COVID and Quarantine and Easter

Well, the world has been changed, and has maybe gone a bit mad. I had my Leadership Program at work March 9-13 and things degraded throughout the week. Grant and the kids and I were scheduled to go to Cozumel for Spring Break March 16-20, but we cancelled the trip on March 12 because we decided it wasn't the best decision to be outside the country. We made the right call. Things deteriorated at an alarming rate with Dallas ordering Shelter-in-Place on March 22. International travel was essentially stopped, crazy people were hording the strangest things (toilet paper) that caused additional anxiety and shortages, the kids did not go back to school after Spring Break, and people essentially haven't left their houses. It is hard to keep track of the daily changing information, guidelines, and regulations.

The kids started homeschool on March 30. It has been a bit of a joke. We scrambled and bought Colton a laptop from a friend of mine at work (Thank you Paul!). Jack Ranger is using the kids computer, and I move my computer every week up to Cadie's room so she can use it during the week. The beginning of homeschool was really stressful because we were trying to figure out all the sites and logins for the kids, our Wi-Fi at home kept getting maxed out, Joy had moved in to my parents house and she was trying to figure out her school, and I was getting adjusted to working at home too. After the first week of stress, we decided to take it less seriously and make it a "best effort." Cadie is diligent, not sure if Ranger really does much, and Colton only does what Joy sits down beside him and makes him do. Colton has gotten better at reading and Grant has taught the kids some good life skills like jump-starting a car, changing a car tire, and assembling furniture. Besides what Grant and life are teaching the kids, I am not sure they are learning much, but I am ok with that for now.

The kids are being SUPER creative and they have been amazing at entertaining themselves. Painting, crafts, catching critters, building forts, so many legos, Cadie's new bookmark line, letters to friends, dressing up, climbing up things - including our house, having picnics, reading the funnies, staying up late watching movies in the backyard, sleeping in... One evening I called upstairs and asked them to come get in the car so we could go through a drivethrough and get some hamburgers. They called down that they were "busy"! What the heck?! There is literally NOTHING going on. But, they were busy with string and balloons and straws and duct tape making some type of rocket designed to fly across the playroom. They are pretty much busy most of the time.

I love working from home and being with the family more. I have had 2-3 days that just went wrong. Those days I was anxious from all the unknowns, not feeling equipping to set expectations with the kids, tired, and fearful. Grant has had 2-3 days of the same. But, other than that we are so thankful that this is all in God's control and we are trying to make the most of more time together. My family really is AMAZING and this time with them has made me even more thankful for Grant and each of the little people we have the privilege of raising and loving.

Besides my family, things I am thankful for right now are the Spring weather, creativity of my kids, my sunroom office, our backyard, Joy living so close, Hello Fresh, online church, additional sleep, sweet neighbors looking after each other, everyone walking outside and biking, patient teachers, my job and the Leadership at Southwest, restaurants that have stayed open for to-go orders (we typically have Dive and Sonny Bryan's once a week), and Disney+.

Cadie and Cotillion

Cadie despised Cotillion as much as ever, but that didn't stop her from looking as beautiful as ever for the final party with parents. Her hair was wavy from Courtney's braid in Hawaii and Cadie looked tall and tan and way too beautiful. It might have also helped that there was a young man that had asked her to dance a few times throughout Cotillion that Cadie thought was nice looking.

Dad & Cadie Play Hooky in Hawaii

CJ has been asking Grant to make a trip to Hawaii for a while so that he could help her with projects at their new house. I totally get that because there is no one better at projects than Grant. Grant said he did lots of electric work including new light fixtures inside and outside, running power to their kitchen island, and replacing sockets and plugs. Grant would get up super early to do his work and then do projects in the afternoon and evening.

Cadie was conflicted at first about missing school, but she is SO glad she went. She loved seeing CJ, getting to know Edie better, and eating lots of shaved ice. The night snorkel with the manta rays was Cadie and Grant's favorite activity. Grant said Cadie was a pro traveler and the time change didn't even seem to bother her.

Yay for free trips to Hawaii! They were able to non-rev and then stay with CJ and Edie. I think the main expense was the shaved ice.

Director, Change Leadership

Effective today, I am the Director of Change Leadership at Southwest! I am SOOOO excited and feel so incredibly blessed to have this opportunity. When I joined Southwest just over 3 years ago, this was the role I dreamed of having. I am so thankful to Lori Winters, who hired me, for supporting me over the last three years.

My new boss, Whitney, and Lori put a last minute meeting on my calendar on a Friday to talk through an issue I was having with a VP. I was a little fired up and we were digging into the conversation. Whitney got up from the conference table, and said, "I have something that might help. Just a minute." She walked over to her desk, grabbed an envelope and brought it back over to me and said, "You have been promoted to Director! Does that make this situation a bit better?" I was in shock! I started crying and saying, "Is this for real?" And then, a minute later, I asked, "Do we still have an issue with X VP?" I thought maybe they made up the issue to surprise me. Whitney said, "Nope, we still have an issue, but hopefully this makes your day a bit better." It sure did! But, I did have trouble focusing.

That evening, MJ from my Team came over to help me celebrate since Grant was out of town. We had Tiff's Treats courtesy of Lori (she is SO thoughtful!) and then watched the Taylor Swift documentary. It really was an emotional and wonderful day and I am so excited!

I have celebrated with a trip to New York with Grant and taking Big John with me to Rally. In New York, Grant and I saw Come From Away (AWESOME!) and Moulin Rouge and then stayed the night with Katya and Russell in Westchester. It was a full but wonderful celebration weekend.

Oh yes, and I got a fancy new glamour shots headshot!

Sky Ranch Cowboys & Cowboys

I felt bad that I was a bit late this year in getting out our invites. However, we ended up with an awesome group of friends and it was a really fun evening. The silent auction win that I am most excited about is a birthday party at Epic Waters. Thank you Ryan & Sarah, Caryn & Dylan, Maryann & Samuel, and Jennifer and Daniel for a great evening!

Kicking off 2020 with the Chapmans!

The Chapman family ventured to Dallas from Athens, GA after Christmas to ring in the New Year with us! We had a fancy adult dinner at Sachet with Nina and Papa, Bethany and Nathan, and Grant and I - Big Thanks to Joy for watching ALL the kids. Grant and I had a nice dinner with just Bethany and Nathan at 60 Vines. The Dads took JR, Cadie, and Samuel to Six Flags one day and Bethany and I took the little boys to the Arboretum and then to Baldo's for Ice Cream. Mom and Dad and I took the all the kids to the Perot one afternoon while B wasn't feeling great and Nathan and Grant were working. And we had a lovely evening around the firepit in the backyard that included adult drinks and smores. One night we went to Kaze, but that was a bit of a bust because the service was terrible - can't win them all! I am just so thankful to B and Nathan for taking the time to come to Dallas and hang out with us. I wish we could see them more! And, I wish we had taken a few more pics.