Logging out and back in seems like a good troubleshooting tool to add to the arsenal and a lot quicker than a restart
Logging out/in can be helpful, but it's generally reserved for situations in which you question your boot account; it doesn't get as deeply into OS X as does restarting, which in turn doesn't get as deeply into OS X as does shutting down/powering up.
I treat it as my first option
only when it's apparently called for. (Also, I prefer my test user account to be pristine, so I trash/recreate it every time I log in to it....makes it a time-costly option.)
I'm happy to hear that you're back up and running (and that your new iPhone is on the way).
