Where did all the time go?

In motherhood, so much of my day is occupied with taking care of the kids.  The majority of this time is thoroughly enjoyable, such as cuddling to read books, playing games at the park, or taking turns (on end) throwing the kids in the air to a chorus of giggles.
Yet somehow I still manage to find time to cook, clean, and take care of myself the way I always had.  Sometimes I can't help but stop and think what in the world I did with all my time before the kids.  How did I ever run out of time to get things done?  Especially during the year and a half I was unemployed and out of school - what did I do??  If I had that time now, I sometimes think, every single shelf in every cabinet would be perfectly organized.  I would be caught up to date on every single scrapbook.  All those things on my long-term to-do list would be complete.
Yet I had that time and I still managed to run out of it.
This past week, I had a glimpse into the reason why.  For the first time in a very very long time, I devoured a novel.  I couldn't put it down.  I made the kids breakfast, put it on their trays, and once I knew they were happy, I picked it up to steal a few pages before they needed refills.  The minute their eyes closed, the book was in my hand.  I'm not exactly sure that this book was so great.  Yes, it was a good read, but I disagreed with the whole premise.  But that didn't matter at all - the significant element of the experience was the feeling of being lost in a book.
And then it all made sense.
I used to devour books all the time!  That's where all my time went...
Now I just have to decide how often I can indulge in this hobby, because the house is a little dirtier than last week and I haven't quite gotten to folding all the laundry yet...