Phew, with a full time software job, it feels pretty draining by the time I get home, but I do like poking around software. Though I also don't seem to have enough time to go too deep so I've just been stuck in tweaking UI's haha... But yeah, little steps at a time is great, and really cool you were able to accomplish some great personal goals.
Tweaking UI's is still a pretty deep thing. I always been more of a backend type of person so that's where I tend to gravitate. Also with tweaking UI's you first have to deal with dissecting the code that is there in the first. And having been involved in some code review I know that reading other's code can sometimes be a daunting task. But yeah if I told myself each morning I had to get the amount of work done I get by the time I get to bed, I probably wouldn't survive.
Oh yeah, that is very true. The good part with them (UI) is that they are very accessible in terms of being able to iterate on them quickly. I do remember scratching my head a lot with the condenser. I was also more of a backend type of person too, so it's kind of a fun change of pace :)