What are you giving up - Part Two

Get comfy. I've had a lot of short posts lately. Not this one!

Thank you to everyone who responded to my last question - what do you give up? (What do you wish you could do, that you aren't making time for).This has been weighing on me lately. Whenever I have a break from school (we are just coming off of ski week), I always take stock and ruminate a bit. I have so many interests, and a desire to lead a full life. Specifically, for the last year (?) I've ruminated between two main pastimes. First, the desire to work out (which I do sporadically) and take my running to the next level, entering some races while getting healthy and fit for my upcoming birthday. The year before Miss P was born I ran a marathon, and since then I've done a half marathon and a variety of short, fun races. I also did cross-country in high school. I've never been a GREAT runner by any means, but I think I have some affinity for it. I am in OK but not good shape.

The other interest beckoning, is decorating/styling my house. I see so many darling houses (don't we all), and covet the beautiful interiors and exteriors. In my dream, I'd be able to spend extra minutes scouring online, visiting vintage shops, garage sales, Homegoods, and teaching myself how to refinish, paint, etc. (Although, I tend to have little patience!) and build a beautiful home. I am also getting the itch to fix things up, and possibly prep and sell our house, moving one step closer to our dream house.

Problem is, here's my schedule. Miss P and I are out the door every weekday morning at 7:30ish on our way to school. On average we get home at 5:30 p.m. (I'm very lucky re: PaigeCare. On Monday she comes to my classroom after school and does her homework with a friend, Tues/Thurs Ed picks her up right after school, Wednesday she takes a class or has a playdate, and Fri we usually scoot out early and I often host the playdate.) My job teaching Kindergarten is such that I have to really put in my all while I'm there, barely breaking for lunch. During crazy times, I have to bring things home as well, although, on the flip side there are the school breaks.

As you can imagine, dinner, family time, and house chores take up a lot of the evening. I still find myself wondering, where is my special 'outlet?' I love blogging and often do it first thing in the morning, and I go to sleep each night reading a good book. I still would like to pick another special 'project' separate from work to focus on. To delve into both running and home design feels like too much - I fear I'd be doing my hobbies and not spending much time parenting, which is in my heart my number one priority. This leads me to think, that I should just focus any spare time on just building my relationships!

Let me know if you've had any luck figuring this out!