A few years into our marriage, my husband and I discovered we really enjoy working on small projects together. Neither of us is handy or crafty, but we always have a lot of fun figuring things out. In fact, I think it’s because neither one of us is great at what we’re doing that we enjoy the process. He’s a research scientist, I’m a writer, and our approach to projects is completely different. But somehow we get things done. It’s so easy to get caught up in routines and to stop thinking about the teamwork that goes into making our lives work... But when we work on something new together, we’re once again humbled, appreciative, and amused by the other’s thought process. It makes our relationship feel like our projects; something old made new again. Here are before and after pics of a small project we completed a few years ago. The previous owners of our house left a rotted, rusty bench behind. We used some wood that was also left behind and then cut, sanded, painted, and put it all together. Our recycled bench was far from perfect, but we had a lot of fun working on it. For the few years it lasted, whenever we sat on it together, we felt close in more ways than one. When it fell apart right under us last spring, we got another good laugh out of it. The project was worth the memories.  In my new book, Perfect Paige, the hero and heroine are also complete opposites. At first, they can’t stand each other. But when they find they have no choice but to work together to keep Paige’s ex-husband out of jail, they learn they make a great team in more ways than one. And because giving new life to old things is a favorite theme of mine, in the end, the answers they’re looking for will be found with the help of ghosts from the pasts and inside something old made new again.