Happy Birthday, Scott!

Matthew Preston | May 25, 2022
Man, where have the years gone?! Congrats on another year on this planet, even if it has been tough at times. I am grateful to have known you for as long as I have, and even more grateful that we still keep in touch. I hope you are having a great day and that the next year will be prosperous and fruitful for you and family. Take care my friend!

Steve West | May 25, 2022
Here's to another year of laughing 'til it hurts, playing a lot of fantastic games, and generally driving each other crazy. Happy Birthday, my friend.

Evie Totty | May 25, 2022
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I owe you so much in so many different ways.

I hope you are having the best day.

Scott Hardie | May 26, 2022
Thanks everybody! I was too busy with family and medical stuff to really take some "me time," but I get a three-day weekend every year around my birthday, and this year I'm blocking out my calendar to have some fun and relax. i hope all of you have as much happiness and good luck as you wish me. :-)

Before Samir asks what I learned: This has been a really difficult year for me for reasons that I haven't discussed here (I will later), and getting through it has meant limiting my capacity for sadness. I've mostly stopped paying attention to the news, which is one reason why I seem to be ignoring this week's tragedy to play Rock Block and complain about Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and do other mundane stuff. I've all but given up on watching drama and horror and other entertainment that is difficult to sit through. I'm still there for friends when they need a good long conversation about their problems -- I'm not a completely selfish jerk :-) -- but I really have been trying to do like endless Facebook memes suggest and prioritize my mental and emotional health. And it's sad to say, but what I've learned is, that's really hard to do. I have responsibilities that take up much of my time and attention, and taking "me time" to rest or enjoy myself means falling further behind in something else. I'm working to unburden myself from certain commitments but that's a slow process because of how entrenched they are in my life; maybe by this time next year I'll have progress to report. In the meantime I'm going to focus as much as I can on what brings me happiness, and that includes all of you. Thank you for being a part of my life.