In home updates, I continue to unpack, organize, and give people projects every spare minute I'm home.
LANTERNS: The Weenie
22 hours ago
Saturday, November 12, 2022
Updates! Writing During a Power Outage, We'll See How Long My Battery Lasts
I'm back on my travels again. After two rounds up and back to Houston over 3 days 3 weeks ago, I spent part of last week in Austin and this week in Chicago. It's occurred to me that this is the exactly path my adult life took after high school: Houston, Austin, Chicago (and then back to Austin again). I met James in Austin at 18, graduated from UT early at 21, moved to Houston to live with him for my semester between undergrad and law school, got married in Houston at 22, moved to Chicago 3 days after the wedding, moved back to Austin at 25 (now with a bonus Landon!) so James could get his MBA at UT, and then moved to Fort Worth (now also with Claire!) to join the SEC. It's been fun going back to all the places we've lived.
And I'll be in DC next week- flying out Monday and then flying straight to Houston on Wednesday before coming back to Dallas on Thursday night, and DC is where James was born and grew up and is the first place we flew to together when I met his family after my freshman year, so the theme continues.
We're driving to Boulder to see my sister and her family for Thanksgiving (our first state-side Thanksgiving in some time!) and then I fly back to DC the following Monday for a few more days and THEN I think I'm going to live in my house for a bit. Which is good, because this house is the only place I want to be. It's still very much a work in progress and we're still missing more than half of the furniture we've ordered, but it is HOME and I love every inch of it with my whole heart.
In home updates, I continue to unpack, organize, and give people projects every spare minute I'm home.
James does not love my love of the Container Store, but our garage is looking great! He's also switched out four sets of bathroom or wall sconces, hung art and mirrors, and assembled Cora's new desk.
The girls are taking advantage of their current lack of furniture by making a megabed with their two queen mattresses pushed together. Landon's bed was delivered early last week and ours was delivered last Friday and it was so weird on Saturday morning to wake up and not feel the floor right next to me. It's all slowly coming together.
My mom was also here last Friday and we did a little shopping- she bought crazy gaucho-like pants that she immediately wore to a luncheon with rave reviews.
And she somehow convinced me I needed these flannel formal winter shorts, which I'm not even sure are a thing, but I must admit I LOVE them. I also got a $500 Tahari velver blazer for $150 (you know it's nice when it's $150 at Marshall's) and beautiful wool plaid pants for $60.
My beloved Bonnie was here on Saturday and put together some new outfits for me for fall and winter and as always her genius blows me away. These are all items I already owned (with the additions of my new shorts, velvet blazer, and plaid pants; all of which she used in my looks) and she just makes me look at and appreciate my wardrobe so much more. And when I travel I just pull up her album and pick which looks to pick- or get inspired to make versions of them. She is so amazing.
In pet updates, Maggie is delighted by Dallas, all the exercise she's getting riding in her carriage for miles around the lake each day, and the fact that her family seems so happy.
Milo is DISPLEASED because he went to the vet last week and received a vigorous ear cleaning to treat an infection and was told he needed to lose 4 lbs which is a good chunk (literally) of his bodyweight and he's now on a diet and believes he's dying. He is ALWAYS out and about and he spent the whole evening alternating between sulking under the couch and yelling loudly at us.
That night he broke into the pantry, ate through a plastic bag to get at a piece of bread and ate through my bag of sour straws and distributed them throughout the downstairs. So the diet is going well. He's decided to rejoin our laps, but he's still mad about it. (Moose on the other hand is delighted by the closely monitoring feedings and is now eating more than ever because Milo isn't allowed to take all the food. He will gain all the pounds Milo loses and everyone will be their ideal weight!)
Last night (Thursday, who knows when I'll actually publish this, for reasons I'll get to below), James and I attended a V&E BBQ taste-off client event. We got branded hats, said hello to a steer with very big horns, tasted three of the best BBQ restaurants in Dallas and voted for our favorite, listened to a fabulous live band, and chatted with clients and colleagues. My main takeaway is that James looks great in a cowboy hat and should wear one more often.
Today (Friday), the dig was supposed to begin for our pool. And it did! And then a massive storm rolled in and the large digger and cat were abandoned in my mud pit of a backyard by 9 am which is also when our power went out and at 5 pm it is still not back on. I'm typing this on a hope that it will just stay on my screen until the power comes back. To make matters more exciting, my parents are due to arrive within the hour to stay for the weekend, we had a great dinner planned to cook at home, it's Cora's birthday tomorrow and her ice cream cake ingredients are melting in my freezer, and I have done 0 minutes of work today because of the power situation and my absolute state of denial that it would really stay off all day. Estimates for its restoration have been 12 pm, 3 pm, 5 pm, 6 pm, and now 10 pm. I am not optimistic and that is making me very sad. I suppose I should at least go try to locate the camping lanterns we bought many years ago so we can play games by lantern light when it gets dark at 4:30 pm.
Saturday morning update! We ate dinner with my parents by LED lantern light in our very very dark kitchen. We had everyone snuggled up under blankets at an early bedtime (turns out there's not a ton to do when it gets dark at 4:30 and you've been in the dark for several hours by 8:30 pm). The power came on at 10:30 pm and it was very exciting - especially since we had apparently flipped every switch in the house on throughout the day so we glowed like a supernova. I ran around turning everything off, checking on the thermostats, and then snuggled back in bed absolutely delighted to know that after 14 hours off we would wake up with power in the morning.
Today is Cora's birthday! We'll have donut and pumpkin bread, go on a walk by the lake, open presents, go to her soccer game, make a dinner of all her favorite things, and generally revel in the fact that our sweet third baby- the delightful mascot of our family for all those early years- is 9!
Happy Saturday to you all!
In home updates, I continue to unpack, organize, and give people projects every spare minute I'm home.
Thursday, October 27, 2022
Nesting
Last week is (was?) a blur. On Monday we had moving vans and a million boxes deposited throughout the house; on Tuesday it was James's birthday and I had a million calls at work; on Wednesday I went to Houston for the day to present at an ESG client event; on Thursday I was back in Dallas for work and Landon's swim meet that night; and on Friday I was BACK in Houston for the day to speak on an SEC CLE panel while our kids had sixteen things on their social calendars. Throughout all of this we were getting the kids off to school in the mornings, home in the afternoons, and unpacking unpacking UNPACKING any minute we could.
It was a lot.
My speaking engagements went well and Landon had a great meet, even if we didn't get back home to eat dinner until 10 pm (sorry girls; #swimfamilylife). It was at Loos Pool where I swam my first TAGS (Texas Age Group State meet) in approximately 1994. It's funny having a kid do a sport that brings back so many memories. I only played soccer for one season when I was 4 in California. I have zero memories of it but by all accounts I was a disaster, so the girls sportiness is all new for me. But with Landon, any pool is home to me (and some really weree). I always check the records boards to see if my best time would have the 100 breaststroke record (sometimes!) and look at the deck and think of me sitting with my team. It brings me a lot of joy to see my kid loving something that brings me such happy memories.
On Friday James and I were supposed to go out to celebrate his birthday, but Claire was babysitting, Landon had swim practice, and Cora had a soccer scrimmage and I guess we forgot that none of them can drive, so we canceled our reservation and separately drove our kids around Dallas instead. So, almost as fun as sharing an amazing meal together.
On Saturday there was an 8 a.m. soccer game for Cora followed more unpacking. The un-fun kind, like the boxes full of random things you weren't sure what to do with at the old house and don't know what to do with at the new house but they're things you occasionally need. And all the garage stuff. And the closets and office and game room. My family was warned: if I see you sitting and not unpacking, you will be yelled at. And they were. And we finished! By dinnertime! And it felt amazing! Besides, we still don't have a TV so why not spend all your free time lugging random items up and down stairs?
And on Sunday morning, when we all slept in and woke up to a fully unnpacked and settled house, it was all worth it. I came downstairs and made tea, with an old mug from my new shelf and new tea in my old tea container.
I opened windows. Sat outside in our screened-in porch. Breathed the cool air and just felt at home.
Kids and a husband came down the stairs at their own pace. Maggie's outfits were unearthed and a fashion show commenced.
We got out the bikes and scooters and the bulldog stroller that had all been in storage for months and went on a walk.
We live a few houses down from the most beautiful lake full of parks and trails.
And we were on a family walk - something previously so integral to our existence and completely abandoned in the last many months of extreme heat, no toys, and a small busy rental street.
We walked and chatted and played and Maggie and I smiled our way through it all.
That evening we cooked and grilled a big wonderful meal in our kitchen. James and the kids played soccer in the backyard.
I made a birthday cake to belatedly properly celebrate James turning 41.
It was a beautiful night, our screened-in porch was the perfect temperature and I felt like my whole body slowed down and took a breath.
I was home. And right now I feel like I just want to be home, in this space, as much as humanly possible. I have missed having a nest more than I can possibly describe and my soul is more settled now that I have one again.
Moving is hard. Moving after 10 years of building a community is really hard. Making new friends, finding new rhythms, and watching the kids do the same... There are times it's just really hard.
But each morning this week I have woken up and walked on the lake path with my bulldog in her chariot. I listen to my We Can Do Hard Things podcast and reflect on how insanely lucky I am to get to start my day like this, watching the sun rise over a lake near my house.
I opened windows. Sat outside in our screened-in porch. Breathed the cool air and just felt at home.
Kids and a husband came down the stairs at their own pace. Maggie's outfits were unearthed and a fashion show commenced.
Tuesday, October 18, 2022
Two Moves, Two Trucks, and 10,000 Boxes
So, we moved!
It was... a lot. Even though we lived in a furnished rental house, it turns out you still use QUITE a lot of your own things over 6 months in someone else's rental. Bedrooms, closets, bathrooms, the play area, office area, pantry items, fridge food, random stuff we added to the kitchen over time from our own boxes of kitchen stuff... it was a lot to pack up and move. But pack up and move we did, filling boxes and carting them over to the new house, and then doing it again over and over again. Luckily the rental house and forever house are only a few streets apart.
And the forever house... it is so beautiful. So perfect and welcoming and everything I would have ever wanted in a house I built myself but didn't have to. I cried when I walked through it the first time on Thursday morning. We're going to make such a wonderful life here.
Speaking of dreams for the future, these were literally the first two things I unpacked from my car and set up.
The kids were in school, so I fielded work calls on my laptop using my phone as a hotspot in between James making runs to load up more boxes. We slept at the rental house because we didn't have mattresses yet (or any other furniture), but everyone was so excited to officially move in the next day assuming our mattresses came on time!
On Friday the kids were off school, so we spent the day going between the two houses gathering the remaining items at the rental. The kids worked so hard- loading and unloading, filling closets and drawers and bringing me whatever random thing I yelled for in some other corner of the house. AT&T came and we got internet. Our contractor came by to talk over our few small projects (mostly painting + 1 built-in). Our pool contractor came by for the final permit sign-offs. We packed and unpacked and organized our little hearts out. The mattresses were delivered. I went to Target for more organizer bins and a few other small things and set my phone on the little ledge built into the shopping cart. I turned away to look at something important like sink mats and when I turned back my phone was gone. I used Claire's phone to try the Find My iPhone app but my phone was already offline. We drove straight to the AT&T store so they could blacklist my stolen phone and I could get a new one, but it took hours, I lost all my data from the last two days, it will make our phone bill monstrous again, and it was just kind of jarring. It's Target. It's full of rainbows and happiness and only good things should happen there.
James came to the AT&T store to grab Cora to take her to soccer and then Claire and I finally got to leave too, new unwanted lavender iPhone 14 in my hand. We got back to the new house to unload the things we got at Target and try to connect my new phone to the cloud to download all my saved items and everyone was getting tired of me telling them more things to do and we finally finished up unloading the last box and drove BACK to the rental to order some pizza and dinner because the one thing we didn't yet have in the new house was any sort of dishes or silverware or kitchen items of any kind. It was 7:30 p.m. and when we opened the door we noticed Milo didn't come to greet us. He ALWAYS greets us at the door. I have come home from business trips at 2 and 3 in the morning and he immediately comes to greet me. We called his name. We searched. We searched more. We found Moose who looked wide eyed and concerned and we came to the stomach-sinking realization that Milo was gone.
We thought back on the day of opening and closing the door a million times and realized the last time anyone had seen him was early in the morning. It had been at least 10 hours of him being outside and it was now full dark, at a rental house we were no longer going to be living in, with at least three feral cats prowling the area, next to a very busy street, on a steep hill down to a creek with one billion trees and bushes. It was awful. We all got flashlights and started walking around the yards, combing through the brush, calling his name, shaking his food, and knocking on neighbor's doors. Cora was crying, Claire was crying, I was crying, and I'm pretty sure our men were crying. I was getting so scared for him and trying to act like everything would be fine. We looked for over an hour when we realized we really should eat something. James ordered pizza while Claire and Cora sat on the couch with me and sobbed. We went out to look some more. James went to pick up the pizza. Landon went into the back yard one more time to climb under the deck and look again. He saw shiny eyes. ... and it was a possum. He looked under another deck and saw shiny eyes. ... and it was a Milo!!
There was a loud shout of joy. Landon walked in triumphantly holding a thoroughly freaked out Milo with big eyes and puffy fur wrapped around Landon's neck like WTF YOU GUYS IT'S SO SCARY OUT THERE.
We must have walked right over him on the deck and right next to him in the brush at least a dozen times and he never made a sound. When James got home with the pizza everyone was crying again, but now they were happy tears. Milo was totally fine with being sobbed over and then Moose licked him thoroughly to get the outside smell off. At no point did Maggie have any idea what was going on.
Relieved, exhausted, and suddenly starving, we ate our pizza and packed up all the pets to head to the forever house for our first night there. We fell asleep on our mattresses on the floor, secure in knowing we had each other and we had our furry friends, and looked forward to a brighter morning.
Except Moose who would like to formally say WTF with this moving of houses. He was just starting to relax in the rental house and now he has to be on high-alert again.
But oh how bright the morning was. I had my tea. I sat on the floor of my empty house sipping my tea and letting my mind wander. I simply can't wait to settle in and continue buliding our life here.
We continued unpacking- now more focused on organizing the bathrooms and closets. I went to The Container Store twice and won the grown-up tetris game of finding the perfect organizers for our weirdly large kitchen cabinets. James and Landon had swimming. I have no idea what we ate or where, but I know I cleaned out 8 bins of bathroom stuff and my drawers are beautiful.
Maggie would like to interrupt and say she likes the new house very much but would like it more if I would please stop going up and down the stairs so much.
(Seriously. Mom. It is a MOUNTAIN.)
Sunday was the same except this time it rained a bit and we ran more errands. The Container Store, again, Marshall's, Target, again, Homegoods, TJ Maxx, etc. We made baked potatoes for dinner because we still didn't have any cooking or baking tools and ate on the floor like a picnic. Milo was thrilled with the fluffy blankets as furniture situation.
And then Monday. We successfully got the kids off to school and at 8:30 the movers were at our storage unit, ready to load the trucks. I'd sort of convinced myself there wasn't much left to unpack- we'd sold so much furniture before we moved and used a lot of our daily stuff in the rental, but no. We had 1.5 truck loads.
At least 40 boxes were for the kitchen: plates, bowls, utensils, pans, pots, baking trays, specialty baking items, measuring cups, mixing bowls, waffle makers, a crock pot, SO MANY KITCHEN THINGS and I have missed every single one of them so much. I unpacked like a machine, directing movers to various rooms and unpacking unpacking unpacking. The garage is now full of random things. The upstairs is full of random things- the kind of bins I haven't missed in the 8 months since I packed them but we need to find a home for anyway: my wedding dress, James's UT swimming stuff, the kids' memory bins, holiday decor, etc.
By the afternoon I'd finished the kitchen completely. By dinnertime the kids were home and I'd finished the living room, dining room, our master closet, and most of the game room. James made dinner (with our pots! our beautiful pots and dishes and utensils!) and I got the kids moving a whole lot faster on their closets. We don't have any bedroom furniture yet, but the kids have their old dressers and big closets so pretty much everything got put away. James and I have a line of 7 different little plastic drawer sets we accumulated throughout the years (I think I got two of them in high school) with all of our folded clothes. It works and we'll order new furniture soon. In the meantime we have this adorable little putting green for Maggie to patrol.
We ate, our first meal at a table in our new house, and it was so wonderful. I took my bath in my beautiful tub, with my bath tray that my sister-in-law got me for Christmas that I brought with us to the rental house and now here, and my swollen sore feet sighed in relief. I'm not sure I ever sat down yesterday.
Today I got ready in my beautiful closet with all my work clothes and shoes finally reunited together. Everything I wore today had been packed up since we staged the Fort Worth house in April. It's like getting a free shopping spree and I'm so excited for fall.
It's also James's birthday! It's a crazy week between the move and me traveling to Houston for work on both Wednesday and Friday (and spending Thursday back here in Dallas because Landon has a high school swim meet that night), but we managed a few gifts, a dinosaur birthday tablecloth, and a dinner of pancakes because that is exactly what he wanted.
41 years old and I've been with him for 22 of them. Here's to so many more!
And the forever house... it is so beautiful. So perfect and welcoming and everything I would have ever wanted in a house I built myself but didn't have to. I cried when I walked through it the first time on Thursday morning. We're going to make such a wonderful life here.
James came to the AT&T store to grab Cora to take her to soccer and then Claire and I finally got to leave too, new unwanted lavender iPhone 14 in my hand. We got back to the new house to unload the things we got at Target and try to connect my new phone to the cloud to download all my saved items and everyone was getting tired of me telling them more things to do and we finally finished up unloading the last box and drove BACK to the rental to order some pizza and dinner because the one thing we didn't yet have in the new house was any sort of dishes or silverware or kitchen items of any kind. It was 7:30 p.m. and when we opened the door we noticed Milo didn't come to greet us. He ALWAYS greets us at the door. I have come home from business trips at 2 and 3 in the morning and he immediately comes to greet me. We called his name. We searched. We searched more. We found Moose who looked wide eyed and concerned and we came to the stomach-sinking realization that Milo was gone.
We thought back on the day of opening and closing the door a million times and realized the last time anyone had seen him was early in the morning. It had been at least 10 hours of him being outside and it was now full dark, at a rental house we were no longer going to be living in, with at least three feral cats prowling the area, next to a very busy street, on a steep hill down to a creek with one billion trees and bushes. It was awful. We all got flashlights and started walking around the yards, combing through the brush, calling his name, shaking his food, and knocking on neighbor's doors. Cora was crying, Claire was crying, I was crying, and I'm pretty sure our men were crying. I was getting so scared for him and trying to act like everything would be fine. We looked for over an hour when we realized we really should eat something. James ordered pizza while Claire and Cora sat on the couch with me and sobbed. We went out to look some more. James went to pick up the pizza. Landon went into the back yard one more time to climb under the deck and look again. He saw shiny eyes. ... and it was a possum. He looked under another deck and saw shiny eyes. ... and it was a Milo!!
We must have walked right over him on the deck and right next to him in the brush at least a dozen times and he never made a sound. When James got home with the pizza everyone was crying again, but now they were happy tears. Milo was totally fine with being sobbed over and then Moose licked him thoroughly to get the outside smell off. At no point did Maggie have any idea what was going on.
Relieved, exhausted, and suddenly starving, we ate our pizza and packed up all the pets to head to the forever house for our first night there. We fell asleep on our mattresses on the floor, secure in knowing we had each other and we had our furry friends, and looked forward to a brighter morning.
Except Moose who would like to formally say WTF with this moving of houses. He was just starting to relax in the rental house and now he has to be on high-alert again.
Pretty sure a Landon is inside that box
It's also James's birthday! It's a crazy week between the move and me traveling to Houston for work on both Wednesday and Friday (and spending Thursday back here in Dallas because Landon has a high school swim meet that night), but we managed a few gifts, a dinosaur birthday tablecloth, and a dinner of pancakes because that is exactly what he wanted.
Saturday, October 8, 2022
Day in the Life
Monday, October 3rd
5:15 am: Alarm goes off. I get up, put on workout clothes, and go out to the living room to chat with Landon who is packing his lunch and getting ready for swim practice. I try not to make eye contact with Maggie because it is too early for her to eat breakfast and she'll forget she ate it when Cora comes out 1.5 hours later.
5:45 am: Leave for Sculpthouse just as Landon's ride (a junior fellow swimmer) pulls up in front of the house.
6:00 am - 7:00 am: Workout! Hate how early it is, love how it makes me feel when I'm done.
7:15 am: Back home. Everyone is up and getting ready for school. I do Cora's hair (two braids that combine in the back; her very favorite and the upper limit of my capabilities) and chat with Claire who always has MUCH to tell me. Contemplate a shower. Decide dry shampoo and a blow dryer will do the trick. Wash face. Get dressed, do makeup, periodically chat with both girls and James who pass through my bathroom throughout.
7:40 am: James takes Cora to school.
8:00 am: Claire gets picked up by a friend for school.
8:05 am: I leave for work, listening to the NRP Up First podcast and whatever songs Claire has recently put on my "liked" list o the drive.
8:17 am: Park in my spot in the garage and head up.
8:20 am: Plug my laptop into its docking station, go make my tea with the fancy tea bags I bring from home because I am a tea snob; pause to admire my pretty office is and how happy and calm it makes me feel. Call out hellos to anyone else already in. Take a picture of my new bootcut jeans, boots, and sweater vest to send my mom and sister because that's a thing I do when I wear new clothes I like.
8:30 am - 6:00 pm: Work!
-Answer emails, be on calls, talk to associates, talk to my partners, read things, write things, etc.
- I have a lunch scheduled almost every day - whether a firm training or meeting, a video CLE, lunch with a contact, lunch with a client, a mentoring lunch with an associate, etc. It's an active and useful hour.
-At some point during the morning I remember to email Becca about certain one-off tasks for this week, like steaming the new black pants I bought on Sunday, dropping off a broken necklace at the jeweler to be fixed, and paying a stack of medical bills I left on the table (she has her own credit card on our account), and to note any unusual aspects to the week that might affect meal planning, like Landon having a swim meet Tuesday night so we'll eat dinner super late and need something that can be served cold or is in the crockpot.
-James picks up the kids from school at their various times (3:10, 3:55, 4:35) and takes Landon to swimming straight from school. Landon has a ride home from a teammate. Cora has a ride to soccer practice from a friend who lives nearby. Claire would normally be at cross country, but her stress fracture means she isn't going right now. Generally, Mondays are crazy.
6:10 pm: Pack up my laptop and whatever papers I think I'll read that night but maybe won't, and head back down to my car to go home.
6:30 pm: Except not really, first I pick up Cora and friend at soccer practice at a nearby elementary school! Drop the friend off.
6:50 pm: Home! Becca has dinner simmering (Sesame Apricot Tofu, Brown Rice, Roasted Vegetables) and is heading out (she arrived later that particular day, usually she leaves before 5).
6:50 pm - 7:15 pm: Catch up with the girls, sign Cora's homework planner, chat with James, pet all the pets, make sure Cora fed Maggie dinner.
7:15 pm: Landon gets home for the first time since 5:45 am! We are all sitting at the dinner table, dished up, and ready. We eat, chat, and call my Grandpa to tell him about our days and hear about his. James started this tradition when my grandma went to memory care and he got worried about my grandpa being lonely.
7:45 pm - 8:00 pm: Finish dinner. James and I usually stay at the table and chat for a bit while Cora clears the table, Landon does the dishes, and Claire wipes the table (she also empties the dishwasher each morning). Cora takes her shower after she clears the table, I usually go take my bath, Claire takes her shower if she didn't that morning, and Landon takes forever doing the dishes because he keeps getting distracted by cats and suddenly needing to tell James or me important things like, "did you know Nike is going to put out a new signature shoe that's worth $1 million dollars?" or "do you think I can get this specific kind of new racing goggles before February?"
8:30 pm: We are herding the smallest child towards bed.
9:00 pm: The smallest child is now in bed. The middle child is now being herded towards the same. (Despite having four bedrooms in this rental house, the girls sleep together in Cora's bed every night. We'll see what happens in the new one.)
9:00 pm - 9:30 pm: Ah, we've arrived at my 30 minutes of me time. If I'm not logged back into work, this is when, Landon, James, and I watch our 30 minutes of Rings of Power, which is the most we can fit in between the girls going to bed and us needing to go to bed. It's going to take us years to finish this series, but we're really enjoying it!
9:30 pm: Bedtime for the big people because we wake up too dang early. I take Maggie out to go potty, James makes sure everything is off and locked. Landon goes to bed and we go to bed, opening the girls door on the way so the cats can go cuddle with them (we have to close it during the show because all bedrooms in the rental house open off the living room). I usually read on my kindle app for another 30 minutes or so.
10:00 pm: I realize I really do need to finish reading a certain document before morning because I have an 8 am client call and won't have time between my 6 am workout and getting to the office to read it.
10:45 pm: Document read, I now officially go to bed.
11-something pm: I fall asleep.
Repeat the next day when my alarm goes off at 5:15 a.m.
Tuesday changes:
- After school: Cora doesn't have soccer, Claire has counseling, Landon has a swim meet. Landon went to the meet straight from school. Cora and James went to the meet at 6:30. I got home in time to take Claire to her appointment, then I dropped her at home because she had a headache before driving myself to the swim meet, just missing Landon's first event. But he got a best time in the 100 fly and I got to see that!
- The four of us get home at 8:45 to eat a late dinner. Claire was feeling better and we all ate together before shuffling everyone off to bed, including ourselves.
Wednesday changes:
- My alarm goes off at 4:30 am to take a 7 a.m. flight to Houston for a day of on-site work for a client; flight home is at 8 pm. I watch the sun rise and set out the airplane windows.
- James has the kids handled (just swim practice and school pick ups today!).
- Becca stays in Fort Worth on Wednesdays and prepared a cold salad for dinner when she was at the rental house on Tuesday.
- I get home at 10 p.m., on calls from the minute I left the airport until I pulled into our driveway, and damn was that a long day.
Thursday changes:
- I canceled my 6 am workout which made me sad but also felt very necessary.
- James gets up with our swimmer; I get up at 6:30. I work from home until we drive north to sign the papers for our pool project that will start after we move into our forever house. I'm on calls the whole way there and back, which makes for a fun drive for James.
- I go to work and squeeze in a dental appointment in the afternoon. We're finally getting established at the various doctors we need in our new city.
- James picks up the kids; Claire has choir practice after school, but Landon has a ride to and from swimming which helps.
- I have a partner meeting and happy hour at the Dallas office at 5:30, but get home in time for a family dinner. I have calls at 8:30 and 9, and then, despite having a lot still to do, I went to bed at 10 because, tired.
Friday changes:
- The kids have off school! Everyone is so excited to sleep in.
- Except me when my alarm goes off at 6:30 because I need to leave the house at 7:30 for the VERY important AlixPartners Chili Challenge. I am V&E's team captain this year and we took it very seriously with recipe R&D, swag, decor, and theme. Which is good because it was an amazing and huge event with 35 teams, 600 guests, live band, and open bars everywhere with giant mugs made out of solid ice.
- I got my team of associates cooking (we modified this awesome recipe for the "alternative chili" category) and then took an hour-long video call at 9:30 from the backseat of my car in the parking lot.
- Done with the call, I treat myself to one glass mug beer, for the novelty, and then switch to tonic water and lime. We market the crap out of our amazing chicken queso chili and fresh fried corn fritters, meet Chef Dean Fearing and make up a story about the history of our chili, and then scream and cheer with when we win the firm's first-ever chili challenge award and go up on stage to accept it!
- Then drove straight back to the office for a long call at 2, Claire texts me five times to ask when I'm coming home, and I arrive there at 6. James and Landon have gone to watch a men's college swim meet at SMU and the girls and I sit on the couch and watch TV until they get home with pizza I ordered because I am DONE.
And that's the week! The kids also have off school next Friday (these are Texas State Fair days, which are a thing, I guess), but it works out well because we get access to our house on Thursday and can do some moving of All The Things from the rental house to the forever one before the movers come to move everything over from storage on Monday. I CANNOT WAIT. We saw the house briefly in July before it was listed, closed on the sale in August, and it's hard to believe we'll actually finally get to live in it soon. Literally counting down the hours... Even looking around at all the boxes and stuff and things we have here after 5 months in the rental house and knowing we have to move it all again, AND knowing how much is in storage that will need to be unpacked and sorted can't dim my joy.
5:15 am: Alarm goes off. I get up, put on workout clothes, and go out to the living room to chat with Landon who is packing his lunch and getting ready for swim practice. I try not to make eye contact with Maggie because it is too early for her to eat breakfast and she'll forget she ate it when Cora comes out 1.5 hours later.
5:45 am: Leave for Sculpthouse just as Landon's ride (a junior fellow swimmer) pulls up in front of the house.
6:00 am - 7:00 am: Workout! Hate how early it is, love how it makes me feel when I'm done.
7:15 am: Back home. Everyone is up and getting ready for school. I do Cora's hair (two braids that combine in the back; her very favorite and the upper limit of my capabilities) and chat with Claire who always has MUCH to tell me. Contemplate a shower. Decide dry shampoo and a blow dryer will do the trick. Wash face. Get dressed, do makeup, periodically chat with both girls and James who pass through my bathroom throughout.
7:40 am: James takes Cora to school.
8:00 am: Claire gets picked up by a friend for school.
8:05 am: I leave for work, listening to the NRP Up First podcast and whatever songs Claire has recently put on my "liked" list o the drive.
8:17 am: Park in my spot in the garage and head up.
8:20 am: Plug my laptop into its docking station, go make my tea with the fancy tea bags I bring from home because I am a tea snob; pause to admire my pretty office is and how happy and calm it makes me feel. Call out hellos to anyone else already in. Take a picture of my new bootcut jeans, boots, and sweater vest to send my mom and sister because that's a thing I do when I wear new clothes I like.
-Answer emails, be on calls, talk to associates, talk to my partners, read things, write things, etc.
- I have a lunch scheduled almost every day - whether a firm training or meeting, a video CLE, lunch with a contact, lunch with a client, a mentoring lunch with an associate, etc. It's an active and useful hour.
-At some point during the morning I remember to email Becca about certain one-off tasks for this week, like steaming the new black pants I bought on Sunday, dropping off a broken necklace at the jeweler to be fixed, and paying a stack of medical bills I left on the table (she has her own credit card on our account), and to note any unusual aspects to the week that might affect meal planning, like Landon having a swim meet Tuesday night so we'll eat dinner super late and need something that can be served cold or is in the crockpot.
-James picks up the kids from school at their various times (3:10, 3:55, 4:35) and takes Landon to swimming straight from school. Landon has a ride home from a teammate. Cora has a ride to soccer practice from a friend who lives nearby. Claire would normally be at cross country, but her stress fracture means she isn't going right now. Generally, Mondays are crazy.
6:10 pm: Pack up my laptop and whatever papers I think I'll read that night but maybe won't, and head back down to my car to go home.
6:30 pm: Except not really, first I pick up Cora and friend at soccer practice at a nearby elementary school! Drop the friend off.
6:50 pm: Home! Becca has dinner simmering (Sesame Apricot Tofu, Brown Rice, Roasted Vegetables) and is heading out (she arrived later that particular day, usually she leaves before 5).
6:50 pm - 7:15 pm: Catch up with the girls, sign Cora's homework planner, chat with James, pet all the pets, make sure Cora fed Maggie dinner.
7:15 pm: Landon gets home for the first time since 5:45 am! We are all sitting at the dinner table, dished up, and ready. We eat, chat, and call my Grandpa to tell him about our days and hear about his. James started this tradition when my grandma went to memory care and he got worried about my grandpa being lonely.
7:45 pm - 8:00 pm: Finish dinner. James and I usually stay at the table and chat for a bit while Cora clears the table, Landon does the dishes, and Claire wipes the table (she also empties the dishwasher each morning). Cora takes her shower after she clears the table, I usually go take my bath, Claire takes her shower if she didn't that morning, and Landon takes forever doing the dishes because he keeps getting distracted by cats and suddenly needing to tell James or me important things like, "did you know Nike is going to put out a new signature shoe that's worth $1 million dollars?" or "do you think I can get this specific kind of new racing goggles before February?"
8:30 pm: We are herding the smallest child towards bed.
9:00 pm: The smallest child is now in bed. The middle child is now being herded towards the same. (Despite having four bedrooms in this rental house, the girls sleep together in Cora's bed every night. We'll see what happens in the new one.)
9:00 pm - 9:30 pm: Ah, we've arrived at my 30 minutes of me time. If I'm not logged back into work, this is when, Landon, James, and I watch our 30 minutes of Rings of Power, which is the most we can fit in between the girls going to bed and us needing to go to bed. It's going to take us years to finish this series, but we're really enjoying it!
9:30 pm: Bedtime for the big people because we wake up too dang early. I take Maggie out to go potty, James makes sure everything is off and locked. Landon goes to bed and we go to bed, opening the girls door on the way so the cats can go cuddle with them (we have to close it during the show because all bedrooms in the rental house open off the living room). I usually read on my kindle app for another 30 minutes or so.
10:00 pm: I realize I really do need to finish reading a certain document before morning because I have an 8 am client call and won't have time between my 6 am workout and getting to the office to read it.
10:45 pm: Document read, I now officially go to bed.
11-something pm: I fall asleep.
Repeat the next day when my alarm goes off at 5:15 a.m.
Tuesday changes:
- After school: Cora doesn't have soccer, Claire has counseling, Landon has a swim meet. Landon went to the meet straight from school. Cora and James went to the meet at 6:30. I got home in time to take Claire to her appointment, then I dropped her at home because she had a headache before driving myself to the swim meet, just missing Landon's first event. But he got a best time in the 100 fly and I got to see that!
- The four of us get home at 8:45 to eat a late dinner. Claire was feeling better and we all ate together before shuffling everyone off to bed, including ourselves.
- My alarm goes off at 4:30 am to take a 7 a.m. flight to Houston for a day of on-site work for a client; flight home is at 8 pm. I watch the sun rise and set out the airplane windows.
- James has the kids handled (just swim practice and school pick ups today!).
- Becca stays in Fort Worth on Wednesdays and prepared a cold salad for dinner when she was at the rental house on Tuesday.
- I get home at 10 p.m., on calls from the minute I left the airport until I pulled into our driveway, and damn was that a long day.
- I canceled my 6 am workout which made me sad but also felt very necessary.
- James gets up with our swimmer; I get up at 6:30. I work from home until we drive north to sign the papers for our pool project that will start after we move into our forever house. I'm on calls the whole way there and back, which makes for a fun drive for James.
- I go to work and squeeze in a dental appointment in the afternoon. We're finally getting established at the various doctors we need in our new city.
- James picks up the kids; Claire has choir practice after school, but Landon has a ride to and from swimming which helps.
- I have a partner meeting and happy hour at the Dallas office at 5:30, but get home in time for a family dinner. I have calls at 8:30 and 9, and then, despite having a lot still to do, I went to bed at 10 because, tired.
- The kids have off school! Everyone is so excited to sleep in.
- Except me when my alarm goes off at 6:30 because I need to leave the house at 7:30 for the VERY important AlixPartners Chili Challenge. I am V&E's team captain this year and we took it very seriously with recipe R&D, swag, decor, and theme. Which is good because it was an amazing and huge event with 35 teams, 600 guests, live band, and open bars everywhere with giant mugs made out of solid ice.
And that's the week! The kids also have off school next Friday (these are Texas State Fair days, which are a thing, I guess), but it works out well because we get access to our house on Thursday and can do some moving of All The Things from the rental house to the forever one before the movers come to move everything over from storage on Monday. I CANNOT WAIT. We saw the house briefly in July before it was listed, closed on the sale in August, and it's hard to believe we'll actually finally get to live in it soon. Literally counting down the hours... Even looking around at all the boxes and stuff and things we have here after 5 months in the rental house and knowing we have to move it all again, AND knowing how much is in storage that will need to be unpacked and sorted can't dim my joy.
Oy, and that goes waaaaay up to the ceiling
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