By Kathy Dunnehoff

I’m happy to say that a topic like “the best gift ever” is a tough one for me because over the course of my life, I’ve been given many wonderful things. Some were as small as my favorite tea from my daughters to an engagement ring one Christmas Eve from the man I’ve now been happily married to for 20 years.

But in choosing, I’m going to have to go with a present that wasn’t entirely intended for me…

Yes, this Christmas my husband and I bought a puppy for our daughters, Ava and Grace. They’d been begging for a dog throughout their childhoods, and since they’re both in high school, we knew it was now or never.

We brought home a six-week-old Yorkie named Tally. It was November and right in the middle of National Novel Writing Month, so I don’t know how I managed to finish the first 50,000 words of my new novel, The Rocker’s Mrs., but I did!

I knew the girls would be crazy about the dog, and they are, but what I failed to appreciate is that I would fall head over heels in love with her!

Evidence that this is the best gift ever (and that I have completely lost my mind):

1. On my phone’s homescreen I’ve replaced my beautiful daughters with the dog.
2. I show complete strangers the photo.
3. I’m entirely convinced she’s the cutest, smartest puppy in the world. (Even though she’s chewed my leather chair and still wakes up in the night to be taken out into the freezing cold)
4. I buy her toys every time I go to the store.
5. And, yes, I picked up a reindeer costume as well…

6. But the main reason she’s the best gift ever… while it’s difficult in the everyday whir of life to stop and smell the roses, it’s easy to stop and play with the puppy.

Thank you for that, Tally!

And if you’re an ebook reader, Plan On It, is on sale 99cents today for the Kindle Daily Countdown. Just click on the cover…