The Weekly Ramble – October 10, 2025

Happy Friday! I hope you are doing well. Have you had a good week?

I confess, I’m exhausted. I’m not sleeping well and that is taking its toll. I’m thinking that I need to make some serious nutrition and supplement changes, but I am unsure where to start.

I’ve focused on making sure I get my steps and do my PT exercises every day. It helps that there’s pretty things to look at on my walks, either on campus or at home.

During PT at home, I’ve been trying different playlists to distract me from the pain. Today I talked to my brother on the phone and I almost didn’t notice the pain. Calling that a win.

I can report some good progress with my frozen shoulder. I’ve got a little more mobility even if the nights are more painful that they should be.

I asked the therapist how to prevent it from coming back. He said it likely wouldn’t. He’s never seen it come back — in the same shoulder.

Ah, there’s the rub. I could get it in the other shoulder. At least I know the exercises.

Today marks 13 years since my first cookbook, Not Your Mother’s Make-Ahead and Freeze Cookbook, was released. That was such a special time in my life, to be published by a real live publisher. Dream level unlocked!

It’s currently available in three formats:

1. the original from 2012
2. the 2nd edition that was made bigger in 2017
3. the smaller repackage from 2024

I’d actually forgot about that last one this morning. Remember they never told me they were doing it until it was already out? It’s half the price, but also has half the content.

Anyhow, that was a fun little blast from the past — especially with my little guy being funny with the new title.

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

My ideal week has been a rare and elusive thing these days. That is especially true during the weeks when I have to go lots of places.

This week I was scheduled to leave the house all seven days. Homebody Jessica could not handle that so I reduced my PT appts to just one. And even then I still went to the grocery store that day. I can’t catch a break.

Leaving the house takes a huge bite out of my flow, as they say. lol

Regardless, I’ve been able to do some cleaning projects, including pulling back on the reins where the kitchen is concerned. Standards were high when school started and they’ve slowly diminished.

The great thing is my kids know how to cook. The not-so-great thing is that they are all very busy and sometimes cleaning up after themselves gets trumped by something else on the to-do list.

Now that the kids don’t have regular kitchen jobs anymore, this has become problematic. So, waking up to a messy kitchen = Mom losing her mind = direct and to the point group texts explaining the standards.

We are a work in progress, AND we shall overcome!

One of the other side effects of your kids growing up is that the chores they did? You now have to do them.

It’s been years since I had to vacuum the van, but I got it done and even took some time to reorganize. The center console had once housed all the necessities.

After five years, it was time for a refresh. I made a new Picnic Kit and replenished the console with everyday essentials that are nice to have on the go. It’s so nice to get in the car now!

We’ve been eating really well this week. Here’s what I made:

• Chicken Bowtie Pasta, kale salad, and Cranberry Snack Cake
• frozen homemade pizzas, salad
• soft tacos with Italian sausage, refried beans, and homemade pico de gallo
• Chicken Curry Divan, rice, salad
• grilled pork tenderloin, green beans, and a protein-update of the Green Chile Rice that’s in my freezer book (I used cottage cheese, greek yogurt, and egg whites in place of the sour cream and reduced the amount of cheese. I’ll be making that again!)
• tonight is grilled pizza
• tomorrow is grilled chicken legs and coleslaw

It’s all be really tasty. Perhaps a little too much.

As you know my friend Allison produces the Art of Home podcast. I’ve been enjoying some of the archives this last couple weeks as well as the new season. Stay tuned for my “guest appearance” on Monday!

Miss17 and I have also been watching older, free episodes of Midsomer Murders at lunch breaks and in the evenings. I’m almost to the end of my Castle binge.

Thinking through things I don’t like

I listened to a couple episodes of a Christian living podcast that in the recent past has made me feel frustrated and “less than” or at odds.

I spent a little time listening again and I realized that the hosts focus a lot on applications and seem to gloss over the principles. I realized that when I disagree with their applications, that’s when I feel “less than” or at odds. I think Rose does a good job explaining this idea here.

It was helpful to realize that about how I listen. Bryan and I recently were talking about listening in our relationship and he coined the phrase, “charitable listening” – basically like giving someone the benefit of the doubt when you hear their words.

If I ever go back to that particular podcast, I’ll have to remember these things. At the same time, I am encouraged to focus more on the principle than on the application.

I think it’s fair to say that I’ve completely fallen off the Reading Wagon. I was plugging along but between work and my TV binging, I’m just not reading that much. I’ve started three books in the last three books and not finished a single one.

Currently in process: The House that Cleans Itself. Review will come by the end of the year!

Here’s a new find I thought I would share with you. Recently iLive sent us this end table with speakers. Not only does it have a charging station but you it is a bluetooth speaker.

You can find many of their DecorTech products at Walmart!