Extra Time

Right now I have more free time than I am accustomed to having. I had virtually no free time from the end of August 2017 to the first half of May 2019. My schedule definitely became more manageable once I returned to being unemployed. During the past year I felt like my life was full, but I no longer felt like I was drowning, which is how I had felt the previous 21 months. Homeschooling three kids, yardwork, laundry, grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning keep me busy. Since we are having a break from homeschooling right now, are home almost all the time, and the kids are more independent, I have more free time now than I have had in at least twelve years. In the beginning I was using a large portion of my free time to work on lesson planning for the next school year. That Word document is currently 50 pages (single spaced) thus far. Our school year ended in the middle of April. Since that time I've spent more time taking walks (2-6 miles a day whenever the weather permits), playing board games with the kids, decluttering around the house, doing jigsaw puzzles with the kids, watching a few movies, and reading more books. Yesterday I decided to use some money I received for my birthday to resume a membership in a photography class, and I also decided to pay $25 to register for online access to a homeschool conference. I've been homeschooling for seven years, but I only attended two homeschool conferences in that time span. I had considered attending a Great Homeschool Convention in the past, but I had never done so. Since it only cost $25, and I could listen at home any time between now and the end of 2020, I decided to give it a whirl. So today I made a to do list for myself that I hope to accomplish over the next three months. I didn't include the things I'm already doing, like taking walks, on my list but just some additional things I hope to accomplish. 

Usually my to do list in the summer is almost 100% comprised of projects around the house. I might add more things this summer, but my first list has 50 things on it, and only three are house projects. I typically read more fiction than non fiction. I assume I'll continue to read some fiction, but I only put a few non fiction titles on my list. I already finished Introverted Mom: Your Guide to More Calm, Less Guilt, and Quiet Joy by Jamie Martin. Amazon has been giving months of free access to Kindle Unlimited, and so I read that book for free. Similarly, I am almost done with Heartfelt Discipline by Clay Clarkson, which was a book I highly recommend. Chapters 5 and 6 really inspired me the most to try to make some changes in how I interact with my children. The next two non fiction books that I want to read are Get out of your head by Jennie Allen and Everybody, Always by Bob Goff. The latter I am getting at the library. I used part of an Amazon gift card to buy the book by Jennie Allen. Somewhere near the beginning of the pandemic Lifeway offered free access to many Bible study videos. I had chosen three to do but hadn't finished any of them. The free access will be ending in sixteen days so I decided to make that a priority. I listened to two of them today, and I have sixteen left to finish by June 18. Aside from reading a few non-fiction books, watching Bible study videos, and three house projects, I also plan to finish my lesson planning, buy Oliver's birthday gifts (whatever is needed for a hermit crab), complete about 20 courses in the photography curriculum, and listen to approximately 15 sessions through the online homeschool convention. I haven't made a bucket list for the summer yet, but I'm actually contemplating making one even with though life is very unpredictable this year due to the coronavirus. Many things will NOT be on the list that typically are such as fireworks, parades, National Night Out, VBS, etc., but we should still be able to come up with ideas of things we can do even with COVID-19 such as picking blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries at a local farm. Another thing I didn’t put on my list but hope to do more over the summer is play more piano duets with Ian. I used part of an Amazon gift card to buy two more books of piano duets, and they are supposed to be delivered to our house tomorrow! I’m excited about playing the songs with my son!