Well, we love our new home, "Chateau Le Cache Flow" and we love San Luis Obispo and what we have sampled of the "SLO Life" as the Chamber of Commerce likes to call it, but the Millers are still 'on the road' with work-related projects - maybe next year in SLO?! Meanwhile, we are blessed with good health, good friends, continuing work and a new grandson, Isaac Axel Miller born August 9, 2009!

Family
Myles Stanton Miller welcomed his new little brother, Isaac Axel Miller, in August and Faith Denise Stewart got to meet her new cousin for the first time at Thanksgiving. We are pleased and proud of them all. They have given us great pleasure this year as once again we have been able to visit both families about once a month. Both Myles and Faith (2.5 yrs) are big talkers and love to read their books. Now if they can only get potty trained! This summer Faith joined Myles for his second birthday just 6 days after hers. Rick built a sandbox on the only level patch we have on our property and both of the toddlers have had a chance to use it. Faith has a few more "use points" as she spent a week with us in late July while her folks took a little vacation. Myles and Isaac got 24 hours of dedicated Miller grandparent time Thanksgiving week when their parents got a day/night out/off.

Lydia and Norman Heywood, the patriarch and matriarch of our family at 91 and 88 continue to live on their own 25 miles up the road from us. No major health issues this year, but time does take its toll. We visit them very regularly and enjoy hosting all for family birthdays, anniversaries and of course Thanksgiving. This year we combined the April/May birthdays with an open house celebrating our first year in SLO and installation of our Photovoltaic solar array. (Watching the electric meter run backwards is fun!)

Work
We feel very blessed that we have been able to continue to actively work for $ during this tough economic year. RNM Engineering successfully completed its 7th year of profitable operation with a diversified portfolio of projects. Energy efficient lighting controls and teaching electricians how to install them have been a major focus for Rick this year. Airports, hospitals and high-end homes round out his 2009 project list. So far, no SLO-based projects, although we have joined the Chamber of Commerce and are hoping that 2010 will see at least one 'SLO project'.

Jo Anne continues with the secondary venture capital work at Milk Street Ventures and angel investing with Golden Seeds. We've had a couple of nice exits this year which is good news in a nasty investment environment. Again, private board work and consulting have kept her busy and on the road (or in the air). 2009 has been Jo Anne's year to reach out to SLO and the California Polytechnic University community to try and improve the local climate for entrepreneurship and innovation. While SLO will never be Silicon Valley, there is an increasing amount of energy around an organized approach to growing more start-ups. Jo Anne is taking on a consulting project with CalPoly and the Chamber of Commerce as we enter 2010.

Travel
In addition to driving between SLO and San Francisco and LA, we have had work-related trips to NYC, Chicago, Atlanta and Seattle. We almost always get to visit friends and family when we travel, which is one of our great joys. As the year ends, we are taking a trip/cruise to the Galapagos Islands and really looking forward to that adventure - our first vacation since we moved into the new house.

Until Next Year
We hope you will come and visit us in San Luis Obispo - we have lots of room and do love to have friends and family come to sample the 'SLO Life'! Find us online at rickmiller@rnm-eng.com and joannemiller@milkstreetventures.com. Rick's cell phone is 415-207-5106 and Jo Anne's is 415-290-3017. Have a very Blessed Holiday Season and may 2010 be full of health, happiness and love.