My flight to Seattle sucked.

My time in Seattle was illuminating and, from an intellectual point of view, exceedingly stimulating and fun... but the schedule permitted no yoga with David G and one lousy chaotic practice at the health club in the hotel (where every chatarunga left me face to face with the afterslime of a kids Valentine's Day party). I got home early this morning and then knew I couldn't go to bed until I had fulfilled my duties as a parent. The same parent who, two years ago, promised The Daughter that forever and ever, when she woke up on Valentine's Day morning, she'd have a present from me. She still remembers that conversation and she still reminds me of it every year with the wistful smile and gleam of childhood magic in her eyes.

This is the same look that every parent bends over backwards for. And for good reason.

So begins the next month of chaos, hotels and airplanes.

- Mammoth

- Palo Alto (anyone know how early the doors open at Yoga Is Youth? I find a lot of traditional studios have the published start time but an earlier true start time)

- Home for a day (might as well add that as a trip)

- Napa Valley (for my first time ever and to celebrate our 12th anniversary or is it 13)

- Redmond

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I have to mention one more train of thought. I was up in Seattle for a developer event. An event like this is a small group of people who specialize in one fragment of the technology available to engineer business process today. Last year for this same event, I was the only female with the exception of two internal marketing individuals from the mothership. I was really happy to see that this year there were 3 of us in the technical audience.

This afternoon, however, I had my professional ego handed to me on a plate. It has sorta tripped me up ever since.