Reading Update (2023 #50-52)
[50] Woke Up Like This by Amy Lea
Fiction / Coming Of Age, September pick on Amazon First Reads, read on Kindle
Synopsis: It’s the end of Charlotte’s senior year, and she’s been planning for the perfect prom since she knew what prom was. It would all be executed to her Type-A meticulous plans if her high school nemesis J.T. Renner wasn’t involved. All he’s done her entire high school existence is undermine her. While they’re setting up for prom, Charlotte falls off of a ladder onto J.T. When they wake up, it’s 13 years later, and they’re in bed, and engaged to be married.
Review: The time travel bit is what drew me in to this. And I’ve read great, clever YA before. This book does not fit in that category. It’s fun at times, but Charlotte is so damn annoying, and the writing was… trying a bit too hard? (Says this hobby blogger, ha). It felt forced and annoying to me, unfortunately. I just could not get behind Charlotte or root for her (except when it came to one of the issues with her dad).
Recommend? No
[51] The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue
Fiction / Coming Of Age, green light by Knox on The Popcast, audiobook
Trigger Warning: abortion
Synopsis: Rachel is in her last year of uni in Ireland in 2010 when she meets James at the bookstore where she works. She instantly (platonically) falls in love with him and they move in together. Their friendship becomes her identity that year, and changes her life forever.
Review: It’s so hard to tell you what this book is about without giving things away. Also… I don’t really know what this book is about??? I could say it’s coming-of-age about a young woman realizing who she is (wait, isn’t that “coming-of-age” defined? See note above about being a hobby blogger, ha), during the recession and restrictions of Ireland in 2010. Listening to it was lovely – I’m a sucker for Irish accents. And the story was told well and beautifully written. But it moves a bit slow and purposefully leaves out major details – some get resolved, and some don’t.
Recommend? No
[52] Something Wild & Wonderful by by Anita Kelly
Fiction / Romance / Contemporary, recommendation from Stephany, read on Kindle
Synopsis: Alexei is hiking the Pacific Crest Trail to take time to himself to develop Alexei 2.0. He recently came out to his family and it did NOT go well, and while he will never change who he loves, he does want to change his personality. Ben is hiking for the adventure, and to do something for himself, and has sworn he will not fall in love on the trail. Then Alexei saves Ben from a snake, and when the two meet up again later on the trail, they can’t bring themselves to separate, and decide to hike together, even though they are both very attracted to each other and both not in the right headspace for a relationship.
Review: Give me an outdoor hiking setting YES YES YES! I loved the details we got about what it takes to hike the PCT. And the author didn’t go too heavy into them either – it was the perfect introductory amount. And I loved Alexei and Ben. Their personalities were very different from one another, but complimentary. Alexei is a quiet observer and Ben is outgoing and friendly. They were just so cute together! The book is set into sections hiked and I definitely had favorite sections, but don’t want to give anything away. I loved the overlying family themes too about setting boundaries with blood family and new found family.
Recommend? Yes
Henry Vilas Zoo – Run Wild 2023 10K Race Report
Rachel and I ran the Run Wild 10K at the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison, WI yesterday!
What a fun weekend! I got to Rachel’s in the afternoon on Saturday and we spent some time relaxing on the dock on her lake, got Mexican for dinner, went on a walk, and hung out some more. I always love our time together.
The 10K started at 8:00 am Sunday, and we drove to Rachel’s work to drop off our post race clothes and pick up her coworker Alex, then drove closer to the race and walked to the start.
The weather was perfect – low 60s, low dew point, some clouds, some sun, and a sprinkle of rain every now and then. It felt great!
The run started near the zoo and we almost immediately went up a nasty hill – really, the worst hill of the race! I was huffing and puffing! But the rest of the hills after that didn’t bother me. I suppose it’s good we got that one out of the way early.
We ran out of the zoo, on a sidewalk through some neighborhoods, then along a path and into the arboretum.
We walked after one hill, and walked through the two (oddly spaced at 3 and 6 miles) water stops, otherwise, we ran the whole time!
We were thinking we’d average below 12:00 but our official pace was 11:01 (the course was a bit short). I felt good the whole time, and just loved having over an hour (1:08:49 to be exact) to chat.
After the race we saw Alex then got in the dumb line for water (they had plastic cups and one water dispenser… kind of an odd choice) checked out the food situation, hung out for just a bit, then bounced because we had to go to the main event of the day! Breakfast at Sookie’s!
First, we went back to Rachel’s office and showered, which was SO nice to be able to do. My running clothes, despite being purchased this year, smell disgusting, and it felt much better to sit in a restaurant in dry clothes.
We all got the savory breakfast sandwich at Sookie’s and it was amazing. I ate it so slow and really savored it. Delish!
I can’t wait to go back to Sookie’s with Rachel and take our husbands!
We drove back after breakfast then I packed up and hit the road. I’m really glad we got to do a race together this year. I’ve missed running with Rachel. And we’re both just so happy to be out there running and feeling good – we give zero sh*ts about pace, so it’s nice to be aligned there too!
Oh! I almost forgot! How cute is the race shirt and socks? I will actually wear these!
Stitch Fix #16 Preview
For this fix, I asked for fun tops and jeans for fall and said I didn’t need jackets or shoes. I said it would be nice if some of the fun tops translated into tops I could wear to work as well, but I wanted to prioritize that they were fun over “worky.”
Ha. I bet my stylist was like, “wtf is she talking about.” I’m not sure I even know.
I really need tops though. I have two that I bought at Kohl last week and I didn’t even like them that much – I just needed something to wear! None of my other Stitch Fix tops that I love so much fit me anymore. They’re all huge on me. Which is a good problem to have! But still a problem.
So anyway, here is what they sent:
I picked out the ones with the blue dots. I’ll share pics of them on me when I receive them next week!
Trying acupuncture!
I tried acupuncture yesterday! It’s something I’ve been curious about for a long time, and I’m glad I finally went.
I looked up a place that had an accredited doctor and takes my insurance, and made my first appointment. When I got there, I filled out a long medial history form (and basic info and a waiver, etc.) then the doctor came in and we thoroughly went over my health history (including diet, exercise, etc.).
I told him I wanted to try acupuncture for anxiety and for an imbalance in my left leg. He noticed my left leg is bigger than my right leg, right away. He said that could be from the supination my left leg when I run, but I told him it could also be leftover from the blood clots. WHO KNOWS. He advised not to run past when my left leg tells me not to, and I assured him I won’t.
I laid with my back down on the table (clothes on – when I imagined this I was face down with clothes off – ha – what do I know!) and he took my pulse in both wrists (good) and looked at my tongue (swollen, indicating bad Qi flow).
He also examined my arms and legs and told me he thinks my feet are a bit flat and that may be why I supinate. He asked if I have seen a podiatrist for that. Nope.
Then he sanitized where he was placing the needles and put them in! I had several in my arms (one arm palm up, one arm palm down), one in my hair, two on my face, one in each ear, and some in my legs. He said what each one was doing as he put them in.
It didn’t hurt, and I barely felt them going in. They didn’t tingle either… but I could feel the pressure of them being there.
I laid there for 20 minutes, relaxing, then he took them out. As he did, he massaged where he removed them from (with some sort of roller and his hands) then I flipped on to my stomach and he massaged my backside. Some of the massage seemed directional and I wondered if that was to help with Qi flow?
I liked the needles, but the massage after was icing on the cake. It felt so, so good.
And that was it! I was there just over an hour.
It felt really good and I’d like to go again. I’m just waiting to hear if my insurance does cover it. I’m supposed to get 20 sessions a year at 15% of the cost once I meet my deductible (I have), but he had to look into it more.
So many touch-and-gos
I got to fly with Steven yesterday, yay!
For a second I thought it wasn’t going to happen. During preflight he saw that a pin was missing from the hinge on the pilot’s door of the plane he planned to fly. The door was loose and wouldn’t properly latch shut. Not safe to fly! (And that’s why preflight is so important.)
But another plane he sometimes flies was available, so he switched to that one and didn’t find anything wrong during preflight.
This was my first time flying in the Cessna 172 – when we flew to Iowa we took a 182, which has A LOT more room in the backseat. This was fine for just me though!
Steven was doing touch-and-gos during his lesson to work on his landings. So he’d land then immediately take off. I enjoyed seeing the area around the airport from above, and had fun picking out different landmarks.
However – that up and down messed my equilibrium up a bit and an hour was enough! I felt a bit light-headed and barfy. Maybe that’s because I was in the back and felt it a bit differently than the pilot.
Either way, it was a lot of fun and I’m excited to go again! I saw one tree starting to turn red and it made me think about how cool it would be to fly and see all the leaves changing colors during the fall. (Oh yeah, happy last day of summer!!!)
Random Thoughts Thursday 423
- Why is it that sh*t always hits the fan at work when I am in all day training or meetings? WHY WHY WHY. I was just in Rosemont (by ORD) for two days of training with coworkers and clients, and geesh, several *urgent* high-level requests came in. Like, head of my organization requests. I just want to sit and focus on training. Sigh. The good news is the head of the organization was also at the training so I could talk to them about it.
- Other two day training comments:
- It’s so hard for me to be on, around other people, with no breaks, from 8-5. I want time to myself, besides going to the bathroom.
- I wore wedges the first day and they tore blisters on to the tops of several of my toes. Fun fun. So then my flats hurt the next day because they were rubbing against them and I forgot Band-Aids. Sigh.
- A necklace I really like and get a ton of compliments on broke on the second day of the conference (see photo below). This has just been a week.
- I brought a salad to eat for lunch and one of my coworkers made a nasty face at it (and made a verbal comment, then repeated it the next day). Sigh. It’s never okay to comment that way on what someone is eating.
- At least there was a Starbucks in the lobby of the hotel the training was in! Woo hoo! I got a chai one day and the Caramel Oatmilk Macchiato the next day.
- Sorry if you aren’t getting an emailed comment response from me – WordPress doesn’t send them all to me anymore, so I don’t have an email to respond to. I am too lazy to look into this.
- I’m trying acupuncture tomorrow! I’m excited!
- I’ve been doing quite a bit of journaling since I wrote this post. Yay!
It finally clicked
This post is about body weight and mentions a number of pounds lost. Please skip if that’s not your jam.
I had a big aha moment at HIIT class yesterday morning. I was doing step-ups on a bench, holding a 25-lb dumbbell in each hand.
I was thinking about how hard it was. Possible, but hard.
Then it clicked – that’s about how much weight I’ve lost this year.
This used to be how much weight I lugged everywhere.
Huh.
No wonder I have so much more energy now.
Like, duh, but also… it honestly hadn’t clicked like that before.
I’m proud of my health journey this year, and excited to keep going, but I have to admit, there is a tiny little voice in my head that’s like “You did that to yourself. You’ve done is so many times before and will again. It shouldn’t be celebrated that you lost all this weight you put on yourself.”
Sigh. What a meanie, right? Thankfully, the voice is small and I am determined to prove her wrong. And moments like this remind me why I should.
A (kinda) break from sweets
This is about what I eat. Skip if that’s not your jam.
I’m all for moderation in my diet. Nothing is off limits. I’m doing this for the long haul and restrictions don’t work for me.
However.
I’d been feeling out of control with sweets in August and into September. My usual one piece of chocolate wasn’t cutting it. I was wanting more and more, and eating more and more, and feeling out of control. Almost bingey. It worried me.
So I did something drastic. I stopped eating sweets on September 7th. Note, I said eating them, because I still make (and drink) a chai once to twice a day that is FULL of sugar. And when I say “sweets” I don’t mean natural sugar in fruit, the brown sugar I sometimes add to my oatmeal, or the gels/chews I eat when I work out. Sweets as in chocolate, candy, cookies, etc.
I should probably cut this down to one chai in the morning because I am having a hard time falling asleep at night and wonder if the caffeine in the afternoon chai has anything to do with it
I figured I would do this until someone offered me a vegan sweet treat or I traveled and wanted to try one (like this weekend when I go to Sookies in Madison).
Surprisingly, it’s been really easy. Probably because I’m still getting so much (too much?) sugar in the other things I consume throughout the day.
And not surprisingly, I feel physically great.
Now I just need to decide how long I want to do this. And see if having a sweet treat after abstaining for a while sets me off and gets me right back to why I started this. I hope not, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if it did, sigh.
I wanna fly
A couple months after Steven started his flight lessons, he asked if I’d ever want to come along. I was surprised – I didn’t think they’d want an extra person hanging out in the back!
I was also like “What would be the point of me going? Wouldn’t that be… boring for me?” Ha.
For real though. Some lessons they just land 10 times in a row to work on landings.
But ever since we flew to Guttenberg I have been dying to go back up. Being in the sky in a small plane reignited an excitement I hadn’t felt in ages. I was giddy. I absolutely loved it.
So please, take me up in the air, and do whatever the lesson is. I will be back there with a dumb grin on with my face plastered to the window.
(I was going to go with Steven yesterday but his lesson was rained out, womp womp)
Young Kim in a cockpit
When I was young I wanted to be a pilot. That obviously went nowhere, but for years Steven and I have discussed how we’d love to learn how to fly. I’m pumped he’s learning now (as anyone who’s talked to me in person knows because I won’t shut up about it), and am so excited for all our future flight adventures together.
I do have to say though, I wonder if I will always be a passenger or if I will want to learn as well. We’ll see! I’m honestly not sure if I have the level of focus required. But you never know!
Summer 2023
I think this is the first time (as an adult) I’ve been sad that summer is coming to an end. Woo hoo! That’s progress!
In the past I’ve always been moody about the hot weather, especially once we get to August. I’ve just been ready for fall and short days and hibernation and not leaving the house and shutting down.
But this year I tried to make the most of the end of summer – by doing all the outdoor things in Denver (ball game, farmers market, paddleboarding), flying to Iowa to play in the river, eating ice cream and walking around the harbor, going to the airshow, etc. etc.
And I’ve really enjoyed it! We had such a nice summer overall. We ran a 5K, we (sort of) took care of our first garden, we went to the river (4 times for me, 3 times for Steven), I did RAGBRAI, I got to go to Denver for work and spend several days with friends, I got to fly with Steven, again – etc. etc.
So strangely, this year, I find myself feeling a bit sad that our days are getting shorter and cooler. But it sounds like I’ve figured out the key to really enjoying my time is doing fun things with family and friends paired with some weekends off, and we have a lot of that planned for the fall too. So, yay!
(Also, this summer seemed really mild, and I was out of town when it was in the high 90s here with “feels like” in the 110s, ha)
(Also, I have such an itch to travel and “do things” after the pandemic, and I feel more grateful for them than before – I’m sure that’s having an impact here as well)
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! 🙂
