- Read. I can't believe how much I used to read as a kid, when pretty much all time was free time outside of homework (ah, those carefree days). There are so many fantastic books out there, and reading widely actually has to do with my career, so this is number one. It's best to keep a list of books you'd like to read, which I'm not so good at. But using a Goodreads account is a nice way to do that (plus all kinds of other reading-nerd stuff). When you're out of books, checking out reading lists is another idea. I plan on going through my last class's textbook: Genreflecting lists a ton of books in various genres, and marks the award-winners, good book club books, and "benchmark" titles. I highly recommend it to my fellow bookworms...and you don't have to buy it, either--try the public library.
- Piano. I know, they always say you have to "use it or lose it." Well, I'm a bit out of practice, but at least I have a keyboard! Anyway, maybe I should brush up on those songs I used to be good at and learn some new ones. Any requests?
- Knitting. This is the perfect activity for multi-tasking! And I already have my projects...about 3 begun and not finished, and several more patterns in the lineup.
- Coding. Like another member of my family, I'm always thinking of what I want to be when I grow up. Right now, it's Computer Whiz. I just learned that there's this big movement these days to get coding into school curriculum, so I figure if I learn coding I'll be more marketable. Plus, it's awesome! Code.org is the sponsor of Hour of Code (that school movement I was talking about), and Codecademy has a bunch of great courses, too.
- House. Well, I don't have a house now. But one day! And if, by any chance, I have free time in those days, I could troll Pinterest and blogs for cool organizational or decorating projects, while my manly husband figures out how to put in a patio out back. And just to clarify, in order to qualify as "free time," these things must not be run-of-the-mill housework. Ergo, this #5 may or may not have to be removed from the list one day.
What things are on your "free time" list? Do you even have free time?? (I fear that once we have an addition to the family, this concept will be only a distant memory...but til then, I'm gonna live it up!)