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Mid Year Recap - A Return to Blogging

 A lot has happened since I last wrote. Some of it has been good. Some of it has been bad. Overall though, Things are on the up. Let me fill you in...

When I last left off, Katie and I had just gotten married. The honeymoon has it's good moments and it's bad moments. For instance... setting sail to another country was fun. Going on the day trips and adventures were nice and we took lots of pictures to capture the memories. On the other hand... the "adult" atmosphere of the cruise ship nearly ended the marriage. A certain addiction (Gambling) ended up coming back out into the open and while I'm not proud of what I did by any means... being 500 feet away from a casino at all times on the ship is a bit rough... especially for a problem gambler. Katie... ultimately forgave me for my mistakes.

In November... I quit drinking. Today makes 222 days since my last drop of alcohol (November 15th 2022). Being sober has it's perks. For instance... I've lost a bit of weight since I last wrote (Going from 250+ lbs. down to about 225lbs). I feel healthier... and I feel that my appearance is a lot better. I've worked out on a nearly 1-2 times per week basis since October... and I've noticed steady gains in my muscle mass while at the same time reducing my body fat. 

In December... i spent the majority of my career working overnights. There was a good 3-4 week stretch where they required coverage and while it felt different returning to vampire life (I had worked 3rd shift from 2016 - 2019)… It was rather easy to fall back into the pattern. There were plusses and minuses with it. Hardly sharing a bed with my wife was rather disappointing.. but at the same time on my off days i could go work out, go see music, and just overall have fun.

The first half of this year has been a bit of a rollercoaster for me. I ended up back in therapy.... I'm working full time from the office again... and i ended up buying a new car. All good things. But at the same time I've felt the tightness of the house hold budget get a bit tighter as one credit card after another seemed to be edging up towards its credit limit. Our plans changed too... originally going from wanting a house in the next five years... to potentially just getting and staying in an apartment in a nicer area.... to the latest dream of buying a truck and trailer and touring the country. The end date is still roughly the same... About 4 years (When I'm 41) to make a decision on our next moves... But what we actually end up doing is still a mystery. Really it depends on how much capital we have.... 

Overall though, things are good. I'm currently working on quitting smoking (with a quit date of August 1st). And I'm actively working on spending more time at home (rather than rushing out the door). My Therapist stated that it sounds like I may have ADHD... which would explain some of my behavior over the last 20 years. Personally i would feel shitty about myself if it turned out that I was really ADHD my whole life... and was misdiagnosed as Schizoaffective when i was in my early 20s. The reason for that is... a lot of turmoil and heartache could have been avoid for both myself... and the people that care about me.

I'm looking forward to the next 6 months for several reasons. First... I am trying my best to get better adjusted at work (Now that I'm in the office). Second... I am actively working on additional computer certifications which will assist to further my career (In both the short-term and long-term). And lastly... we are starting to make progress on the mountain of debt that we had created for ourselves. With the Student Debt Cancellation decision just a few days away... The prospect of having to pay out more money each month on debt is rather nerve racking and I think sub-consciously I had been dreading it. We only have about 30K total... but if we could get that eliminated it would be a big help. Another reason is that I'm going to turn this blog into more than just a blog. Between all the things I own.... all the information I know (Tech and otherwise) and things that we may experience (Movies, Events, Food). It makes sense that I put some of that information down here as well so that this little blog grows into a website that not only attracts subscribers, but also educate and inspire. 

I think I will leave it at that for now, and get started on redesigning the site... as well as start working on content generation.

Thanks for Visiting!

T.A. Michaels

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