Leisure Time

Yes, leisure time. I am Mum to two young boys, I work full time from home, I have a gorgeous house to run (thankfully I also have a wonderful husband to help me out here!) and there is always something else to keep me busy. Recently I have altered my working hours though so that I am able to do all of this and even squeeze in a bit of “me” time.

Friend have told me that I need to get out more. Go for a drink, a run (unlikely) or maybe even join a club of some sort. As well meaning as these wonderful people are, at the end of the day if I haven’t an urgent piece of copy to write for an impossibly tight deadline and the boys are all clean, warm, comfy and asleep all I want to do is flop!

My evenings off are precious and instead of gathering the energy together to drag myself out of the house again I choose one of the following:

TV time with the Hubby
Fortunately Roy and I enjoy (mostly) the same type of movies and TV shows. Sci-fi, crime, drama and all that sort of stuff is just our sort of thing. Walking Dead, The Following, pretty much anything from Alibi, Game of Thrones (roll on April!) and for me NCIS, Call the Midwife or anything remotely period drama is just perfect when cuddled up on the sofa with buckets of coffee.

Online Games
I’m not a big gamer as such however do enjoy the odd hour playing bingo games. I’d be no good in a real casino but online bingo can be a bit of a laugh, even the free games and I find them quite relaxing.

Reading
I love to read. Whether it is my Kindle or a “proper” book that grabs me doesn’t matter, there is nothing quite like losing yourself in a good story. Again, I like a variety of genres from crime, psychological thrillers, chic lit and historical books. There is something almost sinful about sneaking off upstairs to climb into bed at 8pm and read for a couple of hours before bed.

Cooking
This isn’t something that many people would call relaxing however I love cooking. Baking is more Roy’s department but making soups, stews and all manner of fancy foods is something I find fun and actually quite relaxing. I do occasionally spend a couple of hours on an evening batch cooking and then freeze everything for those busy days when I don’t fancy cooking or simply don’t have time.

Browsing.
You would think that spending most of my time online for work purposes I’d be glad to see the back of my laptop at the end of the day. Working online and playing online are two very different things though. I love pinterest and reading blogs, especially thrifty, foodie and interior design ones. I’m something of a social media junkie and can happily spend an hour or so jumping between platforms enjoying the content that I find and chatting with people. I also seem to spend a fair bit of time window shopping too. Thankfully I pin more than I purchase.

Friends think I’m missing out but right now, a quiet night in enjoying any of these pastimes is exactly what I look forward to at the end of the day. How do you spend your leisure time?

Leisure Time

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Finding Time to Unwind

At this time of year I seem to wake up tired in the morning and fall into bed exhausted. This year I have promised myself that my New Year resolution (not that this is an actual resolution as I always break them in the first ten days!) will be to reorganise my time to give me a chance to fit in some quality leisure time. Languishing in front of the TV while finishing emails on the laptop is not what I call quality leisure so I have have come up with a list.

1) Read more. I am an avid reader, enjoying anything from sci-fi and fantasy (more dragons than Christian Grey, although…), and crime novels to proper good old-fashioned chic-lit. My Kindle has been fired back up and I am on the hunt for new authors and titles to get me started. Any recommendation would be gratefully received.

2) Cross stitch. I used to love cross stitching having taken it up years ago when I worked nights as a way to keep myself busy during quiet periods. I don’t really have the patience for large pictures but smaller pictures, cards or maybe even a sampler for my new home would a good idea. Yes, I could really see myself doing something like this again.

3) Social Fun. I work from home full time so I don’t get the staff room chats and work nights out I did in the past. Don’t get me wrong, I love working from home but just occasionally some adult conversation is a must. Social media fills this gap pretty well however I am looking for something new, and something that I can do while in my PJs (I’m not at the get dolled up and go out on a night stage yet). I do love a bit of the old bingo so I will probably be having a bit of a flutter and some chatter on a site such as www.goldenbingo.co.uk. I’m a not big better however if I did find myself winning a few pounds I might indulge myself and buy myself a new fluffy dressing gown (living on the wild side).

Ok, these aren’t as exciting as taking up white water rafting, abseiling (really, why?), or learning to salsa however they are a big step up from my not doing anything just for me  and are things that I can enjoy in the comfort of my own home while wearing fluffy slippers.

I keep telling people that they need to take time out to rewind at the end of a busy day and relax and I believe it could be time for me to start taking my own advice. What do you all do for leisure? Do you watching films? Knit? Climb walls? I’d love to know.