Sorry I've been away so long, but I had to step away from the computer for a little while or I was gonna drive myself crazy.
For a time, I was juggling many different aspects of my life, family, e-cigs, gaming, music, work, etc... It came down to a point where I knew I had to prioritize things, and so, with the exception of work and home, I dropped everything and began to rebuild portions of my life beginning with the things most important to me.
The reasons are a little spread all over the place. I wasn't able to properly manage my time between passions. Frustration with a seemingly lack of interest in FVC participation in my area of the state (which, on reflection, had quite a lot to do with me more than anyone else). A financial hit to the family. Exhaustion from trying to do too much at once.
The financial reason was the big catalyst to the sudden changes, though. The wife is a teacher, and the private school she taught at (and my kids attend) lost their building and subsequently a good number of students at the end of the school year. With her laid off, things had to go. Internet and cable were one of them. I also managed to learn to drink water instead of soda, something I abhorred the first month, but now seems second nature to a man who used to have a 2 12-pack a week Pepsi habit. And they say quitting smoking is hard!
Over the summer, I was able to concentrate initially on the two most important things in my life, first my family, then my job. Those were no-brainers, and not fairly difficult to really get hold of once the other distractions were put away for a while. With what we weren't spending on other things, we were able to save up a little money and head down to the Keys for 5 days, on the first real vacation we've been on as a family in 5 years.
When we got back, we got some good news. The school's owner had managed to secure a space for the school, and my wife was once of a small amount of teachers from the previous year to be asked back to the school. End of August saw some real money coming back into the house after living lean for a couple of months. And I got my Internet back.
So, since then, I've been working towards incorporating the other parts of my interests back into my time schedule in a way that won't impact other things. The wife and kids have to be in bed by 8PM on school nights, so the time between my arrival at home from work and when they go to bed are theirs, 2 hours a night Mon-Thurs, but it's focused. They are up super-early in the morning, so I wake with them, help get them off to work and school. School nights, I'll be using that time after 8 for my own personal pursuits, making music, playing games, and spending time with my fellow vapers. For the weekends, we've decided to play it as it goes. The wife understands that there are things I still want to accomplish, and I understand that I can't do everything with what limited time we have, so with that I will be able to put together the occasional Orlando meetup, or get some woodworking time in the garage (with the understanding that some of the things I'll be building, besides guitars, will be stuff for the house, lol).
I'm feeling a lot more grounded than I did before, and things feel, for the first time in a long time, under control. I dont' feel stressed anymore, like I have to do everything all the time, which was the point of all of this. Strip away the extras, build up the core, then add the extras back in.
If anyone in the Orlando area is interested in a meetup, please contact me. I'd love to have something planned for the end of September. Nothing special, just a low-key little get-together just to get things going in this area. And I will *definitely* need some assistance in planning it.
If you need to get in touch with me, you can shoot me a message on Twitter, @Ivisi, or my email address, mwilliams(at)informasoftware(dot)com. Those travel with me, and I'll get them, and respond to them, faster than I would messages here. At least until work gets me a new phone that I can use to access here on the go.
And through all of that, I missed you guys.
Feels good to be back.
Ivisi
/copying this over at the other forums, for continuity's sake.
For a time, I was juggling many different aspects of my life, family, e-cigs, gaming, music, work, etc... It came down to a point where I knew I had to prioritize things, and so, with the exception of work and home, I dropped everything and began to rebuild portions of my life beginning with the things most important to me.
The reasons are a little spread all over the place. I wasn't able to properly manage my time between passions. Frustration with a seemingly lack of interest in FVC participation in my area of the state (which, on reflection, had quite a lot to do with me more than anyone else). A financial hit to the family. Exhaustion from trying to do too much at once.
The financial reason was the big catalyst to the sudden changes, though. The wife is a teacher, and the private school she taught at (and my kids attend) lost their building and subsequently a good number of students at the end of the school year. With her laid off, things had to go. Internet and cable were one of them. I also managed to learn to drink water instead of soda, something I abhorred the first month, but now seems second nature to a man who used to have a 2 12-pack a week Pepsi habit. And they say quitting smoking is hard!
Over the summer, I was able to concentrate initially on the two most important things in my life, first my family, then my job. Those were no-brainers, and not fairly difficult to really get hold of once the other distractions were put away for a while. With what we weren't spending on other things, we were able to save up a little money and head down to the Keys for 5 days, on the first real vacation we've been on as a family in 5 years.
When we got back, we got some good news. The school's owner had managed to secure a space for the school, and my wife was once of a small amount of teachers from the previous year to be asked back to the school. End of August saw some real money coming back into the house after living lean for a couple of months. And I got my Internet back.
So, since then, I've been working towards incorporating the other parts of my interests back into my time schedule in a way that won't impact other things. The wife and kids have to be in bed by 8PM on school nights, so the time between my arrival at home from work and when they go to bed are theirs, 2 hours a night Mon-Thurs, but it's focused. They are up super-early in the morning, so I wake with them, help get them off to work and school. School nights, I'll be using that time after 8 for my own personal pursuits, making music, playing games, and spending time with my fellow vapers. For the weekends, we've decided to play it as it goes. The wife understands that there are things I still want to accomplish, and I understand that I can't do everything with what limited time we have, so with that I will be able to put together the occasional Orlando meetup, or get some woodworking time in the garage (with the understanding that some of the things I'll be building, besides guitars, will be stuff for the house, lol).
I'm feeling a lot more grounded than I did before, and things feel, for the first time in a long time, under control. I dont' feel stressed anymore, like I have to do everything all the time, which was the point of all of this. Strip away the extras, build up the core, then add the extras back in.
If anyone in the Orlando area is interested in a meetup, please contact me. I'd love to have something planned for the end of September. Nothing special, just a low-key little get-together just to get things going in this area. And I will *definitely* need some assistance in planning it.
If you need to get in touch with me, you can shoot me a message on Twitter, @Ivisi, or my email address, mwilliams(at)informasoftware(dot)com. Those travel with me, and I'll get them, and respond to them, faster than I would messages here. At least until work gets me a new phone that I can use to access here on the go.
And through all of that, I missed you guys.
Feels good to be back.Ivisi
/copying this over at the other forums, for continuity's sake.
