Holiday
greetings from the Rosner family!
Sonia’s in her fourth and
final year at UC San Diego and will be graduating in June! This past fall
she took her last classes for her biochemistry major. She and her
long-time boyfriend Daniel are still living together in San Diego, enjoying
sailing on Mission Bay, walking along the beaches of La Jolla, and regular
visits to the exceptional San Diego Zoo. A move is in order for the coming
year, as Sonia has applied to graduate schools located everywhere but southern
California. Conveniently avoiding a harsh job search, she has decided to
pursue a PhD in biochemical nutrition. In June the family traveled to San
Diego to celebrate Sonia’s Bat Mitzvah, during which she chanted from the
Torah in San Diego's oldest standing synagogue, Beth Israel. Please join
us in wishing Sonia a hearty mazel tov on this milestone in her life!
Ari got out of the investment world shortly before the s*** hit the fan
and left Santa Barbara last spring. He's parlayed his semi-obscene savings into
a life of temporary unemployed freedom in scenic Portland, Oregon, home of
bridges, coffeehouses and microbreweries. He keeps busy by volunteering at the
local farmers' market and food co-op, and spends a sizeable chunk of his time
eating food, preparing food, talking about food, and thinking about food. Thanks
to Portland's prevalent bike paths and public transit, he's managed to continue
his car-free lifestyle - much easier than it was in Southern California! What's
in store for 2009, who can say?
After winning the Nobel
Prize for discovering the secrets of aging, Jeff has been traveling
significantly, espousing brilliance to sold-out crowds. Using his newfound
powers of healing, he has also had several orthopedic procedures to correct old
injuries with perfect results. He is currently considering many high-profile
career changes while continuing at Agilent.
Ronda has seriously
benefited from Jeff’s anti-aging influences this year, as she began rowing
and, once again, cycling. She also
returned to political activism by joining the Obama campaign. Due to this year’s crazy market dynamics, her retirement
hangs even farther out on the horizon. As
she continues working at Agilent, she’s extremely envious of Ari’s current
“retirement” lifestyle and wonders what went wrong…? Ronda’s 2008 media favorites:
Movie - “Milk”, Book – “Spook Country” by William Gibson, CD
– “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay.
This year also brought some sadness:
we lost Ronda’s father, Dean, in March at the age of 83, as well as two
long-standing friends, Michael C. and Jenny K.
We remember them fondly and pledge to keep them in our hearts.
In addition to Sonia’s Bat Mitvah, our family came together several
other times this year. In March we
celebrated Jeff’s mom’s 84th birthday in Maryland with several of
the near and extended Rosner clan. In
August we traveled to Chatham on Cape Cod to visit Marj and family (Jeff’s
sister) for a week. Cape
highlights: warm seawater, spirited boat rides, freshly acquired clams dipped in
butter (accompanied by margaritas), and a day trip to Provincetown.
We gathered in November for Thanksgiving and again this month to ring out
the old and toast to the positive changes to come in ‘09.
Enjoy health, peace, and love
during the coming year.