The Weekly Ramble – July 18, 2025

Hey, hi, how are you? Let’s chat about new hair do’s, easy dinners, accomplishments, and books!

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Hopefully, you will agree with me that the after is an improvement. Ha!

After years of getting my hair cut every 6 to 8 weeks, I’ve been stretching my appointments for as long as I can stand them in order to save money. I’ve been going to Melissa for about 15 years and she never disappoints.

While some of the savings goes back into the kitty, I finally got to the point last week that I was ready to put some of it toward a few highlights and lowlights. Contrary to what some might believe, it was not about too much gray, but too much dark.

The before photo was taken in morning light so you probably can’t see the ashiness that the grays brought out in the brown. Melissa agreed. So just take our word for it.

Regardless, I like looking in the mirror so much more now.

I love the chatter we’ve got going in the comments section this month. I hope you’ll take a couple minutes to chime in. If today’s ramble doesn’t prompt you to just start jibber jabbing, tell us the favorite thing you’ve done this week!

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

What I’ve been doing

To be honest, I don’t feel as accomplished this week as I did last week. Going to Kids Games definitely puts me in a regular rhythm that I enjoy. This week I was hard-pressed to get one going.

I’ve been making an effort to reframe how I think about my days and my accomplishments, more in the Ta-Da List style. Instead of thinking about how productive I’ve been, I’ve asked myself if I’ve been faithful.

Being faithful doesn’t always result in checked boxes on a to-do list. Faithfulness is often characterized by putting the list aside and talking with someone or serving someone you love.

So, while I can’t say I did a lot this week, I am happy to report that I:

• waited hours for an MRI appointment so that I could get my shoulder checked
• had a good conversation with a friend going through a painful divorce
• stopped to pray with an anxious kid on more than one occasion
• took one child to the doctor for an infected foot with the gut feeling that we were headed toward sepsis. Seeing that we walked away with an Rx for antibiotics, I think it was a good call.
• jumped all the hoops necessary to gather a complete dossier for the DMV because their requirements for real id’s are annoying and always subject to change – one more kid to go next week!
• took one child and a friend to a church activity and then found ways to occupy myself while they did their thing since it was an hour roundtrip in traffic.
• made the Costco run that B usually does since he did the herculean job of the DMV run.

It didn’t end up being the stuff I like on my to-do list, but I think it falls in the faithful category.

What I’ve been eating

Due to my lack of with-it ness this week, I veered from the meal plan a fair amount. This night pictured was particularly delicious. I made my chicken patties into baked meatballs, cooked up turmeric rice, assembled a salad, warmed mini naan, and topped it all with yogurt sauce. So good!

Last week when the kids told me they were having coworkers over for pizza night, I made 12 pizzas. Then I found out that 2 of the 5 guests were girls.

Sorry, but it’s true, our female guests never eat as much as my girls and I do. So, we had LOTS of leftover pizza. I frozen two entire pizzas and whipped those out for an easy dinner with Caesar salad one night.

We also had Crockpot Chili, grilled chicken, and grilled fish this week. Tonight is pizza night. Tomorrow I’m serving burgers for Game Night.

What I’ve been listening to/watching

FishChick16 and I have an MO of watching a show with lunch during the summer months, often just 30 minutes at a time. Since we have Britbox, Acorn, PBS, and Hallmark channels on Prime Video, we have lots to choose from.

Cheesy as they are, I find that Hallmark movies allow us to talk about relationship issues without all the language and sex. We finished up the Hannah Swenson Mysteries (I like Chad much more than I did Mike) as well as the Curious Caterer.

On Friday nights we tend to watch British mysteries with Bryan. Last week we finished McDonald and Dodds and started a new series called Death Valley. At the moment, they are promising.

I’ve also continued listening to the archives of the What Have You podcast. Episode 82, starting at the 27 minute mark had some really interesting stuff!

What I’ve been reading

I successfully finished my reading of The Weight of Glory (amazing!) – I started that awhile ago and it’s been a long road. CS Lewis is so incredibly brilliant. Every time I read his writing, I feel like my mind is blown. How could one man write so much good stuff with such breadth?

Another blog-worthy book that I read in a day was The Winter King by Christine Cohen. I already owned a physical copy of the Lewis book, but ended up buying a paperback of the Cohen book because it’s definitely a keeper – on par with the Wingfeather Saga!

On the clean/closed door romance front, I also read

• Kate Landry Has a Plan by Rebekah Millet – this is the second in a series of Christian romance. I thought the first was better.
• All’s Well that Friends Well by Gracie Ruth Mitchell – not a Christian book, but some interesting plot lines. I liked the first in the series better.
• Is She Really Going Out with Him? by Sophie Cousens – definitely not a Christian book, interesting premise.

I am now up to 102 books read so far in 2025!

What I’ve been writing

As previously mentioned, I’m working my way through three key books this month. The Weight of Glory was one; The Business of Being a Writer is another.

Seeing as I started my career as a freelance writer back in 2006, I’m coming up on a 20-year anniversary. That’s pretty cool, if I do say so myself. Thank you for your support in buying my books!

Reading this book is more than timely as it has me assessing the past, present, and the future of my writing career. One of the things the book addresses is the money bit, obviously.

That had me digging through my most recent royalty statements from May. At first I was a little disappointed that I can’t say “millions of copies sold”.

But according to Friedman’s research, a very small percentage of books sell more than 2000 copies. That’s wild! And also reassuring as several of my books have sold more than that. Whew.

Anywho, rather than writing itself, this week I’ve been researching the business and reflecting on past wins and what I want to do in the future. I have books simmering in me that range from fiction to nonfiction, love stories to food.

I’m not really sure what direction to go in, so that’s what I’m prayerfully considering this summer.

Alrighty, that’s it for me. How about you?