@E4R - Some days we are in the groove, some days we aren't. Some days I really want that XT250 to poke around off pavement on, (wife wants two of them, one for each of us. We'll see). After my tour I started riding street and rode nearly everywhere, every day for 10 years. A few job changes and location changes and I found myself living and commuting in high density traffic. People were not just trying to kill me with their cars every day, but trying really, really hard! After to very close calls in the same week I just decided riding wasn't fun any more. I sold the bike and took 10 years off. Even during that time though, every spring had me watching the other people on bikes and thinking about getting one again.
After a decade, I got back into riding and found I enjoyed it just as much as before. But I don't commute any more. I don't let my riding devolve into droning to work and back home. I keep riding for fun. For going places. The S10 is a tool to take me to new places and show me new things. Sometimes that's on a road I've been on 1000 times before.
There is nothing wrong with considering a smaller bike, in addition to, if you can swing it, for off pavement rides. But regardless of what bike you choose to ride, take an off road skills class. In hindsight, I was becoming worried about surviving my daily commutes. Had I taken some skills training then, it may have sparked the awareness that I needed to either avoid the commuting, or increased my comfort zone with it and I may not have needed/taken that break from riding. Even if you don't plan to do much or any off pavement riding in the future, take the class and learn some new techniques. You might just be surprised at what it does for you and your riding.
There are probably places in TX, but here is a very affordable option in CO. Besides, it gives you an excuse to go for a ride.
http://www.offrouteadv.com/ The wife and I will likely do this guy's class, perhaps the level II later, depending on how we feel we did in the level I. We're very experienced pavement riders and the wife has old dirt bike experience, but she lacks confidence with the bigger ADV bike off pavement. I do ok off pavement, but sure could learn new things and increase my confidence when things start to get nasty.