This blog had a bit of unplanned downtime. Here’s what I’ve been patching in the background.

It’s been a month since my last post, and a lot has happened since then. But before I dive into the updates, I want to explain why I went quiet.

This blog was born during my vacation — when I had time to slow down, think out loud, and express myself. But once I returned to work, I had to jump back into my usual routine. As expected, I started to feel drained and low on energy.

The project I’m currently leading is progressing well, and I’ve also taken on some new initiatives. There were moments I felt overwhelmed, but I see that as part of my growth and personal goals.

Maybe I could count more on my team. As a Senior, I try to be mindful of their workloads and the projects they’re handling. Because of that, I often take on extra initiatives myself to avoid overloading them. (But that’s a topic for another post.)

Over the past month, I’ve been fully focused on work — and by the end of each day, I was too tired or stressed to write. I’m not using that as an excuse. I still want to write weekly, and I’m trying to be honest with myself about how I can do things differently moving forward.

Outside of work, something exciting happened — I started a new project with an old friend I studied with back in 2015. He reached out unexpectedly and invited me to join him in building a business from scratch.

I’m genuinely excited about this new project. In fact, as I’m writing this, I’m waiting for our first service deployment to finish. That small moment of downtime gave me the push to come back here and write.

Maybe once the business is more developed and we validate our idea, I’ll share more about what we’re building and what I’m learning along the way.

I also traveled to my hometown for my grandmother’s 95th birthday. It was a 10-hour drive — just me and my mom in the car for 800km. It was really special to see my aunts, uncles, and cousins. I even met some family members I hadn’t seen since I was a baby — people who remembered me, but whom I didn’t remember at all.

My girlfriend and I also had some meaningful conversations about the next steps in our relationship. I’ll probably share more about that in the months to come.

Life’s been full — in the best and most exhausting ways. But I missed writing. It helps me reflect, and it’s a space I want to keep showing up in. So here’s to new routines, new projects, and finding words again — even in busy seasons.