Proof of Life, and a Birthday (and a House!)

Hi everyone! I did finally recover from my Covid. And by "recover" I mean that my fever went away, the body aches faded, and I stopped feeling like I would pass out any time I did something more than lay in bed all day and sleep, but the headache remained for a long time (and occasionally still pops up, but softer, like a nagging reminder of what it used to feel like) and my congestion and cough (now dry and far less frequent) remain. My fever ended on Day 6. I was capable of working from home starting on Day 8. I tested negative on Day 13. No one else in the family ever tested positive or exhibited any symptoms.

(Homemade cards are Cora's love language and she worked SO hard on this one. It was passed to me under the door when I was actually starting to feel better, but I feel like all her efforts over the previous days are what finally broke my fever.)

And after exactly a month away, I was VERY excited to go back to work on Day 15.

I felt like I was on parade all day, waving to colleagues and catching up with everyone, but I was *exhausted* when I got home. Nurse Moose stepped in and made it VERY clear that I was to rest.

Also, last Friday, this tiny little baby Landon turned FIFTEEN years old.

Fifteen, y'all. The baby who made us parents, the leader of our Fike pack, the kid who is always on the roof, always climbing something he shouldn’t, and always ready for our next adventure. He is deeply chatty, especially when it’s time to go to bed, loves the cats more than anything, does extra workouts for fun, and remains a general delight. We love him so much.

He got an Apple watch that he has desperately wanted for at least a year.

And his sister's picked out their own special gifts for him which he loved very much.

We didn't have our usual birthday party decor drawer because all of that is in storage, but he was pleased with his Target shark theme and dollar store gift bags. It was a very sweet morning.

Today that little boy flew all by himself to Denver, handling security, getting to his gate, the Southwest seating lineup, flying, landing, and riding the train to baggage claim in the Denver airport with ease. My sister and her girls picked him up and it was the sweetest thing.

He's going to have such a blast playing with his cousins, helping my sister, hiking in the mountains, and otherwise enjoying a place that is NOT 118 degrees during the day.

Meanwhile over here in Dallas the bulldog wants you to know this weather is some bullshit, but she is a lady so she'll still go outside for the bare minimum necessary to go potty and then come in and recover.

Also we kinda sorta saw a house for 10 minutes yesterday, put in an offer last night, and just got the signed and executed offer back tonight! We're going to have a forever home!! It's beautiful and I'm still a bit in shock. The close will be late August and then we're giving the owners a 2-month leaseback, but by the end of October we should be in our house and home for the holidays and I am SO EXCITED. Living out of boxes is not my favorite and I hate not having a home I can make beautiful and feel like our own.

And now, while I would love to write more, I'm also giving a CLE presentation to more than 400 virtual audience members tomorrow, so I should probably figure out what I am going to say before tucking myself in bed.