In My Free Time

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Time got away from me yesterday and I didn't finish writing this post for the Not Just A Mom link-up. In my defense, some of my time was actually spent on things that I'd classify as hobbies, and that happens to be what we're asked about this month. What are your hobbies? You mean, other than blogging? Let me think . . .

Music - I started taking piano lessons when I was three years old and music has been a part of my entire life. Now, just because I took piano lessons throughout my entire childhood and teen years doesn't mean I'm a virtuoso. I'm not. I have short little sausage fingers, so that limits me and I don't have the top tier talent level that gets me past that. That said, I like to think that I'm really good at playing in a worship band. That's where I've used my keyboard skills for most of my adult life. I've also been singing in worship bands for most of my adult life, and the best part of that was leading a worship band of my family members for many years.

Another aspect of music that I love is choral singing. I sang in a mixed chorus in Maryland for many years and it was a lot of fun. We put together a Christmas concert and a spring concert every year, and just had fun singing together. My daughter even sang in the same chorus for a season when she finished high school, but unfortunately that happened to be the season that was cut short by covid lockdowns. Boo. She loves choral singing too and was in a Childrens Chorus during her teens, and then as a college student she was in the university chorale. 

Now I'm part of a Sweet Adelines chorus, which is a different kind of choral singing, and next level commitment to the art and to the relationships with the chorus members. I'm having the time of my life working on the music and performance, and in many ways this hobby has become a lifeline for me as we've been making a new life here in Columbus. Being able to meet people that share an interest, that are committed to being an encouraging and positive 'family', and having something to do that feels like it matters and like I'm contributing to a community. 

Teaching and Writing - My personal commitment to homeschooling our kids and contribute to the local homeschool community turned into an opportunity to teach at our short-term co-ops, and I really enjoyed coming up with lesson plans and creative ways to help kids learn in those middle school years. That, in turn, led to an opportunity to start a year-round high school level tutorial co-op and I got to teach writing and literature. It was a lot of work, but so rewarding, and I'm honored that I got to continue teaching those classes even after my youngest graduated, and I'm even teaching (albeit remotely) a non-fiction writing class this year! 

I combined teaching and writing as one hobby category, because it was homeschooling that got me started with blogging, and writing reviews of homeschool products helped me develop my own writing skills, and challenge myself to write (hopefully) interesting content. So while I still maintain my homeschool blog, my focus has now shifted to this blog where I can write about whatever I want, and I do it because I love it and it's an interesting creative outlet.

Birdwatching - I'm totally hobby level at this, such a beginner, but I am really interested in learning how to identify birds and I like watching them at feeders and such. I feel like this will probably become my senior citizen hobby! 

Coffee - Not just a beverage, it's a passion, a way of life, and even a family love language! I worked at a small batch coffee roastery for a few years, and although I'm not an expert, I am pretty good at identifying the origin of coffee beans by taste, and know a bit about beans and roasting, blending, and brewing them. I love visiting small coffee shops, trying different coffees, and I like to support small batch roasters when I can. And as you may be able to tell, coffee is a theme for my blogs, and it is in my home as well.

Reading - I love books and reading, but the problem is that I seem to have far less time to read lately, and when I don't have time for it I tend to get into a slump where I'm also not very motivated to read. So I hesitated to add it as a hobby because I'm not actually doing much of it these days! That will change though, I'm sure! It's just a phase!

This post will be linked up with the Not Just A Mom Link-up hosted by Adrienne, Dara, Jen, Joanne, Lauren, and Sarah.

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