I remember a long time ago I complained that I didn’t have a hobby and I needed one. I think I began piano lessons again shortly after that. It was a great year. I was sitting at the piano at least 1 hour a day and many days it was more. My piano playing greatly improved and I learned so much.

I sat down at the piano yesterday and pulled out some of my music. Oh. My. Goodness. My fingers have forgotten what they are supposed to do. I can still play my easy pieces, of course, but all the music that I worked so hard on, the music that I spent hours practicing, is gone. Gone from my fingers. I was so frustrated. I stood up and walked away. What I really wanted to do was cry.

This past weekend, we spent some time with my extended family. The ladies were discussing their hobbies. Granted, all these ladies have children that are grown, but still it made me a little sad. I have a bucket full of my stamps. I have a carrying case full of my scrapbooking supplies. I have a case full of my cross stitching tools. None of my things are being used.

I told myself that this year I was going to find my hobbies again. Truthfully, the computer has become my hobby. If I seem to have any free time, I find myself on places like Twitter and Facebook or reading the various blog that I enjoy. As much as I love Facebook and Twitter, I am not happy that I have done this to myself. I can’t say to myself that I just don’t have the time because that would be a lie. I do have time. Not as much as I use to have, but it is there. I do spend a lot of time studying Latin and reading various things that my kids are supposed to be reading. That does take a lot of my time and could be considered a hobby, I suppose.

The thing is that I would rather sit on the computer at the end of the day because my brain is fried. Fried beyond all comprehension. I can barely follow NCIS on Tuesday nights. I don’t think it is so much physical exhaustion as it is a mental exhaustion. I don’t want to be creative. I don’t want to thread my needle 100 times to make that cross stitch picture that is taunting me from the closet. I want to mindless. A couch potato. The problem is that I don’t like it. It doesn’t set a good example for my kids, and it does nothing for my mental health. In fact, if I end up at the forums (some of you know what I am talking about) my mental health goes down the tube. It would be better if I pick up that book on the table and do a little reading. It would be MUCH better if I sat at the piano for 30 minutes a day. No one says that I have to work on my Chopin (because let’s face it, he is out of my reach right now), but it wouldn’t hurt to practice some of my old favorites.

It is time to get my game on. Dad bought me new music for Christmas. I can work on that for awhile. Get going again. It would be fun. I just need to break this blasted computer habit!