To briefly catch you up on our news – the edited New Year letter
Matt and Kat remain resident in Dublin – Matt is loving his work with Google as a Site Reliability Engineer. Kat is working freelance from their home in the suburb of Dalkey, right on the Irish coast , where she is inspired by the views of the Irish Sea not too many metres from their door. We are very excited by their news that we are to be grandparents in early May – hence our holidays later in the 2011 year when we plan to head to Ireland!! Matt and Kat were “home” in NZ briefly for Christmas – was great to see them and the bump! (the little “Brown” kiwi).
Andrew and Sarah have had a great year fine tuning their house and garden in Hamilton East – the garden flourishes and keeps us well supplied with yummy produce. Andrew continues work as a senior manager for Dick Smith and Sarah at World of Water – aquariums and fish. It is great having them close by and keeping us on our toes!! They are looking forward to a cruise in May 2011.
Chris managed a brief trip home for a week in early November between changing positions on Hayman Island (5 star resort). He is currently a Butler and thoroughly enjoying different opportunities, networking and being responsible for all aspects of his guests’ holiday! The Great Barrier Reef remains for the moment a great place to live, work and dive.
Mark returned fulltime employment in September accepting a position as CEO of Life Unlimited a disability service provider based here in Hamilton. After 3 years as a consultant there are some changes to adjust to, but he is enjoying the change of focus with responsibility for ongoing leadership of an organisation in a field he knows well at grass roots level. Fishing and gardening remain key leisure time interests.
Gill continues to work in the early childhood sector. Weekends away at Waihi Beach have featured frequently for us this year and “fair weather” fishing is starting to appeal – culinary creations using the product without having to catch it remains way ahead though! Sadly this year (while I was away doing earthquake duty in Christchurch) our little dog Buddy was put to sleep after a brief period of declining health. She was about 14 years old. I have missed her more than I thought I would.
Thoughts of our relocation to a smaller property and the beach are featuring on the radar though proving an initial challenge – where and when to start with! Meantime we continue to enjoy our river views and tranquil surroundings and have spare beds and coffee / tea ready for visitors!! Do invite yourselves for a visit if you are in the area.
