When You Know You're a Geek

I'm going to be honest--I've been an avid reader my entire life. My mom often jokes about me not going in the car without pen, paper, and a book to read. Fortunately, I have never suffered from motion sickness, so I am reading pretty much wherever I am. I didn't realize until high school that not everyone reads for fun. I mean, in my mind, they were totally missing out. I remember recommending books to friends who probably just smiled and nodded out of kindness, not because they really wanted to read them! Fortunately, in college and in my adult life, I have surrounded myself with people who love to read and challenge themselves (ahemm.. Cory). 

But now, I think I've gone to a new geeky level. I have a new hobby that I'm just as excited about and it's just as geeky.

Yep. I have an unofficial goal of being a phenomenal crossword puzzler. 

Cory and I subscribe to two newspapers on Sundays: The New York Times and The Washington Post. A few months ago, Cory and I tried to tackle a Sunday NYT crossword puzzle and it was one of the most humbling experiences of my life (the Sunday crossword is always the most challenging puzzle of the week). Will Shortz, crossword puzzle creator for the NYT is world renowned for his complicated, man-designed puzzles. Now, just because I couldn't hold my own on a Sunday NYT puzzle doesn't mean I was going to give up all together. Oh no.

To remedy the situation and build my confidence, I picked up this collection from Barnes and Nobel.

I have no shame in starting with this light and easy collection. It's sort of like starting out with the single crochet stitch. You have to master the easy stuff before you can make your way to the hard stuff!

So far so good. I pick up my collection every now and then when I want to focus on something other than work and stuff at home. Fortunately, this collection is the perfect size for my purse. I carry it with me so Cory and I can complete the puzzles together in the car! Yep. I'm in full geek-out mode over here!

What are you geeking over? Or what have you suddenly latched on to?