If you follow me on Twitter or are my friend on Facebook, you might already know the news. I am joining Microsoft next week as a Data Technology Specialist in St. Louis. It was really hard to leave my job as a DBA at Bryan Cave. Bryan Cave was my world for 8 years, but I know that they will be fine and it is time for me to move on.

I learned so much during those years and, surprisingly, my personality also changed during that time. I am now comfortable speaking in front of a large group of people, often without preparing anything in advance. I can't imagine doing anything like that 10 years ago. See, you can change if you really work at it!

Tonight I attended a .Net Rocks Road Show event with Carl Franklin in St. Charles, MO. I got there early and helped hand out swag. I felt like this was my first event as a Microsoft employee, even if a bit premature. It was about 14 years ago that I asked Carl for advice about creating a data-driven website. He had a very popular VB site at the time. He suggested Active Server Pages, and within a couple of months, I had a database driven real estate website up and running, complete with admin tools for the agents. That site is long gone, but I remember how exciting it was to actually make some money programming instead of just spending money on computers and books.

So now my life is taking another turn. I am sure it is the right one to take.