Inspiration

My kids are my inspiration for a lot of my creativity, but most of the time I forget about the things I truely desire. I was talking with my cousin on the phone the other night and realized how much I miss doing things for just me. Well, I did not realize it just then, but was inspired by the passion in her voice when she was telling me about a great book she had just read. In that moment, she inspired me. I had almost forgot about that passionate feeling you get when you have something you truely love doing for yourself. As a SAHM (stay at home mom), and homeschool parent, I think I do a great job balancing most aspects of my life; however, this past year I have slowly allowed my passions to fall of the list and it saddend me when I realized how much I missed them. I like cooking (trying new recipes and tweaking them to suit my tastebuds...or even inventing my own recipes), I love to read novels (not just kids books, but real adult novels...I used to sit for a day and finish a 400 page book--although that is not expected anymore, I would like time to read) I LOVE to travel, and hike (go to places and experience culture and art). These are by far the passions I miss most. I desire to speak at least 4 languages before I die, and to step on all continents at least once. I love concerts, and lady's nights. So what, where, when, how, did I lose sight of all of this? Rather than focus on that question, I have decided to just change the situation at hand. Earlier this week, I went to Borders and bought two books, just for me! I have found inexpensive airline tickets to Florida for January through Travelocity.com, I have cooked up two new recipes (check out myrecipes.blogspot.com) and have enjoyed some holiday baking. I won't be hiking anytime soon due to the snowy weather, however...I'll be walking the beach in Florida daily! Zumba is calling my name, so I shall try a class after the new year, and for now, I will work on perfecting my 5 years of Spanish. I will have to look into a concert I would like to go to, however, my music taste has become dormant due to listening to Raffi, Hannah Montana, and everything Disney! So I shall start with pulling out some old CD's. All suggestions welcome! It's funny how a small conversation about a book can lead to such an in depth perception of ones self.