Today is Monday, the day I take 100% for family. We usually sleep in, go for walks, cook, do our yoga practices, watch movies and spend quality time together. I love Mondays! Today is particularly sweet because we had a huge snow storm last night and it is so beautiful outside.

I am looking for weeks and weekends to go see my parents. It is so important to me to see them several times per year. They live in Minnesota and Oregon. As I look through my schedule, I see only a few spots left for visits. I think next year I will schedule the visits to see family first and the work second. After all, what are my priorities!?! Just talking on the phone every few days is not the same as giving a big hug in person.

When my husband George was in Portland for 2 weeks to film the Yoga Sutras with Kausthub Desikachar, I realized how much my family supports me and gives me the foundation so that I can work so many hours. Suddenly I had to walk the dogs twice a day, cook, clean, do laundry, pay bills, answer calls, fix cars, keep the fire going in the wood stove, shovel snow,.........all by myself! I suddenly appreciated that my car is shoveled out and warm for me when I am ready to hop in it to go to work. The poor dogs looked at me as if I were abandoning them each day when I left for long hours. I could not concentrate on my work when I got there because I was distracted about the things I had not done at home. My world had suddenly changed without my support system. This is the support system that I take for granted on a regular basis. SInce he has arrived home, I suddenly feel more grateful for what he gives to our marriage. I often think I am the only one working hard to keep things together. Nothing could be further from the truth.

So today I am grateful for family.