Just some thoughts on re-learning the guitar. After about a 4+ year hiatus in playing I've been back playing for the past several months and have been having a blast getting back in the groove.
One thing I've been concentratin hard on this time is learning whole songs. Solos and everything. I know it sounds stupid but before I would want to learn songs beyond my skill level. The riffs and chords I'd be able to do just fine but I couldn't do the solos.
This time I'm picking the songs to learn carefully so I can play the entire thing. It's actually more rewarding! I'm practicing scales too, and generally learning the fretboard better. I'm also trying to push myself a little bit to learn licks here and there for (finger) exercise.
I'm steadily getting better. Hope to start playing with other people soon! That's another thing I'm going to do differently this time. Playing with other people. Music isn't as much fun if you just keep to yourself.