Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa

Monday, November 2, 2026

Hello Monday! I’m happy to link up with Sarah and Holly today.

Also, I blogged on Saturday and here it is if you missed it! I participated in the fun Share Four Somethings link up.

Today is my birthday! Here are 55 things about me:

Just kidding! Can you imagine? I don’t think there are even 55 things about me.

I got an AARP membership offer in the mail. Wow – way to kick a gal when she’s down.

So, yes, I am 55 today! Some say I don’t look a day over 54 and a half. I won’t see my kids today and I miss my parents on my birthday.

I hope I find a penny from my dad (pennies from Heaven) and I know there will be something that reminds me of my mom, too! Boy, the pressure is on Tom today, isn’t it? Lol! Also, I have told my dad that it would be ok to leave larger denominations of coins now due to the stopping of the penny manufacturing. And the economy. Inflation.

Let’s talk about the weekend. All the fall vibes now and it happened all of a sudden!

I had a really nice Friday with a couple of Eddie Otis walks and lots of outside time. Then, at 4:30, I met the Heathers and we had a wonderful cocktail – a Sarti spritz – at Limestone Bay. After our chat and fun time together…

we met our men at Captain’s Quarters, and the view was so lovely at our table. My former student waited on us, too!

I think half of our table got the mahi melt:

Saturday Tom and I took what might be the last boat ride of the season. We are going to try one more, but the weather might not cooperate. We like to do the first and last boat ride of the season with just us and Eddie Otis.

It was a little chilly when we were moving but it was so nice. I enjoyed it so much! We got to see some color in the leaves from the river.

Some more leaves showing off while driving home…

Want to hear something funny/ironic? The neighbor’s EX that is so good with a leaf blower in every season didn’t blow when it mattered:

But then he started blowing just as I took my book outside to read around 3:00. We got a text from the neighbor on the other side who was entertaining for Halloween and annoyed that he chose to start then.

Want to hear something even funnier? He left a line of leaves on our property line.

Leaving some of your leaves for your neighbor just because it’s not technically your property tells you everything you need to know about a person.That, and if you return your shopping cart to the cart corral.

I got a new book – Hollow Bones – and I am reading the last Emma M. Lion book:

I ate the other half of my mahi melt for a late lunch along with some potato slices:

Since Tom and I both ate a late lunch, I just made some pancakes for dinner and they were so good! Enjoy this blurry pancake photo:

Yesterday my friend Victoria stopped by to borrow some Emma M. Lion books and I made her a protein iced coffee and we had a chin wag. It was nice. Then, Tom, EO, and I went to see Tom’s cousin’s kid play soccer.

We took a really pretty drive home and lazed around the rest of the day.

What was the highlight of your weekend?

Amy

Saturday, October 31, 2026

Happy Saturday! I am coming to you today with Jen’s link up where we recap the month behind us.

I had a good month. When I look back at my camera roll, I had so many things that filled my cup. Do you feel the same?

This month I loved…

being with family at my niece’s wedding

going to my college Homecoming

some fun events this month like Chunkin’ Pumpkins and Ghoul’s Night Out

Sister Molly and Niece Lena coming for one of their fall break days

the weather this month

Sustained me

One on one time with friends, a friend brunch on a random Wednesday, phone calls with friends and family, a sweet phone call with my mom’s best friend, a long phone call with a niece, riding in the car with Tom and just doing errands together or chores around our yard together, going to look at boats and having a snack with Tom, and time with our pup, pop ins from Jack that usually involve me feeding him!

cutting EO’s nails together – lol

Carrying forward

I hope that I can carry forward a sense of fun and adventure even in the ordinary days.

I hope I can carry forward the attitude of “I get to” rather than “I have to”.

I hope I can keep walking as it gets colder. There’s no bad weather only bad clothing, right?

Making space for

Literally – I need to get back into my cleaning out/organizing mode. I need to tackle holiday decor so that will make sense with getting out Christmas stuff and packing away fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving, I need to box up kid memorabilia, I need to deal with my parents’ sentimental things that are in my basement, and I want to have only things in my home that are meaningful or functional. I have done a lot of work towards these goals but I stalled and need to pick that back up.

Figuratively – I hope I make space for the important people in my life. My circle has gotten smaller but it’s also a nice size now, too, if that makes sense.

This was fun, Jen!

What would you say to one or all of these?

Amy

Friday, October 30, 2026

Happy Friday! Are you ready for Halloween? This month has absolutely flown, and I know I’m not the only one that thinks this!

Some weeks when I load photos from the week, I think how random they are and how random I am. I don’t always snap photos thinking of the blog but rather when something makes me happy. Anyway, you all are used to my randomness by now, right?

I had some nice reading time outside this week. The clouds were gorgeous one afternoon!

I do have to say that I have identified a “screamer” on the school playground and it has fit the scary theme of October. I live in front of an elementary school and during certain recess times there is a high-pitched screamer then the screamer must stay after school because often the screaming goes on until almost 6 pm. I am identifying this “screamer” as a 7-year-old girl. Now, there are other screamers throughout the day, but this one is easily identifiable. I have started putting in my Airpods and using the noise cancelling feature if needed. I am mostly laughing about this. I have always loved the happy sounds of kids on the playground, but it has changed. I can also hear the screaming from inside my house when my back door is shut.

Eddie Otis and I have been walking two-three times a day. One place we walk is at my old school!

I took him to the library with me and we walked the library neighborhood and then he didn’t want to get out of the car:

He finally got out after lounging for about 20 minutes. He is so silly!

I started Emma M. Lion Volume 8 which is the final one available!

I am a new fan of Lynn Painter. This is so cute:

My mum has done ok:

I bought this a couple of weeks ago and I love it!

I have made some wonderful iced coffees this week – bonus that they are 30 grams of protein. I use Fairlife vanilla and Nescafe gold decaf (this enables me to still have my two cups of hot coffee that is half caff) and I added some maple syrup, sea salt, and a touch of vanilla. Oh my goodness – this is so good! Folks are lining up to pay $7 or more for this!

I know it’s wasteful, but I have enjoyed having these cup, too:

I checked in with my Fall List this week and I’ve done fairly well!

This is my EO instruction sheet when we have a dog sitter – I’m so extra:

EO loves a stuffie and he has a Halloween lambie:

It has made me laugh this month when he has this in his mouth as if he knows what the holiday is.

Last weekend I got to stop in the cutest little town called Midway. Midway has been the home of Steve Zahn the actor for 22 years. His son owns a coffee/wine shop called Serendipity. It’s adorable and they had a Chad Powers mask hanging up. Steve Zahn played the football coach in the show. Tom and I really enjoyed watching the show this summer and early fall!

I’ve appreciated my neighborhood with its old trees this week…

Canadian geese:

EO doesn’t give them a second look – isn’t that weird?

I just want to say how thoughtful my sister Kate is. She is an elementary art teacher and very creative but she never thinks she is very good in the kitchen. I always tell her to stop being so hard on herself. We grew up with a Mom who was pretty critical and always wanted us to be better/do better/do more. I know that affects her. In some ways, it was good that our mom pushed us so much. Our Dad thought everything we did was perfect and wonderful and our mom was the one who pushed us.

She made a co-worker going through a hard time this pot of chicken and noodles:

along with this fall basket of treats:

How thrilled would you be to receive this?

I took some photos of it starting to look like fall in my yard…

Eddie Otis tried to eat the knobs on my acne pumpkin! He is so silly!

This guy is hanging on! I might go snip it but I feel kind of bad…

If you are looking for entertainment this weekend, Nobody Wants This Season 3 was so good! But, go back and watch Season 1 and 2 first, for sure. It’s not for the children but I just love Adam Brody and Kristen Bell. I sped way too fast through the entire season this week.

I’m also watching The Amazing Race for the first time in years. It was so fun that their first stop was Madrid, Spain.

I told you I was random today!

Happy Friday!

Happy Halloween!

Amy

Thursday, October 29, 2026

I’m talking October books and joining in with the Monthly Musings girls today!

Emma M. Lion books have made me so happy this fall! This month I read more of them and I am currently on the final one. There are currently 8 and volume 9 comes out in February.

I really enjoyed this:

I loved this:

Read The Academy first if you haven’t already.

My niece told me about Lynn Painter this month! She reminds me of Sarah Adams. This was so fun for football season:

And, another Lynn Painter. This is so cute!

1. 1. Well, I used to! It’s different with no kids in the house and as a retired person. I still buy some candy corn, some chocolate candy, and decorate. I enjoy seeing decor around town, too! None of our friends have a party these days.
2. 2. Minimally. I have one mum, two pumpkins, and I have quite a bit of tasteful (in my opinion) fall stuff inside in my living room, dining room, and kitchen. It makes me happy!

1. 3. No, but I have three graphic tees from Old Navy. I have enjoyed wearing them this month for sure! Can you see the little witch hats?

4. No, but my husband made our twins’ Fred and Barney costumes out of felt for their first year!

5. Fun size! I like variety so I feel like I can have one of each! Lol!

6. I really like the Reese’s pumpkins. The ratio is different than a regular Reese’s!

7. Heck no! Real life is scary enough. Eddie Otis agrees!

8. 1985 Prom Queen!

9. Charlie Brown’s Great Pumpkin!

10. It’s always on actual October 31st and I’m nervous with that falling on a Saturday and time change night! Is it also a full moon?

This was fun!

Amy

Wednesday, October 28, 2026

It’s Wednesday and that means Joyce once again has some great questions for us. Let’s go!

1. What most recently gave you goose bumps?

A podcast! I have only recently started listening to The Mel Robbins podcast. Sometimes you can get the gist by just following on Instagram because her podcasts are really long. I listen to most of the ones that interest me. This one just struck me. There were a couple of stories the guest told that brought me to tears. I had never heard of Ed Mylett before this pod.

2. What does Halloween look like in your home and/or neighborhood these days? Do you participate?

We live on a short street with only about 8 houses but facing our street are really long streets of houses. We don’t get many trick or treaters for this reason; they go down the long streets. Eddie Otis hates the front door disturbances so I am not sure what we will do this year. I feel like less and less do the old-fashioned door to door now with all the events leading up to Halloween, but I could be wrong.

3. Pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, poppy, chia…your favorite seed on the list? What’s something you like to make/eat that calls for one of these seeds in the recipe?

I love pumpkin seeds! I love a salad with pumpkin seeds and did that several times recently at home. If a restaurant has a salad with pumpkin seeds it’s hard for me to resist!

4. What’s the most (or one of the most) ‘fall photos’ you’ve ever taken? Share it here. Just one.

I had so many to choose from but I love this one from October of 2022 with our dog Ernie. I love the golden leaves and the sun hitting them just right in our hood.

5. Somehow we’re rolling in to November next week. If your October were a chapter in a book, what would the title of this chapter be?

Sunny fall! Family!

My family gathered for my niece’s wedding October 3rd.

We’ve had some glorious weather, too!

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I like who I am when it’s not hot and sticky. I’m a better person!

Currently is next Wednesday and I would love to have more join in the fun!

Here are the prompts for you to interpret as you wish:

No-vember – Saying “no” to

Thanking for

Eating/Drinking

Cozying up to (could be literal or figurative)

Watching/Reading

Amy

Tuesday, October 27, 2026

How is it the end of October, you guys? Welcome to another edition of Fashion Files with Marsha and me!

We had a week of the most beautiful weather last week that I feel spoiled! It was low 70s and sunny every. single. day. I could live like that year-round! But, also, I am all ready to go with my rain gear – new Athleta long rain jacket, new short platform Hunter boots. Bring it on, baby!

I actually got dressed quite a bit. I accidentally, shopped, too. Oops.

Let’s take a look…

I wore this to go to a consignment store with my friend spur of the moment. She said she was going to Sassy Fox, and I was free, so I went, too! I didn’t buy anything, but I had fun looking.

I got complimented on my blouse, but I feel like this boutique blouse is one size too big. I love it so much, though. I bought it last year and wore it on Thanksgiving. The jeans are my only button and zip Halara jeans (the others are pull on) and they have cool piping down the sides. I got the clogs/mules for teaching from Macy’s and they are quite comfortable. Honestly, y’all, throwing on a blouse and jeans is just as easy as leggings and a sweatshirt if you are leaving the house. Ted Talk over.

Baby’s first (I’m the baby) Spanx Air Essentials came in the mail and I immediately put it on and thought I might never take it off. I think I got the French Gray color and I just happened to catch the sizes I needed available. I got petite length in the pants and you can still see they are generous in length. I love to order a “set” separately so I can get different sizes in the top and the bottom. I got this for a steal compared to regular prices. The top was $49 and the bottoms were $39. That is still very pricey but it really is that good. Tanya says she thinks Walmart’s Avia brand is a possible dupe. I did look at that but it doesn’t come in different pant lengths. Anyhow, I think I shall live in this set.

For hair day, I wore this. I have on pull on darker Halaras. Darker washes are really more flattering, I believe. It was pretty warm by my 3:30 appointment and I get hot under my cape so I wore my open toe Kork-Ease and I wore a short sleeve boutique blouse. When I say “boutique blouse” I usually mean a blouse by Umgee or Entro. Those are the two brands I usually buy at my little local boutiques. Again, throwing on a blouse and a pair of jeans is just as easy as throwing on sweatpants and a tee!

I wore this for dog walking and the only reason I show it here is to say I love my new J.Crew Factory barn jacket! It’s so comfortable and the material is really great. My mirror has lotion on it. Time to go clean it!

I am so excited to wear my Cicy Bell brown polka dot sweater. I tried it on as a homecoming option but realized it would be way too warm.

I wore this to run a couple of errands on Friday. These are the Amazon fantastic jeans and my new Amazon flats (not much support, fyi) along with a leopard boutique blouse. I ordered the jeans in pecan brown for my sis and she loves them. Mine are one of the lighter washes. Notice they are cropped on the model but full on me at 5’4″.

I’m going to say it one more time – it was just as easy to throw on a blouse and jeans as it was to put on a sweatshirt and sweatpants! He,he. As you can see, I rotated through several of my fall blouses last week. I know the short sleeve ones will need another layer soon or I will move on to the other long sleeved ones.

Do you have any local boutiques? Mine are often clothing and gifts combined. Look around and see what you have. I pay a little bit more, but the items are unique and get a lot of wear and I am also helping a small business.

Homecoming was going to end up being pretty warm and my college colors are black and orange. I decided to wear a really old sleeveless black Loft piece with my new this summer J.Crew Factory sweater thing. They showed it as a swim coverup online! I wore my long Kendra Scott necklace that I got 50% off on one of my birthdays with their deal. I wore my black kitten heel booties.

This photo to show you my booties:

I tried on a couple of other options but decided I would be too warm.

This is a boutique blouse and the material is quite thick:

And I thought about my new this season crochet duster but again, I thought I would be too warm.

Do you have a favorite? Also, I want to say that your style isn’t my style, and my style isn’t your style. I love when people find their style. How do you want to feel? What items make you feel like yourself? It’s about way more than the clothes.

Confession Time:

I really don’t NEED anything. I just happened to poke around the Walmart site because I wanted a long-sleeved striped shirt. I haven’t ordered clothing from Walmart in quite awhile but Kellyann always finds great things there!

I realized I still had the cutest dog sweater in my cart and then I added three things. Then, I added fish sticks, coffee, Gatorade, and a few other things and thought what a time to be alive when I can get cute clothes delivered to my door with fish sticks!

Walmart has a new brand called Scenario. I felt like long sleeve tees was a category missing in my closet and really liked the look of several striped tees I had been seeing. I love a flannel and I like to “dress it up” with long necklaces.

Ignore the hair, but here is my cute new doggy sweater! It is as soft as soft can be!

I will let you know when the other items come in and we can discuss.

What have you been wearing lately?

Please join us here!

Amy

Monday, October 26, 2026

It’s Monday and time to link up with Sarah and Holly!

You guys! We have had the best weather for the longest stretch of time! It’s sunny and in the low 70s for the better part of the day! Ahhhh. I love being retired in October. It’s really a great month. I can’t believe it’s almost Halloween, though. When you are a retired empty nester, Halloween is kind of a non-thing.

It looks like fall in some areas but in my yard we haven’t really gotten the memo yet.

I had hair day on Thursday! I always enjoy talking to my stylist, Laura.

This weekend I spent my reading time with this book and it’s perfect for football season and super cute. I finished it yesterday. I have a few more Lynn Painter books requested at the library.

I had a big day Saturday. It was our college homecoming, so my college besties Heather and Heather and I hit the road – it’s about an hour. We ate brunch at a cute place called Local Feed. I ran into one of my favorite colleagues from my first teaching job! I was so happy and hadn’t seen her in person since 1996. I have seen her on Facebook and messaged her, though. I went up to her and said, “Is your name Susan?” and Heather and Heather said I had to be wrong, but I wasn’t! Are you willing to risk being wrong?

Oops – we demolished the skillet cornbread with sorghum butter before I could take a picture.

Our freshman dorm:

Look at that sky! We went to a small college called Georgetown College in Georgetown, Kentucky. It’s close to Lexington and we could go to parties and bars at the University of Kentucky and in Richmond, Kentucky at Eastern Kentucky University. I met my roommate Heather at freshman orientation in the summer and then we met the other Heather on day one of college and I realized she was from a small town very close to my hometown. The rest is history!

This was the Cincinnati Bengals practice field and it was built after we graduated. When we were there the football stadium was a different and smaller one.

We wanted to wear black or orange for the school colors and it was going to be a pretty warm day. We ran into our buddy Rachel and that was so fun.

And we attended a football team tailgate and saw many of old our football buddies.

That is Rachel the second from the left and brunette Heather isn’t in this photo. We all had crushes on someone on the football team, and they were all there and we talked to all of them!

I brought my album with captions in the car with us! What a nerd!

Very blurry photos from my album of the three of us:

It was so fun! It feels like another lifetime!

I was home for dinner and Tom and I ate food from Jagger’s and watched football and I read a bit.

Sunday we were going to take the boat out but when we got to the river there was a sailboat operation going on. It takes forever to haul a sailboat in or at least it does for the sailors in our area! We watched for about an hour and…

Tom knows one of the sailors so we chatted.

Then, we put our boat in and we had a dead battery. So, no boating happened for us. I love the drive along the river and back to my house…

I lazed around the rest of the afternoon but did make some dinner, finish some sheets and do a couple of other house things.

What was the highlight of your weekend? Don’t forget Fashion Files is tomorrow!

Amy

Friday, October 23, 2026

Happy Friday! How was your week? While my last week was busy and social, this week has been much less so and that’s good, too! I have tried to have the “I get to” attitude this week rather than the “I have to” attitude and that has been great! It’s also helped that the sun has been shining each and every day and the temperature is just perfection – low 70s!

I visited several little boutiques over the last little bit and I restrained myself. I did buy these long dog matches, though!

I also bought “High Maintenance” rather than “Diva” in the $10 size at a boutique. I use a capful along with unscented detergent. It’s a really nice smell, too! It makes doing laundry a little more glamorous – lol.

I had a library pick up this week with these three books:

This is the last volume of Emma until February, you all! Volume 9 comes out in February.

My niece likes Lynn Painter and says she has teen books and adult books. I couldn’t remember if I had read any by this author or not so I thought I would try this one.

And I can’t remember who recommended this one and I accidentally got it in large print which is pretty awesome!

I will admit that I fast forward (always watch it taped) but I am enjoying Dancing with the Stars and my favorite is Ezra Frech!

I listen to some of Mel Robbins podcasts and I heard that her “protein shot” was available at CVS. I saw three flavors and I let my bestie pick one. She is a vegetarian and struggles to get enough protein. She picked blueberry lemonade and loved it – she had it cold. I tried pink lemonade and loved it – cold, also.

They are quite expensive at CVS – $5 for one small bottle.

I made Joanne’s flourless peanut butter cookies with the addition of chocolate chips and they were amazing!

Eddie Otis and I had some good walks this week …

Close to mama…

I’ve been wearing my robe and EO loves to pull the belt of it out of the loops while I’m wearing it!

I have been working on getting more protein and I made this bowl this week. I usually eat this around 10 depending on when I get hungry…

this was leftover potatoes from dinner, Amylu chicken breakfast sausage, 2 eggs, 1/2 cottage cheese, 3 T. egg whites.

My little slip of paper says that this was 43 grams of protein:

I think I developed something but maybe someone else thought of this already. I made a “dirty protein soda” one afternoon. I took a little Diet Dr. Pepper and mixed it with Fairlife vanilla protein shake and it was delish and foamy!

Did I make that up?

Magazine day!

I cooked until I was done this week and ordered us McAllister’s one night. We split a pulled pork bbq potato and a salad with grilled chicken.

Someone on IG announced that Spanx was having a major sale on their Air Essentials line. I ordered and got it this week and I have never been in anything that feels like this. I kept my shorts on for the try on, so it looks bunchy.

I got French Gray and it just worked out that my sizes were available. I love that you order sizes separately in the bottoms and the top and I was able to order the pants in petite. Here is the link for the Spanx website. I’m telling you today rather than waiting until Tuesday Fashion Files in hopes you can still get the sale if you want it.

I finished Volume 7 this week – so good…

This is depressing…

Are we quitting daylight savings time or not? I’m so confused.

I do not think this is a joke…

Seriously? Do you have a Frankenstud in your life?

Tom has used Right Guard for 40 years – don’t try to discontinue or change his products. He still uses Finesse shampoo and conditioner – we have to order it because it’s not anywhere anymore. He uses Lubriderm and only Lubriderm. He did have to switch from Lever 2000 to Suave Sport and that was a big deal. Tom likes what he likes and doesn’t want to change. So, no, Tom is not going to be a Frankenstud.

What filled your cup this week?

Amy

PS – November’s Currently will be here before you know it! It will be Wednesday, November 4th.

Here are the prompts:

No-vember – Saying “no” (to)

Thanking for

Eating/Drinking

Cozying up to (could be literal or figurative)

Watching/Reading

Thursday, October 21, 2026

I recently listened to two podcasts where they were talking about what’s working for them in this season – Lazy Genius and Emily P. Freeman.

Cold calls! I love when someone calls me out of the blue. Sometimes these happen in the morning and I love it. I want people to feel that they can call me. I actually have more energy to talk in the morning than I do after lunch!

Cottage cheese in eggs – It makes them so fluffy! I think this works best in an oven egg bake or in the microwave. It doesn’t work as well for me in a skillet. It’s also pretty cool how much protein is in cottage cheese. I have not enjoyed it with pasta (although we do use this instead of ricotta in our lasagna) and I don’t want to bake with it, though. I have my limits.

My paper agenda in a notebook size and an old kid notebook with pages still left. I write things in the generous spaces and then each day I take the things and list them on a notebook page along with other to dos and my protein count (most days). I write things like: clean bathrooms, wash bathroom rugs, collect trash for trash day, defrost __ for dinner. I really like to cross things off. I also set alarms on my phone if needed. I have been counting protein grams by writing them down, too, and find that is motivating for me. I plan to order some cute notepads soon that will make me happier than notebook paper.

Screenshotting events going on this fall on my phone and then transferring them to my paper agenda. If I can go, I go when the date rolls around.

Making a seasonal bucket list. I blog about it and also write it out on a piece of cardstock and keep it on my memo board and see what I still want to do. If I no longer care about the thing, I just cross it out. I don’t make it a thing of pressure but a thing of fun and intentionality.

Do you do any of these things or think they would work for you?

What’s not working for me?

I am having a hard time getting to blog comments or commenting on blogs that join link ups when they come in after my allotted computer time. I try to cut myself off from my laptop around 8 am. I rarely come back to it the rest of the day. I don’t like responding on my phone. This is very much a ME problem but I just don’t want to spend too much time on my laptop.

When to go to the gym. I no longer want to go when it’s dark o’clock in the morning. I want to go in the 8-9 am range when stores are open so I can bundle with other errands. I just don’t have a set routine right now and I also have to work in at least two walks for EO. It’s rough – just kidding!

When to get dressed for the day which results in me staying in exercise clothes more than I would like. Maybe this is ok? I don’t know.

Now this last one…I need your advice. I have booked an Airbnb for the day after Thanksgiving and the day after Christmas for just one night each. We can still cancel (up to the day before) for one or both. These are in my hometown and it’s to keep us connected and close. Last year we didn’t see each other at all during Thanksgiving and it was sad. However, they only have a long weekend for Thanksgiving break. Then, Christmas is a mere month later, but they do have two weeks to a month for break. Do we do both and whomever comes, comes. Do we do one or like Kate suggests, do we pick a non-holiday time to start this tradition? We only have an hour’s drive, Molly has a 2-hour drive, and Kate has a 3-hour drive. I feel that I bear the weight of this responsibility and decision-making, you know?

I am open to your suggestions!

Amy

1. This week’s Hodgepodge lands on ‘Back To The Future Day’. October 21, 2015 was the date the movie characters (Marty McFly, Doc, and Jennifer Parker) traveled to in the future in the 1989 film Back To The Future Part 2.

Did you see the movie? Tell us a something about what was happening in your life in the fall of 2015.

How fun! I love the Back to the Future movies.

In 2015, my kids were 13 so they were in middle school. I was teaching at the high school that their middle school fed into and still had several years left before retirement. I was probably worried about my kids starting high school and how we would pay for college. My Dad was still flying and running 5 miles a day. My parents were traveling with friends and taking river cruises, staying in abbeys in France (they had a friend who rented one), and enjoying their grandkids.

2. Which -ber month is your favorite? (September, October, November, December). Explain why.

This is hard! I think October! I like all of the decor, events, festivals, and I feel like the weather is better than September’s weather. I like November, too, but it turns colder and grayer outside and while I love Christmas, I know that WINTER IS COMING!

3. Red, yellow, orange, bronze…your favorite fall color to wear? To eat? To see in nature?

All of these! I love yellow and orange. I love to see red leaves, though. As for foods, I’m not sure. I do love yellow squash!

4. What do you miss most about being 20?

I had a lot of fun in my 20s. I lived in an apartment from age 22 to age 28. First, I lived in two different apartments with my college roommate Heather and then I lived alone before getting married. We watched Friends and thought we were living a similar life to the characters! I already had a serious job as a high school teacher at 22, but I still did all the fun things on the weekends and probably on some weeknights, too. Around 25 right before I met Tom I started to slow down and started to go home early, go out less, wake up early, etc. I think if I had met him any younger, I wouldn’t have been ready, you know? We had a nice group of friends that we had a lot of fun with while I was still in my 20s, though. We did a lot of fun things!

I was the photographer or the one with the camera and these photos are in albums!

I went out a lot!

I got invited to a co-worker’s houseboat and got to waterski, I traveled a bunch, I went to tons of weddings, I shopped for my “going out top” for that night. I had very thin eyebrows.

5. We’re roughly three quarters of the way through the year. What’s one goal, habit, or mindset you want to purposely carry into the final weeks of the year? Elaborate.

I want to continue working on getting a good step count, eating more protein, and working on my mental and emotional health. I want to stop taking things personally and being so sensitive, too.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I have had a few experiences lately where I ask the person I’m talking to questions about their life, but they don’t ask me even one question about mine. My sister Kate says that I always tell people without them asking so they don’t have to ask or perhaps they read my blog? But if I do tell something or they read my blog, they could do a follow up question, no? They could even say, “I read about this on your blog and I wanted to know more”. I guess I always walk away shocked that someone doesn’t turn the conversation around even once. Do you notice this in your life? Now, I do have several people who are very good about asking, so it’s not everyone!

Happy Hump Day and thanks for reading!

Amy