Like most everyone else in the country, I am so ready to be done with winter and am looking forward to spring. Especially after a Saturday such as we just had. On this Saturday, during a family gathering, the weather was perfect enough for us to sit outside on the deck, enjoying company, celebrating milestones and warm weather along with laughter and good conversation.

Sunday, however, brought cooler temperatures and rain. I'll be honest, on Sunday I was glad for the excuse to stay inside. The Craftsman and I worked on a home improvement project that I came up with back in October.  Up until this point we've either had other obligations or, for two weekends, the weather was nice enough to concentrate on outside tasks.

I'm so blessed with a wonderful house and, rare in this area, a bit of land. That means yard work. A lot of yard work.

That means balancing life, with all of its obligations and indulgences, with the writing life.

This is an exciting time for me. After all the years of work and angst over whether or not to continue on this path, I'm approaching the release date for my first book. But with that excitement comes obligation and committment. There's the edits for this first book, another book to plan and write, exercise, social media postings and promotional tasks. A quilt to complete. Throw in all the domestic chores that go hand in hand with maintaining a home and the hours fill up quickly.

How do you manage to handle obligations with relaxation?