Hi Matt.
I know where you are at.
It all does become a bit ho-hum at times.
But my cure each time has been to change the method of astronomy I do.
I started, as usual, doing visual. I used a small 114mm Reflector I assembled myself and plonked in on a mount I made out of plumbing pipes.
That set-up kept me happy for many years until it was all pretty ordinary and getting to a stage of 'I can't be bothered', so I lashed out and bought a 12" Dob.
Boy that 12" certainly made it all interesting again. It opened up the whole sky to me. For a few years.
Then it too become a bit mundane. Not hated, or boring, just 'the same old same old', so I wanted to dabble in astrophotography to try that.
Fortunately Bert (avandonk) was giving away a modified Toucam webcam, so I was able to get it so my sons and I could learn how to image objects.
Wow! That added life to the hobby again.
Then a few more years and I got Canon 350d and it got exciting again in a new way.
Then, it was starting to get all too much. Guiding, loooong hours of imaging, then darks, then the stacking, then processing etc etc.
All fun, but getting to be very tedious.
Again I was starting to think 'do I really want to set up tonight?'.
I usually did, but often not enjoying it as much as I used to.
Through all these stages of imaging I still periodically did visual on club nights which was good fun and a change.
But last year I was getting very discouraged with DSLR imaging, so I tried video astronomy and WOW!, I am glad I did.
Not only have I moved on to another method of astronomy but I consider it to be the most exciting and fun-filled method I have ever done.
'Live' video astronomy is fantastic, and easy!!!
No doubt I will get bored with it in a few years, but I will probably move to another method.
Maybe I'll fly up there and look close up with my eyes
But changing methods has kept the hobby fresh and fun for me.
But that is me.
