Before I resolve anything I thought I’d reflect a bit on the past year. The great thing about a personal blog is that it allows you to look back.

I wrote about two things more often than anything else: work-life balance and my frustration with lack of faculty technology knowledge and use. It’s clear that those things were key factors in my deciding to quit. I had probably been thinking about quitting longer than I was truly conscious of. One thing I learned from that decision was that it was difficult. I spent a lot of time agonizing over how it would affect my family financialy. I shouldn’t have. I should have gone with my gut.

Stepping out of my role as a tech support person has allowed me to begin looking at the effects of technology on life and learning more comprehensively and more deeply. In many of the presentations I gave last year, I was already going there, thinking especially about social software and my own scholarship.

I turned 40 this year and my oldest turned 13. That changes your perspective a little. While I certainly don’t feel my life is over now that I’m 40, I certainly feel there’s no sense in wasting time. Spending time with my kids has become more important as I realize how little time I really have with them. Oddly, I also feel greater feedom to do what I want.

It’s been quite a year. I’m looking forward to the next one.

— Post From My iPhone