Currently . . . June 5, 2026

The "Currently" link-up at the beginning of each month is now hosted at Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa. Our new 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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Enjoying - Things I'm loving right now include:

We have a house! To be fair, I'm not enjoying the actual move process that we are in the middle of, but I love love love the house we just bought and I'm enjoying the excitement and possibilities of getting settled in and decorating and buying some new furniture and things. I love the open feel and the way the light comes in these windows, and I love the wood floors (that area rug is going away eventually, in favor of a smaller one).

I love how big and bright the kitchen is, especially compared to the apartment. There's a bay window to the left of that table that I love. (The table and chairs were left by the seller and I like it a lot, I just don't think it will stay in the kitchen so that's an open question at the moment). I love that there's a perfect spot for a little coffee bar right beside the fridge too.

I love the deck and yard, and I love that the seller also left the outdoor furniture, which means we can start enjoying the deck immediately!

I'm even enjoying the front entry, even though it's smaller and narrower than I would have liked in my ideal world. But I got my USA garden flag out there first thing, because you need to set the tone!

I'm enjoying all the patriotic decor and things, and am hoping that there will be lots of fun, safe, celebratory things to participate in over the next couple of months as we celebrate the 250th year of the greatest nation on earth! I love the USA and I love the flag! I got a pair of these banners that are going up in the new house ASAP.

Wearing - mostly t-shirts and jeans or capris, same as almost always. My office is in a warehouse so I don't dress up at all for work, so my wardrobe doesn't change a whole lot. I recently got a couple new pairs of shoes that I love. When I need a light jacket, I've been trying to choose my Scioto Valley Chorus jean jacket because it's my new favorite.

This photo is from when we first 
got the jackets, back in December.

Watching - Well, of course we've been watching the Stanley Cup playoffs! The enthusiasm we felt dropped off after hubby's favorite team (Montreal Canadiens) lost their series, but we are still following it. Other than that, I haven't watched much TV at all, and no movies. I sat down with hubby to watch the first few episodes of Spider-Noir which we're quite enjoying. Sometime when we have a free evening (which might not be until July the way things are going) we still need to watch Remarkably Bright Creatures.

Listening to - I listen to a lot of podcasts, especially at work. Technically I watch them while at work because I use the Rumble app so there's video. My favorites there are political commentary. I listen to the non-video podcasts at home and while driving, and my favorite in that category is The Bible Project. I had been listening to - and rehearsing along with - the recorded versions of my chorus rehearsals while driving, but that app doesn't communicate nicely with my car through bluetooth so I can't change the volume. Makes it really challenging, since it's usually not loud enough to sing along with, so that's frustrating. I recently listened to an audiobook I really enjoyed - Tom Selleck's memoir, narrated by him. 

Musically, I listen to mostly alternative Christian rock and other rock/popular music. My radio station of choice is RadioU.

Buying - I don't think I've bought much lately, but I've got a list of things I plan to buy for the new house, mostly furniture items. We had to buy a dehumidifier for the basement immediately. Since we 'inherited' the outdoor furniture, I'd like to buy a large patio umbrella or awning or something like that. I'm planning to buy a bed for the guest room and new living room furniture. But I will wait on all of it until after we get back from vacation. Might do a bit of shopping when Mum and Dad are here - we'll see. 

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Here's a short Coffee Break Reading List . . . 

I'm currently reading . . . 

The Muse of Maiden Lane by Mimi Matthews

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

  

More reading news and recent reviews are at Just A Second.

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Something fun found during coffee breaks:

I found this a few years ago actually, but it popped up in my memories on the book of face and made me laugh. This is SO me!

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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.

Progress and Goals 2026 (May)

Since I didn't pick a Word of the Year for 2026 I had planned to just do a monthly progress report on some of the goals I am working on. Well, for the first part of the year, that wasn't happening! I finally got myself together to report on my progress a month ago and had to summarize four months worth. I'm a little more on top of the report in month five, but also there was a lot of movement on one of the two major goals.

The two main areas I wanted to focus on this year are: 1) Improve my overall health and fitness: and 2) Move to a home that suits us better than our apartment. 

During May it felt like I had a lot of trouble being consistent with healthy eating, but I tried to be conscientious about keeping a daily log in the app I use for my nutritionist program, and that did keep me accountable for how well I was doing. I managed to shave off a couple more pounds and my healthier habits are becoming more ingrained. That reminds me . . . I didn't log what I ate today . . . better do that now before I forget!

When I updated at the end of April, we had made significant progress in our plans to find and move into a new home. We had just entered into contract on the house we'd chosen and were waiting for information on what we needed to do next. So during May, there was a lot of "hurry up and wait" but the checklist looked a little like this:

-submit a whole lot of signatures and documents to our lender

-move funds into the appropriate accounts

-get inspections done on the property

-obtain homeowners insruance on the property

-give our written notice to our apartment management company

-submit more signatures and documents to the title company

-do a final walkthrough of the house pre-settlement

-wire the downpayment to the title company

-get to the realty office to do the in-person signing of all the final settlement documents

All of that completed as of May 29th! We probably should have been doing more packing earlier, but we're gaining momentum on it and we do still have a bit of time before we have to be completely cleared out of the apartment.

We actually take possession of the house sometime this week, and Saturday will be our main moving day. We'll have another week after that to finish getting any odds and ends out of the apartment and doing a final cleaning. Coming up, my checklist is pretty focused on getting all the change of address tasks looked after. And getting ready for vacation!

Here are some highlights from the merry month of May!

I had my hair done on the first weekend of the month, and decided to make a bit of a change. Switched to an assymetrical cut, which you can kind of see in the Mother's Day weekend photos. The first Sunday of every month is free at Franklin Park Conservatory for Franklin County residents, so we took advantage of that with our son and his family. Great day until I tripped near the end of our visit and banged up my knee and hip. Went to East Market for dinner and home to watch the hockey game. Spoiler alert: we spent a lot of evenings at home watching playoff hockey!

After the work week, I chose Yellow Springs for the Mother's Day weekend outing. We went there to hike at Glen Helen Nature Preserve with the kids and then had dinner at Ye Olde Trail Tavern.

new hair, same old me - hubby is far more cheerful
than this photo might indicate

On Mother's Day we got Asian takeout for lunch after church, had a very relaxed day at home, and of course I called my Mum.

Once again, the workweek didn't have any real standout unusual moments. On the weekend, we suggested our granddaughter pick a park and a place to eat, so we went on a nature walk in Delaware County, explored a little in town before eating at Wendy's, and then finished with a visit to the O'Shaughnessy Dam park.

The next week was a little bit busier. On Monday I had a dentist appointment, and then chorus rehearsal in the evening. On Thursday I took time out from work to meet a couple ladies from the chorus at our church. The chorus is looking for a new rehearsal "home" and my church is one of the suggested places.

On Saturday morning, hubby went to work for a little bit but he had a nasty cold and didn't feel good. He came home earlier than planned, and after some discussion with our friends (we were planning to go to their place for dinner) we rescheduled our get-together for Sunday instead. Sunday morning he felt better and we did make it to church and worship team as usual. We had a great time with our friends for dinner.

We had originally thought we'd spend Memorial Day getting started on packing, but hubby went to work for a little in the morning since he'd cut Friday and Saturday short. Then we accepted an invitation to lunch with another group of friends.

The short week of work started off with me feeling a bit iffy, but thankfully my cold didn't get as bad as hubby's. On Wednesday I left work a little early so we could meet at the new house and do our final walk-through.

Friday was another shortened workday. I was in and out getting to the bank and doing the wire transfer of the closing payment on the house, then meeting up at the realty office to do the closing and sign all the remaining documents. To celebrate, hubby and I went out to dinner at a favorite restaurant of ours - Anna's Greek Cuisine. Came home to watch hockey. A good day, but felt a little sad for hubby because his team was knocked out of the playoffs. 

This past weekend, hubby worked all day on Saturday and I did some errands and got a bit of packing done. Sunday was a quiet day as well. We had a good lunch after church, and long naps, then I putzed around the apartment and also did some rehearsing while hubby played hockey.

How are you doing with your goals for the 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/ 

 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.

Progress and Goals 2026 (January - April)

In previous years, I've sometimes chosen a Word of the Year and did updates during the year on how that focus was shaping decision or helping me meet goals. The last two years I did that WOTY/Goals check-in every month. Or almost every month. This year I didn't choose a WOTY, mostly because I just couldn't settle on a single word that seemed right. I figured I would come up with something by the end of January, but I didn't. Okay, maybe just catch up at the end of February . . and that came and went. I thought maybe I'd do a quarterly check-in but I didn't meet that particular goal either. (deep sigh) 

While I didn't meet my nebulous goal of doing any kind of an update on how I was doing with my goals, I do have some goals and I have been making some progress. This post might be mostly for me, but I do want to summarize some highlights of the year so far and what I've been able to accomplish on my goals. And what I'm still working on.

As I said, I didn't manage to narrow down to just one word that encapsulated what I wanted to focus on during 2026, but there is an over-arching goal. I decided this had to be a year that I worked hard on doing the follow-through on those goals. That I faithfully took the next step in making progress on the things I wanted to do, and was diligent and persistent in getting things done rather than just having vague notions of what I hoped might happen. 

And what are those goals? There are a bunch of things I want to do and learn and accomplish but I started 2026 with two big ones: 1) Improve my overall health and fitness; and 2) Move to a home that suits us better than the apartment we're in. Both of those are pretty broad and require me to make lots of small decisions and break down the big picture into smaller incremental action items that are measurable.

Improving health and fitness - I'm honestly not doing a very good job of changing my sleep habits, which is part of this picture, but I've taken some positive steps towards more healthy eating and losing weight. One thing I did was start meeting virtually with a nutritionist who is helping me set nutrition goals and provides accountability and feedback. I started those appointments just over a month ago, and certainly the travel weekends lately have presented some challenges, but overall I see improvement and I'm making progress in my weight loss goals. 

Finding and moving to a new home - Our current lease is up mid-June, so knowing that helped us work backwards to set deadlines. The first thing we had to do was decide what we were looking for, and we started off thinking that we should probably just look for a more suitable rental situation, but after my hubby met with our finance advisor, we decided that buying a house was going to be doable and potentially wiser financially. So we went back to browsing real estate listings to familiarize ourselves with what was available and what the prices were, and working with some numbers to figure out a budget. Then it was time to start rolling through the checklist of tasks:

-find a realtor to work with

-establish what we were looking for and start viewing houses

-choose a house and put in an offer

(there are lots of steps in here - and thankfully our realtor provided us a timeline to keep us on track)

-establish a closing/settlement date for the purchase by the end of May

-give our notice to our apartment and plan the move during the first two weeks of June

We are currently in that second to last step! We are in contract on a house we love and are so excited about moving into. Things are rolling along quickly now, and while we asked for a closing date on or before May 29, it's unclear whether we'll get the "before" that we would really like, and how early we can make that. At the latest we'll have possession of the house and can start moving during the first week of June. This is important, because we have a vacation house booked with the family right in the middle of June so we need to get everything cleared out of the apartment going on vacation, even if we just deposit all the boxes and stuff in the middle of the rooms at the house and deal with it when we get back! Anyway, we have documents we're signing and some tasks to complete over the next several days, and the very next thing on my to-do list is give our written notice to our leasing company that we will not renew our lease. 

And now . . . some highlights of the year so far!

January

Spencer, Kennady and Dan came to visit for New Years so we had most of the family here. We went to some Blue Jackets games. We had a winter storm that resulted in cancellation of my chorus travel plans and made for an interesting week as we experienced bitter cold and lots of snow.

February

Celebrated our daughter-in-law's birthday to start the month. Restaurant Week was extended because of the bad weather, so we did get to visit a burger place with friends. Our pastor and his wife hosted a game night with some other couples which was a lot of fun. I had to get a new phone. SuperBowl, the Home Show, a trip to Westcott House, outings with our son and his family, starting to flesh out some vacation plans.

March

I had jury duty the first week of the month, and was seated on a murder trial. It was quite the experience! Quite the start to the month too! Went to a women's conference with some ladies from church one weekend, and went to a few hockey games during the month. Our first meeting with our realtor was about the middle of March, so that kicked off our house hunting goals. I was in the world's largest human shamrock for St Patrick's Day! One weekend we went to Blackhand Gorge with the kids and also to Zanesville. At the end of the month I went with the chorus to Covington for the Sweet Adelines Regional Convention.

 

April

Holy Week was the first week of April, so added the Good Friday service to my schedule. We got together with the kids to hike and go out for dinner on Saturday, celebrated Resurrection Day at church on Sunday morning, and went to friends' for dinner on Sunday afternoon. We spent a number of evenings looking at houses. We made two trips to Maryland during the month. One was a very brief trip, just to attend a memorial service, but we did also enjoy time with our Maryland family. The other trip was a little longer and more fun, with the purpose of seeing our kids and granddaughter, and going to our daughter's choral concert. We made a decision on which house we wanted to buy and worked on all those things.

Do you have a Word of the Year for 2026, or goals you are working on? Leave a comment and let me know!

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.