A Fresh Cup of Coffee

Wednesday, October 21, 2026

Wednesday Hodgepodge - Back to the Future

A hodgepodge is a jumble or assortment of things that might not appear to belong together. Joyce at From This Side of the Pond hosts a weekly link-up called Wednesday Hodgepodge that is a little collection of questions for bloggers to answer just for fun and to get to know each other. I always look forward to chatting with friends over coffee, so pour a cup of your favorite and let's visit for a few minutes!

Here are this week's questions - and my answers - for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1. This week's Hodgepodge lands on 'Back To The Future Day'. October 21, 2015 was the date the movie characters (Marty McFly, Doc, and Jennifer Parker) traveled to in the future in the 1989 film Back To The Future Part 2.

Did you see the movie? Tell us something about what was happening in your life in the fall of 2015.

I did see the movie, all three Back To The Future movies actually, and I've watched them several times. Loved them! In October 2015 my dear mother-in-law passed away. A little later that month, a happy event was that my parents and two aunts came for a visit. This was the second to last time my aunts, with whom I've always had a very close relationship, were able to visit us. One thing we did while they were with us was go on a steam train ride in Cumberland.

My aunties

My mum

My dad and me

2. Which -ber month is your favorite? (September, October, November, December) Explain why.

I could make a great case for October, November, or December for various reasons. I guess I'd say December edges out the other two. At least as I think about it today! December has the Advent season, Christmas, and my birthday. There's Christmas music and lights and decorations to enjoy, and opportunities to indulge in holiday meals and especially in holiday baking and sweets that I love! So many fun outings to choose from. Maybe most importantly, time with family is part and parcel of Christmas celebrations, so I love that! And also, did I mention my birthday? 😁

3. Red, yellow, orange, bronze . . . your favorite fall color to wear? To eat? To see in nature?

Red would be my favorite to wear. I don't love oranges, yellows, or browns on me, and I think the only yellow and orange wearables I own are high visibility work shirts! To eat is a little harder to decide . . . maybe orange? I think of oranges and tangerines and apricots, and even orange bell peppers. I love seeing all the fall colors in nature, but red and orange probably get my vote there, being the boldest and most striking colors for fall leaves.

4. What do you miss most about being 20?

Being at a healthy weight and having joints that worked smoothly and as intended, without hurting just because it was morning or it was a little colder outside!

5. We're roughly three quarters of the way through the year. What's one goal, habit, or mindset you want to purposely carry into the final weeks of the year? Elaborate.

Following through on a plan. This applies in a lot of areas. A menu planned for the week ahead makes it easier to grocery shop and to make good food choices. Having even a loose schedule and plan for getting stuff done around the house helps ensure that we actually do get the stuff done around the house. A plan for rehearsing and working on music means I know when I work on it and what I personally need to focus on. Of course, I need to make all these plans so that I have something to follow through on, and most of the time I'm way better at making a plan than on the follow-through, so that perseverance is what I need to purposefully work on.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

The SVC show on Monday night went really well and we were very happy with it as a dress rehearsal. We found out the few places where we needed to adjust our transition as an entire group, where we needed to tighten up a little bit, and most of us individually identified a few places where we need to review our breath plan or choreo or what-have-you to make sure we are the best we can be. We will be ready for International next week and we are so excited!

We had a marvellous weekend with family here, and the Twenty One Pilots concert was amazing! One highlight was when they did Seven Nation Armies and had the Ohio State drumline join them on stage! Our seats were high in the bleachers but directly facing the stage so it was still a good view, and we could see the entire drone show which we found out later was not visible in some other spots.

How would you answer these questions? Leave a comment and let me know!

I'm sharing in this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.

I host the Wednesday Quotes link-up every other Wednesday. Stop by and share a few thoughts and quotes on the current topic here: WQ - Reaching Goals. I host the Everyday Images photo link-up every other Thursday. And find the Scripture and a Snapshot link-up here every Sunday.

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Sunday, October 18, 2026

Scripture and a Snapshot - Stand Up and Bless the Lord

Then the Levites . . . said,

"Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

"You are the LORD, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them;

and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you."

~Nehemiah 9:5-6~

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Wednesday, October 14, 2026

Wednesday Hodgepodge - The Sound of Silence

Here are this week's questions - and my answers - for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1. Do you think you're driven more by curiosity or comfort? Explain.

Obviously it's a mix but I'd say it's more curiosity. I want to learn new things and try things, and I like to see something for myself. While I have fears that hold me back a lot of times, I think I've also reached a stage of life where I can tell myself things like, "you might not get another chance to try this" or "what's the worst that could happen?". And I also can look back and realize that most of the time, things have turned out okay at minimum.

2. What non-food item is in your refrigerator or freezer?

Hang on - I'm going to go look . . . I have one box of baking soda (the kind with the filter that's supposed to keep the odors under control) in the fridge and another in the freezer. I have a couple of reusable ice packs in the freezer. Nothing that unusual.

3. Are you comfortable with silence? If you're home alone, do you like silence or do you need regular background noise? Do you seek out times and places to be silent? What's your favorite place to find silence/be silent?

I'm generally comfortable with silence, though I don't often purposefully choose it. When I'm home alone, I like silence about half the time, depending on what I'm doing. Silence is preferable when I need to focus on something or when I need to rest.

Do I seek out opportunities to be silent? Hmm. I guess I do but not for long periods. I try to take brief moments of silence during my morning routine, and here and there throughout the day, but I don't have a regular specific time or place. My favorite place for silence is outside at night, either stargazing or sitting near a campfire. Looking up at the stars quiets my heart and thoughts, and invites me to just breathe and marvel and to worship the Creator.

4. Carpentry, electrical, plumbing, landscaping . . . which skill would you most like to possess and how would you put that skill to use today?

I wish I had landscaping skills (I'd settle for just gardening skills, honestly) so I could create the plans to beautify our yard and make it happen. I have vague pictures in my head and I see things in other people's yards that I like, but I have no ability to envision how it would work in my own yard, and even less ability to plot and plan and actually make it happen.

5. Do you lean more towards being too needy or too independent? Which do you find harder to deal with in others?

I will ask for help when I need it, but I sometimes I wait too long to convince myself that I am in need of help. So given that, I lean towards being too independent and trying to handle things on my own or figure it out on my own instead of asking for help earlier in the process. Not surprisingly, I find the "too needy" people around me harder to deal with. I feel impatient with them, and often just want to tell them to "suck it up, buttercup". At work it's very frustrating to me when I'm expected to fix someone else's screw-up and they act like it's an emergency I'm responsible for. I guess that's often a result of someone not taking responsibility for their own stuff, but they do come across as too needy when they try to dump the issue onto someone else.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Wondering how the furniture saga turned out? It was properly delivered yesterday morning, but we have only brought the chair into the house so far. The loveseat will probably be a job we'll save for our sons to help with on Friday. I'm sure they will be thrilled! haha

it won't stay in front of the door - that
would be awkward!

I will probably be scarce next week, or scarcer than usual. Our son and his family arrive on Friday afternoon and they are staying for the weekend. My sister and niece arrive very late on Friday, and while my niece heads back home on Monday, my sister is staying for a full week, so I'm going to do my best to prioritize time doing things with her as much as possible.

I kept thinking about the song "The Sound of Silence" as I was answering #3 so of course I will share it! This cover done by the rock band Disturbed is my favorite version. The visuals of the band performing it live or the official music video by Disturbed are probably not for everyone, so I found this version with just the lyrics.

I'm curious how you would answer these questions, and how you feel about silence. Leave a comment and let me know!

I'm sharing in this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.

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WQ - Reaching Goals

A great accomplishment shouldn't be the end of the road, just the starting point for the next leap forward. ~Harvey Mackay

Four steps to achievement: Plan purposefully. Prepare prayerfully. Proceed positively. Pursue persistently. ~William Arthur Ward

The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don't define them, learn about them, or even seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them. ~Denis Waitley

I hope to be able to report in a few weeks from now that my chorus reached the goal we set for ourselves on the international stage. That goal is well-defined, and we've been learning and working on it specifically all year. We know that winning is believable and achievable. We know where we're going, and how we're getting there, and we're all in the adventure together!

Now that we're in the final quarter of the calendar year, it may be a good time to assess how we're doing on reaching the goals we set for ourselves back in January, during New Year's Resolution season. Well, I've been doing that a little bit, and I know some others who have been as well. Personally, I've made pretty solid progress towards some of my goals, and not so much on others. I had goals in two main areas of my life - moving to a new home and everything that goes along with that was the first one, and losing weight and improving my health and fitness was the other. We bought a house in the summer and have been settling in, making some changes, and I feel like I will be able to put a nice big checkmark beside that goal at the end of the year. On the other hand, I'm not quite as happy with my progress in the personal health areas. The pounds aren't coming off, although I am seeing improvements in my strength and stamina.

It is a paradoxical but profoundly true and important principle of life that the most likely way to reach a goal is to be aiming not at that goal itself but at some more ambitious goal beyond it. ~Arnold J. Toynbee

In the long run men hit only what they aim at. ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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Wednesday Quotes is a bi-weekly opportunity for bloggers to share their writing, poetry, photos, or stories inspired by our theme. We've chosen the themes as a starting point for your creativity, and the only requirement is that your post include at least one related quote. Feel free to combine or "double-dip" with other writing or photo challenges as well. Of course, we'd appreciate a link back to us, if you'd be so kind. Add your link and please visit others and leave a comment! The link is open for two weeks.

Thanks to Marsha at Always Write for introducing us to the Wednesday Quotes challenge, and for passing the hosting duties along so we can continue sharing great quotes! Wednesday Quotes is co-hosted by Kym at A Fresh Cup of Coffee and Sadje at Keep It Alive.

Quoting reminds me there are other people in the world besides only me.

And other thoughts besides mine, and other ways of thinking.

~Gregory Maguire~

Wednesday Quotes 2026 Themes

January 7 - Resolutions

January 21 - Motivation

February 4 - Eating Out/Restaurants

February 18 - Being Responsible

March 4 - Libraries

March 18 - Perseverance

April 1 - Simplicity

April 15 - Conquering Fear

April 29 - Making a Difference

May 13 - Family Ties

May 27 - Courage

June 10 - Teachers/Mentors

June 24 - Connecting with Nature

July 8 - Milestones

July 22 - Sunrise

August 5 - Patience

August 19 - Taking a Break/Rest

September 2 - Learning from Mistakes

September 16 - Best Friends

September 30 - Elegance

October 14 - Reaching Goals

October 28 - Dreams/Nightmares

November 11 - Integrity

November 25 - Generosity

December 9 - Beauty in Nature

December 23 - True Love

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This post may also be shared at the current link party at Life Captured and at the Sweet Tea & Friends Monthly Link-up Party hosted by Grace-Filled Moments

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Sunday, October 11, 2026

Scripture and a Snapshot - Abundant Goodness

I will exalt you, my God the King;

I will praise your name for ever and ever.

Every day I will praise you

and extol your name for ever and ever.

Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;

his greatness no one can fathom.

One generation commends your works to another;

they tell of your mighty acts.

They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty ―

and I will meditate on your wonderful works.

They tell of the power of your awesome works ―

and I will proclaim your great deeds.

They celebrate your abundant goodness

and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

The LORD is gracious and compassionate,

slow to anger and rich in love.

The LORD is good to all;

he has compassion on all he has made.

All your works praise you, LORD;

your faithful people extol you.

They tell of the glory of your kingdom

and speak of your might,

so that all people may know of your mighty acts

and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

and your dominion endures through all generations.

~Psalm 145:1-13~

Thank you for joining Scripture & A Snapshot. Leave a link to your own post sharing a Scripture and a Snapshot. Take time to visit some of the other links and bless each other with comments.

I also link up at the Sweet Tea & Friends Monthly Link-up Party hosted by Grace-Filled Moments

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Friday, October 9, 2026

Currently . . . October 9, 2026

The "Currently" link-up at the beginning of each month is now hosted at Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa. Our hostess Amy posts a set of action verb prompts for the month and writers respond. So, without further ado, here are this month's prompts and what's happening currently . . .

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Falling For - Fall colors and decor. I wish I could go all out with fall decor, but I'm satisfied with just a few favorite things. A hat tip to fellow blogger Carla for this quote I saw on her recent Hodgepodge post:

Mornings crisp as carrot sticks, with trees the tone of chimney bricks. ~Daniel Waters

Yes, that captures it! I love the crisp - but not cold - fall mornings, especially when there's some wisps of fog. I also love the mornings when the sky is brilliant blue and the air smells clean. I love the changing colors of the leaves. I took both of these photos within the past week, and already the scene has changed and the colors have popped.

Scaring (Me) - How quickly the time is going by. All the things I thought I had plenty of time to get done, and guess what - I don't have that much time! I've got plans for this weekend and I need to get a lot of stuff done. And next weekend I've got family coming for a visit and there's even more to get done before then. It makes me wonder if I'm focusing my energy on the right things when time really is short, y'know? Bigger picture thoughts.

Working On - Getting Thanksgiving dinner prepped for Sunday afternoon. Getting the house ready for company. I was supposed to get my new furniture delivered yesterday, but long story short, it's not coming until Tuesday now, so I'm working on Plan B. Good thing we didn't already take the old furniture out to the garage or get rid of it entirely!

Working on the Scioto Valley Chorus send-off show, which is preparation for the International competition at the end of the month.

Loving - the fall colors and cooler weather, as I already said. I haven't got much in the way of fall decor, but my late summer crows and sunflowers are still making me smile.

My husband and I were talking just in the last week or so about how we wouldn't have imagined ourselves living in a city again, but we really do like it here. We love our house that is feeling very much like home. We love our church and the friends we're getting closer with. I love the chorus. We love that we are able to share season tickets to an NHL team, and overall we find that we do love the "small city" feel of Columbus. Now, to be fair, I still avoid going downtown as much as possible, and I really miss living out on a quiet country road!

I love having a guest room! The bed is set up and ready for company, and my sister and niece will be our first guests. After the weekend I'll finish tidying up the room because I need some underbed bins to for the extra linens, and there are some boxes still stored in the room that will need to be looked after. I love that my sister is coming to visit! She and her daughter are huge Twenty One Pilots fans, as I and my daughter are; so they are coming to see the show at Ohio State. (My daughter is not able to come, but my son and his family are coming for the weekend and to go to the show.)

Entertaining (Me) - I just looked back at my Hodgepodge post from this week and it was entertaining (and quite embarrassing!) to see all the typos I made in it. Goodness, I didn't think I'd been in that big a hurry, but maybe I was tired or got interrupted a lot so that I didn't notice all the missing words and other wierd things I did. I'm resisting the urge to correct the errors, I'll just leave them and hope others are also entertained and don't judge me too harshly! LOL

But seriously. I've been entertained by the beginning of the hockey season lately, and have tried to make a point of sitting down to watch games on TV with hubby. It's not quite as fun as going to the game, but it does allow me to kick back and relax while watching, and the snacks at home are much, much cheaper than at the game!