Well, it’s been a couple of weeks since my last update, and—surprise!—I never got around to publishing my intended blog post about the tools I’m using to build this blog. Why? Two reasons: first, I got completely absorbed in the technical side of things, and second, life happened.

Going Down the Tech Rabbit Hole

I originally planned to write about my tech stack and workflow, but instead, I found myself deep in the trenches of blog development. Here’s what I’ve been up to:

• Adding Comments – I set up Remark42 so people (in theory) can share their thoughts.
• Image Attribution – This was an area I knew very little about, so I invested time into understanding it properly. I don’t want to end up getting sued over something silly like linking to an image, but I think I have a decent system in place now.
• Tagging System – Because what’s a blog without a way to organize posts?
• SEO Optimization – Tweaking things here and there to make sure my posts don’t just disappear into the void of the internet.
• Ads – Yep, I even experimented with adding ads, mostly as a way to see if I could offset hosting costs (assuming anyone actually reads this 😆).

Basically, I kept thinking, “Just one more feature, and then I’ll write that post,” and, well, here we are.

The Return of Spring (and Why I Stepped Away)

Just as I was gearing up for another deep dive into code, spring made a triumphant—if brief—return. The sun was out, the temperature was actually pleasant, and suddenly, sitting in front of a screen all weekend felt like the worst idea ever. So instead, I spent most of my free time outside with the family, soaking up the sun and enjoying fun activities. And honestly? No regrets.

One of the challenges of balancing personal projects with the demands of parenting is knowing when to take a step back. It’s easy to get caught up in the idea that every spare moment should be spent working on my projects, but that’s not sustainable. And sometimes, stepping away actually helps—when I came back to coding after the break, I felt more motivated and had fresh ideas.

What’s Next?

I still want to publish that blog post about my tools and workflow (for real this time). But I also want to keep improving the blog itself while ensuring I don’t burn myself out in the process.

So, if you’re reading this—first of all, hi! And second, if you have any thoughts on balancing productivity with life, I’d love to hear them (now that I actually have comments set up!).

More updates soon!