Learning to be a Wife

Wednesday, August 26, 2026

Life Lately: Week 34

This is what the past week looked like.

Cottage cheese egg bites with cheddar, red onion, and turkey sausage.

10/10 recommend.

Holy hour.

G picked up Med on his way back from PT.

See also: PT is incredible, and I genuinely cannot get over the difference in G after just two sessions.

He’s feeling so much better and was even up for boat rides this week!

Find beauty in the mundane.

Grilled brats with a side of quinoa salad.

Book club at our local dive bar turned out to be the perfect setting for deep book discussions.

I forgot my phone, so I’m using a recycled photo from a few years ago (but honestly, it felt amazing to be fully present).

Watercolor sunsets.

It turns out our air conditioner was broken, and the part needed is obsolete, so we’re now in the process of replacing both the AC and furnace.

All that to say, the weather has been pretty delightful (not too hot or too cold) for not having a working cooling system right now.

M is also feeling much better and has been such a champ with all his meds that we treated him to a pup cup (or two)!

Okay fine, we treated ourselves too. ;)

There's a new captain on the lake.

Pesto pasta is what's for dinner (x4).

Another cloudy, rainy, cool weekend after a beautiful, sunny, warm workweek (argh!).

Then it turned stormy and I had to relocate inside.

Do I have a Good Culture problem?

The cream cheese was okay, but honestly, I think I prefer Laughing Cow cheese.

I spy a little blue sky.

Sneaking in a walk between rain drops.

The book was so odd, and I almost gave up on it, but hearing who was cast in the Apple TV+ series was so perfect that it kept me going and I’m glad I stuck with it.

Favorite quote:

"When you fall in love with a book, is it the character or the author you’re falling in love with?”

The TV series was such an easy binge, and I actually liked the ending better than the book’s.

Sweet pupper.

Some weeks I cook every night, and other weeks I barely cook at all.

Golden hour.

He’s practically hanging off the couch, I can’t imagine that’s comfortable.

G made the most incredible steak stir-fry, complete with fried egg.

Elite snack combo: Dots and an Olipop Root Beer, with a side of Your Friends & Neighbors (very late to the party, but fully obsessed with the show).

Wound down with this Dream Lavender Latte.

It didn’t exactly taste good, but I received a 99 sleep score, so I’ll definitely be drinking it again.

It's funny because it's true.

I agree!

Your 40s are wild.

Bahahaha.

Fall can wait its turn.

So true.

Actual conversation between G and I.

For more life lately:

Week 34 of 2023 Part One and Part Two

Week 34 of 2024

Week 34 of 2025

Wednesday, August 19, 2026

Life Lately: Week 33

This is what the past week looked like.

What. A. Week.

G’s hip pain took a turn for the worse, landing him in urgent care.

Then M’s ear filled with fluid, so I had to take him to the vet, where he was diagnosed with a double ear infection.

And, just to top it all off, the air conditioner decided to break.

G was on the late shift, so I prepped sweet potatoes, cottage cheese, and tofu for my “girl dinners” all week (completely unaware that he’d end up on bed rest for the week).

On the mend.

I pivoted and had my girl dinners for lunch, then baked a bunch of chicken for dinners instead.

First up: chicken and veggies over rice with TJ’s curry sauce.

Golden hour.

This week was all about taking care of my boys.

Next up: a chicken stir-fry with TJ's soyaki.

He is so weird.

Just call me Martha Stewart - I also whipped up a spinach and feta quiche this week.

Cutie sign.

Treated myself to sushi after my first ultrasound (a follow-up from my mammogram - all clear)!

A little reminder to schedule those mammograms, friends.

Working the library tent at my town’s little festival.

I always say this, but my town is seriously straight out of a Hallmark movie.

My favorite time of day is when the sun casts that warm, coppery glow across the lake.

Sneaking in the fireworks show from my driveway.

What in the world?!

A bird sitting on the engine is definitely a new one.

This book was heavy, but I couldn’t put it down and I finished it in just 24 hours.

Favorite quotes:

"Good news sleeps in. Bad news doesn't wait for daylight."

"You've been there for every version of me."

"Life's too short for mediocre martinis."

Find beauty in the mundane.

G’s injury forced us to slow down, so we spent the weekend catching up on some good TV.

Michael was spectacular and I could watch the singing and dancing forever. That said, like Elvis, it was also pretty sad, with the people closest to him trying to take advantage of him.

Ride or Die was the complete opposite: action-packed, funny, and such an easy binge.

And The Housemaid was just disturbing - I’m honestly glad I didn’t read the book!

Nojito was a fantastic mocktail.

My shadow.

Coffee on the porch during a rain storm is elite.

Comfort food.

This story was way too long and the characters were chaotic, but it was also a sweet reminder that life isn’t measured in years, but in the experiences we have and the love we share.

Favorite quotes:

"Adults always think they can protect children by stopping them from going to dangerous places, but every teenager knows that's pointless, because the most dangerous place on earth is inside us. Fragile hearts can be broken in palaces and in dark alleys alike."

"You mustn't think about the fact that it might end, because then you live like a coward, you never love too much or sing too loudly. You have to take it for granted, the whole thing: sunrises and slow mornings, and water balloons and another person's breath against your neck. That's the only courageous thing a person can do."