I'm a quitter!

It's been a week since I've had a cigarette. Woohoo!! Seven days down and the rest of my life to go!! :o)

Steve and I quit together and it's been hard but I'm determined that this will be the last time I quit. I figured out last time that I CANNOT be a social smoker. I can't just take a drag or two. I can't smoke only at a party or a card game. I can't light one up with a glass of wine. Some people can but I'm sure not one of them. One drag, leads to one cigarette, leads to one pack and I'm right back to where I started.

So this time, I won't take that first drag. I have support from family and friends. I have a list of reasons why I don't want to be a smoker anymore. I have put away all the ashtrays. I have encouragement from my online buddies. And I have determination! I'll keep you updated!

See ya next time! :o)

Class of '08 - MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Congratulations Michael!!!
Class of 2008
You did it, Bud!!!
We are so proud
and
we love you so much!!

Love,
Mom, Dad, Anthony,
Kristi, James,
Nana & Uncle Joe

See ya next time. :o)

Semper Fi!!!!!

We are so very proud. Tonight was Michael's Senior Awards Night. He received the Semper Fidelis Award. Here's a little background:

The "Semper Fidelis" Award

High school musicians embody many virtues that we, as Marines, admire. By and large, a high school musician is someone who gives 110 percent throughout the year. Not only does the young musician have to maintain a high degree of proficiency with an instrument through practice and rehearsal, but he or she has to maintain passing grades and devote time to the extracurricular needs of the band or orchestra. In doing so, the high school musician displays traits that Marines consider essential to being a good leader...endurance, knowledge, unselfishness, dependability, enthusiasm and loyalty. To help high schools promote recognition of achievements and sacrifices their musicians make, the Marine Corps provides the “Semper Fidelis Music Award,” a tradition that dates back to the days of John Philip Sousa and his role in making the Marine Corps Band the premiere musical unit it is today — The President’s Own. The award need not be geared toward the top-notch instrumentalist who may be receiving music scholarships, but can be used to recognize your competent musician who has shown yearly improvement, dedication and enthusiasm.

And here are a few a Kodak moments!

The "Semper Fidelis" Award
For Musical Excellence
Presented to
Michael Chafatelli
by the United States Marines Youth Foundation, Inc.
and the Marine Corps League
In Recognition of Diligence,
Dedication and Musical Excellence as a Performing
High School Bandsman and Soloist
on this 21st day of May, 2008

WTG Mikey!!! We love you!!

See ya next time!

Teacher Power!!

To all my fellow teacher friends out there....this guy says it ALL!!!! I LOVE IT!!!




See ya next time!

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all my mom friends out there! Being a mom is a hard job. The whole time you are raising your little ones, you are hoping that you are doing it right. You are hoping that when your kids get older that they will be good people and that you have made a connection with them that will last a life time. This is a job that you don't know if you are doing well until years later. No one gives you annual reviews. There are no merit raises to let you know you are doing a good job. You just do your best and hope your kids love you and turn out to be the good people you want them to be.

Today is Mother's Day and my three children gave me cards that were so wonderful, they brought me to tears. Cards they picked out and bought themselves, now that they are growing into young adults. I hope you don't mind if I share.

Anthony

I hope your Mother's Day is
all sunshine and smiles!
Love,
Anthony

*************

Michael

There's very a special bond
between
a Mother and a Son --
A bond that
with each passing year,
becomes a stronger one --
It's made of
happy memories,
Of confidences shared,
Of things a mother's done to show
she understood and cared.
And though
that bond's unspoken,
it's both warm and very real.
And this son hopes that his mother knows
that's how he'll always feel.

I love you, Mom.
Thanks for always being there for me.
Your son,
Michael

*************

Kristi

Now that I'm older, I can see
even more clearly how truly lucky
I've been to have a mother like you.
You gave me independence,
but let me know you were there for me.
You let me learn from my own decisions
and my own mistakes
and helped me become my own person.
So I want to say thank you
from the bottom of my heart
and to say that my love
and respect for you
just keep growing all the time.

I love you so much.
Thanks for everything you've done for me.
Love,
Kristi

Needless to say, I had a wonderful Mother's Day. I sure hope you all did too!!

See ya next time!

Painting....again

When we first looked at this house to move to, one of the first things we thought was, This place needs a paint job and some new shutters. The shutters were broken, the paint was so old, faded and ugly that it was hard to tell exactly what color it was or USED to be. Gray? Blue? So now, we've been here about a month and we've decided to get the job done.
Here's a before picture:



We went to Lowe's and picked out a color that would cover in one coat. We certainly didn't want to do this job twice. We chose a blue color and had them mix it. It looked a little bright in the 5 gallon can but we brought it home to get started early the next morning. Pouring it out in the paint pan, it still looked a bit too bright. On our road, our neighbors homes are all muted, neutral colors and the more we looked at this color in the pan, the brighter it became. We started on the back of the house and did a small section. OMG, it was BRIGHT! This was Paas Easter egg blue!! It was HIDEOUS!!! We let it dry...and it didn't get any better. Take a look:

I could NOT subject my neighbors to THAT! They'd have to wear sunglasses every time they left their house!! So, I went back to Lowe's to see if there was anything they could do with this color to make it darker, since of course they can't refund your money once the paint is mixed and taken out of the store. The lady there was very nice. I made sure to stress that this was NOT the store's fault. There was no mistake made...I actually CHOSE this HIDEOUS color!

Me: I hope you can make this better. I can't believe how bright this was on the house. I mean this is just HIDEOUS! Can you imagine having a WHOLE HOUSE painted with THIS hideous Easter egg blue???

The Lowe's Lady: Actually, my sister's house is this color.

Me: Well, it's just that my block seems to be very neutral. You know, grays, whites, beiges and we just want to fit in. We're new to the neighborhood. We couldn't go too light because we want to be able to cover the color that's already on the house.

Yes...I was blabbering. I was back peddling. I was tripping over myself trying to explain after just insulting this woman's sister's house. She saw that I was embarrassed and let me off the hook by telling me that her sister lives in California and people use bolder colors out there. LOL And that you can see her house from three blocks away but it kinda grows on you. LOL

Finally, armed with a MUCH better color we painted for two straight days. The house is blue with white trim and will have white shutters once they come in. Here are the after pictures:


Ignore that puddle of blue on the lawn. That's where I accidentally dumped the paint bucket. I think it came out great and two of my neighbors commented that they loved the color. I can't wait to get the shutters up. I think that will finish it off nicely.

Finally the shutters came in!

And while waiting for the shutters, I painted the shed to match. :)





See ya next time!