The Weekly Ramble – July 25, 2025

This week has truly flown by. I’m not sure all that I did, but a quick glance at my camera roll says not a whole lot. Not to say that what I did do wasn’t important.

Or what someone else did. My girl got her permit!

We’ve always started our kids driving a little later in the game, usually senior year in high school or later. This month both girls got their learner’s permits.

FishChick18 went last week to the DMV with Bryan. This week was my turn with FishChick16. It was the epitome of government bureaucracy at work, but thanks to having an appointment, our anguish was reduced to 75 minutes.

While I paced the room — it seats 150 in case you were wondering — my girl jumped the hoops. Yes, I could have sat and read my book, but I wanted to get my steps. I serpentined my way through the aisles and had over 7k logged by lunch time.

I kept waiting for a security guard to question my movement, but no one said a thing. Which in some ways is a bit disturbing. Everyone was on his or her phone, as you might have guessed.

Our girl passed the permit test, of course, and we celebrated with Taco Bell. And Target. And Trader Joe’s. It was a banner day.

What I’ve been doing

I’m still working on finding a summer rhythm. This week was all over the place, and I’m not really sure why.

I suspect that it’s not having a plan or schedule.

School starts in just a month when everyone’s schedule will change, so I’m wondering if it would be best to start my fall schedule now. This would involve being “ready” to leave the house at 7 every Monday and Wednesday for carpooling.

If I get into this routine now, I’ll be better placed when everything changes in a month. Am I right?

I’ve also been prepping the Print & Go Planners for next year. They should be ready next week. Currently, you can grab the Aug-December version for the current year as well as a free sample to see if you like the general style.

What I’ve been eating

I’ve done my fair share of grocery shopping this month, but I’ve also been making a concentrated effort to shop the kitchen first. Thankfully, we are eating what we buy.

Game Night last weekend went well with frozen burger patties from Costco. A little more money, but so much easier than prepping everything.

The kids had company several nights this week. One night I made a big Mediterranean spread with meatballs, turmeric rice, salad, and garlic yogurt sauce. That was pretty stellar.

One dish that’s made more than one appearance is what we now call Fruit Lumpy. It started with a fruit cobbler that didn’t quite set up. I didn’t measure; eyeballing failed me, what can I say?

The fruit sauce — we cannot call it, “filling” — on the bottom, however, was delicious. One of the kids called it, “fruit lumpy” and the name has stuck.

Now, I’m making it on purpose each time I accrue too much overripe fruit. I’ll be sharing a formal fruit sauce recipe once I get the measurements, ahem, just right.

What I’ve been listening/watching

I’ve spent a little more time in the kitchen this week which is prime time for using my Alexa Show. I had it in storage for a few months, but busted it out when we got some prime video channels on sale at Prime Day.

I started a couple different series with low expectations. Patience is a British knock off of the French series, Astrid, which we love. Patience and Astrid are supposed to be the same character but the language/actress differences are huge. I’m assuming that they are focused on a different presentation of autism in Patience?

Regardless, I liked the British show better than I expected to. Both are available on PBS Masterpiece.

I whipped through the first season of The Good Ship Murder. It’s on par with Death in Paradise for cheese-level. Not amazing, but a good distraction. I like DIP better. Both are available on Britbox.

As a family we’re slowly working our way through Death Valley. It’s a Britbox mystery show that’s set in Wales. We spent a little time in Llandudno, so that makes it fun.

I’m also still working my way through the archives of the What Have You podcast. I found episode 93 rather hilarious. Let me know if you listen to any of them. I’d love to discuss them with you!

What I’ve been reading

I finished Jane Friedman’s The Business of Being a Writer this week. Since it’s a weighty tome that I started way back in April, finishing feels like a major accomplishment.

It was one of three books I vowed to complete this month. I’ve got one more to go.

The book covers a lot of ground about writing, and I am so glad I had a chance to review it all. I have some great opportunities ahead of me, Lord willing.

I applied for a job with a small publishing company which would potentially give me experience in another area of the writing business. I also have a few other book ideas simmering, in addition to my fiction projects.

In other reading this week, I also finished an advance reader’s copy of Betsy St. Amant’s new book, Holly and Nick Hate Christmas. It’s a fun holiday read!

What I’ve been writing this past week.

I wish I could say I’ve been writing a lot, but alas, I have not. I’ve mostly been writing copy for our Christmas in July sale and making sure that the emails are scheduled to go out.

If you missed one of our goodie boxes over the last year and/or want to get a jump on Christmas with our Meal Plan advent calendars, be sure to check out the sale. Everything is 50% off.

Here’s to getting a rhythm going that includes regular writing time!