Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa

Tuesday, November 10, 2026

Hello! Marsha and I welcome you to Fashion Files on this Tuesday!

How the heck are you?

What have you been putting on your body? Our weather has turned colder with a couple of frosty mornings. I am getting my bearings with my fall clothing and shoes. I’m having some trouble with shoes! I don’t like most of my fall and winter shoes from past seasons, to be honest. I feel like many of them look dated. What shoes are you wearing? I want my shoes to be comfortable and stylish. Is that too much to ask?

I had a birthday last week! I have always loved having a fall birthday and have used that as an opportunity to spruce up my fall wardrobe.

On the morning of my birthday, I put this on, but it was too warm for the weather…

J.Jill petite leggings – seriously the best material ever, old JCPenney white wrinkle free button up, new Walmart super soft doggy sweater.

I changed into this to wear this to the mall. I don’t like it at all. The J. Crew Factory white blouse – nope. I needed something longer with the leggings and I think black on black would have created a column, the Adidas Sambas don’t look right. The white socks don’t look right. The only thing I like is my crochet duster and Tom said it looked like it was stolen from his grandma’s couch which it does! I had worn this to a guitar concert with him in September, but I guess he forgot about it!

It was spitting rain and I just didn’t know what to wear!

While at the mall, I bought a Patricia Nash purse at Macy’s. I went in Kendra Scott to see about my 50% off birthday piece but honestly didn’t like anything that much so I passed on it this year. I walked through Anthropologie but didn’t get anything. Look at me! I’m becoming a more discerning shopper!

The new purse:

That night I put this on to go to dinner. I wore Halara jeans, an old Target blouse, and used my new purse!

This popped up in my Facebook memories. I remember we went to P.F. Chang’s for my birthday, and this was taken in their parking lot. My twins have on pirate sweaters from Target (but looked like Boden) and this is how I loved to dress them – coordinating like this. I had so many long necklaces at this time in my life, too.

I struggled last week with different outfits for morning and afternoon! I put this outfit on to vote on Tuesday. It is my new Walmart striped tee. It looked good with my same Adidas Sambas from the second photo. I walked over to my voting place and was quite hot by the time I got back home.

I changed again after voting to go boating. It was so warm that I wore a t-shirt and shorts and brought a sweatshirt that I didn’t even need. Tuesday was almost a high of 80 and it was gorgeous and sunny! It turned out that it was our last boating day of 2026 – Tuesday, November 3rd. Not bad!

Thursday was a “Holiday Hard Launch” at a shopping center that I go to often. All the stores stay open late and serve snacks and have deals going on. In the center green they have different booths and a festive sign. I went with my friend Jessica and I asked her to take this photo of me!

Since it was a Christmas event, I wore my red/white stripe blouse and a red cardigan. I wore Halaras and my New Balances that are a bit pinkish.

The next night I went to another “Holiday Walk” at another shopping center!

I wish I had gotten a photo with Heather, Heather, and Faye. I wore my deer blouse and a sweater over it – trying to be a little bit Christmasy again! I wore my velvet Mary janes from Spain in an effort to wear comfortable shoes and they were!

Here is the deer blouse that I found at TJ Maxx a few years ago. I love it!

After the holiday open house, we celebrated my birthday at a Cuban restaurant nearby and one gift I received was a gift card for a local boutique that sells Back 70 shoes. So, apparently these shoes are popular/becoming popular with the young’uns. They are sold on Free People or Anthropologie or both. I have thought about getting them but they are pricey so this gift card gave me the perfect excuse.

I decided on this red mule. I have had trouble with mules staying on my feet in the past, but all mules are not created equally.

I think these will be fun to wear. I wore them all weekend!

I feel like I need a brown suede bootie with a low heel. I am thinking about this one.

Please join our party here!

Amy

Monday, November 9, 2026

Well, Tom did not want to see Monday arrive today after being off for a week and it was a nice break for me, too! Let’s link up with Sarah and Holly to share the weekend.

I really enjoyed having Tom at home. He took the dog off my hands several days and I had time in the house alone. We did errands together, we did some house/car projects, we boated, we ate out, we went shopping, and we watched some football and tv. I only cooked two dinners and we ate leftovers.

I was off my little routine I’ve created but that is good! It’s always good to break up the routine every now and then.

Thursday afternoon I went to a holiday open house at a shopping center that I frequent often. They had a Halloween one that was rainy, so it was nice to have nice weather this time! I love to go to little events like this, and I love to support small businesses.

I wore red to be a bit festive. I tell you what – the holiday decor and offerings got me ready to start thinking about Christmas. I guess that’s the idea! I went with my friend Jessica and we had a good time together as usual. Jessica came into my life because of our kids; they went to a clay camp in the summer before second grade, I think. How cool is that?

I had a “Drunken Santa”:

Ok, Santa… does this mean Santa is from Spain. I almost typed “Satan”. Gotta be careful with this letter combo.

I bought a match box:

Friday I put out my small amount of Thanksgiving decor including my turkey flag:

I just wish the pilgrims had arrived maybe a couple of months sooner, you know? It’s just so close to Jesus’ birth. I like Thanksgiving to get its due but it’s just not happening much anymore. Does anyone need to see their family twice in the span of only one month?

I finished this – oh my! This book will stay with me. It wasn’t an easy read – touching on the topics of 9/11, Covid, postpartum depression and psychosis, and the NICU for preemies. Still, I would say it will be one of my top books of 2026. Maybe? I need to start looking at my contenders.

I had some requests to pick up:

I may have already read this, but it sounded cute:

Can’t remember who recommended this:

Or this:

I just enjoy reading self-help and time management books – not sure why.

I had a really nice phone chat with my mom’s sister on Friday. I love my aunts and uncles and feel lucky that my parents made visiting them often such a priority.

I got a fun Facebook message from a teacher I taught with at my second school in 1998! She asked if I was watching Amazing Race and I am and she said this player looks like me. She doesn’t really look like me from the front but wow – the side profile looks like Amy in her 20s (me).

Can you see it?

I am going to have to dig out a photo of me to compare.

I re-visited this solid breakfast/brunch/lunch. Doesn’t that look good?

I made these for Tom:

I think I like the lil smokies version more than the big hot dog version. It’s Crescent Roll dough. This would be a great holiday app or something to take somewhere.

Friday afternoon my friend picked me up for another holiday open house. We met two other friends there. Again, it was festive and made you want to decorate for Christmas. It was so crowded you could hardly walk in the stores, though.

Free festive drinks:

Then we met the hubs at Mojito in Havana Cuban restaurant nearby to celebrate my birthday – again but now with friends.

I got fish tacos:

I got this beautiful arrangement and planter from one of my friends. We are seeing if Eddie Otis can leave it alone!

We interrupt this blog post for a PSA…

Do not buy this:

When I originally showed it back in September, one of my blog readers commented that it burned and gave her a rash.

It gave me burning and itchy pits. No one wants itchy pits.

I splurged and am back to Donna Karan for the fall/winter. Love you, Donna!

Saturday morning, I went to the first week of the winter farmer’s market. I was impressed with the offerings.

They had our French restaurant making croque monsieurs on the spot and selling a few other foods. They also had baguettes and quiches for sale. Ooh la la!

I also used my birthday gift card at a local boutique and bought some new mules:

This little boy loves his lap sitting time:

I caught an especially cute face!

Now I’d like to update you on the “Leaf Wars”. Do you remember on Halloween how the neighbor’s EX left a tiny strip of leaves on our property rather than just blowing them since it’s their tree anyway?

This is the tiny strip:

Tiny strip again:

It’s seriously comical. Most people would just add that, right? Well, this guy ain’t most people. We know this from the 20 years that he has been blowing in all four seasons at all times of day and night. He goes to Home Depot and says, “Gimme the loudest thing you’ve got”.

Well, ol’ Tom returned his leaves Saturday:

See that clean strip? That’s our property. Tom knew they weren’t home (or EX would have been blowing) so he just wanted to give back what is rightfully theirs.

I got to read outside while the sun was out. This book is so cute:

An American goes to England to work for a football club. It’s set in Liverpool and I’ve been there! That makes it really fun, too.

Tom worked on a project outside and I morally supported him then we came in and watched tv and I made a skinny margarita. Tom found a puzzle competition on ESPN The Ocho and we were both quite amused. The commentators made it so funny!

We watched the UK football game and ate leftovers.

Sunday morning, I made my own sugar cookie creamer:

I went to Kroger and saw Texas Roadhouse butter! This might be just what the Thanksgiving table needs?

I went to the mall and used my Sephora gift card and got my birthday freebie, too:

We were going to do one last boat ride but it was too cold and windy and Tom reported that the river was choppy. So, we took a country drive instead:

I made potato broccoli soup for dinner and we started to wind down.

What was the highlight of your weekend?

December’s Currently will be on Wednesday, December 2. The prompts for December are: celebrating, decorating, wearing, preparing, and loving.

I am still considering when to host this fun link party in 2027 – Wednesday or Thursday. Monday is Hello Monday, Tuesday is Fashion Files and Joanne’s link up, Wednesday is Hodgepodge, Thursday is Share Your Shelf and Monthly Musings once a month, and Friday is Favorites. Thursday is the best day for me since I don’t do Share Your Shelf (not organized enough and don’t ever know when it is!) and I don’t do Monthly Musings very often (again never know when it is!).

Anyway, it’s a fun problemita to have, no? The blogging world is so fun and brings me joy! Did you know that in Spanish if you add “ito” or “ita” to a word it makes it small? A dude named Juan might be called “Juanito” as a child. I called my son Mason “Masonito” for many years. Jaja (that’s laughing in Spanish)

Don’t forget that Fashion Files is tomorrow; we hope to see you!

Amy

Friday, November 6, 2026

Happy Friday! I’m not especially happy to see Friday already because Tom has had the week off! Let’s link up with Andrea and Erika to share some favorites.

Stay tuned until the end because something pretty exciting happened this week…

I have so enjoyed the fall leaves in the trees, on the ground, wet from the rain, you name it! I think Tom is tired of me saying, “oh this is gorgeous!” every time we drive down a road or see a pretty view of trees.

Monday was my birthday and I used birthday creamer! My current favorite is cookie butter, but this was fun to use on Monday. Call me, Chobani!

Tom picked up CFA chicken minis on my birthday!

We enjoyed an Auntie Anne’s pretzel so much! I haven’t had a Ben’s pretzel. Who does is better? Anne or Ben?

Here is the interior of my birthday cake:

I would like to think this heart leaf was a message from my mom and dad:

I picked Texas Roadhouse for my birthday dinner and had a really good blackberry cocktail:

The trees along the river are really changing colors now:

We had such a nice boat ride on Tuesday!

I am still on Emma M. Lion volume 8 but also got this book and have flown through it. I love reading outside with light rain falling and I got to do just that this week.

Somebody has had a lot of lap sitting this week…

I fixed a tech issue on our outdoor tv that Tom wasn’t able to fix and I was so proud. I told Tom that teachers are actually really good at this because we wanted a break so bad from teaching that we had to know how to get the tv to play our videos.

Tom got me a wine advent calendar for my birthday. I don’t even know how he knew about this.

I picked out a new leather purse. It’s Patricia Nash from Macy’s and just what I wanted. I never did find the perfect woven evergreen leather purse. I am still on the hunt…

Now for the big thing that happened this week…

I have to thank Jen for introducing me to the brand. She started my love affair with Halara.

I have chosen some new pieces, and they are sending them to me!

I currently have 5 pairs of pull on wide leg Halara jeans and one pair of button and zip jeans. I have olive green track pants and olive green barrel leg pants. The jeans are what got me hooked on Halara. They are so comfortable and you could literally fly in them on an international flight. I find they run true to size and I love that they offer different lengths. Now, they even offer a heavier weight for winter wear in some of their jeans.

These are the pair that I love and have in dark, light, and charcoal.

Here I am in the dark wash:

Here I am in the button and zip with piping down the sides.

I have talked many people into buying them and have purchased them for both of my sisters. I can wear them with sneakers or a bit of heel and they look great with both.

With mary janes:

With gold heels:

They wash very well so I can stand by their quality. I literally no longer shop for jeans. Why would I? I have found my holy grale.

Housekeeping:

What do you all think about doing Currently the last Thursday of the month? The first Thursday is Share Your Shelf and the second Thursday is the Global Writing Challenge. Let me know what you think!

What was a favorite of yours this week?

Amy

Thursday, November 5, 2026

Good morning! I didn’t really have a blog topic today so I thought I would just be chatty as if we are sharing a cup of coffee together. If you don’t drink coffee – why? Lol.

Tom is off this week! I made him a list and called it “TTO” – Tom’s Time Off. He humored me with my list. It is a silly list, but I love a list!

On Tuesday I took down the Halloween specific decor and got out my very small Thanksgiving decor stash. I hang the little paintings on my mirror that has hooks in the hallway, and the Fat Pants sign makes me laugh and reminds me of the Friends episode. The little salt and pepper shakers were a gift from my MIL, and I can’t remember where I got the turkey.

I can’t guarantee I won’t put Christmas stuff up before Thanksgiving, but it felt right just to do this for now.

I did pretty well on my Fall List!

So, look at the strip of clean grass below; that is our property.The neighbor’s EX left the strip full of leaves on Saturday when he could have very well just included them since it’s their tree. Tom blew leaves Tuesday for only about 20 minutes and cleaned off our strip, the rest of our front yard and our back yard. We had rain and wind, so the leaves were all a mess again after Saturday, but I was very happy to snap this photo to show you all what I talked about in Hello Monday.

I really just laugh about it!

Tuesday was gorgeous! We took the boat out and had a really nice few hours!

EO taps his paw on Tom when he needs a hug. He needs lots of hugs.

We saw cows taking a dip in the river! Can you see the little black blobs in the middle of the photo?

We beached our boat not too close to the cows and could hear them mooing. Eddie got to go on shore to potty. I made us sandwiches and we ate lunch while beached.

How are you doing with early darkness? I’m ok with it since I wind down after dinner anyway but it’s so dang early.

My sister Molly had some fun with AI and made us 70s sisters and 80s sisters!

So funny!

This week I decided to cook dinner only twice since I knew we were going out for my birthday. I decided on Molly’s lasagna and it turned out so delish! I plan to make chicken enchiladas for the other meal. Those both will provide leftovers.

Mason is in a graduate program at a small college in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He got a job at a tea house, as well, and Morgan Freeman recently dined there while Mason was working. He is filming a movie between there and Montana.

Mason sent a photo of his graduate cohort dining at an Indian restaurant:

And he sent this photo of his Halloween costume – Sherlock Holmes:

I loved seeing some photos! He decided he wanted to come home for Thanksgiving and then he has his other half of a ticket to get him home at the end of the semester. He will be home for about 6 days for Thanksgiving and for almost a month at Christmas, I think. He has not bought his return ticket in January yet. I miss him so much, but I am also happy that he’s happy. He has to fly either through Dallas, Denver, or Chicago it seems, to get home from Santa Fe.

My body still wants it to be an hour later. I can’t believe how confused I’ve been!

What would you tell me today? My coffee is gone now but I can’t wait to read your comments!

Amy

Wednesday, November 4, 2026

Hello all! Thank you for joining me for Currently today. I am also joining Joyce for Hodgepodge. Let’s go!

Thank you for all the sweet birthday wishes! I really felt the love.

This time change has me all discombobulated! It’s only an hour yet it’s messed with me!

No-vember – Saying “no” to…

I listened to a podcast where the speaker talked about subtracting things from your life for added fullness rather than adding to your life to achieve fullness. That really struck me. I think as women we want to say YES to all the things. NO is a complete sentence.

I am saying NO to too many outings in one given week.

I am saying NO to mindless shopping (the kind you do at TJ Maxx) or running errands just to run errands. Most of the time I don’t need anything and most of the time I can just find a substitute for one particular food item I think I need for that meal.

I’ve been really disappointed with things I’ve seen in stores lately so that makes this easier. We have simplified who we buy Christmas gifts for and that makes Christmas less stressful.

I am saying NO to impulsive Amazon shopping. I put things in my cart and wait to see if I really need that item a couple of days later and most of the time I don’t.

I am saying NO to unhealthy overthinking, questioning, replaying conversations as much as I can. I am saying NO to getting in someone else’s lane and trying to stay in mine.

Thanking for…

So much! I am thankful for another birthday and feel blessed to have many people think of me on my day. Most days I love that I “get to” do this life in this way. I am thanking Mother Nature for her beauty and trying to soak it all up.

I ordered my own birthday cake, by the way. This is pretty famous in Louisville from a staple bakery called Plehn’s that is 100 years old. It’s called a shadow cake and has the best white icing, and one layer is chocolate and one layer is yellow cake. The white icing on top is then coated in a chocolate ganache.

Eating/Drinking…

Well, after about 5 weeks of counting protein grams, I let myself enjoy my birthday on Monday fully. Tom got me Chick Fil A chicken minis for breakfast which is a really rare treat.

I made the viral canned cinnamon rolls just because I wanted to.

For lunch we split an Auntie Anne’s pretzel and it was so good!

Then, we enjoyed dinner at Texas Roadhouse…

I got a house salad, smothered chicken, and a baked potato.

I had a blackberry cocktail, too:

We had lots of leftovers which we love, too!

Cozying up to (could be literal or figurative)…

I am starting to wear my cozier clothes in my closet. I have the softest blanket on my couch along with matching soft pillow covers for my couch pillows. Should I buy a Lola blanket? They are just so expensive!

I am cozying up to my library books, of course. I still hope to do some reading outside!

I would like to have some fires outside and inside and we need to buy some firewood.

Watching/Reading

I’m reading Jodi Piccoult’s Hollow Bones as quickly as I can since it’s a 7 day book. I am on the last Emma book until February and trying to savor it.

And now Hodgepodge…

1. Our  November Hodgepodges always include a question related to gratitude. What is one small thing you’re grateful for today?

I am writing this on Election Day so I am grateful to live in this country and have the freedoms we have. I am grateful to get to vote. It’s not perfect, of course, but I am proud to be an American where at least I know – just kidding. Did you think I was going to type all the lyrics?

2. Chrysanthemums-pansies-burning bush-ornamental cabbage-camellias…your favorite in an autumn garden? Would we find any of these in your yard/garden this year?

I sadly do not know the names of many plants or flowers, but I really love so many of them. My mum did ok this year, and I saw on Instagram that you can plant it even with brown leaves and it will re-bloom next year. I might try that.

3. If you could clear out or organize one physical space or mental habit before the year ends, what would it be?

My basement storage room is the area that is giving me the most anxiety. I would like to stop analyzing and overthinking interactions.

4. Brussel sprouts…love ’em or no thank you? If you said love ’em how do you like them prepared?

I love them roasted and a little crispy. I like bacon and balsamic glaze, too.

5. It’s reassuring to know that____________________.

We have so many protections – systems in place and things like that in this country even though it’s not perfect.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I was walking EO on my birthday and saw this perfectly heart shaped leaf just lying on a branch of an evergreen tree. It looks like a Google image or something but I took this photo. It made me so happy to see this!

Please click here to join the party for Currently!

Amy

P.S. – December’s Currently will be on Wednesday, December 2. I am considering moving it to Thursdays in 2027 since Thursday is a light day in the blog world and due to Wednesday being Hodgepodge day. The prompts for December are: celebrating, decorating, wearing, preparing, and loving.

Tuesday, November 3, 2026

It’s Election Day! Are you wearing red, white, and blue today?

My Walmart order came in last week. You might remember I got this dog sweater:

But the rest of the order hadn’t come in as of last Tuesday in time for Fashion Files.

I ordered this striped top:

I thought it worked well with my horse cardigan:

I ordered two flannels – one is a more fall color palette:

The other is more of a Christmas color palette:

I liked how the fall one looked with my vest from last year:

Last week I wore all my Halloween graphic tees like this one with the green cardigan:

This pumpkin one:

And the witches hat one:

And, again on Halloween:

I was happy to rediscover my star cardigan and thought it kind of worked with my witch hat tee. I can fit all of my clothes in my closet, but I like putting the off-season ones away in another closet to “rediscover” them.

Now I am washing the three of them and putting them away. I wore the heck out of them! With such a warm October, they really worked out well!

I hope you will join us here!

Amy

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