A New Book

Well, folks. By now, you've probably noticed that I've fallen off the face of the world as far as blogging is concerned. There've been a lot of changes and trials going on in my life in the last year or more, and this blog kinda fell by the wayside.

What's interesting is that everytime I thought back on my poor, lonely piece of internet and wanting to update it with something interesting, I felt what can only be described as a paralyzing pressure to explain why I've let it go so long, to make that post interesting or insightful or particularly humorous and to make sure I get back "on schedule" with my posts. Whatever that means. I have guilt issues I guess, and with something that I created to give me an outlet against those same issues.

But you gotta have a sense of humor about life, right? Or you'll wind up with a nervous twitch, chewing on your keyboard in a padded room. Your choice.

I won't be bringing you up to speed in one post. There's just waaaay too much going on and most people that read this blog hear a good bit of my day-to-day chaos right from me anyway. For the folks that I don't talk to, I'm sure you'll get the tune after I hum a few bars. And I'm not going to keep a schedule, either. I'll blog when I feel like it and when I feel like I have something to share.

I will start off by saying that I've quit Final Fantasy 11 since I last posted. It just needed too much time and too much energy, and I just couldn't keep up and stay on task with everything else going on in life. To that end, long-time visitors will notice that there is a big empty space on the right where a whole bunch of FFXI stuff used to be. I'll figure out something to put there. FFXI was instrumental in getting me to where I am today, but the time had come to move on to bigger and better things.

Things like professional training. In the year or so since the last post, I have worked to become Microsoft certified every which way from Tuesday. I've had the experience and knowledge for a long time now, just never the official seal of approval that I actually might know what I'm talking about. I have one more test to take for the last cert I'll be working on for a while. So, with my training, experience and degree, you'd think I'd have been promoted a few times by now, but management has been dragging feet for the last couple of months on the proceedurals. I've been keeping the heat on them, though, and I'm still hopeful that something will budge soon.

I've also picked up smoking again for the first time since high school. I'm currently and perpetually working toward quitting, but I'm having a hard time replacing them with something that is both satisfying and not soaked in calories. What can I say? The body remembers what felt good.

D is still D. Despite being the gorgeous woman I married, the poor dear still had a bit of a life crisis when the realization that she was turning 30 hit her. I surprised her with a trip out to San Marcos to go tandem sky diving for her birthday, with a good friend of hers from back in the day in El Paso. :) Clara is still Clara - just less toddler and more preschooler. Fearless and self-confident and 100% princess. She's cute and she knows it, which can make discipline exasperating at times. Potty training has gone well and now generally only needs a pull-up while sleeping. Colin has hit his tweens full stride. He's a good kid, but he tests his boundaries everyday. I say it's good for him, as long as he's learning from them when he hits one head first.

Anyway, it's good to be back at it, that's for sure. Comical or tragic, it's definitely cathartic, and I've missed it. I hope you find as much enjoyment reading my ramblings as I do writing them.