One of the gifts I got from my department's holiday gift exchange was a Burt's Bee's hand and nail set. I've been using it constantly!
The other part of the gift was a Sudoku page-a-day desk calendar. I've never done Sudoku. But now that I have this calendar, it seems like a good time to try it out. Especially considering we are now six weeks into the year and I've not taken out the calendar!
I'm looking it over. The rules. I think I understand the concept. I'm just afraid! I'm afraid to start because I know that I won't get it right on my first try! Mistakes, they will be made.
Now, I know you're thinking that I'm being a weird and wacky perfectionist. That isn't exactly the case here. I'm actually being a weird and wacky pencil hater. (I would say I'm "pencil phobic," but I'm not actually afraid of them.)
I don't know how or why it started, but I cannot stand using pencils. There is something about the wood, the paint, the smell, the sound the lead makes as it scratches across the paper. It makes the roof of my mouth itch. It makes my jaw and fists clench. And erasing! Oh, how I loathe the feel and sound of an eraser doing its horrid erasing thing.
For Sudoku, I am going to make mistakes. I'm going to need to be able to fix those mistakes if I ever want to complete a puzzle. And so, I'm going to dig through my drawers to see if I can find a pen with erasable ink (best option) or a mechanical pencil. I don't like them, but they are better for me than wooden pencils. If I can't find either, well, then I'm going to have to make a decision: put off Sudoku to try some other day, or suffer and play using the one wooden pencil I own.
With how tense I've become just typing about pencils, something tells me the former will win out.