The Weekly Ramble – May 15, 2026
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Whew! The Trifecta is off to a great start – and already 2/3 over. That was fast.
Mother’s Day was a lot of fun. I had been wanting an afternoon tea — without the $50/person cost, so I set about making it at home.
We started with berries and whipped cream, followed by our savories and scones. I made three kinds of sandwiches (egg salad, turkey baguette, and ham & Swiss croissants), two kinds of scones (vanilla and chocolate-orange), and one kind of savory, cheap-o frozen quiche bites from Target. So much food!
Bryan and I also ventured to Del Mar to get some bougie clotted cream to go on the scones and jam. Yum!
We drank tea and lemonade and had a great time chatting about all kinds of things, making Mother’s Day lunch super fun. And the guys were all okay with tea sandwiches and scones at home. (Going to a tea room might have been a little much, though they all have fond memories of the Teddy Bear Tea Rooms.)
Afterward the kids and I had a housekeeping meeting. It’s was very reminiscent of our morning meetings of yore which everyone has more-or-less good memories of.
(And yes, the girls and I continued to color the tablecloth during the meeting. It’s actually an extra long twin sheet from target that fits my table perfectly. I love how it’s turning out!)
The housekeeping meeting was a really great chance to regroup and troubleshoot roommate/housemate topics. There weren’t too many “issues”, just lots of small details to address concerning cleaning and organizing systems. Somehow I ended up with a big shopping list.
90 minutes later, I felt really blessed that my kids have grown into such amazing adults. If only we could have told 2008 Jessica that all the hard work would pay off. Still, it’s hugely gratifying to parent these amazing adults!
Here’s what else I’ve been doing, eating, listening/watching, and/or reading this past week:
What I’m Learning
It’s an old lesson that doesn’t hurt to relearn: you can try new things.
Case in point: I moved the coffee station from a corner near the fridge to a more open spot in the kitchen. I keep an old IKEA dresser there for my photography props, but cleared one drawer for the coffee and tea stuff.
I replaced my cutesy mugs with mugs everyone will use and relocated all the coffee appliances. It may be too soon to tell, but I think it’s working okay.
What I’ve Been Doing
The week was pretty full with college classes, driving practice, and the last CBS of the year — all with Miss 17.
Bryan took today off so he and I had a vacay day to celebrate our anniversary which was technically yesterday. Since we’d never been to Balboa Island, we headed up that way to explore.
It was a cloudy, cool day, but it’s a very walkable place and super clean! Orange County is very much the promised land when it comes to law enforcement and nice communities. San Diego and LA are both pretty gross when it comes to trash and vagrancy, but I didn’t see any of that in Balboa Island.
Anyway, we had a nice day, grabbed lunch out, and just hung out.
What I’ve Been Eating
I’ve not been doing anything particularly special in terms of cooking. We’re actually doing a bit of a pantry challenge. The deep freeze has some issues and I want to defrost it soon.
So, we’ve been clearing things out and making some interesting meals with what we have. Bryan can’t wait to be done because a lot of what’s left are his least favorite proteins that I tell myself I won’t buy again when we’re back up and running.
Shout out to San Pellegrino for their new Ciao waters. I don’t normally like peach flavors, but this water is delightful!
What I’ve Been Listening/Watching
We’ve been troubleshooting our data usage this week so we haven’t been watching anything on Amazon. Apparently the LG app doesn’t offer an option to use lower quality streaming. So, we’re working on that.
Instead, we’re inducing in Miss 19’s Netflix subscription. But, honestly, the days have been so full, we’re actually not watching much and my listening time is limited since I’m never alone in the car.
So, we watched one film in the last week: The Life List. It was really good!
On my own on my iPad on the treadmill, I watched The Enchanted April (more below).
What I’ve Been Reading
I started The Enchanted April on Saturday and finished it on Sunday. It was so good!
I don’t think the author intended for her book to have Christian themes or to uphold Biblical headship, but I feel like it made the case really well. I can’t believe I never read it before. I really enjoyed it.
It was funny to follow up a book about two difficult marriages with a book featuring two women who leave difficult relationships. Both books are British, too. I enjoyed Lift Me Up, but not as much.
I intend to finish Making Sunday Special this weekend, then on to the book club books for May!
Alrighty, that’s it for me! Leave a comment below and let’s chat!
How was your week?
What’s up in your world? Leave a comment or a prayer request. We’re all in this together!
