Big Woods to the Big Apple

I'm currently on a plane flying back from a quick client-related trip to NYC- my first flight to almost take off on time outy of my last many.

I was only in NY for about 14 hours and I spent 6.5 of those sleeping, and the temperature felt much the same as it does in Dallas (stifling), but every time I walk a few blocks in that city I feel so happy and whole and home. Our office is on Bryant Park and there was a midday concert going on that we could hear in the conference room on the 32nd floor and it made me smile.

I was able to catch an early flight back, so if things go well I'll be surprising my family with a 6:00 pm arrival instead of a 9:00 arrival and I can't wait.

And speaking of family, let's go back to the stunning shores of Silver Lake where I spent last Thursday-Sunday with the kids while James had a swim meet out of town. As I've written about before, it's a special place for my family. The lake was on the land my grandfather's family farmed. When they sold the farm they kept some of the lake lots which various aunts, uncles, and cousins of my mom now own. My grandpa had one lot and we grew up driving there (from Houston! 3 days, pulling our trailer and camping along the way) and camping on the lot.

It's the most beautiful lake. Small, clear, and private, with a soft sandy bottom.

It was actually more beautiful than I remembered. One of the few places that even the rosy glow of memory can't improve upon.

In 1999 my grandparents built a cabin on the lot. It looks exactly the same.

My parents, aunt and uncle, sister, brother and their full families were all there.

It was glorious.

And though my grandpa mourns every summer that he can no longer make the trip, he absolutely delighted in the pictures and videos and stories we told of the fun we were having in his favorite place.

We went to the cheese factory for the world's best soft-serve ice cream, cooked hot dogs over an open fire, took frequent boat rides on the "Queen Mary" (named after my grandmother, obviously), held babies, played cards (Oh Shit is our new favorite game), drank prosecco, woke to 50-degree weather and had the option of wearing long sleeves at almost any time of day.

I conducted a few client calls from the porch and soaked up the family time and not even the 8 hours of travel delays the kids and I dealt with on the way home could dull the sparkles around each day of our quick trip.

We were supposed to get home about 2, but instead we staggered in the door close to 9, with nothing but a bunch of Auntie Anne's cinnamon sugar pretzel nuggets in our bellies and James had the table set with a delicious homemade dinner ready (chilaquiles!) and big bowls of fresh fruit all cut up for us to devour. While we did he casually mentioned that he'd heard there might be a shortage of Halloween candy this year, so he asked the stocker when he was at Tom Thumb and she told him the pallets they had delivered that day were the only ones they were getting, so he bought some because we'll be in our new house just before Halloween and he didn't want to disappoint the new neighbors and kids and you guys, I have never been more attracted to him. I was way too tired to do anything about it, but he is such a keeper.

I am now back from NYC and in the office conducting the University of Chicago Law School OCI interviews tomorrow (OCI is all virtual this year, which is super weird, but I'm not sad to not be on anothr plane). James and I have a date tomorrow night and then the weekend is all about back to school prep. In one week I'll have a high schooler, 7th grader, and 3rd grader and everyone is very nervous and excited and also a lot of nervous. Moving is hard.

Grateful for our idyllic weekend in the big woods and looking forward to all our adventures ahead.