You know the scenario. CF can be a relaxing hobby, but sometimes it just won't cut or its adding worry lines itself (at present)

So what do you do to shake off those whimpers and get out some sighs?


I like sing. I'm really bad at it, but if I sing a (very) straightforward tune my girlfriend melodises with it. Fortunately, she's talented! It makes me feel pretty proud of myself and the noise is sweet enough to make my brain hum with delight.

Yhorian.

Been fishing since I was a tiny little guy. Generally, I will saddle up a horse or two and pack into one of the lakes nearby.

Aikido, scalding hot soaks, massages from my husband, and anything that gets me away from the kids for more than an hour. :)

To be honest, I have relatively little in my life that provides the release from concentrating and pouring a little of myself into something.

If I had to pick something it would be training/teaching karate. When I do karate (of which I have done for almost 20 years off and on..more on nowadays thankfully) I can feel myself just slipping into the techniques and the training and leaving this world of stress behind. Plus, its physical and it gets the jitters out of the old bones and muscle, makes me feel alive again.

Yard work is my "artsy fartsy" thing. I've been slowly building beds and planting flowers & shrubs throughout my yard. Unfortunatly the more I build, the more weeding I have to do. But at the end of a section, I can kick back on the deck with a cold beer and admire the work.

Zulghinlour, The Dark Dream of...gardeners?

Man...now I'm never gonna get that outta my head...

But that's okay. It's still enjoyable. The other time-waster I tend to gravitate towards is Yahoo Hearts.

Okay, let me rephrase that. My time with my kids. I coach their soccer teams and my sons baseball team. We take 4 trips a year to Disney World and just do things that are just meant for fun. Nothing destresses me like my kids looking for some tickle time.

>4 trips a year to Disney World
I spent one day in that place and was ready to go on a mass-murdering spree. I'll never understand how people enjoy those kinds of places. Epcot world-walk or whatever was kind of cool though.

Its a sm... GAH NOOOOOOOO!

Only a fool rides that thing twice. I stayed sane by knawing my mickey mouse ears apart and drinking the sweet water we were riding through. Its my belief the little green men swimming in it were my path to salvation.

Yhorian.

I never go when it's busy. That's the key. And before my kids were old enough to enjoy it, I went once in the previous ten years.

Oh yeah.. I don't even bother buying the anual passes that are good all year long. Just the passes that are good weekdays, non-holiday season only.

I've always loved Disneyland. There is really a lot of creativity and talent that goes into creating those attractions, everything from production, themeing, and engineering. If you are into that kind of thing, there really is a lot to appreciate.

And going with your kids is a whole different experience, if they are into it (which mine are.) Watching your baby smile and clap and laugh in delight in Small World, or having your little girl be over the moon because she got to sit and chat with Cinderella.. I guess it's not something you can understand until you have kids.

It's also nice just being able to go for a few hours, stop, taking it easy. Many times we go these days with my tiny ones, we don't even ride more than one or two attractions. Visiting with the characters, eating lunch, walking through the castle and a ride on the merry-go-round is an enjoyable way to spend a morning.

Joking.. sort of! I love my kids to pieces, but being with them all the time, I think I have a few more grey hairs than I did pre-children.

Maybe it's just that I'm not a toddler person. I am looking forward to vacations and soccer games instead of surviving a restaurant dinner and tiny tots swim.

However, I do have anual Disney passes! People think I am crazy for hauling a 1 year old and a 3 year old to Disneyland by myself on a monthly basis (sometimes more!) but that does indeed de-stress me. 'Sides, keeping the kids out of the house all day means the house doesn't get hit by the Hurricane Girls, which makes my evening more pleasant.

n/t

I've bought a boat in the last year, so usually I just go gas up the boat, grab the rods and reels and head out to fish. After a few hours the stress is completely gone. Great stuff. I used to play golf to relieve stress, but then I found myself becoming really competive at it as my game improved, and alas its just another stress creator at times. But usually fishing and various home projects are what I use for taking away the stress.

Haven't been able to do it in a good while though. Used to do a two-man boat on lakes with my brother. They sold the boat when they moved to the US but on the bright side he went out and bought a pair of paintball guns with my share :P We stole some scrubs from my mums hospital and ran about the forest with 'em. Great fun.

Yhorian

I used to go driving down back roads listening to loud music, but now my commute is fairly brutal so I get enough car time as it is.

Drinking and big parties are definitely up there... a hot tub and pool can be a beautiful thing! And when I'm feeling extra productive and less lushy, working on various house projects will do it.

Martial arts, currently TKD but my passion is Hapkido.

Shooting high school kids (I hold the barrel tap record among our group of 20 active players.)

Reading & occasionally writing.

I do a lot of miniature work (I'm a geek) but I find it relaxing.

I read comic books. I used to have some less innocent hobbies, but at 28, I decided it was time to put the bong and the allman brothers albums back in the closet and move on with my life. I sometimes drink too much. I also enjoy decent serial television, as long as it's on dvd so I don't have to watch commercials. I was on a west wing/sopranos kick, but now I've found my library has the whole run of six feet under, and me and the girl are watching that.

I was kind of stressed out earlier, got into armor with a friend and we beat the snot out of one another with sticks.. I'm feeling much better now. Other than that, another friend will come by work, and we'll go into ghost recon named after one another's significant others and let the blood fly. That last bit is probably wrong, but feels so right..