Hobbies

What are my hobbies exactly? Do I have hobbies? Are hobbies something that I enjoy doing or feel guilted into doing? Is sleeping a hobby? Is playing on the computer a hobby? Is eating a hobby?

Hobbies have always bothered me. I'm envious of people who truly have hobbies that they really enjoy and that they keep up doing. Keeping up the doing is probably my biggest issue. I have things that I like to do ... but do I keep it up? If not, is it a hobby?

Early in our marriage I realized that I needed a hobby. Tommy has tons of things that he enjoys doing. I think he could make it a whole month doing nothing but 'hobby' type things. I began to wonder ... do I even have a hobby? I remember a particular conversation when Tommy even told me (as he was going out the door to a quartet practice) - "You probably need to find a hobby". I took it hard b/c I knew that he was right.

So, I started doing Pampered Chef stuff because I really love to cook. I paid $100 for a starter kit, had one party and made $55. I loved that I had all the starter kit stuff, but I didn't really like lugging it all around to the party. So ... I quit that 'hobby'.

I thought that maybe I would be a scrapbooker ...but, alas, just typing that word has made me break out into hives. Creative memories makes my heart palpatate to abnormal levels b/c I am just NOT going to do that. Thank the good Lord for Shutterfly albums which I do a yearly review on those ..... ugh - scrapbooking? No, not for me - please, don't even think about inviting me to a crop.

Well, all that leads me to the here and now. I think that I officially have 2 (maybe 3 - if you include blogging) hobbies. First of all, I have gone back to the one sport that I love to play -- tennis. And, luckily, it is one of Tommy's favorite sports too! So, we finally have a hobby that we can enjoy together. We are both VERY competitive, so it doesn't always work out to play together ... but, at least we can go out and play and have fun in practice. Tennis is the one thing that I do for me. It's the one place where I go that I am "Heather" .... not mom, wife ... I love to play - and I love the exercise it provides. I have made some wonderful friends in the neighborhood playing the sport - it is a highlight of my week.

The other one is sewing. I started sewing as soon as I had my little girl. I loved all of the outfits in the cute boutiques, but knew I couldn't spend $75 on one outfit. So, I went out and decided to MAKE what I saw. So, this is something that I really enjoy as well. I go thru spurts of sewing - when I have time and my creative juices are flowing. I am in a spurt of sewing ...so, I thought I would show you the cute outfit Annie has on for school today. I found the shirt at a consignment store in B'ham ... and I made the pants to go with them.

So, here's to finding that special hobby that makes you appreciate life and yourself that much more.