Wednesday, January 7, 2026

Welcome to my first link up ever! After Currently, you will find my Hodgepodge with Joyce responses.

I will keep the link open for a week so you can link up at any time and read the other entries at your leisure.

Thanks for linking up with me! Try to meet some new bloggers today!

Loving

To be honest, I am loving so many things. I feel that a weight has been lifted and I am ready to focus on the positive.

This is the first time I haven’t gone back to school after the holidays! I am loving the freedom but also, I’m craving a routine. I have made Mondays my “admin day” where I do some bill paying, scheduling, laundry, grocery ordering, and things like that.

I’m loving seeing 50s in the forecast and I will take advantage of that! I actually sat outside to read on Monday with that bright orb shining in the sky for the first time in a long time!

I’m loving seeing the Valentine’s Day stuff in the stores. I love red, hearts, and all the things. I’m a bit nostalgic about classroom Valentine’s parties of my own and of my kids. I also am thinking about my V Day activities that I did in my high school classroom as a teacher.

I love my library stack – I won’t read all of them. I like having choices. I also am going to try to do a better job with recording what I read for you all.

Resolving

I chose this photo because I look like someone who is not taking any BS. I am out in the rain looking like a fool but my face says “step off”.

I don’t really do resolutions, but I want to be the best version of myself I can be. I want to be a good wife, mother, sister, friend, citizen, etc. I want to stop wasting energy overanalyzing relationships and situations. I want to match energy. If someone doesn’t put much toward me, I should match that. I want to say YES when it’s a HECK YES and say NO when I am not sure it’s how I want to spend my time and energy. A YES to one thing is a NO to another, no? I want to open my circle to new friends that might come my way and let some of my friendships be more occasional friendships.

I am resolving to do the things that help me feel my best – getting outside each day, continuing strength training and walking, going to bed no later than 10, drinking enough water, feeding myself good healthy foods, limiting myself from social media and silly internet stuff, choosing to do things in person rather than online to keep community and connection.

Planning

I think we are finally planning the rest of our house renovation stuff. We are replacing flooring and painting the rest of our main floor of our ranch house, renovating the kitchen, and adding cabinetry to the mudroom. It’s going to stink to have the chaos but it will be worth it, and this is a good time to do it.

Eating/Drinking

All the vegetables! I love roasted vegetables.

I eat eggs for breakfast most days but I would like to mix it up with Greek yogurt and oatmeal, too.

I read how beneficial beans are so I added beans to this breakfast:

I also plan to put some beans atop my salads.

I want to eat more fish, too.

I have been drinking electrolytes, water, and tea after my morning coffee.

It matters greatly to me the vessel from which I drink! I love drinking out of a wine glass, mason jar, these hefty icon glasses, my pretty hobnail glasses, etc. I keep a giant Tervis Tumbler with water and drink from it all day without a straw. I rarely use a straw. I find I can drink tons more water if it is room temperature and straw-less. Some food for thought if you are a struggling water drinker. I love sparkling water and just bought Saratoga brand. I plan to put it in a wine glass!

Watching/Reading

There are so many Netflix shows starting tomorrow or Friday that I am interested in! I am still watching my Bravo shows! I love Bravo! I also really, really love the podcast Watch What Crappens that makes fun of all the shows.

I am loving Below Deck Mediterranean. It is a show about the crew of a luxury yacht. It finished filming in Barcelona a week before we arrived in October of 2024. They are docked in the marina where we walked around and took our sunset catamaran ride. They also show the America’s Cup Red Bull Racing building and team. The team lawyer (who knew they needed one?) came out of the building and talked to Tom and I about the boat and the race. She came out to smoke a cig and just chatted us up.

Here are some of my photos…

They show this hotel in every shot. This is the W Hotel.

The catamaran sunset cruise:

The America’s Cup sailboat:

It’s just so fun to be able to say I was there!

I am excited to watch the Olympics starting with the opening ceremonies on February 6th! I love the opening ceremonies because I am so interested in other countries and cultures. I always talked about it in class and told the kids to watch. Then, I showed some of the Spanish speaking countries’ outfits. He he or should I say je je.

I started Ripple on Netflix and it’s really good but pretty deep. I found myself crying pretty hard in one of the scenes.

I am reading:

I’m having a good reading spell which is a big deal because I always called myself a “fair weather reader” only being able to read outside and mostly in summer. My sister said the same thing when we were together. She was telling me she just can’t read when it’s not summer. Part of that is the “teacher brain” I think.

Scroll down after Hodgepodge to link up with me for your Currently responses! Thank you for linking up with me! I will announce the February date and present participles soon!

Hodgepodge

1. What are three words you would use to describe your 2025? 

hard, transitional, bittersweet

For anyone new around here, I lost my mother suddenly in January 2025 and I retired from 31 years of teaching high school Spanish at the end of the school year. I managed my mom’s estate and the sale of her house.

2. I ask this question every January, and I always get comments about how we shouldn’t be banning words. This is fun and games so just play along : ) 

Every January 1st since 1976 Lake Superior University has published a list of words they’d like to see banished from the Queen’s English. Words may be banished due to misuse, overuse, or just general uselessness (go here to read about how the words are chosen). Here’s the list for 2026- 

67 • demure • cooked • massive • incentivize • full stop • perfect • gift/gifted  • my bad • reach out 

Well, when I was a high school Spanish teacher, I used the kids’ words to get their attention or make them laugh. I translated what I could into Spanish for giggles. I am so glad I missed the “67” phase! I think it is so dumb. I liked “demure” and was glad the kids were learning that word based on a Tik Tok video. “Cooked” was fun to translate in Spanish and use in class – “cocinado”! The other ones I didn’t hear much, or they don’t bother me. I don’t use them much if at all.

Which one (if any) do you use most often? Which one of these words/phrases would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why? Is there a word you think should have made the list? 

I guess I do say “my bad” sometimes. Tom and I are both bothered by what we have noticed… many people on podcasts, the radio, and television have dropped the “r” in the word important so that it sounds like “impoant”.

Tom has said he would prefer that I don’t say: “low key” or “vibe”. I told him I would try to work on losing the teen vernacular. He also wanted me to say he hates “OG”, “back in the day”, and “it is what it is” when I consulted him on this question.

3. What are your nightly rituals? Is that different from your ‘ideal’ nightly ritual? If so what’s your ideal? 

I take a shower after dinner and that is when I wash my face and do some creams. I am trying to do a dark spot corrector from Korea and I do an all over night cream. I’m open to suggestions! Anyone have any? I really don’t know what I am doing in the skin care department. Also, how is it fair that I am dealing with pimples and wrinkles right now?

4. January 6th is/was National Bean Day. Do you like beans? Which one is your favorite? Last thing you ate made with beans? 

I did not know! I do like beans. I think I like pinto and black the best. I just watched an IG that we should be eating two cups of beans a day and you should have some for breakfast (see above photo in my Currently). I like making sweet potato cubes and having them with black beans.

5. Are you easily embarrassed? Elaborate. 

Nope! I was always the one who raised my hand and wanted to get in front of the class. I have volunteered to go on stages and gotten picked. I don’t blush easily or at all.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

This might win for most random. Bo Duke lives in my little hometown of Madison, Indiana! Raise your hand if you played Dukes of Hazard on your bikes with your neighborhood posse. I am raising mine. John Schneider and his wife moved to Madison from Hazard, I guess. I follow him on social media, and he is eating dinner at the place where we went two weekends ago. He is getting wine at the place where we went. Also, Kat Von D lives in a nearby town to Madison called Vevay. Sorry for the name dropping.

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