I'm back. Did you miss me?

I missed this — the process of blabbing about my life. Some of you I talk to in real life; we discuss these posts over coffee or a walk. I've intentionally kept comments off the site. Two reasons: I built this thing from scratch and only code features when I need them, and I have zero interest in spending time blocking bot spam.

So. Where have I been?

My brother-in-law passed away unexpectedly in late January. We chose Easter break to fly to Iowa, be with family, and celebrate his life. I brought my laptop — I always do — with vague plans to post and do some research. That lasted about four hours. Day one, I realized I'd packed the US wall plug but left the transformer half in Portugal. The laptop was a brick.

The plan was to buy a new laptop in the States anyway. I did. But all my development code was inaccessible, so that killed any real work, too.

After a few days, I got twitchy — that specific restlessness when I can't post, research, or build something on the site. That's when I understood how deep in I am. As Tina would say, lost Craig to another ADHD rabbit hole. It's a gift and a curse. I can laser focus on something for weeks. I can also forget the world around me exists — including my family. In hindsight, the forgotten charger was the right outcome. It forced me to actually rest, reset, and be present.

Soren and I flew back to Portugal on April 14th. Tina stayed another week — visiting friends in Denver and taking some time to recharge.

I completed treatment 7 last week, and I'm feeling great. Kaiser arrived on April 15th to help around the house, and I felt well enough that we stayed active every day — cycling, hiking, walking, renting scooters and touring Lisbon and Cascais. Great weather. Good company. I wasn't 100%, but I was at least 60% of my normal self, so we kept moving — with plenty of café stops, bench breaks, and sitting on rocks when I needed it.

The break from the site didn't quiet my brain any. I've got a backlog of rabbit holes to research and document. Stay tuned.

Cheers, Craig