All Work, No Play?

We ran away from home on Sunday.

Both my husband and I worked non stop last week. I was trying to catch up in my Fortress Of Literature. That's what my son calls my attic office. My husband worked a bunch of overtime.

Sunday was his only day off and he still has some winterizing to do, wrapping taps and tying trees. It's been a remarkably warm November. Normally we have snow by now, so that outside work really, really needs to be done. He's playing chicken with the weather, he really is.

Me, I'm always on deadline and I have about a million emails I have to answer so I couldn't really afford a day off.

He did have Monday booked off, but that was because he had to drive three hours for a specialist appointment. Small town is wonderful until you really need something, like carpal tunnel surgery. Then you're feeling the distance to civilization.

You also feel it when you want to see a new, big screen movie. Everyone was raving about The Arrival and our little theatre is usually a few weeks behind.

So there we were, drinking coffee Sunday morning, talking about all the things we had to get done, and somehow decided to play hooky from all of it. (We did manage to take out the garbage, since it was garbage day.) Then we left a day early for his appointment, got a hotel, saw the movie (which was wonderful and thought provoking and poignantly beautiful), then saw his doctor and drove home in the sunshine, rejuvenated and not feeling the least bit guilty.

Now I'm back at my desk and my eyes are crossing at my To Do list, but sometimes you have to make hay while the sun shines, right? Also, it's been my goal for a long while to find a better work/life balance. Having fun with loved ones keeps your relationships strong.

Face-time (the real kind) is also how you build a relationship, which is what Nicki does when she helps Quincy connect with his son, Atlas, in His Christmas Miracle. She designs an Advent calendar of activities they all do together. One reviewer on Netgalley said:

"His Christmas Miracle is such a loving, family romance. Sound strange? Not really. This isn’t about a man and a woman falling in love. This story is all about falling in love with a family. Father and son. Man and woman. Woman and child. Family love."

I hope you'll check it out. There's even a link to download your own Advent calendar included in the back of the book.

ON SALE!

Also look for Blame The Mistletoe, Book Two in my Love In Montana series, on sale for a few more days at 99c. (All of my books can be read as stand-alones, but you'll visit with Liz from Blame The Mistletoe in His Christmas Miracle.)

How do you like to spend time with friends and family? Have you had any fun, impulsive getaways lately? Even for an hour?



Bio:

Dani Collins is the USA Today Bestselling author of thirty romances for Harlequin Presents, Montana Born and herself. She lives in Canada with her high school sweetheart. Join Dani's newsletter list and receive Cruel Summer, a short ebook romance, as a welcome gift. Sign up here.