The Weekly Ramble – August 15, 2025

Six weeks until the official start of fall. One until school begins for our “littles”.

They aren’t so little anymore, not at 21, 18, and almost 17, but they were a pod once upon a time. Last weekend all three were gone, together in Sacramento for a bit and then split between Sac and the Carolinas.

On Monday I trekked down to San Diego proper to pick them up from the airport. Note the Barbie Cyber Truck we spied after pick up. The kids’ flights were 4 hours apart so the girls and I picnicked for lunch and IKEA shopped in the interim before swinging back for Mr. 21.

Normally Bryan is with me to do the heavy lifting and loading, so this was the first time figuring it out on my own. I didn’t anticipate the bookcases we bought being quite so tall.

It was a tight squeeze in the van.

I had a backup plan in case it didn’t fit which involved Bryan driving downtown in Monday rush hour with our SUV. We are both very glad that my backup plan wasn’t needed.

It’s good to have all my people home and a few new pieces of furniture to boot!

Here’s what else I’ve been doing, eating, listening/watching, reading, and writing this past week.

What I’ve Been Doing

While the kids were gone last weekend, I took advantage of the down time to declutter some spaces. You know how they always get worse before they get better?

That was my kitchen on Saturday when I corralled all the photography props from all their hidden holes. There was a cabinet by the TV, a dresser by the photo studio corner, and many many boxes in the Room of Requirement, the linen closet-turned-storage.

I found loads of things I had forgotten I owned included some things that I was mourning the loss of, thinking I’d disposed of them during the move. The girls are thrilled that I rediscovered the teacups I bought for us right before the move and then forgot we owned.

As is often the case, I also dug up some sentimental items, including this note from the Great Aunt Cass. Golly, do I miss her. She passed away in 2018 and it breaks my heart every time I think of it.

That’s what decluttering will do for you — make you cry.

Anyway, I’m glad to have that project done. Remember this list I shared at the start of July:

• my closet
• the Room of Requirement (aka the linen closet where I’ve stored many a non-linen item)
• Harry’s room (the cupboard under the stairs that acts as a hospitality closet)
• the bookcases in the front room
• the loft where the kids have their desks
• the black dresser (storage for my food blogging props)
• the red dresser (our junk drawer/emergency supplies)
• the prop cabinet (overflow for my food blogging props)
• my upstairs desk and supplies from my downstairs desk
• the kitchen cabinets (almost done! I have a few more to tackle)
• the laundry room
• BONUS: all bathroom cabinets

I’m about halfway through the list with just a week until school starts. We’ve got game night tomorrow so I’m hoping to get the downstairs ones taken care of and the rest next week.

Think I can do it?

What I’ve Been Eating

What I’ve Been Listening to/Watching

Last week Bryan and I attended College Ave Church. The preaching was tremendous so we’ve been binging the series on Spotify this week.

Not a day has gone by that one of us hasn’t texted a mindblown emoji to the other. There’s some really rich teaching here that has given me such an excitement for Jesus — and honestly, a breaking heart for people who don’t know Him.

I’m excited to see what God is going to do with these thoughts and feelings.

On a very-much-unimportant note, Miss16 and I have continued Signed, Sealed, and Delivered. Some episodes have even made me cry. Oh to what Hallmark used to be!

We’ve also started the new Acorn series called Irish Blood. It’s wild to see Alicia Silverstone as my age-ish; she reminds me a little of Drew Barrymore, which I never would have said when they were younger. The story line so far has been interesting.

Bryan and I watched the newest Knives Out and that was really good. I love Daniel Craig as a slightly lumpy, Southern gentleman. He stole the show in the first film. The plot of the second one, Glass Onion is even better than the first. If you have Netflix, give it a watch!

What I’ve Been Reading

I’ve been busy doing lots of things home and work and family related that I haven’t had a ton of time to read. I am thankful I took some time on Sunday afternoon to read for pleasure.

About 16% through my 3rd read of Eve in Exile, I’m struck once again at how darn good this book is. It’s free on Kindle Unlimited and the audio is available on Spotify as well as Canon Plus.

The documentary is also incredible — AND does not take away from reading the book.

What I’ve Been Writing

I spent two days out of five out of the house and a fair amount of home time was spent cleaning so I only clocked about 12 hours of official work time. It’s funny, but I still feel really productive. I guess because I did a variety of things pretty well.

And I do feel good about the written work I produced this week, including two new posts on Good Cheap Eats, a new post here, and all new products for the store planned out for the rest of the year!

It’s been months since I’ve worked on my fiction projects, but I’ve been thinking about them. Their time will come.