New Chapters

[Just a note that like so many, I have spent the last week absolutely devastated by the tragic flooding and deaths in central Texas. So many of the lives lost are 1-degree of separation from friends, neighbors, and colleagues, and the news, the hope, and the utterly heartbreaking updates have filled my feeds and text groups for days. I am just so deeply sad, it's been hard to know what to do with the heaviness beyond donating to support rescue efforts, put green ribbons around my trees (our Dallas streets are full of them; honoring the Camp Mystic and all flooding victims), and remembering how very precious life is.

I've wanted to update on the exciting and happy updates in my life for a few days, but every time I get a moment to try, I'm overwhelmed by the blank page and the seeming falsity of not acknowleding this huge and horrible thing that is happening in the lives of people all around me. So this is that, I guess. I wish I could say something that would make it feel better, but even this feels better than not saying anything at all.

A Texas Monthly writer was caught in the terrible flooding and wrote a heartbreakingly brutal and beautiful article about it that came from an email he sent his colleagues. Words don't fix it, but I'm glad he could write them so we could read.]

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As I mentioned in the last post, I started a new job!

I am now a proud partner at Reed Smith in the Global Regulatory Enforcement practice.

And I got a new headshot! Complete with hot pink and both my grandma's pearls.

This was my first day of school outfit.

My last day at VE was Friday, June 30th and my first day at Reed Smith was Tuesday, July 1st, so I got one whole Monday off between jobs. I made the most of it, with a workout and poolside reading and lunch with a dear friend.

It was kind of great to start on a Tuesday of a holiday week. A lot of people were out of the office, so I actually remembered the names of (most of) the people I met. And I only had to work Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday before the holiday weekend, so I set attainable goals like "find the printer" and "learn the quickest routes to the kitchen and bathroom."

I unpacked my boxes, which I had just packed up days before and my new firm had couriered to my new spot.

It felt like home very quickly.

My 3 babies and 3 career stages: Chicago law school baby, Austin law firm associate baby, Fort Worth government attorney baby! (and no Dallas law firm partner baby!)

My first week in outfits. I was doing a lot of walking and moving things so flats were key.

This week, with more people in the office, I've discovered that jeans and sneakers are common, so I will be embracing that for the rest of summer.

It's been a really great transition. The associate who worked on most of my matters also came to the new firm! She started this Monday:

Everyone has been so welcoming and inclusive, it's really been lovely. Reed Smith is a much larger firm, about 1,800 attorneys to V&E's 700, and 31 offices (20 in the US), so it has a more global and fully national reach. But the Dallas office, which is only about six years old, has 40 attorneys, which is about 1/3 the size of V&E's, so it's a bigger platform with a smaller local feel. The firm was founded in Pittsburgh almost 150 years ago, so there's a very gounded industrial midwest vibe I enjoy, but again, juxtaposed against a fairly new and very busy and vibrant Dallas office. Every partner here lateraled from somewhere else and all seem determined to make this spot the best that BigLaw can be.

The Global Regulatory Group is large and contains a diverse array of government practitioners. I'll still be doing my SEC defense work, but also expanding my internal investigations practice, and doing far more corporate governance and compliance work. I'm staffed on two IPOs right now and it is so great to get to give SEC-related advice before someone is in trouble with the SEC!

I did a couple of interviews in my first week: Law 360, Texas Lawbook, and Bloomberg. I also transferred over my clients and matters and dove right into a few new ones here, so it's been a busy 10 days so far.

In the middle of that was the 4th of July weekend, which was devastating for the reasons above, but happily busy in our little corner of Lakewood.

First, James and I went to buy Landon a new car. We had bought him a 6-year-old car two years ago, and have since replaced nearly every part of it, spending double what the car was worth by the time his car completely died, in the middle of the highway, when coming back from swim practice Thursday afternoon. It was towed to a shop, which declared the ENGINE needed to be replaced and we said no. We are done. We had it towed to Carmax where we received $700 for a car we had now spent a total $20,000 on (which makes me want to throw up, but you hardly have a strong negotiating position when you have to have the car towed in), and James and Landon spent Friday going to four different car dealerships to find something practical, well-priced, under the longest possible warranty, and could last through all 3 kids.

They settled on this Kia Sorrento and it is beautiful and Landon loves it and literally nothing that goes wrong for the next 10 years can cost me any money. He drives over 100 miles a day to his swim practices, so honestly, out of all of us, he needs the most reliable car, something I wish we'd just done from the start. But it's here now!

Cora had gone to the 4th of July parade with a friend, Claire had some friends over who were impatiently waiting for us to return so they could swim, and then I got to enjoy my dream grown-up day off with 4 wonderful girlfriends, all of whom are badass professional woman in their own right, several bottles of champagne, all the snacks, and my pool.

By 9 pm the sun was down, the pool lights were on, and we were doing "walk offs" down my diving board to our chosen theme songs. It really was so fun. James and Landon were watching a movie inside and said they could hear us giggling so loudly they thought a window was open. James did come out at one point to bring us all waters and make sure everyone was taking an Uber home or needed a ride from him.

On Sunday Landon drove me to Costco in his new car, and let me tell you, if you've never done Costco with a nearly-18-year-old swimmer manchild who meal preps his own breakfasts and lunches and loves to chat, you've never done Costco. The enthusiastic running commentary for the hour we were there was maybe my favorite thing of the last week. As was the "hot dog to go" upon departure.

And that's the last few days. Sad in the macro, exciting and happy in the micro, with lots of little things in between, like Cora loving horseback riding camp, Claire doing her volunteer hours for high school, and Milo's vet visit where he got diagnosed with a UTI, yelled loudly at everyone, and slept in my arms for hours when he got home, to name a few.

I had to buy a new work-from-home set up and Moose has been helping me get settled.

And Maggie is just very tired, but tries to keep an eye on the neighborhood anyway.

I'm really really excited about this next chapter of my career. A little anxious, a lot busy, and still trying to connect faces and names and learn all new IT-everything, but excited and hopeful, and looking forward to the days ahead.

Actually Currently!

I'm actually blogging about things that happened in the last 7 days!

As I mentioned on the last one, my sister visited us in Dallas with her girls on Tuesday. After my grandmother's funeral in San Antonio the weekend before she drove to Fort Worth to hang out with her sister-in-law and family and then came to us, and then flew out of the airport by our house.

It was so fun!

Made even better by the fact that a friend told me about a Farm Rio sample sale that was starting the very day she arrived!! I have never done a sample sale, and had definitely never done one in Dallas, but my sister is the one who introduced me to the brand Farm Rio a couple years ago and she was SO excited to seize this shopping opportunity together.

After a bit of cousin swimming time, we sent the girls upstairs with mine to watch a movie and get out of the afternoon sun, while we drove to a mysterious address to stand in line to get a ticket to turn in our purses to see the sale.

Only to find out that the internet was down and no purchases could be made. Undeterred, we searched for treasures, tried them on in a horribly lit group dressing room, and carefully placed our winners in a bag that was stapled shut with our name on it so we could return to purchase if the computers started working again. Which they didn't.

We popped in my beloved underground Marshall's so my sister could experience its hallowed grounds where she picked up a suitcase to get her Texas treasures home and we both got a 2-piece outfit because "2-piece sets are having a moment right now."

Once home we swam more, ate a yummy Taco Tuesday dinner on the patio, and then let the girls swim yet again.

The next morning I took Maggie to the vet, Landon had morning swim practice in Frisco (he changed club teams), Claire had to babysit, and my sister and the girls headed to the airport to fly home to Colorado! It was a lovely little visit. I then stalked the sample sale Instagram page only to see that the internet was back so I dashed over to the store after work, had to wait in line AGAIN, but got some really great items for ridiculous prices and all I could feel was joy and satisfaction at a sample sale well done.

I shipped my sister's items to her and we're both still flush with victory.

Meanwhile, Landon has been in Santa Barbara at a swim meet for the past 4 days where he had the best time, fell in love with California, and we all had concerns about him coming home. His top few swim schools are in California, and I knew he'd love it, but having him there for even a few days made his impending departure all too real.

No one left in the house liked that at all, so we're back in denial for a bit.

He sent me pictures of him on a roof, then explained why he was on a roof ("I like roof tho"), pictures of an Hibachi dinner, some seals he kayaked past, and a couple random updates about the actual swim meet he was there for.

I picked him up at midnight last night from the airport and I loved having a chatty Landon in my passenger seat.

Meanwhile, I had my last day at V&E on Friday (I know! just kind of sneaking that in there). I packed up my office, said goodbye to my 38th floor view, and ate a genuinely tasty cauliflower crust frozen pizza at home for our Friday night pizza night with James and the girls.

Today was my one day off work between jobs. It's extremely strange to not check an Outlook app every 10 minutes, but I adjusted quickly and became the lady of leisure I have always wanted to be.

I woke up whenever (6:45, but whatever, I'm 42, that is sleeping in), read in bed, did my walk and a little barre workout, and got lunch with a dear friend on maternity leave. Then I got my nails done and drank champagne at 2 pm.

I sat by the pool and read some more (I'm really enjoying The Bridge Kingdom series; currently on book 3).

Maggie, the ultimate lady of leisure, helped show me the way.

(Honestly, I don't know that I need help; this is why I can't have more than 1 day off between jobs. I very much enjoy not working.)

We went out to dinner, all 5 of us back together, and now I'm picking out my first day of school outfit for my first day of work at the new firm tomorrow! I'm so, SO excited and can't wait to share more.

In the meantime, this was my last day of school treat on Friday. Did you know that frozen yogurt and Reese's peanut butter cups are gluten free?

It might have to be a first day of school treat too.

Currently (or it would be current if it was still May)

Thank you all for your kind words about my grandmother. I miss her dearly, but as with my Grandma Jo, memories of her, both the intangible sparks in my mind, and the tangible ones like wearing her pearls or her mother's wedding ring, keep her close. I know I am so lucky to have had them both for so long.

Despite my last few posts with recaps of Mexico and Egypt, we really do just live in our house in Dallas the vast majority of the time. We moved here almost exactly 3 years ago, which seems crazy. It feels like we've been here so much longer, but then I'm always finding out new things and places near me and I remember oh yeah, I'm still kind of new? We moved into our house in late October, so we haven't hit 3 years here yet, but it does very much feel like home. I love every inch of it and it fits our life and the ages of our children so very well. Let's jump back to May and catch up on all of them.

First of all we have Landon.

He finished out his junior year strong and quietly confident as ever. He's in the top 10 of his class, feels good about all his AP tests, and got himself signed up for a job lifeguarding at the YMCA. James's company actually outfits all the Dallas Y's with their suits, shorts, shirts, and rashguards. James asked if anyone noticed Landon's last name is on all of their clothes. "No, I don't think anyone knows my last name." Probably true. He goes to morning practice at 8 am, then goes to work, then goes to afternoon practice, and then gets home about 8 pm. I miss him.

College recruiting will start in earnest in the fall and we're excited to see where he goes. He definitely wants to swim and has been talking to various coaches since last year.

He also recently decided he was a fisherman. In true Landon fashion he woke up one day and texted me from Academy asking if he could use our credit card to buy a fishing license if he paid me back. He you-tubed how to string up his new pole and headed off to the lake by our house to fish. I have no idea what sparked this hobby, but his pole now lives in his car and he stops at the lake or some stream almost every day. He's gotten some friends to go with him and now this is a thing they all do. I love that for him.

Yesterday morning I dropped him off at the airport at 6 a.m. for a flight to Santa Barbara, California for a swim meet. That backpack contains all he thought he needed for four days, four flights, and a swim meet.

He turns 18 in a couple weeks, which means my blog is already 18 and that really seems crazy. He's an awesome kid- responsible, funny, kind, smart, practical, and a friend to babies and animals. We called him in California at dinner last night and Clarie said, "I don't like that you're not here! You shouldn't go to college." and I feel her.

Speaking of Claire, she finished her freshman year with all A's and we could NOT be more proud.

It was a journey to get there, full of tears and reminders and patience and frustration and slowly increased academic confidence. It was a big year- she settled into a new school, made new friends while still pretty deeply scarred by the disaster that was 8th grade, realized how far behind she was academically (we simply survived 8th grade and that is literally all I can say for it), caught up, learned how to study, found the right balance of medication and worked so hard to implement behaviors to manage her OCD and ADHD, babysat a ton, won the Most Improved award for her club swimming team, and did the dishes every night.

We're very, very proud of her. Even when she steals dresses I just bought for myself and looks better in them than I do.

She turned 15 the day we got back from Mexico, so we did her birthday party the day before we left. She asked for a birthday brunch with swim party and that's exactly what we did! We decorated, cut up a ton of fruit, and I made homemade waffles and my icecream cake she loves so much.

Her friends were so sweet and while I was not invited to attend, it was clear through the windows that they had fun.

We get to start teaching her to drive now and she's already learned all the rules and is constantly correcting my form from the passenger seat which is so fun for me.

On to Cora!

She graduated 5th grade!

This little moppet is now a middle schooler!

Look at her on her first day of elementary.

After 12 years of having at least one Fike in elementary school (but never all 3 at once, sigh), we're a family of only middle school and high schoolers!

There were many end of school festivities, including the awards ceremony and an adorable clap-out where the 5th graders walk the halls of the school and all the current student line the halls to clap them through. Parents get to come and line up outside as they exit and clap too. It was actually very sweet.

The morning of the last day I realized we were maybe the only parents not doing big signs or flowers or something, so James gathered the big kids, who were both home early because of their finals schedule, and they made a poster while I was at work.

They came with us to clap their sister out and it was lovely. I was pregnant with her when Landon started Kindergarten himself. Time is wild.

Cora's having a good summer. We kind of failed to sign her up for anything (#ThirdBaby), but we've cobbled together some friend time, our trips, her swimming practices, and just yesterday found her a horseback riding camp for a few days in July that will be hot as Hades. She can't wait.

She continues to play soccer and swim and can't wait to start track in 7th grade. We applied for our district's magnet middle school that is ranked #1 in the state. She's #1 on the waitlist and I am desperately hoping someone moves before the first day of school (but moves for great wonderful exciting reasons! I wish you all the best family who I hope doesn't go to this school!). If she doesn't get in, she'll go to the same middle school Claire did, which we have feelings about, but much of that experience was rooted in the different children they are and the (terrible) timing of our move for sweet 7th grade Claire, so I'm sure it will be fine. Given her hatred of change and new things, Cora's handling the uncertainty of where she'll go far better than expected.

She's so very smart (scored 100% on her state-required end of year tests that control our public education system in ways I hate, but still seemed impressive), creative, loving, meticulous, extremely forgetful while also somehow forgetting absolutely nothing?, obsessed with animals and documentaries, easily scared by any movie or story where someone or something could be harmed (EXCEPT her graphic animal documentaries, which are somehow totally fine), and a voracious reader. She's absolutely ready for 6th grade and we can't wait to watch her.

On to me!

I had my colonoscopy and upper endoscopy and biopsies. The procedure was fine. The prep is unfun, but not nearly as terrible as I expected, so definitely don't let that come between you and any doctor-recommended testing of your own! I thought going a whole day without eating before the prep would be the worst part, but again, that was fine? Turns out maybe I'm not actually starving like I always feel I am? Not that I'm applying any of those lessons now that I can eat again.

My colon was deemed "beautiful" and I don't need another colonoscopy for 10 years. The biopsies confirmed I do have Celiac, which wasn't surprising, and was actually somewhat grounding to just know for sure. I haven't had anything with gluten since we got the results back and that also hasn't been bad. Do I want a cookie from our office lobby coffee shop? Yes. Is it easy to pass them by? Also yes. All our meals at home have been gluten free, I re-organized and labeled the pantry so I have some gluten-free snack areas, and it's fine.

I'm really excited to see how I feel as my immume system realizes it no longer has a war to fight.

(How long will the pantry stay like this? Days?)

James and I went to dinner to celebrate some news I can share in my next post. I wore an Alicie & Olivia top I got off The Real Real and I love it so much.

Also loved the restaurant, food, and my date.

Speaking of my handsome husband, he has taken the gluten-free cookbooks I ordered and jumped in with both feet.

His business is doing great- lots of new suits at Fike Swim and he's moved to outfitting country club and YMCA teams around the country.

We celebrated him on Father's Day with a brunch out on Saturday (Landon has practice on Sunday morning), bowling with the girls on Sunday afternoon (Landon had to work), and dinner with everyone at home Sunday night.

I always forget how much fun bowling is until we go again. I'm extremely erratic, but James is pretty good and we all have a fun together.

I made this Short Rib Ragu for his dinner and it was SO good. That was when I could still have pasta, so it was a delicious farewell.

And that's about it! Maggie has had double ear infections which has required multiple vet visits and many dollars, but she is, obviously, still perfect.

And that's where we're at! My sister came through town with her girls on Tuesday, which was a blast. Landon is loving California, Claire is babysitting in order to buy a Lululemon jacket she thinks she needs and I do not (not with my money; happy for her to own it with hers!), and Cora has a big swim meet tomorrow. Life is good, Happy Friday to you all.