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?
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