Back to Work

Last month pretty much put a stop to my plans and routine, but I'm going to try getting back into the swing of things this month, slowly. And I'll start getting my things in order for the next signing (and last for this year) event on my calendar, the Books Books Books event in Lancaster, PA on September 27! I attended last year as a reader, and I couldn't be more excited this year to be attending as a signing author. The venue is wonderful, with easy access, and there are going to be so many awesome authors there!

You might think a long holiday weekend would be a good time to work on the to-do list, but you might be wrong. The last load of laundry is in the dryer, however. I've also done more cooking in the last three days than in at least the last three weeks, though part of that was prep for yesterday's delayed birthday dinner for youngest son. I put a big batch of mac & cheese in the crockpot yesterday for that, and just a little while ago, took a casserole of it from the oven so we have some here as well. The only thing I actually still have to do for today's dinner is to either cook burgers or sausage for hubby. Today's blog post is the last regular weekly item on today's list, and then I have a box of photos waiting for scanning.

The photo scanning has been on my project list for a while (when I started on the basement two summers ago!), and since I needed to find some photos of my sister before last week's memorial, I did a quick dig and scan, but now feels like a good time to get started on the real project. I've already sorted through two albums of my own photos, and then have another one to go, then hubby's five albums, and then three more of ours together. The harder part of the project will be sorting and organizing my aunt's and grandparents' photos before they can be scanned, and there are a lot of them--I mean, there is a giant cardboard box filled with my grandparents', and then two totes more between them and my aunt's. Right now, I'm figuring on a couple hours of scanning a week to get through our photos before I start on that part. It's a long-term project, haha. But then I can share the digitized pics with my family, including my nieces. I already have photos from my mom's collection to share with them, just have to grab some new flash drives and then I can send those.

Before I get to the photo scanning on today's list, I'm back to a story snippet for you. This week, it's from Freeing Medusa.

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            Katharine had had enough. Her skin tingled with need again, and her heart beat too fast. But she hadn’t seen any likely candidates–even a desperate Medusa had standards.

            Which meant it was time to go home and break out a couple more vibrators to appease her overactive hormones. Dammit. 

            She took another sip from her glass, smiling at Ramona from her post on the deck. Her friend danced with someone she’d greeted enthusiastically half an hour ago. She hated to interrupt, but it was time to go home.

            Katharine sighed and shifted her shoulders, trying to loosen the tight muscles there. She turned her gaze over the crowd one last time, and her breath caught in her chest. Him.

            He was gorgeous, in a rugged sort of way. His nose had been broken at least once, a dimple dented his chin, and he had the brightest blue eyes she’d ever seen, black hair dipping over one of them. His green shirt stretched taut over strong shoulders and a wide chest, then tucked into a pair of jeans that fit nicely on narrow hips.

            Her heartbeat quickened in anticipation.

            Then he glanced away from his conversation with a shorter man and caught her eye. A slow smile curved his mouth as his gaze slid down the front of her, making her skin heat, then back up, lingering on her mouth.

            Her lips tingled hopefully.

            She took a drink from the cup she held. Whatever frozen thing Ramona had given her was melting and slushy, but she still tasted the bite of alcohol as it hit her tongue.

            He moved away from the couple he was with, toward her, and her temperature rose a few more degrees. His long-legged stride was confident and unhurried.

            No, damn him, he made her wait, pausing once to greet someone along the way.

            She tightened her grip on the stem of the plastic cup and took a quick breath.

            He finally stopped about two feet away, and she got a whiff of cologne, something musky that made her mouth water.

            Her nipples tightened inside her vest.

            “Hi.” His low tone raised goosebumps on her arms despite the warm evening.

            “Hi.” She put out her right hand. “I’m Katharine Vardos.”

            He smiled again, a slow curve of his lips that made heat spread in her belly, from the inside out, until her panties were damp when she shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

            He finally wrapped his long, strong fingers around hers. “Hunter Phelps. Nice to meet you.”

            Heat shot up her arm from where he held her hand, rising into her face. “Are you a friend of Ramona’s?” She left her hand in his, her brain already imagining his long fingers elsewhere on her body. The mental images made her breathing quicken.

            He shook his head, his thumb sliding across the back of her hand. “My buddy Lance is.” His bright gaze dropped to her mouth again.

            She inhaled slowly. “Are you a dancer, Hunter?” Blue eyes she could drown in, she thought when he met her gaze once more.

            “Occasionally,” he said, tightening his hold on her hand. “Was that an invitation?”

            “Yes.” Oh, please let him say yes, she thought.

            He set his barely-touched beer bottle on the deck railing, then took her cup and set it aside, too. “Let’s go.”

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Has anyone else tried to organize and digitize family photos? Do you have any tips on the DIY of this? I'd love to hear them.

Until next week, happy reading!