What's Up Wednesday Hodgepodge - May 2023

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On the last Wednesday of each month, Shaeffer & Shay host a link-up to talk a bit about what's going on in our worlds - food, entertainment, plans, fashion, work, whatever - in the What's Up Wednesday linky party. I'm late sharing what's up with me this time, because I'm on a little vacation visiting my kids.

What We're Eating This Week . . . We've been eating out more recently, thanks to the long weekend. Hubby and I tried buffalo brisket at Ted's Montana Grill last week, were invited to a cookout on Sunday, and ate at the Hungry Buffalo on Monday as part of our day out with family. I did try a new recipe last week (can't remember which day) that turned out really well, although as usual, I'm not sure my photo does it justice. This is my homemade Chicken Florentine―pretty quick and easy, and very tasty!

What I'm Reminiscing About . . . I miss attending the Memorial Day parade in Westminster. For many years our Memorial Day started out in town for the parade. Landon was in Civil Air Patrol and marched in the parade, and Kennady and I met up with friends along Main Street to watch. Once we got home, we usually had friends over for a cookout.

May 2019

May 2017

May 2016

What I'm Loving . . . having a working knee! We went on a couple of hikes on Monday, and although it wasn't super rough terrain, it was hilly and the paths were uneven and criss-crossed with roots, and there were lots and lots of steps! No chance I could have done even a tenth of it on my old knee! Definitely have received my money's worth from the knee replacement not quite one year ago!

What We've Been Up To . . . a weekend visit to Maryland for our daughter's graduation, celebrating Mother's Day, enjoying warmer weather, doing some exploring of parks and short hikes, and starting to up our involvement at church.

What I'm Dreading . . . my consultation with an oral surgeon next week. I guess I'll dread the next visit after the consultation even more because that's when they'll be extracting what's left of a broken tooth. Ugh.

What I'm Working On . . . learning music, which is exactly what I said last month, I think!

What I'm Excited About . . . our daughter and her boyfriend will be coming for a visit in just over a week!

What I'm Watching/Reading . . . Haven't watched much of anything recently. My husband was binge watching The Good Place, and I watched a lot of it with him. We've watched a couple movies, including Ant-Man and the Wasp and A Man Called Otto. All good!

I've been trying to turn to books more, instead of time-wasting things, but I'm not making much of a dent in my to-read pile! Just keeping up with a few review books plus an extra couple of books is a challenge sometimes, which is why it seems to take so long for me to read books that I don't have to return to the library or post a review on a deadline! For all the details on what I'm reading, see my book blog at Just A Second.

I'm currently working on:

Beneath A Peaceful Moon by Debby Lee

American Cozy: Hygge-Inspired Ways to Create Comfort & Happiness by Stephanie Pedersen

A Perilous Perspective by Anna Lee Huber

Recently completed:

When Tomorrow Came by Hannah Linder

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Fair As A Star by Mimi Matthews

The Keys to Gramercy Park by Candice Sue Patterson

Up next:

Composition As Conversation by Heather M. Hoover

Man of Shadow and Mist by Michelle Griep

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

What I'm Listening To . . . music of all kinds, but most often from RadioU. The learning tracks for the women's chorus pieces are on repeat as I work on learning and memorizing! I listen to podcasts quite a bit, and I'm trying something sort of new right now―listening to an audiobook. I mean, not right at this moment! I don't generally like listening to audiobooks, as I seem to have trouble tracking with the storyline, but I was intrigued by A Man With One of Those Faces by Caimh McDonnell, and audiobook was the only version currently available through my library, so . . . I'm trying it. 

What I'm Wearing . . . t-shirts and short sleeve tops more often, and hoodies less often. Actually wore a dress to church this past Sunday. I bought a pair of capri length exercise pants a couple weeks ago, not sure how I'd like them, but they are really comfortable so I am planning to get at least one more pair in another colour. They were super comfortable for hiking on Monday.

What I'm Doing This Weekend . . . No big plans this coming weekend, at least none I know of right now. Depending on how much hubby needs to be at work and what time his hockey game is on Sunday, we may go on another local park explore. I've been wanting to get back to the Dawes Arboretum and the Franklin Conservatory so we may do one of those.

What I'm Looking Forward To Next Month . . . the visit with our daughter, and I'm hopeful that I can find a part-time job that interests me by the end of June. And as soon as I do have a job lined up, we'll go ahead and get another vehicle as well.

What Else Is New . . . the community's pool is now open so we'll want to go check it out soon. We're starting to narrow down dates and plans for trips later this year. A couple of quick trips to Maryland, and a trip to Calgary this fall are in the works already, and I will be going to Louisville with the chorus at the very end of October. 

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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. Do you know much about (or understand) Artificial Intelligence (AI)? Does it worry or excite you?

I don't know a lot about it, or really understand it, but I do know that unless we have some safeguards and strict ethics as it develops, it's more worrisome than exciting. Just like with any technology or tool, it can be used for good or for ill, and I don't have any real confidence that its intended use is for good at this point.

2. What was the last song you listened to? Your favorite movie soundtrack? What song always puts you in a good mood?

 

Last song I listened to was a women's barbershop quartet arrangement of Can't Help Falling in Love, because I was working on memorizing it. Picking a favorite anything is always hard for me . . . movie soundtracks that come to mind as favorites are Forrest Gump, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and many older classic musicals like Grease, The Sound of Music, and White Christmas. There are probably just as many songs guaranteed to put me in a good mood! Might be easier to name some styles. Upbeat swing music like In The Mood or Sing Sing Sing. Big celebratory orchestral music like the 1812 Overture. Lots of upbeat worship music goes in that category as well.

3. What were you doing ten years ago?

 Well, according to my photo folders, my daughter was in the middle of softball season, and my second oldest son had just graduated from high school. It was the end of the school year, but I was already planning the next homeschool year, and apparently I still had reddish hair. Oh, and we would have been starting to plan the family vacation, which would have been Spencer's choice that year since he was the graduate. It's significant because we went to Calgary that fall, and that was the last time we were out there. Spencer chose that trip, which also included Glacier National Park, Banff, and a little bit of British Columbia; and we went in the fall so we could be there for my parents' 50th anniversary. My husband and I are now planning to go this fall for my parents' 60th anniversary. It's crazy to me that it's been TEN YEARS since we were there!

4. Your favorite no-bake summer dessert?

Ice cream? I mean, seriously, is there a better summertime dessert that doesn't involve baking? I submit to you that there is not.

Other than that, I can only think of Butterscotch Confetti as something I often made for summer gatherings. It's basically peanut butter and butterscotch chips and butter melted together, then you stir in colored mini marshmallows and press it into a pan. My kids used to ask for it a lot but I haven't made it for a long time.

 

5. Something you're looking forward to in June?

 

As mentioned in the WUW section, I'm really looking forward to my daughter's visit. Also looking forward to rehearsals with the chorus, to warm weather adventures including checking out the pool, and hopefully to starting a job of some kind and getting another vehicle. (I haven't given up on getting a parakeet either!)

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I'm frustrated with myself because I cannot seem to consistently manage my time. Things always take longer than I estimate, and you'd think I would have learned that by now and figured out how to be more efficient or prioritize better or something. I'm always able to meet a deadline or timeframe that I can't negotiate (like having to be at work by a certain time, or needing to finish a book so I can return it to the library) but I am not good about setting my own schedule and sticking to it. Another reason to get a job. If I have to fit my personal timetable around a work schedule, I'll have more incentive to be efficient and more focused. And so, here I am, much later on a Wednesday than I would have liked, finally hitting 'publish' on this so I can link it up and see to some other things on my to-do list for the day. So I will be back later on to read everyone else's posts!

What's up in your world this week? Leave a comment and let me know!

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

And this post is linked at What's Up Wednesday for May, with Sheaffer & Shay.

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