Tuesday, June 08, 2010

Do you do it?

WINNER!

Okay, I pulled one out of the hat. And the winner is: Catslady. Email me your mailing address and I'll get you Lori's Wilde's book. You will love it.



Some of us are good at it. Some of us suck. Some of us were born with it in our DNA, and take pills to control it. Some of us teach ourselves to do it, others just refuse to go there. What am I talking about? Multi-tasking.


Now my hubby, he’s a multi-tasker to the max. He normally pays bills, watches a movie, and cleans out the litter box while he does our taxes. Of course it could be worse. He could throw love making in the mix and I’d be upset. Hey, taxes and sex just do not go together. Well, neither does sex and the litter box. Or as my hubby would remind me, neither does sex and talking to your parents on the phone. In my defense, that’s not a multi-tasking problem, I just have an issue about not answering the phone. Oh please, don’t pretend as if it hasn’t ever happened to you guys!


Our lives have become so busy that multi-tasking is often considered the norm. We almost have to do it to keep up, but there are some lines that shouldn’t be crossed, right? How about putting on make-up while doing 65 down the freeway and talking on the phone. I have a friend who does Pilates while buckled up and not speeding.

And then there comes in what is considered the favored pastime for me and most of you: reading. While I would like to think my books encourage you to abandon all chores and forget about sleep, the truth is that life has to go one. Lately I’m seeing people reading and doing a list of other things, some of them I don’t even recommend.

Reading and driving. (Do not try this at home.)


Reading and eating. (Uh Oh! I think she just got to the good part! Don’t choke!


Reading and Cooking. (Boy, I hope she doesn't blame me when she burns dinner.)


Reading and doing housework. (A good book can soften the sting of chores!)


Reading and sleeping. (So it’s a little late!)


Hey, as a busy writer, I can appreciate multi-tasking.


Now, you tell me, what do you do while reading? Come on, share a little. Today, I’m giving away a special prize. One lucky person who leaves a comment will win a hardback copy of Lori Wilde’s book, The Sweethearts’ Knitting Club. By the way, I’ve read the book and highly recommend it.


44 comments:

Refhater said...

I have read while driving, but I was stuck at the red light from hell.

Mostly I read while exercising. I read while walking around the work campus on my lunch hour. I always walk in the same place so I mentally know where everything is and can watch for oncoming people with peripheral vision.

krisgils33 said...

What a funny blog! Is that you on the toilet?....nice panties!!!

I do many things while reading, cleaning is NOT one of them (because I don't clean) and I try really, really hard to not read while driving. Sometimes I fail at that one.

It seems the older I get, the more difficult multi-tasking becomes....I have a tendency to forget what I was doing.

BTW, I read "Shut Up and Kiss Me" (pretty much the second I pulled it out of the envelope) and it was really good.

Please don't include me in the contest. I have and have read "Sweethearts Knitting Club" and I have to agree that it is good.

Anonymous said...

Oh, Christie, those photos are hysterical! LOL. I've never read while doing housework, cooking or driving. (I have tried to write while driving and ended up driving the wrong way. lol.)

I have read while eating and while taking a bath, especially if the book was so good I couldn't put it down.

Love Lori's book, too. She's a fabulous author and should be on everyone's reading list!

Faye

Christie Craig said...

Refhater,

I have a lot of readers who tell they read while exercising. It's a good way to make the time go by.

If you can read while walking you are pretty good. I'm sure I'd run over someone. LOL.

Thanks for stopping in.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Kris,

I wish it was me on the toilet. LOL. Oh, to be skinny. I'm the photographer, not the model. LOL.

As for the models? I kidnap people off the street and force them to pose for me before I'll release them back into the wild. LOL.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Faye,

Warn me when you are driving and reading. I'll stay off the streets. LOL.

Thanks for posting.

CC

Laurie Smith said...

I was once sooo involved in reading my book. I brought it to the dentist office and tried to read it while the dentist drilled on my teeth. The key word is tried, I could only read the book for short spurts of time, and with my mouth numb I think I drooled on my book. yuck So maybe I wouldn't recommend reading while dental work is being done on your mouth. ha ha

Christie Craig said...

Hi Laurie!

Too funny, girl. I can see you drooling in a dentist chair. Thanks so much.

CC

Hellie Sinclair said...

I read while I watch movies or TV. Or when I'm taking a bath (not when I'm taking a shower). I read while I'm *WAITING* for something. Waiting in line, waiting at the doctor's office, waiting in the post office line, et al.

Christie Craig said...

MsHellion,

Reading and showering would be hard. LOL. Reading while waiting is great. I swear it takes forever to at the post office, so I try to always take a book with me when I go.

CC

CrystalGB said...

I watch tv and read at the same time. :)

Christie Craig said...

Crystal,

I sometimes hold a book while I'm watching a show, but I generally only read during commercials. And it's not my favorite way to read. I want to shut off everything else. I write the same way. I don't want any noise when I write.

Thanks for posting.

CC

catslady said...

I can remember reading in the car (before owning a reading light) and getting small sections in at every light lol. I much prefer my solitude reading very late at night and into the early morning hours.

Sandy said...

Reading is me time and it's rare. I'm curled up in my favorite seat, relaxed and reading. lol Never will I multi-task and read.

Working on the computer in my office while fixing dinner is a must or we would never eat. lol

Christie Craig said...

Catslady,

I'm am sooo with you on this. Give me a book, a bed, and hopefully a kitty curled up beside me and I'm in heaven. Okay, add a glass of wine to the picture and life can't get any better.

Thanks for stopping by.

CC

DB said...

Usually when I read I sit down and promise myself a few chapters and I will do the dishes, then read a bit a more and then switch the laundry. But that never happens- glad the kids are old enough to start helping around the house or nothing would get done! I enjoy the thought of reading while on the elliptical, but let's face it a few pages into a good book I like to dedicate my whole self to it and before I know it the machine is beeping telling me to go faster to stay in target range. Nah- I say, I have a book to read.
I have read and eaten, read a cooked (microwave popcorn for dinner anyone?) and read while locked in the mom sanctuary called a hot tub. At this moment I have two fingers typing and the other hand is holding my place in DD and Dating. So -- I am off...
Have a great reading day all!

Christie Craig said...

Sandy,

Do you know how many dinners I've burned because I'm just trying to finish up one more page and then I completely forget about cooking. Ugg.

Thanks so much for stopping by. And oh, congrats again on your book going into print.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Hi DB,

Too funny girl!!! Reading beats exercise any day of the week. I'm tickled you are enjoying Dating. I tried reading on the elliptical and like you, I would find myself more focused on the book and not on burning calories.

Thanks for stopping in.

Terri Osburn said...

I am a master multi-tasker...except while I'm reading. Don't do anything else. No tv, no radio. Just me and a book. That's my relaxing time.

Terri Osburn said...

Forgot to say, reading Shut Up And Kiss Me right now. The beginning is already making me flinch since I'm trying to revise my own work and this is so freaking good. It might have to wait a few weeks. LOL!

Sandy said...

LOL I may not know how many dinners you've burned, CC, but my hubby reminds me of all the dinners I've burned, and he's had to go out to eat.

Leona said...

I am almost embarrassed to say I have done all these things. But as far as I can tell, the one that hasn't been mentioned yet is reading while breast feeding. Although if You're reading one of Christie's books, make sure and cover your mouth when you laugh! I am usually, eating, breastfeeding, watching a movie and reading :D

Fun I can't wait until I can get the new release :D

Christie Craig said...

Hi Terri!

Nothing beats giving your 100% focus to a great book. I love, love it when I can sit and reads for hours without being pulled out of a story. That's why I read at night when the only noise I hear is my hubby's snoring. LOL.

Thanks for dropping by. And I look forward to being at your blog, romancewritersrevenge, next week.

CC

Christie Craig said...

thanks Terri!!!

Just keep on writing girl. Write through all the insecurity and know that we all experience that feeling. And I'm proud of you for getting pages done!! A little birdy told me you are really working.

Go girl, go!!

CC

Christie Craig said...

Sandy,

Well, your hubby is lucky. I just peel off the really charred areas and serve it up. LOL.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Leona,

Okay...that gave me good laugh. I know how time consuming breat feeding can be so it's good you can pass the time. You sould like a huge multi-tasker like my hubby.

Thanks so much for stopping in.

CC

Kristi said...

Christie, I read and cook all the time. I also never watch tv without having a book or laptop in front of me. I read while standing in lines, while I'm eating, etc.

Leona said...

@kristi lol that's how I am about reading and writing. Something is usually happening in my head... Um, don't tell anybody, okay??

Christie Craig said...

Kristi,

I think a lot of readers do all sorts of chores with a book nearby just to get in a few more pages!!!

Thanks so much dropping by.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Leona,

My problem is when my mind is on writing or reading whoever is the room with me knows it because I have this blank look in my eyes. The lights are on, but nobody is at home. Or I should say nobody is at home at this address. I'm off in my own world and loving it. LOL.

CC

Jane said...

I've been known to read in the bathroom. I also read while talking on the phone and watching TV.

catslady said...

Lol I usually have 3 or 4 cats with me and on me while reading - I much prefer their purring than my husband's snoring hahaha. Oh yeah a nice glass of cabernet or black coffee (depending on how late I get to read lol)

Sandy said...

CC,
LOL You're lucky your husband would eat it after pulling off the charred part. My husband won't.

Leona said...

My 9 year old knows how to ask for something if Mom is reading or writing LOL. He even explained it to me yesterday. "If I talk normal, you won't hear me. If I'm screaming, you don't hear me. I have to say your name and wait. Then if it doesn't work, say mom again. Until you hear me. It's because you are concentrating. You are not ignoring me."

See, I've had to explain it a few times, LOL. "I'm not ignoring dear. I'm listening to see if you are hurt, but otherwise I am off in my own little world." The blank stare thing? Yeah, got it here as well :D They know, they know...

Donna Marie Rogers said...

I usually read at night once I shut the computer down, or in the bathtub...though I haven't had a lot of bubble bath time lately. *pout*

I got such a good laugh off those pictures. *g* My sister-in-law and I used to get teased because before kids, you never saw us without a book in hand. I literally did everything while reading; cooking, cleaning, watching TV. But again, that was pre-kids and before I started writing. LOL I'm a terrible multi-tasker for the most part.

Christie Craig said...

Jane,

LOL. I have a stack of books on the back of my toilet. Hey...you gotta do something while sitting there.

Thanks for stopping in. You did get the B&N card, right?

CC

Christie Craig said...

Catslady,

We are on the save page!!! Though I admit, I only sleep with one cat. The others go to the cat room. I know, I'm playing favorites, but I can't help it.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Sandy,

I didn't say he ate it. I said I serve it up. LOL. He's not too picky.

Thanks for chatting today.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Leona,

My hubby just says..."I'll talk to you when you come back to earth."

And I think...Darn, I have to come back!!

CC

Christie Craig said...

Donna,

Kids really put a crimp in our lifestyles, don't they? LOL. Hey, we love 'em anyway.

CC

Michelle said...

I read while watching sports game mostly, and sometimes while exercising. But i've found the exercising and reading only works if i'm doing the stationary bike. I tried reading while doing the elliptical but the up and down motion didn't sit well with me. Oh and I forgot while doing the laundry, course I throw the load in and pick up my book.

I got my copy of Shut Up And Kiss Me yesterday, cannot wait to read it!

Christie Craig said...

Michele,

I thought the up and down thing was just me. I can't keep my eyes lined up but I see so many people doing it that I didn't want to admit it. LOL.

I hope you enjoy Shut Up. I do believe it's my funniest book. Not that it's all fun without heart. It has those "pull at your heartstrings" moments, too.

Thanks for stopping in.

CC

Laurie Smith said...

I noticed several people posting about reading in their bathrooms,that reminded me about a time a few years ago when the latest Harry Potter book came out and me and my family were on vacation, and I spent a lot of the time in the middle of the night in the bathroom reading while everyone was sleeping. I didn't want to wake anyone with the light on. Boy was my butt sore the next day from sittng on the toilet. Sorry TMI folks,LOL

Christie Craig said...

Laurie,

LOL. I've gone to the john to get some reading done during vacation, too. I mean, why do they call it the library if not for that reason.

CC