Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Hello, My Name Is Kristin...

It is not heroin or cocaine that makes one an addict, it is the need to escape from a harsh reality. ~ Shirley Chisholm

In addition to my blog-writing addiction, I have developed a new "escape from (my) harsh reality". I was first introduced to this new addiction on my trip to Vegas....ok, sounds MUCH worse than it actually is! In fact, when I reveal what this addiction is, it is probably going to make Ethel and I sound like complete and utter nerds. On one of our flights Ethel had a puzzle book filled with grids containing numbers. In each row the numbers 1-9 can only appear once. In each column the numbers 1-9 can only appear once. AND in each of the 9 sets of 9 small boxes, the numbers 1-9 can only appear once. Welcome to the world of Sudoku! I watched Ethel work these puzzles like a fiend...erasing and writing, erasing and writing, erasing and writing. I was interested, but not enough to break down and do one. I was content with the Mary Higgins Clark in which I was engrossed (no, not mentioning the title since I don't want to embarass myself by the fact that the book is probably old and was read by everyone else ages ago...two words: GRAD SCHOOL! hey, give me a break...I haven't mentioned it in a bit!!). When Hubby came home last week, he had a newspaper crossword that he'd been solving. I picked it up and happened to flip it over. Lo and behold: a Sudoku puzzle! I thought I'd give it a shot. Well, after writing and erasing, and erasing and writing to the point that I had worn a hole in the paper, I decided to check one out on the Internet. MISTAKE! I found this spectacular site with millions (literally!) of puzzles on a variety of levels (easy, medium, hard, and evil). I have the option of working these puzzles online (saving the erasers on my pencils) or printing them out. Not only have I spent time each day working one (or more) of these puzzles, I have also shown Daughter how to do them. She now works one a day as well. My "drug" of choice is the evil (pronounced E - vil). I must admit, though, that I do at times cheat by clicking on the "How am I doing?" button on the page. But hey, I am a neophyte....I'll work my way up to avoiding the EASY button like those office freaks on those ads...Staples, is it?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

heh heh heh heh - I'll have to get the name of that site from you so I can give my children back all of their school pencils (after I buy those big triangle replacement erasers, of course! Lol, your enabler :)

Suzie said...

I have tried to get addicted to those things but I don't have the patience, or maybe, the brain power. I'll stick to crosswords.