[hand waving hello emoji]

It was 101 degrees today with 110% humidity and school is about to be out, so I guess summer is here.

This makes me very crabby, but James made me a surprise reservation at our favorite Italian restaurant in Dallas last night and I wore this beautiful new Rag & Bone vest I bought at the underground Marshall's for $69 (price tag still on it for $425) and turns out, if you don't put a shirt under them, vests can be date-night-classy-sexy and I had no idea.

Also, I cut many inches off of my hair and I think I love it? The kids and James are unsure, but it feels sharp and sassy and I like that for me. Especially in summer when I hate almost everything else.

In summer I enjoy having big kids who don't need camps and who make their own meals and sleep in and let me get ready for work in serene calm with only my cup of tea and a snuggly cat. That is nice. I also enjoy having friends over to swim or sit by the pool and drink a frozen margarita. I also enjoy the lack of school events and deadlines and times I have to say to one of my children "oh, and what is your plan to prepare for that?" I enjoy the summer program at the firm where dozens of bright eyed and bushy tailed law students descend upon the firm for fancy events and free lunches and a little bit of work I don't have to bill my clients for.

But I hate everything else. Which I guess is really just the heat. I hate it. I hate it so, so much. I am already mad about it and it's just getting started. Why do I live here? I wonder this constantly from May to October. I will leave as soon as Cora graduates high school.

Anyway, that little rant was brought to you by how soaking wet and sweaty I was from sitting in my backyard, in the shade, under a fan to watch Cora and a gaggle of her friends swim for an hour. I had to change out of the clothes I had just put on before I sat down. The worst. But I'm inside now, post-2nd-shower-of-the-day and taking a few moments to blog, so things are looking up. Let's get to the good stuff, which is basically everything except the weather (and federal government. and state, if you live here, ANYWAY.).

A couple of weeks ago I took some clients on a retreat with a few of my fellow female partners to Lake Austin Spa & Resort and it was LOVELY.

Before I left I cut my hair (as mentioned above), which freaked me out a little at the time, and bought this amazingly soft denim maxi skirt that will be my new favorite travel item. (I put this outfit together all by myself and was so proud.)

The resort area is so beautiful, the weather was perfect, I had a fabulous facial, we rode on a boat along Lake Austin before dinner, ate great food, and drank too much wine.

I never, ever drink too much at firm events. I usually don't even drink at firm events at all. But give me some badass women in a small group and a fire pit with chairs and blankets along a lake and apparently I will drink all the wine ever. But I had no regrets. At least not until my alarm went off for the 8 am Cardio HIIT class I signed up for that was immediately followed by a 9 am Bootcamp class. My balance was crap for the HIIT and the jumps made me want to die, but I felt pretty good by the bootcamp!

We played Mahjong on the second night and I still loved it. I also still lost every game. But it was a wonderful two days! As always when I'm away, Claire kept me up on all her most important news.

When I got back on Sunday afternoon I went straight to Cora's final White Rock Games field day event. Her team raced their way to multiple gold medals and it was so fun. She's a fast little runner and I can't wait until she can start doing track with her school in 7th grade.

After a hot and sweaty afternoon, I treated myself to a full reorganizing of Cora's room and closet. Her stacks of books were growing out of control, so we bought her a little bookcase (the giant one we had built into the gameroom wall across from her room being "too far away") and she is so happy.

Ta da! It made me happy too. And my meticulous girl who is also somehow a hoarder and bookworm who is always reading five at a time may even keep it clean for a few days.

Landon spent the whole weekend completing his lifeguard training. He is now certified to blow this whistle any time he wants. And can also rescue adults and children, perform first aid, and give CPR. He is already working shifts at our local YMCA on the weekends between swim practices and I'm proud of him for jumping into the world of employment with very little nudging from me. My first job was also being a lifeguard at the YMCA between morning and afternoon summer swim practices in the summer. But hopefully he'll wear a lot more sunscreen than I did...

My mom came for a quick visit on Thursday. She was going to be in town for 22 hours and this is how she packed. In some ways we are very similar, but in other ways we are VERY different. [I'm now typing this from my hotel room in DC where I will be for 3 days and I only have my little carry-on suitcase and a purse.]

We had the BEST time doing some bargain shopping at the clearance Dillards, TJ Maxx, and Marshall's. I got a couple of really cute things for summer (like that vest!) and a dress to wear for our family pictures in Mexico- huzzah! I also put together this outfit all by myself to wear out shopping and immediately sent it to Bonnie and Ayron to let them know I'm blossoming under their tutelage.

Landon took his second of four AP tests while my mom was here and I snagged a quick picture of him when he got home from school. He is so big! And Gigi is so tiny!

That weekend was Mother's Day and it was lovely. I hung out with some friends, worked out (I've worked out EVERY DAY in April and May so far!), read, worked a little, lazed a lot... we went out for brunch on Sunday after Landon's swim practice and it was fun and delicious.

The kids all bought or made me cards and picked out thoughtful presents.

It's just a special sweet day. Man do I love being their mom. And it just gets better. Harder in some ways, but so fun and dynamic and gratifying in so many others. It's also just physically easier and that is nice.

When I got back from the client trip to Austin on Sunday afternoon we all went out to Gloria's for a patio dinner. Claire had been studying so hard all weekend for some tests she had coming up (she currently has all A's and is just KILLING IT in school and we are so so proud of her; it's been a journey), Landon had been at training all day for 3 days, and Cora had just finished her races, and we all met at the restaurant coming from different directions and it just made happy down to my toes. I used to worry that the wonderful family time we enjoyed when the kids were little would come to an end as they got bigger. But when we all converged on the patio that night, in perfect weather, with queso and guac and the best bean dip in all the land, a we laughed and talked and laughed and caught up, I was reminded that the big kid years are pretty great too.

I spent much of the next week in NYC and DC and now I'm in DC again, but I snapped this picture out my car window when I was driving down my street on my way home from work one day last week. A rainbow, right over my street and our home.

Even in 101 degrees, life is pretty good.