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Well, I am now 67 years old....
January 31st was my Birthday, which my son Joey took off from work and treated me to my favorite pizza which I always ordered for my family Birthday celebration....
Sicilian pizza with bacon on top from local pizzeria Norm's...
We have not had this for a long time ( I think since my last birthday) and it was so good !!
Honestly, I never ever thought I would live this long after my cancer diagnosis 17 years ago...
I was lucky as I did not need Chemo or Radiation but since then, I know I am living on borrowed time as cancer always comes back unless you pass away from something else before it does...
I am grateful for each and every day that I get to wake up one more time...
Many do not get that privilege...
I attended 4 funerals in the past 9 months....
More than I attended in the last decade...
My husband Joe's, my cousin Joe's, my brother-in-law John's and on Tuesday, my dear friend Anne Marie's...
It was quite a day...my son Joey came with me to attend Anne Marie's Funeral service at Saint Ann's Basilica in Scranton, Pa..
I always wanted to see the Basilica, known for it's famous annual Solemn Novena to St. Ann, which is attended by thousands...
But not under these circumstances...
I made a wish when entering the church, just like my mother always told me to do when visiting a church I had never been in before...
It was a beautiful service with beautiful songs and readings....
I was so happy I got to talk with Father Jim Paisley afterward.
We had a beautiful, delicious dinner at a local Italian restaurant, Sibio's, that was Ann Marie's favorite...
Ann Marie's husband, Tony, had a cake made that said "This is not Anne Marie's Cake" as she was well known for her own little cake business that she ran out of her home as a side business......
She had told me that at one time, she was making 25-30 cakes each weekend for people...
Tony said that the cake would be good but not as good as hers were...
Tony gifted me a beautiful butterfly pendant with Ann Marie's ashes in it...
I am so Thankful for his generous act of kindness...
He had told me that he "took a page from my play book" and has Ann Marie's ashes in a beautiful urn, quite similar to the clock that I have Joe's ashes in,...
But instead of the clock face, there is the picture of her, that is on the prayer card, on the front of it...
After leaving the restaurant, Joey was able to show me the Chancery and St. Peter's Cathedral as he works for the Diocese of Scranton and all the restaurants he frequents for lunch around and by Courthouse Square in Scranton...
This past Sunday was my church's annual Pasta Dinner....
All this for $15....
Pasta with home made sauce and a huge link of sausage...
A salad, a bun and cake from the same parishioner who owns the bakery where we get our breakfast items from for our monthly Sunday breakfasts after Mass...
I picked up my 4 dinners after Mass and dropped 2 dinners off for Jim and Danielle...
Also on Sunday, my washer died....
With a full load of clothes and water inside of it!!
Both my washer and dryer are close to 15 years old so I have just been waiting for them to kick the bucket...
On Monday, I ordered a new washer and dryer, replacing both of them together as we always did in the past....
Nothing fancy, very basic....
Lowe's had the best price on this Whirlpool set....
It will be delivered on Saturday....
Today, I am continuing my tour of the Dining Room , decorated for Heart Month/Valentine's....
Well, I did manage to decorate the Dining Room , checking off another Goal on my January monthly list
Decorate Dining Room for Valentine's - FINISHED
However, because of everything that happened in the last week, I fell short on getting the Living Room changed over from Christmas to Valentine's....
I am giving myself grace and working on it now...
In the corner of the Dining Room by the Living Room...
I bought this Mr. Christmas ceramic vintage inspired ceramic tree last November and i intend to keep it out year round....
I hung a heart ornament on it....
I was gifted this hand made heart by a fellow blogger many years ago....
And I made this heart....
I hung a heart that I made and a Dollar Tree Kissing Booth sign on the window divider....
This is the new Tree that I bought before Christmas....
And this is how I decorated it for Christmas....
And now for Valentine's....
Since it is a much smaller Tree, I had to decorate it a bit differently.....
The bow is made from a pink gold shimmery ribbon and a rose ribbon.....
I tucked white sparkly baby's breath picks into the Tree.....
Along with white velvet roses....
I left the pink tablecloth, that I wrapped around the base of the Tree for Christmas, in place....
Inside the vintage milk glass compote bowl.....
On the side of the large picture titled "May I play?"
I hung hearts from the sconces....
On the shelf under the picture.....
On the other side of the picture.....
On the side of the curio....
On the shelf....
I left the Christmas floral arrangement in the funeral basket, that Ann Marie gifted me .....
Hearts and cupids.....
I hung Valentine's slates on top of the curio.....
On the left side.....
I placed this white feather Tree inside a vintage crystal compote bowl......
I decorated it with some pink heart ornaments.....
I topped it with a pink snowflake ornament.....
On the right side.....
I left out the 2 sweet little girl figurines that my friend Ann Marie gifted me....
And that completes my tour of the Dining Room all decked out for Valentine's/Heart month.....
These decorations will stay up for the entire month of February....
In my next post on SATURDAY, I will be starting my tour of the Living Room decorated for Valentine's with a bit of Winter....
Thanks to those who took the time out of their busy day to spend a little bit of time with me!!
If you do not have a blog, PLEASE give me some way to reply to your comment, maybe by including your email in your comment. If I can not find a way to reach you, I will reply on the post where you commented so please check back......
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You are definitely ready for Valentine's Day. I'm sure the funeral for Ann Marie was tough in a lot of ways -- a loss always reminds us of other losses as well, and of course, it's a final farewell. Big hugs.
ReplyDeleteHi Deb..your dining room looks great..love all the pink! And Hapoy birthday once again!
ReplyDeleteHugs..Barb
Barb,
DeleteThanks so much for dropping by again...Thank you for the birthday wishes...Hopefully, we will get to celebrate it this Tuesday...
Hugs,
Deb
Wow - what a time you have had recently! Happy times and sad times all mixed together. I am sorry for the loss of your friend. Her funeral sounds beautiful. St. Anne's is a special place - we used to go for the last day of the novena when I was a child, then stop at Grablicks Dairy in Pittston for banana splits on the way home. Happy Belated Birthday - so glad you got your favorite pizza with your family. I will turn 70 this year !!!! I agree...enjoy every day because not everyone gets to age, it is a gift. The cake made me smile and remember my sister, who died 32 years ago at age 49. We LOVED cake and whenever there was family party we would jokingly fight over the icing roses...she would always say "I want a rose" - and if she was late to a party we'd save her a piece with a rose on. When she died I ordered a cake for the funeral dinner with "I want a rose" on it and LOTS of roses. Everyone smiled...the people she worked with said she said the same thing when there as a cake at work. So...I am GRATEFUL to turn 70 as she never got to even 50. Have a great week, enjoy your beautiful decorations and lovely home...and get ready for more winter weather!!! Ann at Our New Vista
ReplyDeleteHappy belated birthday, Deb! That pizza looks so yummy! I am so sorry for the loss of your dear friend. Her memorial sounds like it was a thoughtful way to celebrate her life! Wishing you a good week ahead!
ReplyDeleteSounds like Ann Marie's service was beautiful. What a kind gesture of her husband to give you the pendant with some of her ashes. We are sprinkling my parents this summer and I would love to keep a little bit of them both in some kind of pendant or tiny urn. Need to look into this.
ReplyDeleteThe red and white dishes/China are so perfective for all the winter holidays. Love the soft candle lighting and all of the vintage valentines.
P.S. Hope you get to celebrate your birthday this Tuesday. Happy belated!!
ReplyDeleteHappy belated birthday! That sounds like such a lovely memorial for Anne Marie and it was so sweet of her husband to gift you a necklace with some of her ashes. Now you'll always have a piece of her with you.
ReplyDelete