O is for

OFF the needles



and ON the floor.

N is for

For the past two weeks, I've been muttering, "Nothing new till this is finished."



Don't get me wrong! I love the yarn, the shawl and the knitting. But. . . I'm ready for something new.

What will be next on the needles? No idea--but, I do have a notion of what it might be. . . .

D'oh!

So in my last post, I whined about how I can't knit and read at the same time.

Then the brilliant Devorah commented, "There are always audiobooks..."

Imagine head-thwack sound!

OF COURSE! I even have three audiobooks on my ipod! I'd totally forgotten how much I enjoy knitting while listening to an audiobook.

Watching TV, I'm easily distracted by the screen. Gotta see what's going on. Must pay attention to the Yankees at bat. Plus I have to keep an eye on my knitting. More often than not, the knitting gets set aside.

Just listening to music while knitting tends to make me daydream and sleepy. And before I know it, I'm frogging.

But with an audiobook, I'm immersed in and attentive to the story AND I can watch the knitting.

Problem solved! Chapters and knitting flow.

Summer Reading

I was always a dreamy sort of kid. In the summer, I did the kid stuff--played kickball, dressed Barbies, climbed trees-- but my favorite thing was to sit in the backyard and lose myself in a book.

A few times a week, I'd bike over to the library and check out several books. There were even times when I'd go there everyday! My favorites? Hard to say since I'd read just about anything. However, I tended focus in on a genre or author. Biographies held my interest for several summers. Then there was the Little House summer.

As an adult, I don't read as much as I'd like. Responsibilities, distractions--life in general get in the way. But, the summer comes and all I want to do is read, read, read!

Since I was a teacher, I could indulge in summer reading. And even though I'm now retired and my time is more flexible, there's still that magical pull of summer reading.

During the year, I average about two to four books a month. Since late May, I've been averaging two books a week!

I still focus in on authors. Somehow I missed Girl with a Pearl Earring when it came out. Since reading it in June, I'm now reading all of Tracy Chevalier's books. Carl Hiaasen--another writer who I knew of, but never read. Well, I've read three of his books this summer so far. And I just can't read enough of Raymond Carver!

With all this reading, something has to suffer. Unfortunately, it's been knitting time. I haven't mastered being able to read and knit--yet. But, I think it's something I should work on!

M is for

Mah Jongg.

I'm not talking about online Mah Jongg Solataire.

American Mah Jongg is the game for me!





Once a week I play with the nicest women. We chat. We laugh. We nosh.



I love how beautiful the tiles are.



I love the lingo of Mah Jongg. The no-dancing-required Charleston. Crak, bam, dot. Pungs and Kongs.



I love how white dragons are called soaps



And the jokers! How much do I love the jokers?!



But, most of all, I love to win!