Putting things together...

I can truly say that I was slightly overwhelmed by the amount of negative responses to my post on running.

Wow!

I would also like to thank those that spoke positive affirmations.

For those that have been long time readers you're aware that I do this thing called - "Misdirection" - this is when there is a larger problem that I don't want to talk about that's bothering me, so I throw out something else.

Yesterday was a classic example.

I have been on sabbatical since January. One of the reasons that I decided to move to the state that I'm in was so I could be close to Mom and Dad in the event that something happened. Over the past 6 months I've had the opportunity to put that to the test.

I have spent more time at their house over the last 6 months than I have at mine.

In all honesty, I still haven't properly grieved the loss of Dad.

My sisters left Mom's house yesterday. I opted to go home almost immediately after the funeral because I didn't feel like sitting around talking about memories of Dad. I returned only after they left.

It's very financially taxing to take a year off and still have obligations to meet. Alimony/Child Support, mortgage payments other miscellaneous and not so miscellaneous bills.

In all honesty, my number one priority of necessity is not finding the perfect person to date, but in finding a job (as I look at the $49 that remains in my bank account.)

Perhaps, putting on my running shoes had more to deal with hitting the ground running to start my job hunt. Perhaps it was preparing for the upcoming challenges. Perhaps it was the realization that over the next 2 months as I job hunt/start working I am going to have to put a lot of things on the table in order to ramp up to what I do.

I am an Information Technology specialist. I design n-tier software systems with a strong concentration in middleware technologies. I am also competing in an industry where they are still sending a fair amount of work to India and China.

So... please tell me... what are the important puzzle pieces that I need to concentrate on? What is expedient? Where is my energy best spent?

At the moment, I have to have 2 full time jobs...

1) Job hunting

2) Skills enhancement

So, as I try to figure things out... please be a little patient with me as I try to handle first things first.

Look for updates soon!