It’s good to do things Away From the Keyboard. I’ve been making a real attempt to get back to having hobbies and a social life after being 100% immersed in writing books and raising kids for the past few years. Not that kids don’t still need raising, but when they both hit school age, there’s a significant change in how much of my time they need. They can get their own juice boxes, zip their own coats, fasten their own shoes. And books still need written, but working every waking minute is really not an optimal way to work or live. So here are some AFK things I’m getting back to:
1. Gardening. Massive garden plans are underway. Including (hopefully) getting a hoop house constructed at the end of the season for growing greens in the winter. I will even undertake some basic freezing and canning so we can have garden veggies out of season. This is part of our shift to eating fresh/organic/local.
2. Row, row, row your boat. Since we live by a lake, it makes sense to use it for fun and fitness. Used rowboats are not expensive, and rowing is a surprisingly good workout for your whole body. Unexpected bonus: the zip-up life jacket “hugs” the ASD kid and she loves that.
3. Giddyup. I haven’t been on a horse in years, but horses are easily rented by the hour and even leased by the month here, and if we want to go nuts and buy one, we know where we can board it inexpensively. We’re signing the whole family up for riding lessons, because the adults need a serious refresher course and the kids are total beginners. (If you have been longing to ride a horse and thought it was too expensive, you might be pleasantly surprised when you investigate the local options.)
4. Sew what? I’m serious about the Project Linus thing. We have a local chapter, I’m joining it, and I figure I can do one blanket a month. I can also make things for my own kids. I haven’t had time or space to sew since, oh, my twenties. I’m ridiculously excited about this.
5. Stargazing. I love backyard astronomy but most evenings I’ve been either working or unconscious and not outside looking up at the sky. We have a small home telescope and we live away from city lights, so there out to be some excellent star viewing opportunities.
Are there any hobbies or passions you used to pursue that you haven’t had time for lately? Are there any you have plans to re-introduce?
Gardening is fun. Now that it’s spring, I’m planting flowers all over the place (the new house had pretty nice flowerbeds, but the previous owner apparently didn’t care for anything besides day lilies and azaleas, so I’m adding variety!). The five-year-old loves to help, and yesterday he got his very own shovel.. which so far has been used for good, not evil:-).
My second daughter takes horseback riding lessons. I decided it was a bit too expensive to do myself. It looks like fun, though!
As for hobbies I’d like to get back into– I’d just started agility training with the dogs when we moved. I need to find a local agility group and learn some more!
Ellen, flowers are awesome. The kids wanted to plant a mix of flowers to attract hummingbirds and butterflies, so we’re turning them loose to do it; got them kid-sized shovels, hoes, rakes and garden gloves.
I’m sure riding costs vary depending on where you are and what kind of lessons you take. We’re not getting into dressage or anything.
Agility training sounds like fun for you and your dogs!