The Weekly Ramble – July 10, 2026
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more details, please see our disclosure policy.
Hello and Happy Friday! Are you ready to ramble?
Want to save this post?
Enter your email below and get it sent straight to your inbox. Plus, I’ll send you time- and money-saving tips every week!
Last weekend was fun, wasn’t it? Even if you didn’t have a big celebration with loads of people, I hope you had some good cheap eats!
We sure did. The boys went to a party on Saturday, so ours was a decidedly small group at home. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t do it up big on the food front.
4th of July food is so dang fun! I know loads of people make Ina Garten’s American flag cake, but I’ve never been a fan (of her or cake; I know unpopular opinions), so when Courtney posted a flag pie, I was instantly smitten.
Turns out the internet has quite a few flag pies. Who knew? I didn’t know I was late to the game on this one. All the same, it was delicious!
I made ours 1/4 blueberries and 3/4 cherries. Basically following my recipe here. It was super good and I will be doing this from now on. Potentially adding some raspberries to the cherry portion.
I also made my Jello 1-2-3 cups into red white and blue which felt super festive! Will be swapping lime jello in for Christmas, for sure.
Miss 17 and I rounded out our 4th of July celebrations watching Aliens in the Attic and National Treasure.
It was a nice relaxing weekend!
Here’s what else I’ve been doing, eating, listening/watching, and/or reading this past week:
What I’m Learning
As I mentioned in my recent post on aging gracefully, doing the basic recommended body work feels like a full time job. Getting the motivation to do the steps, lift the weights, get enough cardio, and eat all the right things is a little bit draining.
Today I am doing a “rest day” which feels counterintuitive but after my injury setback, I am trying to pace myself. That is hard. I want it all fixed, like yesterday.
Pacing myself is important. That’s basically what I’m learning.
In essence it’s part and parcel with Titus 2:3-5
Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.
I read the things we older women are to teach as being things we in fact need to do ourselves. We can’t teach what we don’t know and actually practice, right?
Funny how we sometimes need to be reminded to:
- love our husbands and children
- be self-controlled (so much exercise and nutrition falls under this!)
- be pure
- be busy at home
- be kind
- be subject to the man you chose to spend your life with
Anyway, self-controlled and busy at home are the two I’m struggling with currently. Oy!
Self-controlled – not to eat all the things I want to eat, to eat the things that aren’t my first choice, and to move my body instead of being a bump on a log.
Busy at home – I just can’t get a handle on my daily and weekly schedules, in part because I’m spending so much energy on the body work.
What I’ve Been Doing
When I’m not futzing with food and exercise, I have gotten a few hours work done on the business, but not as much as I would like. I’ve found some content gaps on the blog and am working on filling those.
I know that if I can get a handle on regular housework and time management, I will find my work groove, but I’m not there yet. The weekend is here already and so with everyone home (and Miss 19 coming home from summer camp tomorrow), I’ll have to figure those things out on Monday.
What I’ve Been Eating
Once the pie was gone, I was better able to focus on eating nutritious things. I’ve adjusted the Cronometer app to reflect updated macros:150 grams protein, 140 grams carbs, 50 grams fat for a total of 1610 calories.
This isn’t a huge calorie deficit, but in order to hit the protein target and still enjoy my life, that’s what I landed on. I’ve been on a hunt to find protein and fiber that I really enjoy eating.
Currently that means rotisserie chicken and bean salads. I can dress them up with fresh herbs and veggies and cheese to make them a little more exciting.
But, basically can’t hit that fiber goal with real food unless I’ve got beans and probably oats every day. Like I mentioned here.
I’m also trying to make most of my carbs be in fruits and veggies, but that is hard. Bread is the stuff of life!
Having to pay attention to these things in one more reason to wish Heaven here sooner, for sure. Forget war and pestilence, I want to feast!
What I’ve Been Listening/Watching
Miss 17 and I have been indulging in Britbox now that we have just six weeks until she starts college. We take a lunch break with a show and sometimes watch one after dinner.
This week we really enjoyed the second season of Patience. It’s a British reboot of Astrid, but done in such a way that it is new and fresh. We watched season 1 last summer and are excited that a third season will come out next year.
What I’ve Been Reading
I haven’t done a vast amount of reading this week which begs for some introspection. Last year I read like it was my job and this year, I can’t tell you what I’m doing with my time.
Anywho, I enjoyed these books this week – all on the light and breezy, easy reading, no deep moments kind of reading:
- If All Else Sails – Emma St Clair
- The Misadventures of Miss Adelaide – Maggie Dallen
- The Misunderstanding of Miss Louisa – Maggie Dallen
What I’ve Been Writing
Here’s what’s new on the blogs this week:
I hope you’ll take a few minutes to read and leave a comment.
Speaking of which, be sure to delurk below!
How was your week?
What’s up in your world? Leave a comment or a prayer request. We’re all in this together!
I am just a few years younger than you and deeply feel the frustration that exercise and eating well aren’t having the same effects on my body they did when I was younger.
I seem to be running, well jogging, without getting into shape, and eating more fruits and veggies without losing weight.
Trying to keep at it, though the results are slow! I’ve been trying to add chia and ground flax seeds to plain Greek yogurt or cottage cheese plus fruit. Adding chickpeas to salads. Lots of fruits and veggies, including for snacks, which is easier in summer in the Midwest! And with the exercise – weighted vest when walking, hiking uphill, making it a social activity, and doing it first thing in the morning are all things I find helpful. Also mixing things up/ keeping it interesting – I recently biked 20+ miles on a local bike trail.
Wishing you well!
This week felt like a bridge week between the first and second parts of summer around here. I tackled some things on my summer project list, including deep cleaning the fridge (since it was mostly empty from an unofficial June pantry challenge) and wiping down cabinets. I’m finding myself in an in between phase, with my teens out of the house quite a bit, so I have extra time on my hands. Trying to start a garden and other productive hobbies but I, too, finding myself scrolling more than I was in June. (Saw the note about digital detox in your email.) Our personal trifecta is this upcoming week with 3/5 birthday celebrations, so that’s something to look forward to!
That picture of the (San Diego) sky is stunning!! 🤩
My youngest daughter returned home a couple of days ago from a trip to Spain and soon we’ll be traveling to Maine (we live in so cal) to visit our oldest. I adore Summer.
It was VBS week for me, so not much else happened. My usual workout routine is walking with different friends T/W/Th, and heavy lifting Mon/Fri. I canceled the walks so I could still have my slow mornings, and I knew I’d get a fair amount of steps in at VBS. I attempted to adjust my lifting schedule to just do one set/circuit of the 5 lifts I do. I managed to do them Monday afternoon, but the rest of the week was a hard pass. This has been the hottest week of the summer, and between that and VBS it was just more than I wanted to subject myself to as I’m also focusing on reducing stress. I’m happy I did the VBS work, relieved it’s over until next year, and eager to reset the routines. What I’m most excited about is having my brain back. Something about 4 hours in a building with loud kids having a great time messes with my ability to think clearly.