Remember in “Bridget Jones’ Diary” (book or movie, doesn’t matter) when Bridget talked about taking mini-breaks with boyfriends? She was specifically referring to her wish to escape for a romantic weekend with her very sexy, but lecherous AND faithless boss (Hugh Grant -sigh). She did get her wish, though with a number of near fiascos and embarassing moments I can’t recall right now. Thank God for Colin Firth, eh?

Anyway, the mini-break. I just love the way it sounds. A break sounds like time off from school, rather than the office, and therefore conjures up visions of a carefree, fun-filled weekend. And let’s face it. Carefree, fun-filled weekends are hard to come by in real life.

I like to take mini-breaks at my desk. How, you inquire? Well, when I want to relax and get away from whatever I’m working on for a few minutes, I play Spider. More people than you may guess are addicted to Spider. Whenever I confess my secret pasttime, more often than not the person I’m confiding in gets excited and admits to the same compulsion! You, too? I wouldn’t be surprised.

So how is playing Spider a mini-break? Well, I’m still at my desk. I can still stop to answer the phone in an instant and can take a break from my mini-break to check emails, if I’m inclined to play more than one or two games.

But while I’m playing, I find that my mind takes a little vacation and wanders off in surprising directions. It’s daydreaming, plus almost mindlessly playing a game at the same time. Actually, I pay attention and try really hard not only to win the game, but to improve the number of moves it takes me to finish a game.

Nevertheless, Spider entertains me in one respect while another completely different pocket of my brain is solving problems and wondering what to make for dinner and considering where to go on vacation. It’s like Spider provides a secret pathway to mental multitasking.

Part mini-break, but part something else. I can’t put my finger on it. For someone who’s physically somewhat clumsy, I feel almost graceful as I play the game and think about something else at the same time.

This sounds pathetic. I’m going to play Spider and think about whether I even want to post this. No one’s reading anyway, but maybe a fellow Spider junkie will come across this sometime and say, “I KNOW! I know EXACTLY what you’re saying!”