It's been a long day. I got lots of work done. It's 6:44.....how about a sip of the grape, I ask myself?

This week has been so wonderful with lots of time spent with family and friends. I spent some one-on-one time with Bella, who is so much fun to hang around with! At ten years old, she's wise beyond her years, loves conversation, and has a wicked sense of humor! We started off our day at our favorite place to eat, Panini Panini, where I delighted in a delicious wedge of lemon tart (just thinking about it makes my mouth water). Bella and I plotted our shopping route. Two stops for me: first J Crew, then my favorite bookstore, and two for her: Hollister and Aeropostale. There is always a lot of hugging involved since Bella is very eager to immediately share her gratitude for having received new treasures!

My niece Lauren is here visiting from Connecticut this week and, as always, it's such a JOY to have her around, and also a reminder of what we've been missing all these years with her living so far away. I'm taking Lauren and Devon to the train station this morning so they can embark on their adventure in Chicago for the day! Sitting here thinking about these two lovely girls, I'm imaging all their stamps in their passports: Norway, Mexico, Japan, France, and Portugal! I may actually have missed one or two! I admire that, at their young ages, they've never been fearful of exploring. They want to see the world, experience the world, learn the languages of the world, taste the foods of the world and, most importantly, meet the people of the world!! Happiness is traveling and making memories!

I was also able to get together with my sister-in-law Arden this week, when we all gathered at her home for dinner with Kathleen, the Assistant Director of Camp Kohahna. Camp Kohahna is the girls camp near Glen Arbor, Michigan, where Devon & her cousins, spend their summers. As we were all piled around the fireplace talking, I looked around at these beautiful faces: Arden, Lena, Devon, Lauren, and Kathleen, and realized how grateful I was to be in the company of these pretty terrific women. Listening to them talk, I'm so proud of them and how they seek Divine guidance for even the smallest things.

My friend Sandy, has been on my mind so much this week. Although I think about her a million times a day, sometimes you feel a person more often than at other times. I'm visiting her in 42 days, but it won't come soon enough for me! I miss her so much and have a feeling I'm not going to get ANY sleep while I'm there, since we will probably be up all night every night being JOYFUL together! I share a connection with her that I haven't found with anyone else.....it's like finding the other half of yourself, only you didn't know You were missing until you found You!

And finally, My mother. Who always seem to show up when you need her, can whip up a special dress for a dance, pick up the child that needs a ride, and rescue me when dinner is not quite finished and I'm running late for my Tuesday night yoga class, take the picture for my new real estate listing, and go buy the cat food that I forgot earlier - sometimes all in the same day! It's been a "week of women" for me, and so much fun to sit back and see how different everyone is and to celebrate those differences.

While I love all the women in my life tremendously, I am besotted with the one that came from me. Her love for me never fails to amaze me. She's wise, intelligent, funny, talented....and a good driver. I love you so much Devon. Thanks for choosing me.

I received the most loving and thoughtful gift, from my loving and thoughtful husband, on Valentine's Day. Not only was it imaginative, I could tell it took time to plan it, execute it, and then wait with anticipation while I brought the whole thing to conclusion.

This sweet man, my Michael,who knows me inside and out, and thatI like solving a good mystery, sent me on a "treasure hunt", so to speak. I was told to go to my office and instructions would be awaiting me on my desk. When I arrived, a red heart shaped box was sitting there. I opened it to find some chocolate and a piece of paper folded up. The paper revealed a riddle, made up of clues from our life over the years, that would lead me to my next destination where I would find another treasure. In order to know where to go next, I only had to decipher to the riddle. The riddles themselves were the "treasure".

The first riddle included a key piece of information: a line about walking in one day and seeing me trim flowers for my grandmother, which apparently sent his heart reeling, and was his first clue that he was kinda-sort of liking me. With this in mind, I knew exactly where to go. There, tucked in the snow, was another red heart shaped box, more chocolate, and another riddle.

My second destination was also easy to figure out, after reading the riddle of course. This spot we consider sacred, an intersection where my husband, who at the time was just the man I was falling in love with, planted the sweetest kiss on my temple. I had invited him to dinner with friends, not as a date, but just as something to do to lift his spirits, since they were pretty low at that time. He was driving behind me, and when I pulled up to a stop sign at said intersection, I felt the urge to run back to his car just to thank him for coming. Then came The Kiss. In the riddle he mentioned pausing here each time he drives past it to give a hallelujah shout out for the change in his life that took place there. Ok, hugely sweet! Let's just say the rest is history!

Last, but not least, riddle number three took me to the place we first made our home together. Another red box resting in the snow, another riddle, and more chocolate. Standing there by the mailbox with the numbers 2012 on it, memories of being cozied up in front of the fireplace together came flooding back. Lots of late night talks, movies, and remembering the time I came home to find he left me little love notes written on the smallest post-it's I had ever seen, stuck all over the walls in a trail of where he knew I would walk when I got there. As I paused outside that home that someone else now owns, I missed it, yet felt strangely disconnected at the same time. We've moved on.

We've made so many more memories together since then. We've moved to other homes, started our business, traveled to fabulous places, and are watching our children grow up, on the cusp of leaving our nest. I look around at my life, and everything and everyone in it, and I realize I wouldn't want to do this with anyone but Michael. I feel so blessed and honored to be here with him.

I've been so busy the last few days. Tonight I was determined to make it to my Tuesday night yoga class with Lauralee. What a joy to walk through that door! I quickly unfurled my mat, eagerly folded myself into lotus position, and melted into my mat as I bent forward and let me torso lay across my feet. It felt so good I could have stayed there all night. "I love myself. I love that my body loves me back and enjoys sitting in this position. I love the way it smells in here. I love the soothing music that is playing. I'm grateful I came here tonight even though there's a snow storm raging outside." These were the thoughts that came to me while I relaxed there. As we warmed up and got started in our flow, I felt tingly with joy over how much I love doing yoga. I planted my left foot sturdy to prepare for tree pose, and as my hands rose in namaste, up through my center toward the sky, I focused on Ganesha. "I have everything I want, and want everything I have", is what my heart said to me when images of my children and husband flashed before my eyes. I was missing my daughter Devon. She was going to join me tonight, but remembered at the last minute something else she needed to take care of instead. I decided to just send her all my love from where I was to where she was, and I trusted the Universe would deliver it for me.

I am so grateful for my family, my friends, my work, new opportunities that are presenting themselves, and, of course, for my yoga. I have everything I want, and want everything I have.

When I was a kid, I would dream about the man I would marry. He would wear suits and wonderful shirts that would have to be pressed, and I would pick up said suits and shirts from the cleaners on my way to work (which, of course, was going to be a really fabulous creative job thingy). We would have two equally fabulous kids, and all things being equal, they would be a girl and a boy. We would live in some great unspecified city, and there may have even been a white picket fence involved (although I'm not sure that jives with the city part of my dream). My husband would be a wonderful man.

Flash forward 30 years: I actually do pick up my husband's suits and shirts from the cleaners, and as it turns out, he's a pretty wonderful man. What makes him so wonderful isn't how great he looks in his perfectly pressed shirts, but that he accepts me just as I am. His deep affection for me, his endless desire for my happiness, and thinking I'm beautiful when I feel the least beautiful. What makes him so wonderful is that he influences my own thoughts about myself in a more positive direction. He always says, "You're the best". After you've heard that a few times (well, for me it was a few million times), you find that.....you agree. Now, whenever he says that, in my heart I answer, "Thank you....I think I am too."

As I sit here in bed going over all of today's events, thoughts of my son, Griffin, keep coming to me. Everyone who knows him, or just meets him for the first time, are so taken with him. He is consistently the most happy, helpful & thoughtful person I know. Every morning he greets me with the most delightful "hi Mom", and is always willing to give me one of his famous smoochies, even when I haven't brushed my teeth yet! We have such wonderful routines that we do together, and my favorite has to be that he holds my hand as I drive him to school each morning. Then, when we finally arrive at school, it takes him a solid five minutes to start walking to his building, because of the numerous things he does and says before he feels it's ok to go: "Ok, Mom, well, I love you so so much"...."remember, 3:10 on the dot, in fact, be here early".....a few of those smoochies...."ok, well, have a wonderful, spectacular (always in that order) day!" Then on his way to class, he always turns around a few times to wave goodbye. One day I was unable to take him to school, and he was pretty upset. His stepdad drove him that morning, and boy did I ever hear about that when I picked him up from school that day. According to Griffin: "I don't think Mikey can drive me to school anymore because he just pulls up, drops me off and drives away, he doesn't even watch me walk to class". Sigh.....it's so nice to be wanted!

Spending even a few minutes thinking about Griffin, can put me in the most fantastic mood. A smile creeps upon my face, and instantly my spirits are lifted. The wonderful feeling makes me start thinking of other things and people to be grateful for, and before you know it, Griffin's presence is everywhere.

Conversation with my stepdaugher, Isabella, tonight while making dinner (parmesan pork loin, roasted potatoes, bread).

Bella: "You know, you don't have to make a fancy dinner every night for us. Normal families have macaroni and cheese."

Me: "There isn't anything normal about our family."

Bella: "You're right, we're better than normal."

Thank you, Bella for always seeing the good in everyone and every situation. Thank you for always have a kind word to say, and for being so helpful! Mostly, thank you for understanding that it's best to just be who & what you are, which is almost always better than normal.....

I know I'm not the only mom who adores every single thing about her kids, even those, at times, treacherous teen years. Tonight I had such a revelation, as my daughter Devon was eagerly telling me that she is this close getting a job at her favorite health food store. I love that she is so in touch with what resonates within her, that she sought out getting a job at the store she declares she could live in forever, rather than getting a job at any place that would hire her. I love that, out of the box, she's going for what she wants. Now....back to those teen years. Don't get me wrong, she has her moments, but I admire her when she sends me a note saying she's glad we have the capacity to work things out. I love that she wants to talk to me about things and doesn't cringe that I want to be a part of her life. Did I mention that she's 15?

Moment of awareness for today: it's really ok to not feel like you have to hold your kids' hands through every single one of life's big or little experiences, or to interfere with "Mom will make everything work out for you". If we as parents learn to trust them to listen to their own voices more often, we'll see they really can figure it out.