Work or relaxation?

Since I started working full time (yeah, they're not lying when they say first year teachers are definitely busy every waking minute) I've been trying to get back to writing. It's only been this week that I've been able to look over my paranormal story DARK SIGHT and get some good work done on it.

I was speaking to another teacher who said she had to give up writing because it felt too much like work added on top of work, so I considered this. At the moment I love to find time to write. For some reason, when I'm in the mnindset of my characters, fighting evil monsters and solving mysteries it's the only time I get to relax and forget about all the stresses that I may encounter throughout my day.

I hope I never see writing as work or a chore because it's the only form of escape I have and I definitely need something like that in my hectic life.

What about you? What do you do to relax or forget about the stresses of everyday life? If you write, do you see it as work or a source of fun?

Geeking it Out

I know the weekend isn't here yet, but hey, I work all weekend, so on my days off I decided I needed a little downtime. I think my eyes are going square from staring at the computer screen every second I've got off... At least I'm nearly done with my revisions...

So, I decided I needed a break and went to the video store to get some rentals, and I felt like such a geek... Harry Potter and Star Trek (I hadn't watched any of the previous Star Trek's, so I didn't know what was supposed to be happening). I also picked up Crank 2, so that lowers the Geek level (even though I haven't watched it yet).

So, here's a question. What are some things you do to relax, whether it's after a hard days work or just get away from life for a bit?