We have a whopping 8 inches of snow!  It is gorgeous outside and cozy inside.  Winter at its best.

I should be happily and productively knitting away — on George's sweater, on Gwen's socks, on Owen's blanket….

But instead I am playing Words With Friends on my iPhone with nearly everyone in my family.  We are all just crazy over it!  Crazed is, perhaps, the better word.  It is like Scrabble and you can keep several games going at once with different people — or, as we sometimes accidently start up a 2nd game with someone we are already playing, several games with one person.  At present, I am playing 7 games with 5 family members (most of whom are stuck home because of  the snow with nothing better to do than play this blasted game!).

You can set your phone to alert you with a chime or something when your opponent plays.  I have wisely opted not to do that.  SInce I am playing with Geoff (who is in London  and on London time) and Sonja & Jordan (who have a new baby and are on baby time), there could be plays chimed in at me in the middle of the night. (I know this because I sleep with aman who chooses to have the chime alert on!)  Anyhow, the way I have it set up, the only way I can tell it is my turn (on any of my 7 games) is to punch into the ap on my phone.  So, really, I could make a play and then let it sit for an hour, a couple of hours, a day — and I think that is how most people play it.

But I am more like a chain-smoker, lighting up my phone every 5 minutes or so to see if someone has played — and usually they have!  Usually about 3 of them.  So, then I have to (not really "have to" but yeah I have to) take my turns.  And by the time I have finished someone has usually played again! 

This is cutting into my knitting time most severely (not just today but over the past few days, I confess).

It is just so darn compelling!  I could try not to check it so often, of course — maybe only after, say, 3 rounds on the sock.  But when 2 of my opponents are sitting in the same room as I am, hooting and bragging about their last 32-point word (and I instantly wonder if it was played against me!)…well, there I am punching into the Words With Friends ap again!