The Weekly Ramble – May 8, 2026

Howdy, howdy! My to-do list is a mile long today with way too many good works to do. I guess that’s a good problem to have.

After we finish chatting here, I need to:

• go lift weights and do my stretches – I’m so pleased that even though I still have a bit of pain in the thawing shoulder, it’s still doing so much better. The other shoulder is doing a little popping and tweaking that I remember from the years before Shoulder 1 started to freeze. So, I’m trying to be hyper vigilant about keeping movement going!
• clear out the fridge – Ours is a very active kitchen. Obviously, with my profession, but also with three kids leaving the house for work/school who do meal prep. I had finally battled down the Tupperware Cupboard Monster and then kids started buying more meal prep containers. Oy! We have three refrigerators, one in the kitchen, one for me in the garage, one for the kids in the garage. They all need a good clearing out, but thankfully, only 2/3 are my responsibility.
• get ready for the weekend – I don’t know what happened this last 12 months but my weekly rhythms have totally changed. I used to get my Rest Day Sabbath Prep done on Fridays and that fell off last spring. Perhaps I’ll be able to get back in that groove when our schedule changes in June.
• do my Mother’s Day letter writing – I’ve done this a couple times over the years, either give my kids presents for Mother’s Day or write my kids letters. My memory for these things is so bad, I don’t honestly know how often I’ve done it, but I’ve always felt very happy to have done so. I know, most people think that Moms should be made much of, and I don’t disagree, but this has been a practice to get my heart posture right, especially with the Trifecta going on. It’s all too easy for me to get self-focused and all Nebuchadnezzar. It’s better for me and everyone around me, if I turn outward a bit. After all, I wouldn’t be a mom without my husband and kids.

So, anywho, that’s what my day holds!

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

What I’m Learning

I finished up Proverbs this week in my yearly Bible reading. So many good bits in there, like this:

Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. –‭ ‭Proverbs‬ ‭23‬‬:‭4‬ ‭ESV‬‬

So convicting for me. The world and Christians, both, urge us to build wealth. That urge is very hard to resist. I feel it keenly based on my upbringing.

For years I really struggled with the fact that my blogs didn’t skyrocket as some of my peers’ did, that my husband couldn’t retire on our blogging or cookbook money, that we couldn’t buy a house.

I go back to this Spurgeon quote that crossed my path a few weeks ago, “I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages.”

Not only is He the Rock of Ages, but He also controls the wind and the waves.

No, we’re not making big bucks. No, we don’t own a home. But, God doesn’t think we need that right now.

In many ways, it takes me back to Bekah Merkle’s concept of What, Why, How that she explains in Eve in Exile. (Have I really never done a review of that book?! It’s in my top five adulting books, I think.)

There’s nothing wrong with money or houses. Scripture is full of instances when those are perfectly good things to have. It’s the why and how we need to be wary of:

• Why do I want these things?
• How do I plan to get them?
• How do I plan to use them?
• How will getting/having/using them make me more like Christ?
• How will getting/having/using them point people to Jesus?

Those answers are more important.

Pro tip: think about the What, Why, How’s in the things you’re doing or the decisions you’re facing, friend!

What I’ve Been Doing

Bryan and I have been chatting about our next trip. Well, our next couples trip.

Our next trip is a family trip to Sacramento to celebrate all kinds of family milestones. But, after that we are in a summer of transition.

• Some kids will be working/doing internships.
• Others will be traveling/volunteering with Navigators.
• And of course the Baby is gonna turn 18 and start college!

So that means the calendar is open for travel! We’re going to inaugurate our travel season of life with a Miata Roadtrip. Bryan loved renting a Miata in Japan (I know, posts coming soon!) and always looks for Miata rentals when we talk about where to go.

He suggested we try it out here and see if we like the experience of sports car travel, so that’s what we’re plotting. It dovetails perfectly with my goal for the year to have a Redemption Roadtrip.

Speaking of which, I had to laugh when my brother suggested we do the exact things I despised during childhood road trips. Apparently he had very different experiences and take-aways than I did.

Lord willing, we are redeeming my roadtrip experiences. Ha!

What I’ve Been Eating

Those of you who follow me on Instagram know that I am in my Breakfast Tray era. I’m not sure when it started, but it involves me making tea and breakfast and taking it to my room in the wee hours of the morning.

Bryan and the college kids leave at 5:30 so that’s when I’m cozy in my room with my tray. I know it sounds so bougie, but it works for me. I get quiet and stay out of everyone’s way while they get ready for the day.

This week I made a big pan of Protein Baked Oatmeal (used this recipe but subbed all egg whites for the eggs, berries for the apples, and more greek yogurt instead of the applesauce). With those adjustments 1/6 of the recipe contains 11 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber. Not amazing, but a step in the right direction.

I’ve been in a creative cooking lull, but I did try my hand at homemade yakisoba. We had a delicious version of it in Japan, so I tried to recreate it a bit.

My recipe still needs work, but I’m progressing in my East Asian cooking.

I asked Bryan if he would drive me to Gelson’s tomorrow. It’s in an area where we normally go for coffee dates/walking/driving in the Miata.

Gelson’s is the polar opposite of ALDI, a bit like a Whole Foods. Anyway, they are also the closest place to buy clotted cream and pasteurized eggs.

The clotted cream is for the Mother’s Day Tea I want to have with scones and sandwiches, etc. I shall be following it up with a housekeeping meeting with the kids to make sure we’re all on the same page for chores. Win-win, don’t you think?

The eggs are to make homemade mayo. I finally bought a food processor after going without for 4 years. Unboxing it for mayo sounds like a good plan.

What I’ve Been Listening/Watching

The idiosyncrasies of Amazon bringing back “live TV” complete with commercials during a sense when you don’t have any channels means you discover shows you might not otherwise try. This happened with Columbo awhile back.

And it happened with George Gently. In both instances, we chose a “live” show that was close to its beginning, not because we wanted to see it, but because we didn’t want to start something that was mid-stream.

We ended up binging 3 episodes of GG in a row!

Since we are subjected to Acorn TV commercials, we’re also building a list of shows to watch in June when the school/travel dust settles. Amazon’s mission with live TV clearly achieved in this household.

I hate to even say that.

(I was more than a little shocked/annoyed when I saw what the Prime membership renewal costs. That’s 5x what we paid the first year. Yikes!)

I’ve also been listening to my regular podcasts: TAOH, What Have You, Home Fires, and a business one called, Good Content. Haven’t done a ton of cleaning projects or driving, so my listening is actually thin on the ground.

Allison and I were talking about my possibly producing a podcast, then another friend up and suggested that I do it. Not sure if that’s part of the Lord’s plan for me, but we will see!

What I’ve Been Reading

I did some reading this week. Finally!

The Fruit of Her Hands by Nancy Wilson – I read this almost 30 years ago (probably when it was in magazine form). This reading was a really great refresh. I’d been struggling with my heart posture so I needed it. Wilson wrote this in the 90s and it shows, but there are plenty of modern day illustrations you can easily substitute in her applications. This is the book that so well illustrates the difference between principles and applications.

Was It Something I Said? by Allison Cheperdak – I had really high hopes for this book, and while it was good, it wasn’t great. I mean, you’d have to be an incredibly creative writer to make it entertaining to read “what to do/what not to do” kinds of things. Much of the book covered seasons of life that don’t apply to mine, but I pressed on for the sake of my children who are probably the target audience. It’s informative, but not a book one wants to devour in one sitting. I finished a good 40% of it like that since the library wanted to take it back from my Kindle and I refused to shut the app until I was done.

Everybody’s Favorite Guy by Katherine Center – I loved Center’s earlier books but her more recent ones have really been hit or miss. Women objectifying men seems to be her bent — and she does it in this within the first couple pages. Since this is a short story, that’s saying something. Apart from that, it’s a well-told tale. From a short story point of view, she hit it well. You get the gist, the back story, the conflict, and the conclusion wraps it all up in a very satisfactory way. It’s “clean”, but not without some caveats.

Not Quite by the Book by Julie Hatcher – I randomly chose this based on Kindle showing it to me. The premise sounded interesting and the story did have me captured. It’s many-many-many layers of the Shop Around the Corner/anonymous penpal trope (that’s a couple too many many’s), but the author got there in the end. It’s a good book that with better editing might have been great.

Though I do have a TBR, I’m currently in a mood reading phase. Who knows what I’ll read next week!

What I’ve Been Writing

I’ve not had as much time at my desk as I would have liked, but I did get some writing done this week:

I hope you’ll take a minute to read and let me know what you think in the comments of the posts!

Happy Mother’s Day, friends.