Well I meant to post a few months ago, hit writers block and never came back to finish it up. Oops.
I've now made it two months without a cigarette and feel great. I've been slowly decreasing my nicotine intake and will soon be ready to cut it out entirely.
Been working on furthering my learning from the HAM radio material and want to return to school to study Electrical Engineering. I have been checking around various educational institutes and have a rough idea on what I will be looking at to see this through to completion. Now I am working on finding a way to fit it into my schedule and then into my budget.
Also I have been working with some of the DIY kits and getting those skills polished, like soldering, following schematics, testing/troubleshooting, etc... so if schooling doesn't happen, at least I will have what I need to make much of my own stuff.
Still working on bringing other parts of my life out of the rut I had been stuck in. Not as much progress in some areas, but I have yet to give up trying and that alone is progress in and of itself.
I am not looking forward to the holidays though. Halloween used to be one of my most favorite holidays but this year it was bittersweet for me. It was my late wife's favorite holiday as well and it was the first one without her. Now the first Thanksgiving and Christmas are approaching. I know there will be happiness there those days as well, and I will still make it through these rough waters ahead. Shaken, but intact.