I am an early riser by nature; even without an alarm clock set I normally wake up around 5:15 each morning. This, of course, serves me well on workdays. I can ease into my morning without the blaring racket of an alarm shocking me awake.
On Saturdays, however, this leaves me with a small issue (not a BAD issue, mind you, but an issue). I'm an apartment dweller, and I try to be a considerate neighbor. This means I don't want to do laundry or run the vacuum or do anything particularly noisy very early in the morning because I'm sure that either the neighbors below me or above me could be disturbed by this. (Holy cow, how many words ARE there in that last sentence? *LOL*)
So, I usually find myself in my recliner with a cup of coffee, the netbook, and some knitting in the early hours on Saturday. Today is a particularly peaceful morning for me because I chose not to turn on the television set as yet. I have my beloved Zune hanging around my neck in its little handknit pouch listening to James Horner tunes (currently playing is "Coming Home" from "The Perfect Storm"). I adore James Horner. You might think you don't know who I'm talking about, but if you've seen "The Perfect Storm", "Legends of the Fall", "Braveheart", "Field of Dreams", "Glory", "Apollo 13", "Titanic", or one of several other high-grossing films, you've heard his brilliant work.
I have many things to accomplish today and will be starting what I not-so-lovingly refer to as "household drudgery" very soon. But for the moment I'm listening to "The Ludlows" from "Legends of the Fall", sipping French roast coffee, and finishing this blog post with a slight contended smile on my face.
Happy Saturday, everyone!
Showing posts with label Zune. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zune. Show all posts
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Sunday, August 07, 2011
A "Normal" Weekend
Who would ever think that I'd be grateful for a Saturday spent chasing dust bunnies? I have to admit it was nice to have a more normal day than I've had for awhile.
I won't say I finished my housework (is it EVER really finished??), but I did put a pretty good dent in it before my energy ran out. :-) I went about my work at a steady pace, taking a brief break from time to time, listening to The Green Mile on my Zune to ward off boredom. Is it weird that I find rereading Stephen King novels relaxing? Speaking of which, I'm rereading The Stand in hardcover as part of an online book club at Crazy Aunt Purl's website. (If you've never read her blog, you might find it fun.)
I love listening to audiobooks while performing tasks that don't require me to think. And let's face it, housework doesn't require much thinking. Had I ever told you that I never buy audiobooks? I check them out from the local library via the internet. For free. I don't even have to leave the apartment to do it! If you've never looked into this, check the website of your local library to see if they participate in the R.E.A.D.S. program. If you happen to live in my little corner of the world, here's a link to the Bristol Public Library's webpage for this wonderful program: http://www.bristol-library.org/resources/ebooks-audiobooks.
I use it only for audiobooks because the ebooks offered are not compatible with my Kindle. My guess is that there's probably a way to convert them to make them compatible, but I already have tons of reading material on my Kindle so I've not looked into that. As for the audiobooks, there's a large selection. If the particular book you want is currently checked out, you can reserve it, and the program will send you an e-mail to let you know when the book is available. You can check them out for up to 14 days, and can check out several at one time. I usually check out only two at a time, just so that I can be sure I'll finish them up before the end of my checkout period.
If you've never listened to audiobooks before, you'll find that some readers are better than others. On occasion I've given up on a book because I didn't care for the reader. That's rare, though. They're usually quite talented and make the book an interesting experience.
Audiobooks will never replace reading for me; I've read as long as I can remember and it's always a relaxing experience for me. And as much as I love my Kindle, I still love holding a hardcover book in my hands, the smell of the paper, the calming effect of turning the pages. That was always my favorite thing about the beginning of the school year as a child: getting our new textbooks, hearing the slight crackle of the glue in the bindings as the fresh pages were turned for the first time.
But I digress. As usual. *LOL*
Back to my "normal" weekend. On the agenda for today: not a lot. I have just a couple of small tasks to finish up, then I'm going to go spend what I hope will be a restful afternoon with Mom and Dad. I'll take along some knitting (I'm finishing up a few Christmas projects) and Mom will have a pot of her delicious coffee waiting, as always. As I'm finishing this post, I hear a gentle rain beginning to fall outside. A restful, rainy Sunday....sounds like a great afternoon to me! Have a great weekend, everyone!
I won't say I finished my housework (is it EVER really finished??), but I did put a pretty good dent in it before my energy ran out. :-) I went about my work at a steady pace, taking a brief break from time to time, listening to The Green Mile on my Zune to ward off boredom. Is it weird that I find rereading Stephen King novels relaxing? Speaking of which, I'm rereading The Stand in hardcover as part of an online book club at Crazy Aunt Purl's website. (If you've never read her blog, you might find it fun.)
I love listening to audiobooks while performing tasks that don't require me to think. And let's face it, housework doesn't require much thinking. Had I ever told you that I never buy audiobooks? I check them out from the local library via the internet. For free. I don't even have to leave the apartment to do it! If you've never looked into this, check the website of your local library to see if they participate in the R.E.A.D.S. program. If you happen to live in my little corner of the world, here's a link to the Bristol Public Library's webpage for this wonderful program: http://www.bristol-library.org/resources/ebooks-audiobooks.
I use it only for audiobooks because the ebooks offered are not compatible with my Kindle. My guess is that there's probably a way to convert them to make them compatible, but I already have tons of reading material on my Kindle so I've not looked into that. As for the audiobooks, there's a large selection. If the particular book you want is currently checked out, you can reserve it, and the program will send you an e-mail to let you know when the book is available. You can check them out for up to 14 days, and can check out several at one time. I usually check out only two at a time, just so that I can be sure I'll finish them up before the end of my checkout period.
If you've never listened to audiobooks before, you'll find that some readers are better than others. On occasion I've given up on a book because I didn't care for the reader. That's rare, though. They're usually quite talented and make the book an interesting experience.
Audiobooks will never replace reading for me; I've read as long as I can remember and it's always a relaxing experience for me. And as much as I love my Kindle, I still love holding a hardcover book in my hands, the smell of the paper, the calming effect of turning the pages. That was always my favorite thing about the beginning of the school year as a child: getting our new textbooks, hearing the slight crackle of the glue in the bindings as the fresh pages were turned for the first time.
But I digress. As usual. *LOL*
Back to my "normal" weekend. On the agenda for today: not a lot. I have just a couple of small tasks to finish up, then I'm going to go spend what I hope will be a restful afternoon with Mom and Dad. I'll take along some knitting (I'm finishing up a few Christmas projects) and Mom will have a pot of her delicious coffee waiting, as always. As I'm finishing this post, I hear a gentle rain beginning to fall outside. A restful, rainy Sunday....sounds like a great afternoon to me! Have a great weekend, everyone!
Saturday, September 05, 2009
What a Week!
Boy, am I glad this week's over. There was lots to do at work, and I just couldn't get my pain under good control this week. But now it's the weekend (YAY!) and a long weekend to boot.
Labor Day weekend, of course, has long been considered the unofficial end of summer. To be perfectly honest, my summer has been the pits, and I'm not all that broken up to see it go!!
Warning to Readers: This paragraph contains massive amounts of whining and complaining. If you do not wish to hear me whine and complain, feel free to skip this paragraph. *LOL* I'm tired of feeling too bad to go camping. I miss waking up in my tent on a Saturday morning with MeggieDog curled up asleep behind my knees. I miss hearing the birds chirping as I'm wrapped up warm and cozy in my sleeping bag, waking up slowly and watching daylight slowly light up the top of my tent. If I hadn't had knitting to occupy myself this summer, I don't know what I'd have done! End of whining and complaining rant.
And so, on this lovely Saturday morning I'm taking a break from household drudgery to updated my blogs. Had I mentioned before that I've started a blog devoted to my knitting? I'm going to place a link on this blog to the knitting blog, which you can find at Cricket Knits a Bit. I'm not a great knitter, but I certainly enjoy it!
I went to this season's first rehearsal of the Madrigal Singers last Tuesday evening. I guess it's not really the Madrigals this year, because we've invited many other singers to come join us. The plan is to do only one Madrigal concert this year at the Arts Depot. Our "big" concert this year is going to be selections from Handel's "Messiah". Oh, boy, I'd really forgotten how beautiful it is! It's going to be a lot of work, but should be a lot of fun, too.
I'm probably (hopefully) going to have surgery at some point during the rehearsal period, but we've been provided with some wonderful instructional CDs which should be a lot of help. Even if I'm unable to attend a rehearsal, I should be able to work on the music at home. I plan to load the sections we're going to work on onto my Zune so they'll be available to me away from home if I need them.
Have I mentioned how much I love my Zune? I enjoy downloading audiobooks from my local library onto my Zune. That way I can "read" while I do my housework or knit. Sometimes I listen to music or podcasts, too, but audiobooks are what I enjoy most right now. I can borrow them from my library for 14 days and can download them directly from the internet. I don't even have to go to the library!! How great is that?
Ah, household chores are calling.....busy times, busy times.
Labor Day weekend, of course, has long been considered the unofficial end of summer. To be perfectly honest, my summer has been the pits, and I'm not all that broken up to see it go!!
Warning to Readers: This paragraph contains massive amounts of whining and complaining. If you do not wish to hear me whine and complain, feel free to skip this paragraph. *LOL* I'm tired of feeling too bad to go camping. I miss waking up in my tent on a Saturday morning with MeggieDog curled up asleep behind my knees. I miss hearing the birds chirping as I'm wrapped up warm and cozy in my sleeping bag, waking up slowly and watching daylight slowly light up the top of my tent. If I hadn't had knitting to occupy myself this summer, I don't know what I'd have done! End of whining and complaining rant.
And so, on this lovely Saturday morning I'm taking a break from household drudgery to updated my blogs. Had I mentioned before that I've started a blog devoted to my knitting? I'm going to place a link on this blog to the knitting blog, which you can find at Cricket Knits a Bit. I'm not a great knitter, but I certainly enjoy it!
I went to this season's first rehearsal of the Madrigal Singers last Tuesday evening. I guess it's not really the Madrigals this year, because we've invited many other singers to come join us. The plan is to do only one Madrigal concert this year at the Arts Depot. Our "big" concert this year is going to be selections from Handel's "Messiah". Oh, boy, I'd really forgotten how beautiful it is! It's going to be a lot of work, but should be a lot of fun, too.
I'm probably (hopefully) going to have surgery at some point during the rehearsal period, but we've been provided with some wonderful instructional CDs which should be a lot of help. Even if I'm unable to attend a rehearsal, I should be able to work on the music at home. I plan to load the sections we're going to work on onto my Zune so they'll be available to me away from home if I need them.
Have I mentioned how much I love my Zune? I enjoy downloading audiobooks from my local library onto my Zune. That way I can "read" while I do my housework or knit. Sometimes I listen to music or podcasts, too, but audiobooks are what I enjoy most right now. I can borrow them from my library for 14 days and can download them directly from the internet. I don't even have to go to the library!! How great is that?
Ah, household chores are calling.....busy times, busy times.
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