First and foremost, i would like to wish you all a happy new year and i wish you health and happiness for 2009.
The last day of the year is always filled with stories and reflections on the year and this has been no different for me.
This year saw me start my blog, join twitter, encourage social media usage, support a social networking and youth participation pilot within my workplace. It also saw new connections and colleagues through the social media tools like this blog and twitter and fortunately i have been able to meet some of those connections in person, i hope to do more of that in 2009.
On a personal and family note, we got our camper van back home after 4 long years, we dealt with my wife’s thyroid cancer,we saw our kids grow and learn more every day and had huge personal and emotional growth ourselves. In the current credit crunch, it is good to know we currently have good health and we only wish and hope for more of that in 2009. Having less money has certainly been hard at times but nothing can compare to the feeling i had when i heard my wife was healthy again, that is something all the money in the world would not have been able to buy and i’m sure it would rival any feeling a lottery winner would have.
As we now look forward to 2009, we are grateful and give thanks to all those who supported us this year and we have learnt so much about ourselves as well as our friends and family.
We have some exciting things to look forward to in 2009: a family trip to Australia, Sharon will complete her NVQ 3 in Children’s care learning and development, Ewan starts school and Finley will start nursery. For me, i am looking to develop my career and hope to take new opportunities.
Finally one thing that 2008 taught me was: decluttering your life is a healthy and emotionally rewarding experience.
I raise a glass to you all and look forward to more connections and conversations in 2009 and offer this website as something to give you wonder every day (Astronomy Picture of the Day)
Speak soon, Carl.
A journey through life - Carl's Notepad 
And a happy new year to you too Carl, it’s been a pleasure working with you over the last twelve months and long may it continue!
Martin
Glad its ended on a high after such a testing time. Looking forward to seeing you soon.
All the best for 09 Carl, and I look forward to being one of those online connections you meet f2f. Barcamp maybe?
Hi Neil, yes i am planning on attending barcamp this year, i am really looking forward to it. Be great to catch up face to face. :o)