I'm struggling with this at the moment. My twins are graduating from high school this year so there is a lot going on with that and the whole college thing along with dance competitions on weekends, my daughters knee injury, my new job, other random family stuff going on and I have never-ending housework to catch up on. I can't seem to get my act together. I haven't had the chance to do any hobby stuff. I'm also VERY behind on digi-scrap and photo organizing. I'm sure my poor PC hates me.
Like @meganmecrazy , I have a senior this year, so it seems like my brain is always working through something related to that and getting ready for a graduation party and the invitation, etc, so I find that my week night free time has been a lot less this year. BUT, I have a IRL friend who also likes to scrabooking digitally, so we plan a weekend for scrapbooking about 6 times a year and we just hole up at her cottage of in my basement craft room and we just ignore the world and scrapbook to our hearts content. Lol. That really helps me attempt to keep mostly up to date on my scrapbook stuff. As for my other hobbies (crochet, art journaling, painting, building stuff, reading etc) I just fit it in when I finally get the strong enough urge to need that as an outlet. Mostly I read just before I go to sleep every night, so I don't often fit that in during the day unless I'm really into a particular book. A lot of the time I will work on a crochet project while I watching TV with my hubby because I hate just sitting there and only watching TV. Ha ha! And then the painting/ art journaling stuff I just go in spurts when I have time. If I'm making an actual painting (to hang on the wall) I need a big block of uninterrupted time, otherwise it's not worth squeezing the paints out and wasting them because they dry out, so I usually wait until I have a weekend day with no other obligations to do that and then I just announce that I will be unavailable for ANYTHING while I paint. My kids are old enough to feed themselves when I do this, so that really helps too. All that to say... I don't manage all my hobbies super well either, but I don't let it stress me out too much either. I find time when I really want to (need to). Lol.
Mine too!!! It was kinda like Christmas in summer. I have always loved school shopping, and poured over the new curricula!
I'm going to s-l-o-w-l-y get around to answering everyone. I meant to do it right away but I got distracted ... again. LOL! You have been through a lot recently, my dear. My mom went through breast cancer twice so I understand what that journey is all about. And I can't imagine the continuing pain with your back. I've had chronic back issues since I was a teen but thankfully it can be managed through my amazing DNFT chiropractor. I've been praying for you, my friend! I get it about trying to scrap a page a day. That's really my goal because just think of how many projects I could complete that way! I went about 6 months last year not being able to sit at my computer due to a disc/vertebrae issue in my upper back/lower neck that shot pain through my arm when I set it on the mouse. It kinda got me out of the hang of scrapping every day. MOC helped restore my mojo, but life got in the way. It also must be so fun for you to have Olivia to do things with. That's really something I wish I had. Enjoy your time together!
Oh, don't get me started on paper scrapping stories! LOL! I was a Creative Memories Consultant for 15 years, so I've got paper scrapping supplies up the wazoo! I really do need to sell them because not only are they taking up space, I'll never go back to it again. Digi is so much more wonderful! I also inherited all my parents slides & photos when they passed, so I'm trying to scan everything that matters. Such a project! I hope you get your sign made soon. It sounds lovely! What a fun concept!
Scrapping and reading sounds like two good time-consuming hobbies to me! And I can see how genealogy could be such a black hole, especially if you were working with a society. It is a fascinating subject. Thankfully (or not??) we have a creative upcycle reuse center near us so I can donate all my unwanted projects and supplies. The bad part is I always return home with another bag of fabric... oop!
My husband and I try to watch something together every night that we can. We recently went through the Lost in Space series on Netflix (it was amazing!) and now we're watching the Mysterious Benedict Society. WWII documentaries are so fascinating, aren't they? There are so many good ones to see. I did watch one on IMDB TV called the Hello Girls, about the telephone operators who were hired by the US Army to work the lines in France during WWI. It was very fascinating - you should give it a watch! And I'll also check out the Golden Age of Hollywood Stories!
Okay - that made me laugh out loud! I certainly don't have that willpower. And project supplies don't count as a UFO because you haven't started! At least that's what I think. UFOs bother me, too. But I have so many of them that I just need to work on one a day. Today I sewed together an easy patchwork quilt top that my MiL had started about 10 years ago. I unearthed it as I was cleaning my craft closet this week. So, I picked out her hand stitching (she hadn't gotten very far on it), trued up the squares and got it done. She did all the hard work of picking out the fabrics and laying out the design. Now I just need to find backing, machine quilt & bind it, and it'll be done! Woohoo! One UFO done.
I've got a mini labradoodle, Taz, and a mini aussie, Remi. My daughter lives with us and she has an aussiedoodle, Bella. We are overun with dogs
Ooooo ... thanks for the heads up. I know you live in Northern VA, so I Googled the center b/c I need to start decluttering my paper scrapbooking supplies.
I forgot you were in my area! Silly me. If you want to donate it takes about a month to get a donation appointment. They also have a list of items that are on hold, which also hasn’t been changed in months, from way before they moved to Eisenhower Avenue (they’re no longer on a Cameron St.)
You might check with your recycling center too! Ours has "The Little Red Schoolhouse". We can drop things off that aren't typically recyclable, but that crafters/homeschoolers/teachers often will use. They take the Styrofoam egg cartons for example. Then homeschoolers/teachers/etc can come over to it and "shop" taking things for their projects for free. It's really cool! The teachers and homeschool coops can even call and request a certain item and the center will request it from the community for them. Like last year, there was a time when someone wanted paper towel rolls so they requested that we bag those instead of throwing them in our recycle bins.
My older grandkids elementary school had “think tank” … which was a room devoted to crafty stuff where the kids could go before school and at certain times during the day to craft with supplies donated by parents and the PTA … egg cartons, yogurt containers, paper towel and tp tubes, string, fishing line, fabric … on and on. It was great b/c unlike art class the kids could craft their own ideas. Thinking about it, I ought to call over there and see if they still have it and could use scrappy crap.
If the elementary school doesn't want it, preschools often do. I've heard that senior centers and hospital pediatric wings do, too, but the only one I have firsthand experience with is preschools.