Dear friends and family,

The year 1998 turned out to be more hectic than expected. Although some parts of "life" in San Diego aren't as exciting as living near London it does have some real advantages. The weather is the best in the country (if not the world) with sunshine 350 days of the year. We have mountains, deserts and the ocean all within an easy drive with some of the most beautiful scenery all around us. Margie attended a Padres baseball game with Roger (who also went to one of the World Series games) and Max and Roger went to a Chargers football game. Another plus of being on the West Coast is being close to Uncle Bruce. This year he has been able to visit us quite a few times and Ariel even got to spend a few days in San Francisco with him (including seeing a Spice Girls concert!!) So, as with all of our moves, we have adjusted our lifestyle to take advantage of our surroundings.

As you may remember, we had rented a house when we first arrived here. The lease was for a year - with the idea it might be extended to two years. Unfortunately, the couple we rented from were a Navy family. Well, you guessed it! The Greens received notice at the end of April that we had to be out of their house by June 30^th. Two months is not a lot of time to find a place and move. We decided that San Diego was going to be "home" and we wanted a place of our own. Of course the housing market was booming at that time, with a shortage of houses and the prices going up by the minute. Our usual luck! After schlepping around with Wayne, our trusty (and tireless) realtor, and seeing about 100 houses, Margie found one to fit all the criteria necessary. By this time it was the end of May and we still had to work out a lot of issues related to the house, get financing, etc. Luckily the owners had already moved out. Well, it went right down to the end, but we managed to move out by the end of June. We love our new house and know we can be happy here for many years. At the end of this letter, I will include our new address and phone number for those of you who don't have it.
 
 

Moving is always hectic. Although we only moved about 5 miles from Poway, the move also meant new schools. For Ariel being in the 7^th grade, this wasn't too difficult. She went from a middle school to an elementary school. But the name of the school had a lot going for it, L.R. Green school. For those of you who don't know, Roger's initials are R.L. Green! It took a few months to make new friends but she has been successful. She also made the honor roll, so she is doing nicely. For Max, the change became a bit of a nightmare. Before we bought the house, I inquired about him being able to stay at Poway High, since he was a senior. He had joined the football team and seemed to have gotten nicely settled after what was a traumatic beginning. At the time, his counselor assured me that as a Senior, he could finish high school there. To shorten our story, at the end of August we were told he couldn't go to Poway and he would have to transfer to our local high school. This was too much for him. After much investigating, I found out he only needed two courses to graduate. So he has been doing them on independent study. To fill in the rest of his time, he has been taking college courses at Palomar College, a local junior college not too far from our house. In the meantime, he got his driver's license and we bought him a car, so he has transportation. He is much happier this year! So it all ended okay.

Roger has been busy as Chief Information Officer of Cymer. 1998 was a difficult year because of the Asian economies but things are looking optimistic for 1999 and onward. A part of his job he loves is being able to remain "state-of-the-art". He gets to play ( he says work) with all the newest technology. Unfortunately, this comes at a price. After many years of keyboarding, he has developed Carpal Tunnel syndrome in both hands. So this vacation he had one hand operated on. Hence, Margie has typed most of this newsletter. In the spring the other hand will need to be done.
 
As for Margie, she is working part time at two jobs -- teaching Judaica at a local synagogue, Monday, Wednesday, and Sunday for a total of six hours, and working in a learning center Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday for about 10 hours. Margie is also in the process of getting a California teaching certificate. When that happens then she can substitute in public schools.

Bentley and Daphne (our wonder dogs) are doing fine in their new home -seemingly content to chase various lizards instead of British wildlife. They have more room to roam since we have about an acre and a half. We have seen some coyotes but no snakes! We have a number of fruit and nut trees, they have started trying out some new foods from our trees. (not that they are very picky)

We wish you all a happy and healthy New Year. We have an extra bedroom for those who want a break from the cold weather. Just a word of advice: since our new house has a game room with a poker table Ariel has become a bit of a 'shark' --- don't play her for money!
 
 
 

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

In case you somehow missed the news... 1998 was the year of El Nino --- and the much heavier-than-normal rains produced a truly colorful display in the desert. Roger took these pictures in March at Borrego Springs - about an hour from our home. The carpet of verbena flowers on the normally barren desert floor is an unusual and beautiful sight. Photographers came from all over the world to capture this scene on film.

This is the view from our rear deck as we look south over the San Pasqual Valley towards Mexico. Sunny from early morning till dusk we can enjoy our morning coffee while we watch a pair of red-tail hawks soaring in the thermals over the canyon.