Back and Forth

Here, as is my habit, is a review of 2006 and some thoughts on 2007.

 

I note first of all that it was a relatively light year for blogging for me. That's sort of unsurprising for a few reasons. First, I've been doing it for over three years now, so it's not quite as exciting as it was when I started. Hopefully, y'all still find it worth reading. Second, I have a toddler. Enough said. :)

 

2006 was a busy year for me, technically speaking. By my count, I was involved in at least nine different software projects. I even shipped a few of them, like the MTPS Content Service, msdnman, HoboCopy, and two releases of FlexWiki, including an alpha of version 2.0. And that's not to mention some of the work I did for some of my clients that I can't talk about.

 

Obviously, I've got more work to do in a few spots, including finishing FlexWiki 2.0 (oh ye gods, in the name of logic and mercy, please let me finish it in 2007) and shipping a new version of HoboCopy (this one's already in the can, I just need to post it).

 

The big stuff this year had nothing to do with the computer, though. First, Ellen turned two. Contrary to the popular stereotype of two-year-olds, she's been enormously fun and very well-behaved. I guess we're only two months into it at this point, but so far, two is my favorite age! But so were zero and one.

 

The other biggie was that Alice graduated. The positive impact of this on our personal lives cannot be overstated. Even more exciting than the graduation itself is that - even though I suspect she has her doubts from time to time - I'm certain than she's going to put her degree to good use in 2007, doing something really interesting.

 

As for me, I'm hoping that 2007 is a bit less busy than 2006, but just as interesting. From a work standpoint, I'm off to a good start on that one. I've got a project that I can't talk about just yet that pretty well ensures the "interesting" part, and I've finished up a few of the other ones on my list that should help with the "less busy" bit. But we'll see - I'm not historically very good at saying "no" to good opportunities.

 

In the near term, I'm very, very close to finishing my .NET architecture & design class for Pluralsight. It distills a lot of the lessons I've learned in my career - it's largely centered around the discussions I find myself having with clients over and over again as I move from gig to gig. So I think it'll be worthwhile for a lot of people. Maybe I'll see you in class sometime in 2007. :)

 

I'm not a big one for New Year's resolutions - I much prefer to strive for excellence all the time - so I'm not going to say, "I promise to blog more in 2007". More isn't generally better anyway. What I do hope is that I frequently learn new things that make me think, "Wow, I should share that with everyone" and that then I do.

 

See you around the feed.