New Year's Eve with the Hodgepodge

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.  Did you make resolutions or set goals for the year we're waving goodbye? How did that work out for you? Will you set goals for this new year, new season, or new month? Share one or two if you'd like to share.

 

I haven't made New Year's resolutions for many years, but I do set some goals, even if they are often a bit vague. I had a Word of the Year 2025 - Practice - which for me meant a general goal of consistently doing the things I needed to work on and make into healthy habits. It wasn't exciting but I took notes on what I did each day in an attempt to track those habits and see if I was putting things into practice as intended, and kept myself somewhat accountable by writing a monthly blog post about it. (Working on publishing the December post for later today) I struggled to stay on top of household tasks the way I wanted to but other than that I think I was reasonably successful, and certainly did better than if I hadn't been keeping myself accountable with that daily diary!

I am trying to decide on a WOTY for 2026 but as of this writing I haven't settled on one. My birthday is right near the end of the calendar and I will turn 60 in 2026 so I was toying with the idea of making a list of 60 things to do before I turn 60. I think it will be hard to come with that many but I may give that a go! 

 

2. When did you have the most fun this year?

The most fun times are usually with family, and I'd say that was true in 2025. Highlighted fun times for the year were things like the Stadium Classic game with the kids, going to Blue Jackets games with my hubby, our family vacation weekend at Deep Creek Lake and visits to Maryland, and going on little adventures in Ohio with the family here.

 

3. What's a song or song lyric you'll associate with 2025? Tell us why.

 I was trying to think of a song that was popular in 2025, but then it hit me - what did I sing most this year but Jumpin' East of Java! It was one of two songs in the Scioto Valley Chorus performance at Regional, where we earned the championship and a spot at International in 2026, and it will be in our semi-final package at International so we are still working on it. I'd say I could sing it in my sleep, but I can't because the coffee in the song and the choreo that goes with it would keep me awake and keep my blood pumping!

4. Best (or a favorite) bite of something delicious you tasted this year?

 Lots of yummy things to choose from! My favorite pizza place is Jets Pizza. I think our current favorite restaurant is Chi Thai. At home, something that was on the menu regularly is my Chicken Florentine. And a recent discovery is a very simple holiday sweet - candied puffcorn. Uber simple to make but so delicious!

 

5.  What do you want to do more of in the new year? Less of?

 More practicing and improving and winning! Also more reading, if I can. Honestly, I'd like to be able to sleep a bit more, or maybe just sleep better. Less procrastinating, less complaining. In my perfect world, less of the yucky jobs I don't like. Haha.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

We had a wonderful couple of days with the family in Maryland for Christmas. Never enough time to be with our kids and with our granddaughter. Really not enough time to get together with friends either, but we managed to pack quite a bit into those couple of days. Last night some of the Maryland kids arrived to spend a few days in Ohio with us, ringing in the New Year. Once again, not enough time, but we will love every minute of what we do have and are anticipating lots of fun!

Last week we wrapped up the 2025 edition of the Wednesday Quotes link-up discussing the theme "Holiday Memories". I found it interesting that in North America our minds immediately go to Christmas and New Years and the holidays of this winter season, while participants in other parts of the world associate vacations with the word "holiday". You can find my anchor post (which has a Christmas-y focus) here: WQ - Holiday Memories. From there you can read the other posts and see how they interpreted the theme. Stop by and share a few thoughts and quotes of your own! Tomorrow I'll have an Everyday Images photo link-up post for you in which I wrap up the year and the last couple weeks. Share your own favorite photos from the year, and I hope you'll consider joining one or both of these link-ups as they continue in 2026.

What are your thoughts as you look back on 2025 and get ready to ring in a new year? Leave a comment and let me know!

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

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

 ©2006-2025 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.