What's Up Wednesday - October 2023

This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Fresh Cup of Coffee helps continue the coffee breaks and conversation. 

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. 

What We're Eating This Week . . . Last night I made Turkey Split Pea Soup and it was really good, even though I didn't season it enough. I think I'll make Chili tomorrow. We're planning to eat out on Friday night. I have not done a good job of menu planning lately!

What I'm Reminiscing About . . . We're coming up on one year since our move to Ohio, so I've been reflecting on that a little bit. How it's hard to believe it's been a year already, but at the same time it seems like an incredibly long year. Yesterday I published this post about hometowns which also reminisced about the places I've called home: Tell Us About . . . Hometowns: People and Place to Love

What I'm Loving . . . autumn colors, coffee, family outings, and that we can share photos instantly. It's not the same as being together but it sure helps!

What We've Been Up To . . . We started the month off in Alberta visiting my family. It was a big deal because we hadn't been there in ten years! In addition to family get-togethers, we spent a day in Banff and we got to visit with a few old friends.

After we got back here, we celebrated Thanksigiving (the Canadian date!) by having guests from my husband's work, and we also got together with our son and his family to celebrate his birthday.

This past weekend we went to a Blue Jackets hockey game on Friday night and went to the zoo with the family on Sunday afternoon.

What I'm Dreading . . . another likely round of frustrating phone calls and nonsense trying to sort out things with our medical and dental insurance. It's been a nightmare that's been ongoing since February and I know the dental still is screwy. I'm hoping the medical didn't get messed up by a recent change but I'm not optimistic to be honest. I gave up on the whole mess and told myself I wasn't going to think about it while we were on vacation at the beginning of this month, and now I'm going to have to reopen that can of worms. Ugh.

What I'm Working On . . . tidying up my guest room since we have company coming this weekend. Getting all my plans made for the Louisville trip, especially all the little details like items I still need for makeup and costume. I still need to get my hair cut before I leave and I don't know when that's going to happen!

What I'm Excited About . . . my upcoming trip to Louisville and being part of the Scioto Valley Chorus 'Run for the Roses' at the Sweet Adelines International Convention & Competition! I joined SVC early this year because I needed something to do that got me out of the house and interacting with people, and a women's chorus was the perfect choice. Little did I know when I visited my first rehearsal that the chorus I'd chosen was championship level and that I'd be headed to an international competition with them! I've had to work hard to 'catch up' and I hope I'm ready! 

What I'm Watching/Reading . . . I've been watching some hockey lately as the NHL season got underway. I occasionally watch a bit on TV at home, and we attended one game in Columbus just last week, with plans to get to at least one more in about a month.

I'm trying to get back into a groove of reading a bit more again, after being in somewhat of a slump for awhile. For all the details on what I'm reading, see my book blog at Just A Second.

I'm currently working on:

The Vanishing at Castle Moreau by Jaime Jo Wright

Garden of the Midnights by Hannah Linder

Ticker by Lisa Mantchev

Recently completed:

The Starlet Spy by Rachel Scott McDaniel

A Louisiana Christmas To Remember - novella collection

Up next:

Voice of the Ancient by Connilyn Cossette

Queen of Exiles by Vanessa Riley

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

What I'm Listening To . . . recordings of the chorus sets so I can rehearse! Also enjoying podcasts and lots of other music. One of my favorite podcasters, Cooper Stuff (John Cooper of the band Skillet), started a new series of shorter podcasts called "Sword & Shield" that is more of a Scripture and faith lesson. I also got a new to me app called First 15 which is a devotional and prayer guide, and I can listen to it instead of read it, so I love that. 

What I'm Wearing . . . same as usual - t-shirts and jeans most of the time, but now that it's cooler weather, I'm choosing long-sleeved tees and sometimes even a sweater. 

What I'm Doing This Weekend . . . Nothing definite planned, but we will have friends from Maryland visiting on the weekend, and the current plan is that they'll stay overnight with us.

What I'm Looking Forward To Next Month . . . That Louisville trip, which is the first week of November! And of course, Thanksgiving, which is our next trip back to see our Maryland family!

What Else Is New . . . my coffee maker started acting really wierd and I think it's getting ready to konk out completely, so I started shopping for a new one. I've got one sitting in my Amazon shopping cart ready for me to pull the trigger. I think today might be the day I do that! Even though I have the Keurig, I can't be without a coffee maker!

*************************

 

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. October 25th is International Artists Day . . . do you have a favorite artist? If so, tell us who and why.

I don't have one favorite above all others, but my list of favorites includes Van Gogh, Monet, Matisse, and O'Keeffe. Then as I was answering the next question I realized maybe my favorite artist is my daughter Kennady. Hmmm. She used to do a lot more drawing and painting and created so many things I loved, and after all, she's my daughter . . . so I'll say she's my favorite. What's sad is that I don't own much of her work, despite being her patron (matron?) for all these years! Here's a sample of her work:

 

2. Would you describe yourself as artistic? Elaborate.

 

My first reaction is no, I'm not artistic, because I really can't draw, and I don't do artsy things like painting or sculpture. I don't even do needlework type creative things any more. I used to do cross-stitch, sewing, quilting, and knitting at various times, so I can do all those things - I just don't these days. I like taking photos and sometimes I surprise myself with how they turn out, but I don't even have a working camera - I just use my phone. All that said, I am artistic enough that I enjoy paint day parties and have always been really happy with how my projects turned out . . . which basically means I can follow instructions and have a decent enough eye for the colors and effect I want. 

A big part of the appeal of paint days was that
I'd go with my daughters - and they are both
more artistic than I am!

3. What's a skill, task, hobby, or job you've done so often you now have it 'down to a fine art'?

 Baking bread? The morning routine of getting coffee brewed and lunches ready for us to go to work? In a way, teaching the co-op classes are down to an art. 

4. How often do you dine out? Fast food, fine dining, or somewhere in between? Tell us about a less than stellar restaurant experience you've had recently (or not so recently if that's easier).

 On average, we eat out once a week and it's most often somewhere in between. Dine in restaurants, but more casual. We love barbecue joints, pub-style restaurants, and diners. Places with character. I can't think of any really bad experience we've had at a restaurant. Minor things go wrong, of course, but never a big deal. Going back many years I can remember a certain chain restaurant that lost me as a customer after we sat in a booth with my young kids and I realized that it had obviously been a really long time since the little 'ledge' behind the booth back had been cleaned. Very gross. Another time I was out with girlfriends and our young kids, and the waiter that had been looking after us quit. Like in the middle of his shift. We had ordered our food, and were waiting FOREVER, and finally we flagged down another waitress to find out what was going on. That's when the manager came and told us our waiter had up and left and hadn't put in our order or something. They assured us it was NOT because of us he'd quit! It was just really weird, and the manager did a good job of making it up to us.

5. Do you celebrate Halloween? To what extent? Are there trick or treaters where you live?

 

I don't celebrate Halloween myself, but I do a little seasonal decorating (nothing occult or gory). When I taught at co-op, I tried to dress up for the class day that was closest to October 31st and brought treats for my students. Our church had a huge Trunk or Treat event and our whole family participated in that for many years. This year - well, I don't know if there will be trick or treaters in our neighborhood, but I won't be home anyway. 

 

Trunk or Treat 2021

Trunk or Treat 2021

I was Cruella in 2021

Trunk or Treat 2020

6. Insert your own random thought here.

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 July, with Sheaffer & Shay.

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

 ©2006-2023 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. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/ 

 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.