Hi Ken
If you just want to monitor your own playing, without all the hassle of mics and cables etc. check out the Philips DVT2500 or similar devices. You can set it on the least sensitive setting, put it anywhere in the room and press record. It has a number of recording formats and makes use of stereo microphones which are really sensitive. The sound files can be downloaded to your PC and you can use ‘Audacity’ to edit the files.
(Audacity is free software from http://audacityteam.org/)