strong work ethic, too!  LUNCH ON YOUR OWN...please don't bring lunch that needs to be heated because we aren't sure who will be going to Eaton and microwaves will not be available.  Thank you! 

Thursday:  Lunch provided...one way or another! A crew will go to Eaton, and Eaton is providing lunch (we don't know the menu).  We're not sure yet who will be going...we will send email on Wednesday afternoon with details.  However, for those who remain at the center on Thursday, we will prepare a lunch of PB & J with chips and fruit for sides.

Friday:   As of this writing, we will all be at AFCC on Friday and we will have a belated celebration of Beans and Franks Day (July 13th) for lunch and an early celebration of National Ice Cream Day (3rd Sunday in July) with homemade ice cream for dessert...we can't overlook that one!  

It's a big, exciting week coming up!  We can't wait!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Lisa, Carol, and Nan