<p>Daylight savings happened and I am looking at these long winter evenings with nothing to do.
Oh I am sure I can find enough stuff around the house which needs my attention, but there is no drive to organize the kitchen cabinets or sort the photos yet.
So, any ideas? How do you spend the winter evenings?</p>
<p>Reading. So many books, so little time. :)</p>
<p>15 yr old D and I put in an exercise DVD and do 30 mins about an hour or so after dinner.</p>
<p>I am with Booklady. 
Also… exercising (watching Netflix movies/TV while on my rowing machine), working on an Art of Problem Solving math book I am pushing my way through, cooking big batches of stuff to freeze. Walking my dog if the moon is out and it is not windy.</p>
<p>Fireplace … dog … football … and a nice dry Chenin Blanc.</p>
<p>Needlepoint. Reading. Music. DVR. Amazon instant video. Sewing.</p>
<p>I love reading and I agree, booklady, so many books, so little time,but after 30-40 min of reading I feel so guilty, as if I should be doing something productive,or moving more instead of melting into the couch:)
All good ideas, above, should start an exercise program</p>
<p>Writing, then reading, then writing. I am all set!</p>
<p>Ucdmom- curious why you feel guilty reading?</p>
<p>Okay I <em>should</em> be reading, but am currently making my way through Lost on Netflix. Love that you can just plow through an entire series in a few days/weeks/months, and there does seem to be so much to watch (and I don’t really watch much TV these days–much more efficient to do it later on Netflix).</p>
<p>Ok, I should add that we also watch movies from time to time, and are currently making our way through the original series of Upstairs, Downstairs on DVD, but generally only one episode every few nights or so. It’s just as good the second time around, 40 years later.</p>
<p>I am also an evening reader. The way I look at it is that I run 4 miles most mornings and do a 30 minute exercise tape on the other days before work, spend an intense 9 or so hours at work, cook dinner and clean up afterwards, walk the dog and do some general straightening up before settling down for the evening. I have decided I deserve a few hours of curling up with a good book, magazine and/or newspaper most nights and I really enjoy it. I refuse to feel guilty! A fire in the fireplace and a soft blanket on my lap makes it a special treat.</p>
<p>reading, writing when I can. But most nights–grading papers and planning classes.</p>
<p>Winter evenings just sounds poetic. I am already thinking of a chunky sweater, red wine, fire in the fireplace, book, snow lightly falling and a dog curled up by my feet. This is why I may never retire anywhere else.</p>
<p>Totally agree cooker, but SJCMom, it’s just that till now with two kids, reading has always been a guilty pleasure , now that D18 is in college and D11 doesn’t have many activities , I actually have free evenings.
But as cooker said, I can use that time for reading without feeling guilty.</p>
<p>New Hope, Onward and I and our dogs are going to be holed up in a Connecticut cabin with the fireplace going and a good game on TV. New Hope’s bringing the red wine, Onward the white, and I’ll bring a high-end bourbon (wine puts me to sleep now that I’m AARP-eligible). Y’all are invited to join us - we’re turning on the floodlights and building a snowman at midnight!</p>
<p>Well, I keep thinking I should volunteer, so I’ll throw that out as a suggestion.</p>