Season's greetings to you all from a very wet (due to some atmospheric rivers dumping on) Portland, Oregon! This year saw Josephine moving back to London and a number of trips across the pond to see her and check on Richard’s |mum). Liz is doing well living on her own, if not a little frustrated that she gets tired and cannot get as much done in a day as she used to.
Richard is excited to be the new Director of Design and Information Technology at the Oregon State Bar (lawyers, not cocktails). He had been at Oregon State Police as their CIO for over three years. The post-|Covid, “return to the office” commute to Salem (50 min each way) was getting to him so it was time to find something closer to home! He will now be managing technology for the lawyer side of the justice system rather than law enforcement! He looks forward to the new opportunity as it complements his interest in ethics, privacy, and technology. His new commute is 12 mins!
Jennifer continues with her spiritual and counseling business and continues to develop her methods of helping people, and has just passed her certification in change work. She is in her second of three years on the Board of Trustees at the Multnomah Athletic Club. She continues to be mama to Calvin, our 23-year-old chestnut thoroughbred who is doing so much better at the stables we moved him to in late 2022.
Before moving back to London, Josephine surprised her mother by announcing that the two of them were going to Japan! Josephine grew up hearing stories from her mother about what it was like to live in Japan as a college student and she wanted to experience it for herself (AND hear her mother speak Japanese...which she does not...but does...ish, kinda!) The two of them headed out on an adventure in the first two weeks of March and had an amazing time. Richard now wants to experience Japan, so planning for that commences soon.
Josephine moved back over the pond in March on her path to being a sommelier. She had done a working tour of Oregon wineries including Ponzi and Willamette Valley Vineyards but wanted to get back to the old world. She started out at La Trompette (Michelin star) and then Bibi (high-end Indian in Mayfair). Just recently she has moved to KOL, another Michelin star Mexican restaurant under a Head Sommelier and with another Assistant Som. More to come on that.
Percy is now 10 years old and continues to guard the house well from squirrels, neighbor dogs and anything that need herding (joggers, cyclists, etc). Richard enjoys taking him for evening walks to the local school playing field for “Sunsets with Percy” (calendar soon!)
Our warmest regards and best wishes for 2024.
Richard, Jennifer & Josephine.
