rachel's continued ramblings

Meal plans are something that have historically had a big presence on this blog. Not so much in recent years. Well, actually not very much has had much of a presence on this blog in recent years. But I digress.  Meal plans were big back in the day, because the overarching focus of this blog (and my life) at that time was homemaking and all that that entailed. Planning meals was an essential part of that. Unfortunately, my kids were ungracious enough to grow up and I had to grown up with them and get a job, and thus, my focus has hence become divided.  That is not to say that I don’t still have to perform all of those homemaking tasks which, at the time, dominated the bulk of my focus and energy (and all that fun stuff like changing diapers and bathing children and dealing with fevers and runny noses and fighting with the never-ending onslaught of excessive toys), they just get shunted onto the back burner of my time and energy where they continue to taunt me with the guilt of ...

I have a confession to make. I hope you will hear it. Along with it comes an apology. I have been feeling very convicted lately that my manner of speech and demeanor has been excessively negative. I could list off a number of excuses for why this may be. I'm sure you would nod your head and agree that all of them are perfectly legitimate reason for one to feel upset, angry, negative, pessimistic, etc.  But really, it is that I have allowed myself to become unfocused on the things that are true. I have allowed my heart and eyes to have been turned inward to my own reasoning of the things I see and experience around me and how I think they should be . I have not focused on Jesus and the promises of God's Word. I have neglected that relationship, due to a number of emotions and frustrations - not with God, but with what I have allowed to cloud my ideas about God - and my perception of things has been negatively impacted.  I have allowed myself to be negatively influenced by the ...

Well, thanks to COVID, we had some extra time on our hands this year (with all the lack of activities and school and commuting and all), so we did what everyone else did and planted an extensive garden. Dave built me these fantastic raised beds, we filled them with compost, added plants and didn’t do a lot else. One of the things we wound up with an abundance of is green beans. I planted both bush beans and pole beans. We eat beans at least once a week (with our pizza, because we’re weird like that), but at the height of the season, there’s really only so many green beans one family can use. Now, because I’m old-fashioned like that, I have long held this delusional fantasy of something along the lines of homesteading… living off-the-grid, if you will. I have this idealized, Little House on the Prairie idea of how we should live, not dependent on the grocery store, or really anyone, to aid in our “survival”… But, let’s face it, I’m not exactly cut out to be a “prepper”, much as I w...

This kid had the audacity to turn 13 yesterday… As was expected, I was a bit of a hot mess about the whole affair. Here’s his “last day to be 12” photo. He ran out of fingers a couple years ago, so taking a page out of Shane’s book, he borrowed a couple of feet from the cat to make 12. But, not too old to choose Lucky Charms for his birthday breakfast. He got his happy birthday facetime call first thing and got to open his gift from Gramma and Skip while they watched… He’s had a boom box on his list this year. You might remember that 2 years ago, it was a Walkman. The obsession with 80s audio continues. Gramma found this one and it seems to fit the bill. Looks totally retro, plays and records tapes but also has radio AND a USB port so he could use some modern tech with it, as well. So, he spent the morning taking advantage of the birthday allowances of not having to do his weekend chores and lifted time limits on video games… all while listening to the radio or one ...

I have kind of a confusing love/hate relationship with fall.  On the one hand, I get super excited about the beautiful trees changing color. I love seeing pumpkins piled up on people's porches. I love cuddling up with a hot beverage in the afternoon. I like windstorms - yesterday's was pretty impressive - and even the potential power outage that follows, provided it doesn't last too long. I love digging out my Uggs. But at the same time, fall depresses me. I love summer, and I hate rain. Knowing that my shorts and sandals are put away until next May (at the soonest) is super sad. Knowing I'm going to be cold and wet for the foreseeable future is extremely discouraging.  Some people love fall because of Halloween. I'm kind of ambiguous about it. I don't love it, I don't hate it. Really, at this point, it just means arguing with my kids for the next month about candy. I could easily do without it... Some people love fall because of pumpkin spice everything. Do...

Yesterday was a little bit exciting, in the usual mundane way... on my way out of my neighborhood in the morning on the way to work, I passed a school bus on my street. a big, full-size school bus! then, when I pulled up to the light, there was another one!!! Kindergarteners in our district started in-person school this week! a few little signs of "normal" can be found returning here and there. I didn't realize how much that sort of thing would affect me, but then again, school buses always get me a little bit verklempt. Although it was absolutely POURING all night and in the morning, it all moved out by afternoon and Bonezy and I got a proper walk in. After our walk, I did a little garden clean-up/maintenance. We had a few of the giant sunflowers that hadn't fallen over yet, so I cut them down and composted and started pulling out some pumpkin vines. I harvested our final pumpkin that has now turned almost entirely orange and put in on the porch with the others. And,...

I'm attempting to resurrect this blog as an outlet for all those mundane things I might have shared on Facebook or Instagram, but have decided not to.  Mostly because I enjoy using that sort of thing as a record of the happenings in and around our house. But Social Media has become particularly icky and I don't really wish to contribute to or partake in it any longer.  I still take pictures. I still want to record what's going on. I still want to share funny things that happen, even if only with my future self. Right now, I'm wading through the technical aspects of doing this. Back when I blogged regularly, I did so usually from my desktop. Adding photos was easy, because I regularly uploaded the pictures from my phone or camera to files on my computer. Then 3 or 4 years ago, I got a phone with obscene amounts of storage, and I haven't done that since, and I honestly don't even know how anymore! Yes, all of my photos get backed up to google photos, but that is u...