The Weekly Ramble – February 6, 2026
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Happy Friday! Let’s chat cute mugs, quick pasta dishes, and French police dramas.
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These are some of my love languages right here: fun candles, cute mugs, and cozy blankets. I really love all these more recent purchases. The only problem is that I see many such cute things when I’m out and about and I can trend toward overindulging.
Anyone else?
The owl mug was only $5 at Target, easy to justify since a coffee drink anywhere costs more than that. Making my own coffee drinks at home allows me more cute mugs, right?
Do I have a problem if I’ve already allowed myself to buy a new mug each month in 2026? Possibly. I’m only going to do it if it’s really cute, though. Does that count?
This last week Bryan and I have been revisiting our retirement funding, so rest assured my frugal ways will not all be blown on cute mugs. Things should be “okay”, but we’re investigating ways to make them more than okay. I’ll share more when I get a chance.
Drop a comment if you’ve got questions about retirement and I’ll see if I’ve found any related answers or resources.
Bryan is 63. We celebrated with an official birthday cake at Sunday dinner. He plans to work full-time through 67 at least which will coincide with our youngest graduating from college. Time has flown!
Bry’s birthday was a week ago, but not all the kids were home that night. Those that were got a steak dinner and flourless chocolate cake. Those that weren’t got to wish Papa a happy birthday at Sunday Dinner.
I made that yummy chocolate cake with the pudding mix, extra eggs, yogurt (for the sour cream), and half a bag of chocolate chips. It was so good!
I was incredibly disappointed with Walmart’s number candles. We’ve done number candles for almost 30 years. I clean them really good and we reuse them until they burn too low, but we were in need of a new 6 and 3. Most brands were big bucks. Now we know why Walmart’s is so cheap.
The candles are way too thin and don’t stand up straight. I took this shot at an angle, but trust me. It was a wonder that the cake wasn’t frosted in melted wax. Anyway, 0/10 recommend.
Got a good source for number candles? We don’t have another birthday until May, but that three months is gonna fly.
Here’s what else I’ve been doing, eating, listening/watching, and/or reading this past week:
What I’ve Been Doing
Aside from getting my hair chopped, I’m just trying to find a rhythm for this last semester of “sorta-homeschooling”. Miss 17 has community college classes twice a week. Until she gets her license, I am the chauffeur which gives us a lovely chance to chat.
We have Community Bible Study once a week so we have that day for errands afterward.
That leaves me two weekdays at home: one for computer work and one for food photography. I largely took last year off from serious food blogging, so I’m back at it this year. Thank you for being here!
What I’ve Been Eating
While I do make most of my coffee at home, I am enjoying occasionally meeting a friend for coffee. I had never heard of O’Side Bakery so it was fun to try it this week. The pastry and the conversation did not disappoint.
Another culinary highlight of the week was the pasta dish I whipped up last night. Many nights there are only three of us for dinner and Thursdays are the worst for my cooking motivation.
The other two both voted for pasta, so while the water was boiling, I sautéed some clearance pancetta from the freezer with a package of mushrooms, added cream and parmesan, some fresh basil (it was a sad little plant that I decimated for it) and voila! It was so stinking good tossed with linguini.
I mean pancetta is basically bacon, so what’s not to love?
What I’ve Been Listening/Watching
Season 5 of Astrid just might have been the inspiration for my new ‘do. We have so enjoyed this French police drama.
I particularly love it that my French skills are sufficient enough that I can sometimes leave the room and still understand what’s going on. It’s been awhile since we’ve been to France.
Seriously, though, Astrid has been a good run. Season 5 ends on a cliff hanger, but thank the Lord for the fact that season 6 already released in France.
Britain has done a reboot of Astrid called Patience and it was pretty good, too, if you don’t want to read subtitles.
We’ve almost exhausted our slough of new shows. We’ve got this season of All Creatures and a few episodes of Maigret. Then it will be time to retire the TV in favor of more books, I think.
What I’ve Been Reading
Speaking of which, I’ve read the Bible this week. That’s good. 🙂
How was your week?
What’s up in your world? Leave a comment or a prayer request. We’re all in this together!
It was disheartening for me when I realized I liked getting the same food at certain restaurants because I always thought of myself as an adventurous eater. There’s a popular cafe here and if I go for breakfast I have the burrito with avocado and sausage in it. At lunch time it’s the Rueben sandwich.
There’s a Mexican restaurant in Phoenix that I almost always get a cheese enchilada and a shredded beef taco.
Very cute hair cut. It looks lovely.
Thank you, Elena!
I’m in total agreement with other posters that the new hair cut looks great!
As for number candles, try American Greetings at Ralphs or other stores. They’re relatively inexpensive and thick, so hopefully they’ll stand up better. They may also carry Papyrus, but I’m not sure they’re worth the price difference. Full disclaimer, I work as a merchandiser for AG, but I do buy their candles!
Haha! I wondered how you had such good info on a niche question. Yay for knowing a subject matter expert! It was the price that drove me to Walmart, but I’m gonna look around. Thanks, Holly!
Like the new hairdo! Question, my husband turned 63 in December. He wants to work 2 more years. I’m 57 and he’s worried about my Healthcare coverage. What is your plan since you are younger as well?
That is an excellent question — and one I need to verify to confirm our plan will work.
Our understanding of his state pension is that we both have health coverage for life after he retires. (It’s a “classic” plan that they no longer offer to new hires.) I also need to confirm that he does not need to register for Medicare under this plan since you are penalized if you don’t register in the 7-month window.
I am almost a full ten years younger than B so I’ll be 58-ish when he retires. If I am not covered under his pension like we’ve thought, I will likely still be self-employed and will get a plan for myself. Alternatively, I would look into getting a job that provides insurance for that 7 years until I qualify for Medicare.
Thanks for answering, I forgot he was a state employee. Those plans are great for those who got in before the changes. I don’t necessarily agree with a free Healthcare system but would like to see plans more affordable. Or just more affordable Healthcare for those who pay cash. I am considering a medishare type plan most likely.
We would likely do the same, probably with a Christian medishare group.
Hi, Jessica! I’ll add to what everyone else has said. Love the hair!! And happy birthday to Bryan!
We’re in Florida now! It’s going to be a beautiful week and will be so fun to be with our family and to enjoy being outside. I’m also looking forward to reading for fun this week. 🙂
I’m all ears for anything you learn about retirement. Hubby’s employer has been sold twice in the recent past and he’s so miserable with the big, huge company that shall remain nameless that he’s contemplating retiring early right now. He’s 61. It’s really sad, but his health and happiness is most important. I’m sure he’d try to do like other retirees and find something part-time, maybe even, hopefully, somewhere that would extend insurance at 30 hours or something. I’m 58 and self-employed, so we’ll have to figure out what’s best at the time too. It’s in our daily prayer requests for wisdom and clarity in what is best for him.
Something new I learned is that if you start social security on the early end (Age 62), you’re limited on how much money you can make. The limit gets smaller the older you are, but that would be something to consider if he takes early retirement.
Is it possible to switch companies? I know that seems hard at this stage in the game, but it might be worth the mental exercise. We do that regularly!
De-lurking….
Dont have much to say but, thanks!! I love the weekly rambles.
Dealing with an aggrivated tennis elbow steroid shot. Which made me remember your shoulder. Is it better?
Thanks again for your blog/info/inspiration!!
So sorry to hear about your elbow, Anita. The shoulder is almost 100%. I’m not sure if it’s that I did three months of PT or that I upped my estrogen. Either way, I’m so relieved that it’s better. Now, if only the burning tongue would go away. Thanks for remembering and for delurking!
De-lurking as requested…😉
I’m so impressed with your forward thinking culinary skills and bread baking. ⭐️ I need to get my act together in that department.
Have you watched Lupin? I’m sure you have. We enjoyed it so much especially the French (thank God for subtitles!)
Also enjoyed the new Maigret. Did you ever watch the Rowen Atkinson Maigret? They were really good…no Mr Bean vibes at all, surprisingly.
Also, we just finished The Gold on PBS and really enjoyed it. 2nd season comes out soon.
My weekend will be blessedly warm and slow. I still have some Christmas upstairs to take down. 🙈
Love the hair!!
Love it when you delurk, Allison! Thanks for those recs. Those aren’t any shows we’ve seen, so it’s nice to have something new on the list.
How is the de-Christmas project going?
The hair cut looks great!
Cooking for one is not really my favorite. I end up actually cooking twice a week and rotating the leftovers or freezing them for a later time.
I’m not into TV that much. I mostly watch sports. I need to get to the library and get some books to read
Have a great weekend. I’ll have my fun with the grandkids
Thank you, Pat. Let us know what books you find!
Your haircut looks great!
I was just commenting to my husband that we’ve got plenty to watch this weekend, with the Olympics starting, the Super Bowl (not that we are big football watchers) and 3 movies I requested from our library are all available. We watched Shop Around the Corner recently (did you mention that at the holidays?) And despite the fact it was subtitled in Chinese (another library request but somehow went awry with that!) my husband and I and our 11 yr old daughter really enjoyed it. We had never seen it. So then we requested You’ve Got Mail as a follow up. Plus the 10 Commandments and the animated Prince of Egypt, which were both follow ups to discussions in our kids’ religious ed classes.
Enjoy the weekend!
Thank you, and yes! I posted about The Shop Around the Corner at the holidays. It’s become a Xmas tradition for us, and the boys love to do impressions of Pepe. 🙂