Share Four Somethings - August 2024

Once again, it's time to look back on the month and share Something Loved, Something Accomplished, Something Improved Upon, and Something Noticed. I included my Something Read and What's Coming Up Soon sections, but kept them brief, because I decided to throw in my monthly WOTY summary as well.

Something Loved

Of course, having the whole family together for a few days of vacation was my favorite thing in the past month! We got a Vrbo vacation home in Hocking Hills and all the kids joined us there. Our oldest son and his family could only be there for the weekend, so we made the most of that time, doing some hiking and hot tubbing, and celebrating a couple of birthdays. The other kids stayed a couple days more, and we had some more fun and together time with them. Before heading back to Maryland, our third son and his family spent an extra day with us and we fit in a trip to the zoo. 

Something Accomplished

One of the miscalculations we made in taking food to the vacation house was that we brought way more eggs than we needed! I sent some extras home with the kids but we still had a lot and I thought we might have to eat deviled eggs and omelets every meal for a week! Instead, I took a cue from a photo prompt (a seldom used kitchen utensil) and finally got around to making egg bites in the instant pot. Sort of a copycat recipe of the Starbucks sous vide eggs bites. And they turned out well, although they were weirdly shaped, so maybe that silicon mold gadget and my instant pot will get used regularly now. The egg bites made great lunches to take along to work.

Something Improved Upon (or That Needs Improvement)

With the Scioto Valley Chorus show coming up very soon, I'm glad to say that I think I'm in pretty good shape with having music and choreo ready. There's one song that I still feel like I'm catching up on since it was in the chorus repertoire before I joined so we haven't worked on it a lot at rehearsals so I've put some extra emphasis on that. And I've got a couple of spots in choreo that I'm thinking way too hard about so I'm working those. I don't know if it's fair to say this is something to improve upon, but I need to practice wearing the shoes!

Also, as usual, I do need to improve my eating and sleeping habits and be more healthy.

Something Noticed (In our Lives or Around Town)

So. Much. Roadwork! It is impossible for me to get to work without driving through at least two big sections of road construction, and there's no guarantee that there won't be delays because of it. My favorite route to and from work has a section of road completely closed for some huge roadwork project so I can't take that route at all. And now I'm also adjusting departure and travel times to account for the school bus schedule. By the time I've got it all sorted out, the construction zones will move and I'll have to figure out another alternate route.

Something Read

Harvest of Rubies by Tessa Afshar

The Lady of Bolton Hill by Elizabeth Camden

Here are the books I'm currently reading:

Sisters of Fortune by Anna Lee Huber

Blood of Adam by Rachel S. Neal

 

All of my reading news is at Just A Second if you're interested.

What's Coming Up Soon?

The Scioto Valley Chorus show, An Evening To Remember, is just two weeks away! It's going to be so good and so much fun! And as a bonus for me, my daughter and her boyfriend are coming that weekend to see the show.

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I decided that Rhythm would be my WOTY and one way I'm trying to establish a rhythm is by keeping a very brief daily diary, to watch for daily and weekly patterns to develop and to be intentional about keeping the good ones going. I'm trying to keep these short, and since I'm including this one with Share Four Somethings, that's even more important! Bear with me!

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Week One - We celebrated our anniversary on Thursday with a night out at Funny Bone to see a favorite comedian. Fun evening with good but very expensive food and drinks. On Saturday the kids came over and we grilled and went for a swim. 

Week Two - For some reason I had no voice on Sunday so probably good I wasn't on worship team! Didn't answer phones on Monday at work to give my voice a rest, and thankfully could sing a little at chorus rehearsal. Rest of the week was the regular rhythm of the work week, and on Saturday I helped a group at church assemble, bake, and distribute fifty-some lasagna dinners as a ministry.

Week Three - A very regular weekly rhythm for the first part of the week, but we were prepping for vacation too. On Thursday I made dinner and a big pot of chili to take along. One son and his family arrived that evening. On Friday I did my best to keep my day at work short so we could hit the road, but was still there longer than I wanted. Harrison and Landon and their crews got there ahead of us and got settled and dinner started. The other Maryland kids arrived a little later. On Saturday we all (except for Meaghan and Aubrey) went hiking in Hocking Hills state park. Back at the house we hot tubbed, enjoyed dinner made by Landon and Meaghan, and celebrated Aubrey's and Dan's birthdays. 

Week Four - Rather a different Sunday from our usual. We had breakfast together and watched livestreamed church. Harrison and Landon took their families to the lake while hubs and I went with Spencer, Kennady, and Dan to an antique mall. Hubby and I made dinner for everyone, and we took some family photos before Harrison and his crew headed home. Another hot tub and relax evening. On Monday we explored a childrens museum and some of the town, and went out for dinner. Spencer, Kennady, and Dan headed home on Tuesday afternoon. We stayed that evening and then got up early on Wednesday to pack up and head back to Columbus. Dropped all our stuff at home and then went with Landon and Meaghan and Aubrey to the zoo. They headed back to Maryland on Thursday morning. Hubby had an appointment Thursday morning to remove another melanoma, so I went in to work late that day. Friday was back to the regular workday rhythm, and Saturday was quiet as well.

We did the "pet the stingrays" thing - even me! 

Week Five - The final week of August settled back into the familiar rhythms. Church on Sunday, kids came over for swim and games and dinner, and we grabbed a few groceries and prepped for the workweek. Monday through Friday was work as usual, with chorus on Monday and Dinner + Discipleship on Wednesday. We ended the week by meeting the kids on Saturday evening at the Zucchini Festival and enjoying zucchini-themed fair food and some of the concert with 90s hip-hop artists we remembered.

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 Rhythm is my Word of The Year for 2024. Here's my WOTY post to explain: WQ - Rhythm Inspires

 

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This post will be linked at Overflowing With Thankfulness in the Share Four Somethings link party.

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