I heard about this on the radio this morning and could only think of you. Hoping you're able to successfully avoid conscription.

It’s been me all along. Now I’m back from the dead to pump up my old shit.

advice is like opinions

opinions are like armpits

everybody's got two

and they usually stink

ha! you're too kind.

I have officially been married longer than I wasn't.

Family

grateful for health, which in general, has been quite good. one kid gets surgery on Friday which should be uneventful, but recovery will be tricky and slow. school drama seems to be at a minimum.

Work

still good and on the right trajectory. new boss is quite great. a member of my team is occasionally combative, regularly unpredictable, and sometimes volatile. Balancing between giving someone emotional space to work through issues and not being a punching bag is occasionally tricky.

Life

health experiment is going well(ish). reducing calories and changing what you eat is bizarre. On the one hand, it's super easy. you just decide what the plan is, and execute it. on the other hand... when you spend decades associating food with pleasure and social exchanges and a love language and then basically shut that off - it's an adjustment. Maybe I'll write about this someday when I'm further along in the experiment.

Miscellaneous

I vacillate between "it will all be fine" and "there will be blood in the streets" as I loosely follow headlines about top secret documents, mid-term elections and other news stories. I think that maintains a low-level amount of constant anxiety that requires tending to.

pabs!!! I'm so glad you did this call out/check in. In the last five years:

- Moved from one house to another... not a mansion, but a massive upgrade from the eternal project that was my last place

- I've changed jobs three times and changed careers once

- Two kids have launched, moved out, started their thing

- Experienced the injustice of the justice system in the US through one of my kids (and being as privileged as I will admit that I am, I only got to see an ounce of how bad it is for so many others)

- bought some crypto at the wrong time, sold some crypto at an ok time and mused about what could have been

- traveled more than I deserve (Mexico, the Philippines, Cicely, Norway, UK)

- wasted too much time scrolling memes

And I guess there was the whole pandemic thing... I feel like I'm the only person I know who hasn't caught the bug... but I probably did and was strangely fortunate enough to be asymptomatic. I feel fortunate to have had a pretty safe, solid home environment to weather the storm.

Typing this out is making me grateful, but also realizing in 5 years, a bunch of stuff has changed, but also - not enough of the things that I would have like to have done. Thanks again for this prompt. It's got me thinking about what's next. And thanks to everyone else who has posted... it feels really nice to feel connected (at least a bit).

fake pubski?

I've never heard of such a thing!

This week has been good, busy, and crazy.

Family

sent one kid off to Brazil for a few years. some tears. two other kids prepping for the school year to start. one is trying out for volleyball and made the initial cut. some tears. The other is coming to grips with the person she wants to be and the whole moody/broody/introvert/extrovert/confusion is on display. some tears.

Work

Not even sure where to start. Lots of changes this year, but now in a good place (I think). It's going to be some adjustments over the next few weeks/months, but pretty sure it's all good stuff.

Life

Good for the most part except for the bad days... not quite dark or often enough to get medicated (yet), but the thought crosses my mind. Looking at some therapist options, but also just trying to get outside more, put some more miles on the bike, and eat better (and less). I'm actually running an experiment right now with my food intake. It's less about calories and more about discipline and mental strength. We'll see how it goes.

Travel

I have a few personal trips over the next few months that I'm very excited about. Here's hoping for improvements in airfare prices and operations over the next few months.