Scripture and a Snapshot - Fill Me With Joy

LORD, you alone are my portion and my cup;

you make my lot secure.

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

surely I have a delightful inheritance.

I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;

even at night my heart instructs me.

I keep my eyes always on the LORD.

With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;

my body also will rest secure,

because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,

nor will you let your faithful one see decay.

You make known to me the path of life;

you will fill me with joy in your presence,

with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

~Psalm 16:5-11~

Do you want to be filled with joy? We all want joy in our lives, of course! It begins with gratitude, with understanding how very good God is to us and that his 'boundary lines' are to keep us safe in his presence. This alone should get us praising God and encourage us to listen to his word. He protects us in this life and the next, as he shows us the path of life. If we want the fullness of joy God promises, what we need to do is make room for it in our hearts and lives. If our thoughts and actions are putting strife, anger, greed, bitterness, complaints and negativity into our container, there's less room for the joy of the Lord. We find our joy in his presence, and how can we hold onto those negative thoughts when we are in his presence and rejoicing in his goodness?

Joy is the serious business of heaven. ~C.S. Lewis

Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings. ~ William Arthur Ward

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Progress and Goals - October 2026

I guess I'd better get this progress report done before I'm too far into November! October was pretty full of excitement and activity, but let's take a look at how I fared on my goals.

At the beginning of this year, rather than choose a Word of the Year or make a long list of all kinds of things I wanted to accomplish, I set two main areas of my life to focus on as far as goals: 1) Improve my overall health and fitness; and 2) Move to a home that suits us better than our apartment. Over the past month or so, I haven't seen the weight coming off, but I was making progress with general fitness. It's discouraging in a sense because I try to eat right and try to fit in some exercise, but I still don't see the scale move. But at the same time, my fitness level certainly was improved and I could sort of measure that as I went to the Sing United International Convention and Competition and felt great through rehearsals and performances ― able to keep up with the choreo and not be winded or worn out! The second goal was obviously met when we moved in the summer, but there are still things I'm working on as far as furnishing, organizing, and decorating the house. During October we got our new mattress delivered so the guest bedroom was completely set up, and we got new living room furniture delivered so the living room is updated. We still have the old living room set and want to give that away or donate it somehow. I have artwork and things to hang on the walls but still need to decide where some of the pieces go and then convince my hubby to get up on the ladder and pound in some nails and hanging hardware. I haven't found a small size pull-out sofa that would do what I need it to in the office, so for now we are just going to have an air mattress available for when we have guests that need that room . . . but we found that we'd lost the plug somewhere along the line so hopefully I can find it as a replacement piece instead of replacing the whole mattress! Sometime soon we'll make a trip to IKEA for an end table solution for the living room and probably more bookcases or shelving. And . . . it's getting to be time to decorate for the holidays!

That's the progress report part! Now here are some highlights and photos:

October 1 - kicked off the month with tickets to the Blue Jackets game. It was good to have a decisive win after a dreadful preseason (but little did we know at the time that the wins would not continue apace!)

October 2 - after work and dinner, I hassled hubby into going over to the furniture store with me to get the loveseat and chair ordered.

October 3 - I got my hair done in the morning. In the afternoon we met the kids at Hank's Texas BBQ for Harrison's birthday dinner. Afterwards we went to a park and art park in nearby Delaware to explore.

October 4 - Worship team, church, and lunch with friends at Chi Thai. After our usual Sunday afternoon nap, we got the guest bed put together.

October 4-9 - powered through a work week. Our furniture was scheduled to be delivered on the Thursday but they came early without letting me know and after a whole ordeal I had to reschedule.

October 10 - It was a great Saturday to sleep late and then treat ourselves by going out for brunch. We went to Delaneys Diner and really liked it. Did some shopping, then spend the rest of the day baking bread and butter tarts, making Nanaimo bars, and frying the turkey. 

October 11 - After worship team and church, we went home to finish prepping dinner and cleaning a little bit. We had two couples over for Canadian Thanksgiving dinner and had a great afternoon and early evening with them. 

October 12-15 - worked, went to chorus rehearsal and Dinner + Discipleship, and yes, our new furniture was delivered successfully on this attempt!

October 16 - I went to work for a regular Friday though I did scoot out a little early. Hubby left work early afternoon so he could be home to greet Landon and family when they arrived from Maryland. We ordered pizza for dinner and enjoyed a great evening with family, then hubby and I went to the airport around midnight to pick up my sister and niece who also spent the weekend with us.

October 17 - We did sleep in a bit, then hubby went out for brunch with the kids while I took my sister and niece to see a couple of TØP-related sites. I dropped them off at the "Bandito camp" near The Ohio State so they could enjoy that full fan experience, and then went back home and got ready for the concert. After all, that's what the family had come for ― we all had tickets to see Twenty One Pilots play at the "Shoe"! We all met up to stand in a merch line for...ev...er and spell each other there. LOL The concert was absolutely amazing!!! We got home really late and a bit chilled but so happy with the whole experience!

October 18 - I wound up going to worship team by myself because my hubby's cold had come for him. Landon and family joined me for the service but my niece slept in so she and my sister missed. Harrison and family came over to join us for lunch and we had pizza AGAIN. Not that anyone was really complaining, we had just wanted Raising Canes. Later in the afternoon I took Laury and Kaylee another TØP site quest. Then we spent the evening together just chilling.

October 19 - Landon and family left in the morning so I left for work after seeing them off. I worked morning only then came home to get ready for our Scioto Valley Chorus send-off show. Hubby came home from work early so he could drive my niece to the airport, then he and my sister (and Harrison and family) came to the show later. The show went so well and was great fun, and let us know a few spots where we needed to do a bit more work before contest. I was able to spend a little bit of time with my family after the show before they left and the chorus did our post-show evaluation and cleaned up. It felt to get home and put my feet up after my busy day!

October 20 - I left work a bit early once again, this time so we could get to the Blue Jackets game on time. My sister and I sat in our seats and hubby had purchased tickets together with some people from his work. We had fun, but the Jackets did not play well so the game itself was not a good time.

October 21 - My sister took my car for the day and then picked me up from work so we could go walk Blacklick Metro Park for a bit, then out to Cap City Diner for dinner.

October 22 - the three of us went to East Market for dinner and then to Franklin Park Conservatory for the Pumpkins Aglow exhibit.

October 23 - I did work the full day but took a long enough lunch to come home and say my goodbyes to my sister before hubby took her to the airport. So glad we got to spend that week together - what a treat! In the evening I did a catch-up grocery shopping trip and then relaxed.

October 24 - It felt good to sleep late! I got some housework done and in the afternoon hubby and spent some time helping out our church at the community Trunk or Treat event before another quiet evening at home.

October 25 - after church we had a brief nap and then met Harrison and family in New Albany. We were celebrating Veronica's uipcoming birthday with her choice of activity and restaurant. She wanted to explore at Rose Run creek again and then she wanted dinner at Panda Express. Can you believe they were wading in the creek in late October? The weather was beautiful.

Side note: This is the overlook at the creek where we were when our daughter video-called the family group with the happy announcement that she and her long-time boyfriend had just gotten officially engaged! Our huge congratulations to Kennady and Dan on their engagement and we are all so excited about getting the wedding on the calendar and welcoming Dan into the family in that more official way!

October 26 - I spent the full day at work, knocking out everything I possibly could in advance of my taking the rest of the week off for Sing United convention. I got pretty much everything packed and ready to rock in the evening.

October 27 - I went to work just for the morning, then went home to finish the last minute packing and prepping. My wonderful hubby left his work early once again so that he could give me ride to the hotel downtown, saving us the trouble and expense of parking my car there for the week. We had a rehearsal, got checked into our room, and I went to Stories on High with friends for dinner.

October 28 - we had morning rehearsal, I went to lunch over at the Short North Market with friends, and spent the rest of the day taking in the Quartet Semi-finals.

October 29 - SVC had an early breakfast and rehearsal, then it time to do hair and makeup and be on stage for Chorus Semi-finals. We were able to get into the hall to hear the last couple of choruses that performed and then the call off of the top ten in the performance order for the Finals. After the call-off, we hurried to our rehearsal room for a short rehearsal and meeting, and we were in Finals mode!

October 30 - another rehearsal, of course! During the day we watched the Quartet Finals. I went to dinner at Martini Modern Italian with friends, then went to the Coronet Club show in the evening.

October 31 - Finals Day!! We our final rehearsal and then worked on getting into costume, hair and makeup and getting onto the stage. It was so much fun! We were the eighth out of ten competing choruses in the order, so we watched some of the earlier choruses on the livestream while we were getting ready, then after our performance we went straight into the hall to hear the final chorus and await the results. We placed fifth in the world and we are so proud and excited for our success! We had a chorus dinner afterwards and celebrated.

Seems like a lot longer report than most of my others, but as you can see there were a lot of photos I included! November has already started off with some interesting things to report, but I will save those for the next summary coming in about a month!

How have you been doing with goals you set for yourself this year? Leave a comment and let me know!

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 ©2006-2026 HS Coffee Break/Just A Second/A Fresh Cup of Coffee. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. This post was written by a human. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/ 

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Currently . . . November 5, 2026

The "Currently" link-up at the beginning of each month is 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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Saying "no" to - some activities that I would have liked to do, but can't manage while I'm recovering from gallbladder surgery. I passed on dinner out on Tuesday evening with one of my husband's former colleagues. They still got together, and she came over to see me for a little bit which was nice. Last night I didn't make it to the weekly Dinner + Discipleship at church and missed seeing everyone. Tonight I'm opting out of the Blue Jackets game we have tickets for, and my husband is going with a friend instead. I have Sunday morning off from worship team. Hopefully I'll be able to do more things on the weekend though!

Thanking God for - a wonderful week at the Sing United International Convention with so much amazing music and fun. Thankful for good times with friends there and for a great time performing in the semi-finals and finals. Thankful for a fifth place finish! 

Very thankful for overall good health, and that my crisis gallbladder attack didn't happen until after the chorus competition, and when I was home and had my husband to look after me. I'm very thankful for good medical care to get that angry gallbladder out, and that I'm home feeling pretty good and recovering well. I'm thankful for all the friends that prayed and that have reached out with well wishes and offers of help. 

Eating/Drinking - Last week I was able to dine at two very nice restaurants, Stories on High, and Martini Modern Italian. Both were beautiful and the food was excellent.

In contrast, this week I'm eating toast and cereal, and hearty soups. Also yummy, but in a different way. Comfort foods, I suppose, and easy on my digestive system.

Cozying up to - the autumn and holiday vibes, I guess. I can't really come up with a good answer for this one. I guess I'm cozying up with comforting hot drinks and soups, and cozying up in my recliner and soft blankets these days. I sure am glad we got the power recliner, because it's been so comfy for me this week, and very little effort required to get myself into a comfortable position.

Watching/Reading - I'm currently reading A Fatal Current at the Exposition by Amelia Pine. I had been working on Paper Wife by Laila Ibrahim and Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt so I'll want to get back to those. I just purchased The Quiet Power of Blogging by Marsha Ingrao that I'm excited to start, and I'd pre-ordered the newest Verity Kent mystery by Anna Lee Huber that is sitting here ready for me to start as well. I have a really long list of books I want to read but I'm still in a season of finding it difficult to carve out time to read, so I'm not getting through any of it in a particularly timely manner!

We've been watching hockey games most evenings (well, I haven't been home in the evenings up until this week), and I plan to watch all the rest of the webcast of the Sing United choruses and quartets from last week. I saw as much as I could live while I was there, of course, and even had the live webcast on in our room when we were getting ready to go on stage, but there's a lot I missed because of being in rehearsal or backstage or whatever and I want to see it all. And see what Scioto Valley Chorus looked and sounded like on stage from the audience perspective!

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What's currently happening in your life? Leave a comment and let me know! 

This post will be linked at this month's edition of "Currently" hosted by Amy at Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa

 Don't miss a coffee break! Subscribe to A Fresh Cup of Coffee by email. 

 ©2006-2026 HS Coffee Break/Just A Second/A Fresh Cup of Coffee. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. This post was written by a human. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/ 

This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Fresh Cup of Coffee helps continue the coffee breaks and conversation. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.