It came in live and loud.

Lessons learned in the past 16 weeks:

- I've accomplished more in the five months since my divorce than I did in five years of marriage.  I never realized just how toxic my ex-wife was because she kept me just satisfied enough not to aspire to anything better.  In the process I learned that I'm a little too easily subdued by a nice pair of tits for my own good.

- Finals week taught me that I should probably make an honest assessment of the very best I can do, add 40%, and consider that latter figure more realistic.  I busted my ass to turn a grade in IS201 from A-minus to an A.  I was like Dallas Braden out there---perfect with the A's.

- I've learned that the more I learn about accounting and finance, the clearer my career options become to me, but I have not yet begun to fight.

- I learned that Facebook is a powerful deterrent to writing quality material online, since rather than sit down and thoughtfully contemplate my message, I just dashed it off in 60-word chunks.

- I learned that I do better working 50 hours a week than 15.

- And finally, I've learned that my life is indeed right where I left it a decade ago, just waiting for me to come back to it and make it into something worthwhile again.  It's nice to believe in myself again.