Ok, folks…I know it’s been a couple of months (about six months or so, actually) but I’m ready to start blogging again.

I unfortunately didn’t save my database file (coulda sworn I did, but whatever) so I’ve had to restore some links and restore the site as close as possible to the way it was before (thank you, Wayback Machine!).

Now, as to the reason why I stopped blogging. First off, I was working a crushing schedule and I simply was finding it harder and harder to work those hours and still find the time to stay informed AND write the number of blog posts I set for myself. While having co-bloggers helped, it wasn’t enough (after all, they have lives, too).

Second of all, we’d been thinking of selling our house and buying a new and bigger one. We made the mistake of downsizing when we moved back to the area, and we quickly found out that we had too much crap for that size of a house. Even doing a major spring cleaning and getting rid of everything we didn’t need or use, we still were cramped. The house had less storage space than we initially thought, and the rooms were smaller than what we’d gotten used to in the past. So, we decided to sell that one and look for a larger house. Thankfully, we did both (with the housing market the way it was, I consider myself lucky that we unloaded the old one). We found a larger house that was, quite frankly, a steal at the price we paid for it (it was a foreclosure). It’s not a perfect house, some minor things needed to be done (painting and some minor remodeling), and that was another thing that was going to eat away at my time (in fact, it still will when spring gets here).

We started the process in earnest in August and took possession of the house in October (a month later than we’d planned). We spent a month doing some cleaning and painting, getting it ready for us to move in. We moved in at the end of November, and we’ve spent the last couple of weeks getting ready for the holidays and relatives coming over. Now that that’s over and done with, things have settled down considerably and I have some free time on my hands (until, as I said, spring).

Finally, I wasn’t all that excited about the recent election. Previous readers know that I detest McCain, thought he wasn’t a conservative at all (and he isn’t), and couldn’t vote for him in good conscience (btw, I didn’t vote for him, I left it blank). Even with his choice of Ms. Palin, I still couldn’t get behind him (I’ll talk about her, I’m sure, in a future post, but suffice it to say I like her, think she’s a good conservative, but that she isn’t Presidential/Veep material, not yet, at least).

I’ve resigned myself to an Obama Presidency, and that’s one reason I’m back. I’m actually glad that we got Obama instead of McCain because it didn’t matter who won, we were screwed either way. The winner, no matter who it was, was going to do some serious damage to this country. And, quite frankly, if that damage is to be done, I’d much rather it comes from the left than our side. That way, when they screw it up people can see what they’re really all about and what kind of agenda they’re pushing.

Don’t get me wrong, I hope to God I’m wrong about Obama and I really hope he doesn’t screw up. He is my President, whether I like it or not (I won’t be like the libs and sneer that he’s not), and I hope he does well. I certainly don’t want to see him fail, but I know he will (although the press will cover his ass, just like they did with Clinton), just as I know what kind of damage he’s going to do and what he and his liberal cohorts in Congress have in store for us over the next couple of years (socialism and sky-high taxes).

Anyway, those are the reasons why I left and some of the reasons why I’m back. To put it bluntly, there’s going to be too much going on and to oppose over the next couple of years for me to just sit on the sidelines and do or say nothing about it.

Now, some people might notice the blogroll is a little thin. There’s two reasons for that. One, I wanted to make sure that I linked to those who have linked to me in the past quite a bit and who I consider to be friends, even if it was at the expense of those who didn’t link to me all that much or at all. Second, I didn’t want to spend three hours putting all my old links back in. I’ll get around to it as time goes by, but for now, at least, this is it. If you really want me to link to you, just email me and I’ll try to get around to it. =)

P.S.: I may do a redesign on the site. If you’re good with WordPress and want to volunteer (i.e., do it for free or for a link at the bottom), email me.