A bad week for earrings
My gosh. What is going on with me and earrings this week. I’m a mess.
Yesterday I was getting ready for work and went to switch out my diamond studs to a different pair of earrings and one of the studs was not in my ear. Er… I always wear them. I just take them out to wear something else.
I didn’t see the stud anywhere in the bathroom (where I was) and spent 1 minute using the flashlight on my phone (it was 4:25 am) to look for it on my side of the bed. I didn’t find it and had to stop looking and continue getting ready for work so I wouldn’t miss my train.
I texted Steven to tell him about it and he looked a bit when he got up and didn’t see it. Then I forgot about it all day. (Which, go me – things like this used to occupy my brain all day.)
Then when I got into my car at the end of the day one of the earrings I had on fell out, into that devil’s crack between the seat and center console. GAH!!!!
I decided to just get it out then, which of course took forever, and I hurt my shoulder (how?!) in the meantime. I mean, really, Kim. Really.
I remembered about the lost stud when I got home and couldn’t find it in the daylight.
I decided to give the bathroom a more thorough look before I took my shower and saw something shiny stuck in the bathroom drain – yep! My stud earring! We were both shocked I found it!
I thought I was in the clear. I carefully took them off this morning and put in a different pair. But then when I went to put that pair away after work, one fell on the floor behind the dresser.
Grr.
I just cannot. Major case of the dropsies this week.
The good news is, while I was looking for a photo for this post, I found this old post of mine from August 2019 where I talked about meeting up with someone at work to learn how to be positive like them… and that is somehow the reputation I have now. I forgot that was even a goal of mine hahahahhaahahahahaha.
Flying to… Gary, Indiana lol
We live so close to Indiana and had never flown there! We decided it was time to remedy that.
We picked Michigan City due to the type and location of the airport, and we saw some interesting restaurants and roasteries we could Uber to. Our friend Eric asked to fly with us so he came along too! Yay! We love taking guests.
We checked the prog chart the days leading up to the flight and did a briefing right before, and were expecting clear skies or a high cloud ceiling, but the clouds were low, low, low. It wasn’t a big deal – it was still MVFR (marginal visual flight rules) and we had to fly low to stay under ORD airspace anyway. But that will shortly explain the title of this blog!
It was an interesting day for radio comms. And no mistakes by us, actually! When we were holding short to depart on runway 5, the plane right behind us called tower and asked to take off on runway 32. But they were already right behind us… and lined up to take off on 5. They went back and forth a bit and tower actually cleared them to go back to 32?! So we called tower to ask if we were clear to takeoff on 5 then tower realized we were #1 in line and not that plane, and then that plane was like “nevermind we’ll take off on 5 afterall”?! Interesting experience.
Anyway!
We followed the lakefront down to Michigan City, staying 3 miles from the shore (optimal glide ratio for engine out).
It’s always neat to fly by the city!
And we flew by the Indiana Dunes!
As we got closer to Michigan City the clouds seemed to be getting lower. We were going to begin our descent into town to land and noticed the clouds were even lower over the city (in photo below) than on the lake and that we would have been flying right into them.
Since Steven doesn’t have an instrument rating to fly through clouds we turned around (seen in map below) and headed back to our planned diversion airport, Gary.
And that’s how we ended up in Gary, Indiana!
Gary/Chicago International Airport has a hella fancy fixed-base operator (FBO), like, whoa. One of the coolest I’ve ever been to! And the lady working there was so nice and helpful.
We borrowed the courtesy car, got coffees at IXXA in Hammond, and went to Bairstow Trailhead to walk. Anytime I’ve driven on I-90 through Indiana I’ve noticed this cool lake with a trail on it and realized we were RIGHT by that lake! I was so excited to see it in person. But we only had 10 minutes before we needed to head back (someone had the plane rented after us at 12:30), so it was a short walk, ha. Glad I know where it is now!
We got back and did flight planning in the FBO, did preflight, etc. etc. then called ground to request departure and it was one of the weirdest air traffic control (ATC) communications I’ve ever been part of. I had a long description of it written out, but I already made you read through one of those, so let’s keep this short. It seemed to be a new ATC who said our tail number wrong a few times (so we weren’t sure who he was talking to) and gave unclear directions. It wasn’t busy – we were the only other plane there – so it wasn’t a big deal at all. We took our time and asked for clarification to ensure we did what they wanted us to. Everyone has to start learning somewhere (says the girl who has never done radio comms!)!
We took off and followed a similar route to the way we came in, making sure to stay under the clouds, under the ORD Bravo Shelf, away from the MDW Charlie Shelf, and away from the temporary flight restriction (TFR) around Wrigley for the White Sox/Cubs game. Phew. There is a lot going on around Chicago airspace, even over the lake.
But it was a nice chill flight back! We had fun chatting and looking at all the boats.
Eric really enjoyed it and we’d love to take him up again! We just love sharing these adventures with our family and friends!
Edited to add – this flight is 12 years to the day we did a helicopter flight with Eric (and my dad)! What are the odds?!
Reading Update (2025 #37-39)
[37] The Roommate (The Shameless Series #1) by Rosie Danan
Fiction / Romance / Romantic Comedy, heard about from Stephany, Kindle
Synopsis: Clara Wheaton has been raised to be the picture-perfect socialite, but defies her family and moves across the country to California, to live with her childhood crush and finally have a chance with him. Only on the day she arrives, he tells her he’s going on tour with his band she’ll actually be sharing the apartment with Josh, a handsome and unexpectedly insightful stranger. When Clara discovers Josh’s unconventional career (he’s a porn star!), their summer living arrangement takes an unexpected turn, leading them to launch a bold venture to challenge the stigma around female desire.
Review: I appreciate the creative concept here but Clara’s character was so flat that her relationship with Josh did nothing for me. She’s set up as this socialite that comes from a family with a scandalous past and that affects so many of her choices… yet we get hardly any of those stories and she doesn’t interact with her mother at all. It was boring and I didn’t buy their insta love connection. Meh.
Recommend? No
[38] Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean
Young Adult Fiction / Family / Parents, saw in “Available Now” on Libby, Audio
Synopsis: Izumi Tanaka has always felt out of place in her small California town, but she has a great relationship with her mom, a group of ride or die friends, a dog who tolerates her, and plans to attend community college in the fall. Then she accidentally discovers her long-lost father is the Crown Prince of Japan, making her an actual princess. She’s swept off to Tokyo, and must navigate royal life, intense public scrutiny, and unfamiliar traditions, all while dealing with scheming relatives and a grumpy bodyguard who might just steal her heart.
Review: This story of discovering who you are and where you belong was so cute and pure. I picked it up randomly, not realizing it was YA, but it turns out YA was a nice little break for my brain. Who knew? Sure, it’s a little far-fetched and leans into the rose-colored-glasses view of the world, but I was completely here for it.
Recommend? Yes
[39] Two Can Play by Ali Hazelwood
Fiction / Romance / Workplace, saw in “Available Now” on Libby, Audio
Synopsis: Viola Bowen’s company lands her dream job – designing a video game based on her favorite book series – but there’s a catch: she has to work with her longtime crush turned nemesis from another company, Jesse Andrews. Forced into a snowy team-building retreat, the two are stuck in close quarters, and as tensions thaw, Viola realizes Jesse may not hate her like she thought.
Review: Ha. For a bit, I thought I was going to like – and even recommend – an Ali Hazelwood book (well, novella), but nope. This one completely unraveled for me. It had that classic “I thought you hated me but you actually don’t!” miscommunication trope, and the explanation was super weak. Then they decide to take it slow (spoiler alert ahead)… and suddenly she’s standing in front of him naked? I genuinely thought I’d skipped ahead by accident in the audio. I hadn’t. It just felt jarring and oddly paced – like that section needed a better edit. There wasn’t much of a story overall. I get that it’s a short novella, so I’ll give it that, but still… meh. But it kept me entertained on my drive to and from my blood appointment, on my run yesterday, and on my drive to get groceries and gas today, so there ya go!
Recommend? No
Random Thoughts Thursday 498
- Do you recall how a local airport we flew to in March found my blog post about it and emailed me about some events (we have the plane booked to go to the Flour Drop!)? Probably not, lol. But it turns out the airport included my blog post in their May newsletter. I found out because a super nice pilot emailed it to me. I totally forget this blog is public.
- I mentioned our garden is all planted! Here’s the before (top) and after (bottom). We planted green beans, cilantro, tomatoes, and cucumber. We ended up buying tomato plants because the ones Steven brought in last year ended up dying in the spring.
- Riding the train daily to work is killing my knees. I think it’s the sitting position for so long? I try to stretch frequently but it’s not helping much. I need to figure something out.
- Are you able to listen to music or TV and read at the same time? I’m not, but am trying to become someone who can have music going to drown out other people, and still read.
- Last week’s mani!
NOT a riding lawn mower
This Sunday Steven and I were talking about what we like to share with our coworkers about our weekend. I told him I like to find the most interesting thing from our weekend so I can tell a story about it. (Steven’s approach was a bit different 😂)
I love telling a good story. When you have the delivery just right, and can tell your audience is engaged and hanging on to every word… muah, chef’s kiss.
Not saying that happens often, but when it does, I love the feeling when I get to what I think is the funny part of the story and they laugh or the wtf part and they gasp.
It’s the Leo in me. Okay, and probably a part of me subconsciously seeking validation for the life I live by others showing interest in it. Gosh, isn’t it a huge desire of most of us to share our lives and interests and have people act like they care?! Come on! I know the bloggers get this.
But moving on…
We didn’t actually do anything I immediately pegged as cool or interesting last weekend. Our weekend was mostly yard work – getting soil, cleaning out last year’s garden, setting up this year’s, Steven mowing, setting up the automatic hoses, and other shit I’m forgetting.
I thought I was story-less!
But then on Sunday Steven asked me if I wanted him to upload his mowing pics to Google Photos for me. Being the whiny little baby I am I complained about Google Photos for a bit (WHY DOES IT REQUIRE ACCESS TO ALL MY PHOTOS FOR ME TO SEE AND DOWNLOAD SOMETHING HE SHARED? (Phone only – it’s not this way on my computer.)) but then told him yes.
And in a surprising turn of events, this was the photo I showed people throughout the week that got an audible gasp out of them:
I was NOT expecting to show this to people. I overheard two people talking about how horrible their lawns are and was like, “WOW KIM, do NOT be an asshole and show them yours!” (I do have some self awareness.)
But then later in the day that conversation came up with a different group and I was like “yeah, I was self talking to myself not to be an asshole and show you this photo” then showed the photo (because jk about the self awareness) so then for the rest of the week those people were like “Kim! Show Craig your lawn photo!” “Ron, you have to see Kim’s lawn.” (Ha, what do you think of the made-up names I chose?)
And everyone would gasp and then the first thing they’d say is “does your husband have a riding lawn mower?” And I’d tell them no, it’s a gas-powered walk behind or whatever then there would be more gasps and compliments and it was a lot of fun because 1. people were complimenting my husband who works very hard to take care of our home and yard and I’m extremely grateful for him and proud of him, 2. it took the focus away from how long my commute is, which I am truly sick of talking to them all about, and on to the reason it’s so long which is we chose a beautiful, peaceful property with land, which yes, happens to be quite far from the office. I have free will and am aware of the consequences of the decisions I make.
So that was this week’s tale! I wonder what next week’s will be!
(And I have to add, I may be an asshole but I always ask my coworkers about their weekends and interests – I don’t just go in and bombard them. I wait for the right timing 😂)
Reading Update (2025 #34-36)
[34] Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister
Fiction / Thrillers / Suspense, heard about from Carolyn, audio
Synopsis: On the morning she’s set to return to work after maternity leave, Camilla wakes to find her husband missing and a mysterious note in his place. As news breaks of a hostage situation in London, police arrive at her door with a shocking revelation: her husband isn’t a victim – he’s the gunman.
Review: This is such an interesting premise and well-written, but it was painfully slow. It didn’t really pick up until the last 10%, and even then, the climax of the story was rushed and not explained well. It felt like it wanted to be a character story, but still felt very surface level. And I was annoyed with the parts that were predictable and the with the part of the story that wasn’t predictable and I felt like parts of it should be laid out for me. So… this is obviously not the book for me or the reading mood I am in.
Recommend? No
[35] Wyatt (Lucky River Ranch, #2) by Jessica Peterson
Fiction / Romance / Contemporary, second in series, Kindle
Synopsis: While waiting for her dream job to start in New York, Sally returns to her small Texas hometown hoping for a no-strings fling – and her best friend Wyatt, a charming cowboy Casanova, seems like the perfect teacher. Their fake flirting quickly turns real, but with Sally’s move to New York looming and her dad pushing her to chase the dream he never could, their growing feelings might not be enough to change what’s coming.
Review: This was good, and I enjoyed it… but it was not as good as the first one, and some of it was hella cheesy. And the best friends to lovers trope where they just can’t imagine the other person possibly having feelings? Meh, not typically for me, depending on how long that charade goes on. Granted, it didn’t for too long in this book, which I appreciated!
Recommend? Nah
[36] The Wedding People by Alison Espach
Fiction / Humorous / Dark Humor, second in series, audio
Synopsis: When Phoebe Stone checks into the elegant Cornwall Inn in Newport, Rhode Island, she’s mistaken for a wedding guest – though she’s the only one not there for the festivities. She came alone, to kill herself. As the carefully planned wedding weekend unfolds, Phoebe unexpectedly bonds with the bride and members of the wedding party, and these connections brings surprises no one saw coming.
Review: What a brilliant, beautiful book. I was hooked from the start. It’s a thoughtful character study filled with sharp insights on human behavior that will stay with me for months. And beyond the introspection, there’s a compelling plot. The story unfolds over the course of a wedding week, as Phoebe slowly becomes part of the celebration and, in the process, rediscovers herself and what she truly wants. At its heart, this book is about choosing the life you want to live.
Recommend? Absolutely yes
Random Thoughts Thursday 497
- My friend Courtney made me some cute bowl holders so my oatmeal bowl doesn’t burn my hands. Aww.
- When we were out flying this weekend I thought it was still April. I almost wrote 3 for March on some notes this morning. This brain, I tell ya. IT’S MAY.
- I went to a visitation on Sunday. It’s the third one I’ve been to in the last 6 months. It feels like a lot? Part of me is like “I am too young to know so many people dying!” and part of me is like “Be real, Kim, you are entering that era of your life.” (These folks were in their 60s/70s)
- I had therapy Tuesday and didn’t make notes on what to talk about and I was like… I feel like I forgot some trauma I wanted to share? Then I later remembered – this death and Penny’s disappearance. I will make talking points next time. Although it did feel good to do a stream of consciousness offload. Then be like “okay byeeeeeeeee!”
- I feel like I’m always giving Marybel, my trainer, a heads up about something being “wrong” with me and affecting my performance. This week it was doing shoulder presses. I normally can go pretty heavy but wasn’t and told her it’s because I fell down the two stairs into our living room and landed on my shoulder and forearms. I did not share that the reason I fell that way is because I was carrying two oreos and was trying not to drop them (one still got destroyed, ha ha).
Not a bad reputation to have
My coworkers are so nice to me. This isn’t the example I came here to write about, but they keep calling me “hero” and saying I saved someone’s life after I shared my Thursday evening commute story with them all Friday morning. I don’t feel like it’s that big of a deal, but I appreciate their kindness. (And as a Leo/sometimes attention-whore, I did love telling that story to a captivated audience Friday morning!)
The example I was going to share is how I have this reputation of being positive at work. A few weeks ago I was having a morning and my supervisor was like “Are you okay? You aren’t your normal positive self!”
Last Friday someone pulled me aside and said “seeing your smiling face each day and feeling your positivity is keeping me going.” Awww.
I’ve been working really hard at letting small things go, having a positive mindset, not complaining, and keeping my momentum going. And, honestly, gaslighting myself into being unbothered instead of sad.
I shared a little of that to the person on Friday. They were saying they were impressed I was like that with my long commute, and I was just like “yeah… I don’t want to be a miserable person. I’m trying to find a little joy in each day and I hope you can too!”
I mean wtf else am I supposed to do. I’ve known miserable people. I don’t want to be like that. I’m here to enjoy life. I’m here to make connections. I’m here to laugh and make people laugh. I don’t want to wallow in the suck or do a lot of “woe is me.”
Is it sustainable? With maintenance… maybe? Which is why I have therapy today. When I was crying on the train last week because it was running 20+ minutes late, I was like, yeah, might be time for a therapy check-in.
Flying to Cottage Grove, WI
Our Saturday night adventure was a flight to Blackhawk Airfield (87Y) in Cottage Grove, WI, just east of Madison.
We picked Blackhawk Airfield because there’s a restaurant – Oakstone Recreational – with a vegan burger option at the end of the runway. The restaurant met our two priorities – a vegan option, and close to the airport! We were actually able to walk there. I’ll get to that though.
I was excited when we got to our home airport around 4:00 and saw all the planes out on the ramp. It had been three weeks since we flew! Too long!
And it was a beautiful day to fly – windy, but clear blue skies out by us.
It felt so good to get off the ground, and get away from it all. And to see how much more lush the ground looks than the last time we flew!
After we’d been at cruising altitude for quite some time Steven asked if I wanted to fly, and use the rudder this time (he’s always done rudder before). Yes, please!
I was super focused on keeping the plane level without losing altitude – by comparing the nose to the horizon, looking at the wings, and checking the altimeter and vertical speed indicator. So focused that I forgot to look at the GPS and make sure we were still flying in a straight line. Ha. I only got us a little off and Steven was obviously watching and telling me to adjust, as well as telling me what to do with the rudder. Fun, fun! I always feel so official when we switch controls by saying “my controls,” “your controls,” and “my controls” again.
The flight there was just under 50 minutes. We were planning to cruise at 4,500′ on the way there but came down a bit because some clouds showed up, and we needed to lower our altitude anyway – the airport we were flying to sits under the Madison Class Charlie shelf, and we had to make sure to stay below 2,300′ MSL to go under it.
We didn’t have too hard of a time finding the airport – it was just south of a major highway and on the very eastern edge of town. However, the runway we were planning to land on, 4, was hidden in the trees,
and the approach to it was right over a neighborhood! We felt like we got super close to those houses when we came in to land! Can you imagine living there? Yikes!
The kicker though… when we looked this airport up it said that runway 4/22 was in poor conditions. We looked at google maps and were like, “yeah, that looks rough, we’ll keep that in mind.”
Y’all, that was a bumpy landing. And it was NOT Steven. Whoa. We get what it means when a runway says it’s in “poor” condition now. Steven even said the plane was “chattering” (the noise wheel was vibrating) from how crappy the runway was. I MEAN LOOK AT IT.
The whole airport seemed rundown. It made us wonder if anyone else ever flies there, so I looked it up and it averages between 0-2 takeoffs and landings most days of the year. So maybe the people in those houses don’t have the shit scared out of them by airplanes too often.
But the location can’t be beat – it was only a half mile walk to the restaurant.
We left the ramp we parked on, walked down the taxiway/road, and onto a grass path that lead right to the restaurant!
We had to walk on the end of runway 9/27 to get to the restaurant, which felt dangerous and naughty and like something we’d absolutely never do at another airport, but here? Not a problem.
When we got to the restaurant we saw people wearing fun outfits and crazy hats and we realized it was Kentucky Derby Day! And that it was going to be on in about 5 minutes – talk about timing!
That was definitely the first time I’ve ever watched the Derby. It was fun to watch in a group environment, even though I’m generally NOT a fan of horse racing.
Later more folks came in dressed up in fancy dresses and we realized it must have been prom night for some! We had some fun people watching.
We stretched out our time at dinner, on our walk back, and at the airport, to try to time our return flight so we’d get to our home airport an hour after sunset so Steven could do his three nighttime takeoffs and landings to be current for carrying passengers at night (he was already current until June 20th, but we were like “hey, we’re out late, let’s do this thing”).
We walked around, took a lot of selfies, and did a very thorough preflight.
The wind was completely calm (the wind direction determines which runway you use) so we took off on runway 9, which was in “fair” condition and much, much better than 4. And bonus – it pointed away from Madison. We had to be mindful of staying below 2,300′ on the way out too, and this made it a bit easier.
We got to see a gorgeous sunset at takeoff!
After we got out from under the Charlie shelf, we went up to 5,500′. The skies were clear except for some pretty wispy clouds.
The photos don’t do it justice. It was a beautiful night!
We still had a bit of time to kill so once we got over the practice area, Steven asked what maneuver I thought he should do. We settled on steep turns (cause they’re so fun and we weren’t in the mood for slow flight or stalls!).
He explained to me the trick he learned on how to do steep turns and keep the plane at the same altitude – aligning the horizon to the left rivets on the cowling and doing three big turns on the trim wheel once you get in place.
Is anyone still reading this? Ha ha.
I like to pay attention and learn these things since I still want to get my pilot’s license someday.
We got back to our airport and did 4 landings and 3 takeoffs in the dark. We were the only ones there, and the wind wasn’t too nuts, so it was a good night to practice!
We called it after 4 landings though, since we are old AF and it was past 9:00. Ha ha.
Two stories from yesterday
What is my life. Really.
Okay so story #1 involves nakedness and story #2 involves injury and blood so now’s your chance to bounce if that’s not for you!
#1 You know what’s a great way to meet other tenants in your building? When you’re fully naked in the building locker room. 😂
And did I mention that my company is the landlord of the building and the tenants are my customers and maybe someday we’ll be in a meeting together with clothes on? 😂
Ha. This actually doesn’t bother me at all. I’m not purposefully walking around the locker room naked but I’m also not shy about taking a shower or drying off. If you see me you see me. And if you start a conversation with me while you’re completely naked I’m fine with it.
I kind of forgot about this part of the locker room though, so it made me laugh.
#2 Ugh, this one is tough. And sad. When I was walking onto the train platform after work yesterday I saw the tail end of a man falling face down in front of the train I was going to take (he fell on the platform, not on the tracks). He smashed his glasses and had a lot of blood coming out of his head.
A woman stopped to help him and I called 911. The 911 dispatcher confirmed my location, then switched me to someone in medical and they kept asking me what happened, if he was breathing, if he was conscious, etc. Someone thought he was shaking like he was having seizures then it stopped and he stilled. It seemed really bad and we couldn’t find a pulse.
More people stopped to help and the dispatcher asked me to flip him over and start CPR. Metra (the train company) was there helping (putting up cones around him, asking people to go around, assisting however they could, etc.) and I could hear announcements asking if there were any doctors or paramedics in the building.
After we flipped him, I got down on my knees to perform CPR, remembering I needed to tell him what I was doing and tilt his head back. As I was as about to do that he gurgled up a bunch of blood and started shallowly breathing. So we put him on his side to get the blood out of his mouth and the dispatcher said to keep him in that position and put a clean piece of towel on his head and apply pressure. Together we all did that – the first lady who stopped provided a clean shirt (I was glad she had that – all I had to offer was used towels from my lunch run).
One man stayed on the ground with him and held the clean shirt on his head and the rest of us looked for his phone. He had an unlocked flip phone. We were looking for an ICE (in case of emergency) contact but didn’t see one, and called the last person he talked to which turned out to be his daughter.
Then we waited for the paramedics to show up – which was about 10 minutes after I called. Time was moving really slow and that felt like a lifetime, but it actually wasn’t – my body was just doing that clear-headed crisis slowdown thing. Then I left to catch my train when I saw he was in capable hands. (The adrenaline hit me on the train ride.)
I really hope he’s okay. I’m going to try to find some information about him. I asked the train conductor toward the end of the ride if he’d heard anything (he’d been out there during) – and he hadn’t.
It was good to see so many people come together to help a stranger. I hope we did enough.
Hi! I’m Kim, a 40-something-year-old living in northeastern Illinois with my husband Steven, and our cats, Khaleesi, Apollo, Starbuck, and Eddard aka Ned. My current main hobbies are running, painting rocks, flying, reading, and eating. I follow a vegan lifestyle and work in an account management role. I write about a variety of topics and consider this a “life” blog – a place I can share anything that’s on my mind. Please visit the “About” page to get a better idea of who I am! 🙂
