Random Thoughts Thursday 460
- I took Penny (the stray that showed up on Father’s Day) to the vet yesterday to get a general wellness check and to see if she’s chipped. She is chipped! She’s a 12.5 year-old female from Sturtevant, Wisconsin, originally adopted from a Humane Society in Wisconsin. The vet tried to contact her people but couldn’t get a hold of them, and will keep trying. This vet appointment made me very emotional for a lot of reasons, a big one being that Penny was a house cat that was either booted or escaped/is lost, and has been roughing it for who knows how long. She’s not in great health shape and we’re doing everything we can to make her comfortable outside, but I feel extra bad now, knowing she definitely had indoor house cat perks before (and that’s not something we’re going to offer – we do have that dope cat house though that she’s welcome to use!).
- I heard back that I did NOT get into the work leadership course I applied for. 190 people applied nationwide and 28 were selected. I’m not upset; I’m actually relieved. I have a big change coming up at work and was not sure how I was going to focus on that and an intense leadership course.
- I have a kind of funny work-related story. I was buying plane tickets this week and was like, “first class is $300 more, ‘f*ck it’ I’m getting first class for this 4+ hour flight each way.” Then I got a $300 Special Acts Award at work. It was meant to be!
- It felt great to get that award/recognition for the hard work I’ve put in on a very specific thing over the last year.
- The tickets are to Seattle in November! That will be my next meetup with Tiff and Val, and, AND, my snis is coming too!!! Woo hoo!
- Steven is still waiting for a date for his final oral exam and checkride. I keep hoping me writing about it will make it happen, like when you call IT with a problem and it resolved itself by the time you connected with someone. But no. Steven is calling DPEs (Designated Pilot Examiners) outside of his school now, to see if one of them will do the exam and checkride.
- Here is the mani I had for my birthday:
- And an interim one when I got back because the water was too much for my nails.
- I’ve been having “500 Internal Server Errors” here for a few weeks. I keep trying to get them fixed to no avail. So if you are seeing those, sorry! They’re super annoying and go away after a few refreshes, but I don’t even want to sit and wait for that so I know you don’t want to.
- I loved The Fall Guy and thought this one scene where the main character drives a valet car to “Thunderstruck” was so funny. I remember laughing out loud at the theater. Then I received a copy for my birthday and they’ve changed that song to “A Man Without Love” for the extended version and completely killed the vibe. I was so dissapointed!
- We came home from our trip to a ton of green beans. Delish!
Wear your water shoes
I feel like it’s been one thing after another this year, holding me back from going all out at the gym. I had a weird pectoral strain, I was training for a marathon, my right shoulder was sore, I hurt my neck, I had infections, my chest hurt again, etc. etc. Ugh.
I was excited to have an entire week off last week then start with a fresh, uninjured slate on Monday this week.
But then I was lazy and didn’t wear my water shoes at the river.
First I got a cut on the bottom of my foot. Then I had a teeny tiny piece of metal or something in my big toe. My snister worked hard at the beach and at the house that night to get it out. Thanks, snis!
Did I learn my lesson?
No, of course not.
The last day on the water, I stepped on a log or something and it tore that same toe the f*ck up. If you want to see gross pictures of it, click here and here. The good news is, that metal or whatever is definitely gone. The bad news is it’s torn the f*ck up and needs to heal.
So… another week where I am babying something at the gym. Sigh. Maybe next week. Or the week after.
2024 WWM Olympics
Gah I have so much I want to write but I am not prioritizing blogging time, clearly! I need to tell you about my first spray tan, the 2024 WWM Olympics, my week off in Iowa with friends and family, turning 40… like I said, so much!
I’ll start with the WWM Olympics since those are the easiest pictures to sort, ha.
I had no idea what the WWM Olympics were and had no intention on doing them. I have bad memories of being a trainer at Efit and doing a summer event where I went too hard with bad form the entire time and hurt myself. So much that I vowed to myself never to do it again and made plans to not be available for it, but then the pandemic took care of that.
ANYWAY. I was worried I would hurt myself because I turn into such a competitive asshole (and worried I would lose friends because I turn into such a competitive asshole)! But then I found it it’s several events and you pick a team member to do each event – you don’t have to do it all. Then three people asked me to be on their team (there were 13 teams of 4 each) and I couldn’t say no! And I promised to myself I would behave (I did!).
We were the red team! Each team was assigned a different color to wear, and a song to play during their competition. Ours was “Work B**ch” by Britney.
So two Sundays ago, on the 28th, I participated in my first WWM Olympics! This year’s obstacles (noted with who did what) were:
20 250 lb tire flips (me)
50 squat jumps each (all)
50 ball slams (Dary)
50 goblet squats (Patricia)
50 rope slams (me)
50 in and outs (Sulmarie)
20 burpees each (Sulmarie and Patricia)
The event started at 8:30, the trainers explained it all, then we went one team at a time, everyone cheering everybody else on while their team went. We were done around 10:30, then enjoyed acai bowls, a taco truck, and adult beverages.
I did the tire flips, squat jumps (I think I only did 30 though! My quads were dead from tire flips!), and rope slams. I would share videos but my form was HORRIBLE (but I didn’t hurt myself, yay!). Also, I woke up with the sniffles that morning, so that didn’t help. My heart rate was jacked for about 40 minutes after I did my two events, which I think only totaled about 2+ minutes.
I had SO much fun though. The energy was electric. Everyone was working their hardest and genuinely cheering on other women doing the same. WWM is such a special place! I loved being part of this event.
We ended up 6th out of 13 teams! 4th, 5th, and 6th were all really close. I’m really proud of my team! I’ll definitely be there next year if it works for my schedule.
And bonus, I saw Steven fly by a few times after my group was done (I think we went about 7th?)!
Rando Friday
It’s just one of those weeks where all the thoughts I put on here are short and random! Here’s some more.
I used an exfoliating mitt last night to get ready for my spray tan today. Have you ever used one of those things? Whoa! My skin feels so soft, but everything that touched it right after agitated it – my watch, my bracelets, my flip flops. Very interesting. Maybe something I should do more often… the internet says like 2-3x a week. Oops.
We saw Twisters last night. I love summer blockbusters, and I can only pay attention to action movies like that in the theater.
The action scenes were fun and I was on the edge of my seat, but I don’t think Steven and I have ever eyerolled at each other more during a film. Ha. But that’s okay, we had fun.
Speaking of paying attention, I told a coworker this week how the pandemic killed my virtual meeting attention span and they were like “no it didn’t.” Ha, okay. You obviously know how I feel more than I do. (And hey, if they didn’t notice, that’s GREAT.)
When I was on my way to Guttenberg last week I overhead someone asking for directions at a rest stop and asked if I could help, and lo and behold, they were actually going somewhere I knew about. After 10 minutes of discussion they were like, “you’re really nice!” I said thanks, and wish I had been wearing this shirt, ha.
Don’t mind the odd face, I was preparing for a jump photo
On Monday right after I wrote in my One Line a Day journal about the great therapy session I had where we talked about accepting things as they are, I proceeded to remember I never received a package, then looked it up and saw it was marked as wrong address* and returned to sender. In China. And it was one of those Makeship campaigns where (I thought) they only make the amount ordered.
Then I proceeded to freak out, essentially forgetting earlier, calm and collected “it is what it is” Kim.
Sigh. Then I felt bad for letting it bother me so much. I’ve really had to relearn being kind to myself about the emotions I am having lately.
Long story long, I contacted the company and they were able to reship it and I got it yesterday.
It being a stuffed animal. Yep, that is what I was upset about!
But I had to get Mocha and complete my Honeybelle collection OKAY?!
*Someone must have received a bunch of our mail and marked it as wrong address, because I also received a birthday card with the correct address on it, with “wrong address” circled on the envelope
I apologize for the vagueness on this one, but have you ever felt like you can’t compete/prove yourself against the story/image someone has of you in their head? Obviously, those are NOT your people, but you often don’t know that’s going on until it’s too late!
Random Thoughts Thursday 459
- I forgot this week is RAGBRAI week until I was driving to Iowa last Friday. I don’t feel sad that Dad and I are missing out this year, but I do hope the route is closer to mid or northern state next year and we pick a day to do!
- Ick warning – two months after the marathon and my three bruised toenails finally came off. With assistance. From me.
- We did bush green beans instead of pole this year because those are the only seeds we found and the yield is miniscule compared to the pole beans. So sad! We need to look for pole seeds next year.
- Last week’s mani!
- I meant to post this last week but I never got around to writing a RTT. But the amount of rain we’ve had this summer is nuts!
Reading Update (2024 #43-45)
[43] Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
Fiction / Fantasy / Romance, #2 in The Empyrean series, graphic audio
Synopsis: It’s impossible to synopsize this book without giving away what happens in the first one. Basically, it’s Violet’s second year in the war college, the new commandant is out to get her, her (spoiler?) boyfriend graduated last year and they hardly see each other, Violet is trying to figure out what happened at the end of the first book and keeping that all to herself and suffering, blah blah.
Review: And it’s really hard to review this because I listened to part 1 of the graphic audio in May then had to wait until mid July for part 2. The two parts read like two separate books, but it made me feel a bit disjointed as I had forgotten a bit of part 1 by the time I got to part 2. I had a hard time following some of this book. There was so much going on, and some storylines that felt unnecessary (like the “other woman” plot with Xaden’s ex, Kat). All that being said, I LOVE the graphic audio for this series. It adds SO much to it and really gets me invested. Next time I just need to wait and listen to it sequentially.
Recommend: Yes
[44] Great and Precious Things by Rebecca Yarros
Fiction / Romance / Contemporary, saw on Kindle Unlimited, Kindle
Synopsis: After being gone for 10 years, Camden is returning to his hometown of Alba, Colorado to help care for his father. The town is tiny and gossipy, and Camden has a horrible reputation for being a troublemaker, and it doesn’t help that his little brother followed him off to war then Camden brought him home in a casket. And that the one woman he loves, Willow, still lives in Alba, but was dating his younger brother when he died.
Review: This is a slow burn second chance romance and neither of those are really for me. Parts of the story were interesting – all of Camden’s family history/drama and his relationship with Willow, but I didn’t care about certain parts at all – like the historic parts of this mining town, the historical committee and its politics, blah blah. And there was not enough there for Camden and Willow’s relationship – showing me why they both loved each other, and then after they got together. I need to stay away from second chance romances!
Recommend? No
[45] The Anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier
Fiction / Thrillers / Technological, saw on The Popcast‘s 21 Best Books of the 21st Century List, Audio
Synopsis: A plane from Paris to New York City encounters crazy turbulence and unforeseen circumstances that affect all its passengers. I’m not gonna say more! Don’t want to spoil it! Seriously, the descriptions of this book give away a major plot twist you don’t find out about until the end of the part 1. I’m glad I don’t remember the description that I read of this that made me want to listen to it, because it came to me as a surprise when it was revealed at the end of the first part. Seriously, why do book descriptions do that? Give the twist away? GRR. Anyway.
Review: I could not remember what this book was about or why I downloaded it. In fact, it was not the audiobook I wanted to listen to – I didn’t find the cover appealing – but then I realized the other one I had never downloaded (and I was driving and couldn’t download it), so this one it was. The book starts off describing a hitman, and I’m thinking “why did I download this book?” that is NOT my genre! Then each chapter goes over different characters and you realize they were all on the same flight with the horrible turbulence. Each character is wonderfully developed, but I was still wondering, when are we going to talk about this turbulence? What is the point of all this? The book barely mentions the flight at all, just the lives and personalities of the people on it. Then the twists drops and it gets pretty interesting. Then peters out a bit at the end, but still, such an interesting premise. I wish they would have said more about they why of it all, but eh, not everything is explainable.
Recommend? Yes
Reality Slap
I’ve received two cards that look like this now – with a big 4-0 on them! What the heck?!
Ha ha ha, I kid, I kid. I’m well aware I’m turning 40 next week. I mean, I treated myself to a whole freaking European vacation for it earlier this year! I just kind of wasn’t thinking about it, until I started getting cards.
I’m very much an “age is just a number” person at this point in my life, so entering this new decade doesn’t bother me. I do want to continue to prioritize my physical and mental health, to set myself up for as much future success as possible. Hmm, did that sentence make sense? I want to take care of my body now so I have the most chance of not feeling like shit as I age. There ya go.
When my mom turned 50 she told us she stopped being nice (really, meaning as nice, because I would argue my mom is too nice), and told us a story about picking up an item at the same time as someone else on the clearance rack and not letting them have it (when maybe she would have before?). Ha.
Anyway, I was thinking about that, because really, I think she was saying she was being less accommodating and putting herself first a bit more, and I’m already in that era of my life, and have been for a while now, and am looking forward to leaning into that more and more, and becoming even more comfortable with it. For example, this week I told someone NO and didn’t even think twice about it or feel bad. GO ME!!!!!!!
TW: Death talk
I’ve maybe talked about this before here but am forgetting and too lazy to look it up. *shrugs*
In the past few years I’ve had this wonderful thing (sarcasm) start happening where I get anxiety in the middle of the night about what my life is going to be like 30 or 40 years from now and if I will be worrying about death then. Not in a “have I done something with my life” way, but in a “am I still down to clown but can’t anymore?” way. So, welcome to my brain – current me worries about what future me will worry about. Like, worrying inception or some shit.
They’re just stupid intrusive thoughts, but I was having a hard time getting out of the anxiety spiral until I realized that hey, maybe at the age, I will just be done. And ready to go. I won’t go into why I came to that realization, because it involves many other people, but that is where I’m at now, and I don’t stress about it anymore. For now.
A few more stories
A few more things I forgot to share from the weekend!
We had music playing while we were cleaning and my snis prompted Ella to tell me her favorite song. Turns out it’s AC/DC’s “T.N.T.” Our niece has great taste! We played it and hearing her sing along and say “dynamite” was one of the cutest things ever. Definitely a highlight!
Switching gears away from cute, I was telling my mom and snis how some of the ladies at the gym were complimenting me on my butt, saying “you always had a big butt, but it looks bigger – have you been working on it?” and then I explained that in my gym that’s one of the highest compliments – everyone is trying to grow their booty!
Not sure if they are called butt scrunch or booty lifting or just lifting or whatever… but our gym owner sells these shorts, leggings, and bras, so I bought a few sets! Here’s where you can get them. OMG. This reminds me of last year at the beach when my mom was talking about everyone’s swimsuits being up their butts. HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAAHAHHHAAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHAHAH.
Later my mom brought it back up to me and said it was interesting a big butt is popular now because when she was growing up Twiggy and Cher were popular and that was not her body type at all. Then she told me about a time she was in Vegas (with my dad? Or her dad? hmm) and she was walking down the street and someone yelled out the window at her “nice ass!” Ha. Get it, Mom!
Mom & Dad in ’76
I forgot to mention this yesterday in my “when did we become the age” comment, but when I brought that up to my snis, I also mentioned how crazy it is to think my peers at work (meaning people my age) are in line for leadership roles. Some of them are already acting in that capacity. I mean, I’ve been there 15 years but it still feels like “isn’t there an adultier adult to take this to?” I’m still surprised when it’s me.
Ugh, that being said, I am burned out on the majority of my job being escalations and people complaining to me. It’s hard on my anxiety when everything is “urgent” and an “emergency.” Wah wah, right?
I talked to my supervisor about it today and she had some coping advice (framing, practicing gratitude), recommendations (be off work when I’m off, etc.) and reminded me “it’s just real estate.” Indeed. (And I had asked her for the advice, to be clear!)
Lastly, I cannot believe I ever thought cleaning weekend at the river would be a good time to fly in. I mean, I can – the big appeal is it’s a one hour flight vs a four hour drive. That was our original plan, but we scratched it when Steven realized how challenging it was to get the final oral exam and checkride scheduled.
Turns out, I didn’t really even have room for another passenger in my car! I had a mattress in there, a cooler full of food, pillows and beach towels to leave there, tons of cleaning supplies, a box of rocks, bathroom supplies to leave there for us for when we do fly, all my weekend stuff, etc. Ya girl does not naturally pack light, but can for special occasions!
Nineteen year blogiversary!
My blog turned 19 today. Happy birthday, blog!
Speaking of age, my car turned over 100K miles on Friday. Keep on keepin’ on, car!!! Please!
Also speaking of age, I spent the weekend in Iowa getting my family’s river house ready for our friends to come visit. I said to my snis, “when did we become the age where we’re doing the cleaning and meals instead of playing in the water?” I remember distinctly as a kid when my grandma stopped coming with us on the boat to the beach, and stayed behind to clean and cook. That always seemed HORRIBLE to me. And still does, actually, but shit needs to get done!
it wasn’t all work and no play. I got out for two runs with Dad, got a chai at the new coffee shop in town with my snis, painted a little with William, and sat down for meals (ha).
Oh! And the runway was dry and we saw a few planes take off!
Making time to daydream
I’ve been so darn focused on the present and living in the moment that I’m failing to take time to daydream about the future.
I mean, it sounds like a good thing to be so focused and present, but what it means for me is that I’m not getting as excited as I should about things in my personal life, and I’m struggling to plan for the future at work.
I’ve been operating in survival mode for a couple months. I fit in workouts where I can, work work work (including weekends for my part-time job), do chores and errands, then feel entirely too brain-dead to do anything after work, and try to fall asleep by 9:00 so I can wake up at 5:00 and do it all again the next day. And my days leading up to anything fun are typically like that. So I have well-meaning friends asking me if I’m excited about xyz thing and I have to decide if I want to be honest and say “not yet, but I know I will be on the day of/when I get there” or if I just want to say “yes!”
And I know this is modus operandi for most of us. I know I am not alone!
But I want to get back to feeling excited about things. We’ve all heard that half of the fun of a big event coming up is the anticipation, and I want to feel that again. And I want to make mental space to plan and figure out things a little more than right before because that is definitely not my M.O. and feels odd. But again, survival mode.
I was thinking about all of this on my lunch run today, because instead of multitasking and listening to a podcast or book I decided to listen to music and just let my mind wander, and take time to get excited about all the fun things we have coming up (a river trip for my birthday! the fly-in at Abel Island! Val visiting in September!) and it felt really good! (It did NOTHING to propel me on my run. I was so excited it was in the 70s that I took an extra hour off to run a little longer and my legs were like, nah, girl, you not running fast today).
So. Yeah. Gonna do that more. Hopefully.
A year ago today (well, it was a Thursday but actually the 20th leap year blah blah) was the day Steven surprised my family by flying out to Guttenberg, Iowa. We hadn’t told them he was working on getting his license and it was so fun to share it that way!
Thinking about that is definitely getting me excited for the fly-in in August. Cross your fingers for good weather and a dry runway.
Random! I painted this rock for Steven of the plane he flies the most – Echo Sierra, a Cessna 172 Skyhawk.
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 am employed by the federal government. 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! 🙂
