Wednesday, October 8, 2014

The Not Working Retired

Wow, it's a red letter week with me posting twice!  I mentioned to Jack that it seems like we have been on a dead run since Fall began.  I wish it was because I was doing some fabulous things, but really it's just been normal stuff...like work...and...work...and work at home...and OK, we did play hooky last weekend and enjoyed our Saturday adventures.  But I wanted to tell about another activity I enjoyed.  Last Friday I went to a retirement party for one of my co-workers (who just happens to also be a neighbor!).  Elaine has worked at our hospital for 45yrs as a dedicated RN.  Samaritan Hospital used to have a nursing school attached to it. Elaine graduated from there and has worked with SamHO ever since.  She's one of those people that never gets angry.  Well, I've never seen her angry anyway! She always has a smile on her face, a quiet demeanor, a class act.  A good nurse.  She and her hubby are moving to Florida and the house is up for sale.  I wish her tons of happiness, sunshine and no snow for once in her life! Here are a few pics from the evening.
Here she is with that special smile!
The gifts and cards
The beautiful flowers. Donna (Starkey Hollow), made the pumpkin one! So cute!
Donna and I made a candy bar card for her....if you've never made one of these you should give it a try...so fun! Just get candy bars and substitute them for words..like telling Elaine she was a "Lifesavor" for her patients..see..easy!
We got her the usual timepiece that retirement folks get. But ours is so pretty and special. The picture on the face is Samaritan Hospital as it looked back in the 1920's. It's from an old postcard from that era. I noticed the date on the postcard as 1910.  It must have been an architect's drawing of the then, future hospital, since SamHo wasn't built until the 1920's.  I love the saying: "When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece"....so true for her!  She wasn't the only one retiring this month.  One of our Docs...Dr. Krish...retired after 40yrs.  He's a urologist and I'm going to post some pics that I took today at our "carry-in" luncheon we had for him.  One of our talented nurses made a very special cake for him.  Now, you have to remember that we're a weird group with bathroom humor...especially if a party is for a urologist.  So pardon the cake and it's meaning...well, it was really funny!
Here's Doctor Krish (on the left), his lovely wife, and a photo bomb in the back on the TV! 
Donna and I made him a candy bar card too! He loved it! We also had his personal X-Ray apron framed.  Many moons ago he purchased an apron that had a big smiley face on the front with his initials embroidered in the corner. It was blue striped and so cute.  But the best part was the fact it was nice and light to wear. (shhhh..I usually stole wore it when he wasn't working!)  We only had the smiley face part framed..anyway I forgot to snap a pic of it..dang it!  He loved that too, but really the crazy cake stole the show....I could tell a funny story about it, but I'm going to refrain....Anyway, I hope both these folks enjoy retirement...I hope they have as many years of retirement as they had working to get to this point. Also, I'm jealous.......
However, I don't want this kind of cake when I leave...seriously.

16 comments:

Hilary said...

The candy card is so adorable.. and the clock is a special gift. As is the apron. And that cake made me laugh. Did you have any music playing the background.. maybe something by Urethra Franklin?

betty said...

That cake is adorable, LOL, and so appropriate for a urologist. How cute with the candy bar cards; I'll have to remember that! I too wish both that retired lots of enjoyment in this new season of their lives.

betty

Sweet Tea said...

I can honestly say I've never been to a party where that type of cake was served – hospital humor is , uh, "hospital humor"! LOL. My daughter and I both laughed!! I asked her if she wanted this for the Groom's cake at her wedding! We thought we were soooo funny. Thanks for the giggles!

Shady Del Knight said...

Hi, YaYa! Mrs. Shady knows how challenging a single day of work in the healthcare industry can be. In fact, the vast majority of days are. It takes a special kind of person to meet those challenges for 40 or 45 years and do it with a smile on their face, What an accomplishment! Mrs. Shady and I salute and congratulate Elaine and Doctor Krish for their years of dedicated service helping people.

I hope Elaine becomes my new neighbor. We could use some smiling faces around here. Those candy cards are a wonderful idea for retirement parties and that cake... takes the cake!

You are a sweet and special friend for working so hard to organize retirement celebrations for your colleagues, dear YaYa. I'm sure they appreciated your efforts and Donna's and I hope they have a chance to read this post dedicated to them.

God bless!

acorn hollow said...

So funny Lots of humor in that group for sure.
Cathy

Julia said...

Talk about going out with a BANG!!!
Oh my gosh, you and your co-workers are extra special.and creative. I bet it was fun to plan this together. I can almost hear the histerical laughs.....

You sure know how to celebrate and put fun in your efforts. What a memorable cake for a Urologist, hehehe...

I love the parting gifts and I especially like the candy cards.

I wish both Elaine and Dr Krish a happy retirement.
Hugs,
JB

B. WHITTINGTON said...

I've been scarce in blog land lately. Thanks for stopping by mine and commenting. Loved your blog on retiring. Love the candy bar card idea. Clever. And the cake was a hoot. Someone did a great job! Thanks for giving me a smile before bed. Hugs. (Yep I will be busy writing this winter!)

Rosaria Williams said...

What a great sense of humor and camaraderie you all bring to your work!

Rosaria Williams said...

p.s. I want to apologize for not posting your comment to my blog. I accidentally pushed delete and it is now lost in space; I did enjoy it though.

selvageedge said...

It's been a long time since I've made a candy card. Those are fun to do, and yours looked great. I love the cake. I'm trying to get Tommy potty trained, and he got me to promise him a cake party when he does it. Maybe this idea will come in handy!

Kerri said...

Haha! Funny cake! Glad he has a sense of humor!

Karen Whittal said...

I have seen some fun cake but never..... ever..... lol

Donna said...

Your humor is THE bomb!!!!!! Thanks for ALWAYS making me laugh!! You are the best!!!!

rjerdee said...

Ha ha ah ha...i'm laughing out loud about the last picture! You guys are so funny!

Vicki Boster said...

Ohhhh that cake-- so funny!! Retirement-- I'm actually longing for it!!

Sending you much love-- your blog posts always show such wonderful times with friends and family:)
Love
Vicki

Susan Anderson said...

Looks like my favorite kind of party with lots of love and memories.

I'll bet she will be sorely missed!

=)