Oh my goodness you guys. Life! It is so much! I have two half-written posts from May and I do want to go back to them, but I'm sitting here on Sunday night, watching swimming Olympic Trials on TV surrounded by the rest of my crew on the couch and I am DETERMINED to draft and post something before I need to log back into work when the swimming is done. And so, we're jumping to June.
The month started with the kids in Houston with my parents and the rest of my family. They had a blast with their cousins and did lots of lake swimming, bowling, arcade playing, and more.
James and I continued to camp in our own house until the power finally came back on after 5 days without. We did enjoy a few extra date nights with our children gone (and with our house too hot to stay in until the sun went down anyway).
The real highlight was the Saturday we got that was kid-free, with electricity, and without my having to work. We went out for brunch, napped, and went out for dinner and it felt as luxurious and restful as a multi-day vacation. (Also, I love that navy blue dress because I feel like I have butterfly wings from the back.)
The kids got back very late Sunday night after a new round of crazy storms grounded their plane in Houston, had them deboarding, and then reboarding, and then finally back in Dallas. Claire started summer school the next morning (she is getting her health credit ahead of the fall, which is great because she gets a feel for the new school and has a routine which we have learned is VERY CRITICALLY IMPORTANT for her but hard to keep in the summer) and then celebrated her birthday on Tuesday!
That's right- our chunky little baby biscuit is now a 5'6" lanky 14-year-old about-to-be high schooler!
I had to be at work early, but she wanted me to join her in the honor of her birthday Starbucks, so she was up early with me and got that strawberry acai lemonade before 8 a.m.
She requested her beloved BBQ Chicken Quinoa Salad for dinner and snickerdoodle cookies for dessert.
Oh! and on Monday night I was walking to my car to head home from work, planning to swing by Target to pick up a little something for the next day's birthday girl, I saw an email from NBC Universal asking if I could be on CNBC Last Call to discuss E*trade user Keith Gill (aka "Roaring Kitty") using social media to discuss his trading. "Absolutely!" I texted back, while immediately googling everything about the end of that last sentence. I got home, re-curled my Day 4 hair (knew I should have washed it that morning, but I was going to work out and the kids got home so late Sunday night), put more makeup on top of my morning makeup, moved around my office to make sure nothing weird was showing up behind me, and signed on to the Zoom link I was sent.
Five minutes later I heard "five, four, three, two, one, you're live" and off I went.
As always, my kingdom for an advance list of questions, and to be honest I still haven't actually watched my clip, but it was fun!
On Wednesday I was up at the crack of dawn to take the fancy bus to Houston to be the moderator of a panel with the Regional Director of the Fort Worth Regional Office of the SEC (my old boss/my old home!), a dear friend and former SEC colleague (and now partner at another firm), and one of my own corporate partners, for a great discussion on all things SEC Enforcement.
I was very glad I had my suitcase with me because my original outfit had a blazer that perfectly matched the background, so I switched it out for another minutes before we began. Our panel was as exciting as an SEC panel can be and then I was back on the fancy bus, this time to Austin, to attend a summer associate event that night and spend the next two days prepping a witness for, and defending my witness at, SEC testimony.
I got back Friday mid-afternoon, fairly certain the week had been 100 days long, and I had another email from CNBC asking if I could appear again and OF COURSE.
Once again with the re-curling of unclean hair and layering of makeup and I was back, now in a hot pink blazer that kind of looked red on camera, but it worked. James and the kids were watching me live on the TV in the living room with three of Claire's best friends over because we were hosting her birthday party as soon as I was done!
And so, I logged off the NBC Zoom and went straight to Gloria's where Claire had requested her birthday party dinner be held. The girls were so sweet, sitting at a separate table, while James and I got a date (and the check for the teen table) several tables over. After dinner we all came back to the house for a nighttime swim for the party goers and an ice cream cake I made about 10 minutes before they were ready to eat it.
And so what felt like the longest week of the year ended, this time with power and without an expected tornado.
This past week was also pretty full. It began with a bang of hosting a dinner at the house for all our female associates and summer associates in litigation on Monday night.
25 amazing women in total, we filled all our tables the girls helped me decorate, ate catered fajitas, and drank delicious frozen margaritas I picked up from a nearby restaurant. (Funny story, the restaurant doing the catering doesn't deliver margaritas, so I ordered two gallons to go from a restaurant near our house. They said I couldn't order alcohol to-go without also getting food, so I added a single serving of their chocolate cake to the order and walked out with two one-gallon bags of margarita and a little doggy bag of cake.)
Maggie wore her finest dress and was a natural at networking.
It was such a fun evening. I really enjoy recruiting and mentoring and love anytime I can spend extra time with smart, strong women.
Tuesday at 5 a.m. saw me on my way to Houston for work, I got back Wednesday night, and I had to be at work very early Thursday morning. Thursday was also Maggie's first day of doggy daycare!
We've been looking for a Dallas boarding place for her and this one has great reviews and requires a day of daycare to make sure the pup fits in with the rest of the pack. We've been having someone come to the house 3x a day while we're gone, but Maggie just really likes other dogs and being deaf, I think she takes her cues on what's happening in her world from having people around and so gets verylonely and sad when we're gone.
And so off to daycare she went, my Apple AirTag letting me know I'd left her behind, in case I had misplaced my bulldog on accident.
She had the BEST day, though I was white knuckle driving to pick her up about 1 minute before closing at 6 pm. It cracked me up that after all those years of fighting daycare closing times for my human children, here I was voluntarily signing back up for it for my dog. But she loved it and I think she's going to go once a week for as long as it makes her happy. The owner said she doesn't run a lot, but she stands in the middle of groups of dogs and just smiles and looks so happy and that sounds exactly right.
Friday night was our firm's Casino Night- our biggest summer event. It was Western themed and everyone got a hat. As always, I loved my hat in the moment and yet know I am unlikely to ever wear it again now that I'm home.
And today is Father's Day! We celebrated our favorite dad with cards, presents, and a trip to the delicious biscuit place we loved in Savannah that just opened in Dallas! James was so excited.
The afternoon was watching Olympic Trials prelims, swimming, and enjoying being together all day which doesn't happen all that often on the weekend anymore.
Inspired by the Olympic Trials, I too got in the pool to swim.
Dinner was all of James's favorite things: roasted beets and spinach salad, grilled salmon, beet greens, and mashed potatoes made with Japanese sweet potato mixed in. It was a great day.
And that's a wrap! Somehow we're halfway through June. Work is busy, summer is flying by, it's already way too hot outside, and Olympic Trials Night 2 just ended! Time to jump back on my other (work) laptop but I'm pressing publish first. Happy Father's Day to those who celebrate, and Happy June 16 to everyone!
