Wednesday, May 27, 2009

The Joy of Audiobooks

My newest stress-reliever has turned out to be knitting. I can be wound up like a clock spring when I get home from work, but within minutes of picking up my knitting I can feel the stress drifting away.

The only downside of knitting is that I found it difficult to watch television while knitting unless I happened to be watching something I'd already seen which didn't require much attention. I commented to a friend at work that I really needed to look into a way to purchase or rent audiobooks without investing a fortune. She said, "Have you checked the library?"

Lo and behold, when I went on the website of my local library, they not only have audiobooks, but they have a program by which I can check them out on the internet and download them directly to my computer at home. I don't even have to go to the library!

I've been listening to them on a little Sansa Express that I've had for a good while. But I've been using it so much lately that the navigation button has stopped working properly. I can't complain though....I only paid $20 for it when I bought it, and I've certainly got my money's worth out of it!

Because I'm enjoying the audiobooks so much I finally had justification to invest in a decent player. So, I've ordered a Zune; it's supposed to ship from Amazon tomorrow and I'm really anxious to get it. I just love new toys. :-)

These are the audiobooks I've listened to recently:
  1. Patricia Cornwell's "Cause of Death" - one of the Kay Scarpetta series that I'd managed to miss somehow.
  2. James Patterson's "1st to Die" - the first of the Women's Murder Club Series.
  3. James Patterson's "You've Been Warned" - I listened to this one while waiting for "1st to Die" to become available.
  4. Olive Ann Burns' "Cold Sassy Tree" - I love books based in the South; it's like listening to family. :-)
  5. Shelby Foote's "The Civil War - Part 1" - I'll have to check this one out several times to get through it because it's so long, but I know it will be worth it.

There are lots of wonderful audiobooks available, so I'm sure I'll work my way through plenty of them while knitting away.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Back to Work....*drudge, drudge*

How was your Memorial Weekend? Mine was good, all in all. I'd bought a family pass to Bays Mountain Park with some of my Charter points, so Mom, Dad and I spent Friday afternoon there. The weather was good, not too hot, not too cool, and the newly refurbished Planetarium was really great. The only thing we missed doing was the barge ride. Even though we arrived an hour and a half before the ride, it had already been sold out for a hour by the time we got there. Drat. Oh, well, another day.

Saturday was spent doing a few things at home; unfortunately, Sunday was spent in bed with a migraine. *ick* Luckily, it was all gone by Monday morning, and I visited with Mom and Dad for a bit and ran some errands.

Off and on through the weekend I got in a little more knitting on my sweater. I think I'm getting pretty close to the second "try on" stage, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'm still on track.

I had to go back to work this morning, and I have to admit I grumbled a little when it came time to get out of bed. I've enjoyed those mornings off when even though I still awaken early I knew I didn't have to hit the floor running. Oh well....the weekend will be back before long. :-)

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Delinquent Blogger....That's Me

I haven't INTENDED to neglect my blog, honest....but I'm still having occasional issues with the tendonitis in my leg which makes it difficult to sit at the home computer for more than just a few minutes at a time.

I had a project that was going to require several hours at the computer, and I was really beginning to wonder what I was going to do. Then it dawned on me that I have a wireless mouse and keyboard, so I was able to prop up in bed with pillows and make myself all comfy while working away on the project. What a relief!

Daddy's still battling tendonitis, too, and Mom is still recovering from her dental surgery. She's healing, but still too sore to chew "real food". We've all just kind of fallen apart all at once....*L* Hopefully things will improve soon.

I, myself, am happy that I have a four-day weekend....if my leg didn't hurt, I'd dance with joy! *LOL* I'm working four 10-hour days (every Friday off) for the summer, and Monday is Memorial Day. Ah, the unofficial start of SUMMER!

I've not been camping yet....sure hope that changes soon. I need a few days in the woods.

I've been knitting, and have a couple of pairs of socks on needles in various stages of completion. I've started working on a sweater and have knit about 7 inches on that as well. I just love relaxing and listening to the quiet "click, click" of the knitting needles as I work. Meggie likes for me to knit, too, because she knows that if I sit down with yarn and needles I'll be sitting STILL for awhile and she can catch some uninterruped nap time in my lap. *LOL*

Speaking of knitting, I think I'll close for now and work some more on my sweater while I watch the final two hours of "24". (I TiVo'd it Monday and haven't watched it yet.) Whether or not I bother to tune in next season will depend on how these last 2 hours play out. This season's Grandpa Jack (who's been dealing all season with the effects of being sick due to exposure to a bioweapon) has been a bit boring. I miss the old Jack Bauer who shot people in the thigh to make them talk and who muttered that immortal line, "I'm gonna need a hacksaw." *ROTFL*

Monday, May 04, 2009

Catch-Up Time

I've fallen way behind on my blog posting, so I'll try to catch up now. The much-anticipated camping trip has had to be postponed. Mom is going to have dental surgery, and wouldn't you know it? They scheduled it for Monday, May 11....the first day we were supposed to be camping. Oh well. There's a lot of good camping time left this summer.

Mom was scheduled to have her remaining teeth pulled and get a lower plate last week, but the dentist who was scheduled to do the work found that she has some deterioration of her jawbone (apparently due to Boniva....*grrrrrrrrrrr*) and said the extractions would have to be done by a dental surgeon for safety's sake. I swear, you just don't know what damage you can be doing to yourself by taking medication anymore.

Daddy and I have both been suffering some with apparent tendonitis. His is in his neck, mine is in the back of my right thigh. It was so bad yesterday that I had to cancel plans with friends because I couldn't stay on my feet long enough to get my clothes changed. I don't mind getting older, but I do mind FEELING older. I felt so bad yesterday that I couldn't even knit. And as much as I've knitted lately, that's BAD.

It's been raining a lot over the past few days, and that certainly hasn't helped any.

Kris and Louise have bought a house (hooray!) and are in the process of moving. While I don't envy them all the work and tension involved in moving, I'm very, VERY happy for their new homeowner status. So exciting! I can hardly wait to see pictures.

Well, lunch break's nearly over, so I'll close. I'm going to switch from ibuprofen to naproxen (Motrin to Aleve) to see if that helps my leg any more. If I don't get some relief soon, I'll have to break down and go to the doctor. Yuck.