The wedding party revealed:

Meredith Estrada, Maid of Honor
Jeffrey Norton Marchesiani, Best Man

Alex Galan, Junior Usher and Violinist
Anita Czajkowski, Bridesmaid
Catherine Galan, Flower Girl
Eric Marchetti, Groomsman
Greg Antman, Groomsman
Ismael Estrada, III, Groomsman
Jessica Johnson, Bidesmaid
Sean Dewitt, Head Usher
Tanis Gray, Bidesmaid
William Galan, Ring Bearer

Categories: Wedding
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I am back from Italy, although apparently for a short time. I returned yesterday, and it sounds like work will be sending me to Chicago tomorrow. Jet lag has me up bright and early, trying to get caught up on bills, email and all the other stuff that queues up when you leave society for a week. I’ll provide a longer update later this week assuming I can get caught up on everything!

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Today is the final day at our villa in Tuscany. We leave tomorrow morning for an airport hotel in Florence in preparation for an early departure on Sunday morning. The villa has a wonderful view of vineyards and olive groves, and the sounds of the city are replaced by the whistling of workers picking grapes, and the buzzing of flies grown fat from the richness of the land.

(image removed in preparation for new gallery software)

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Today marks my return to Florence for the second time this year, and oddly enough we parked right across the street from where Meghan and I stayed when we were here about 2 months ago. This was the hotel we stayed in right before I "popped the question" in the town of Asolo. Walking by brought back lots of memories!

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After countless orientations, trainings, institutes and such I began my professional career as a teacher last Monday at MS 391 in the Bronx. At the start of the week I was relatively calm and anxious about finally getting started, and at the end of the week I got my first paycheck!

I made it through the week unscathed, and with even more enthusiasm and excitement about the rest of the year than I began with. With regards to curriculum, age, maturity, and behavior, my classes are all vastly different. While this diversity makes planning and preparation time consuming, it keeps me on my toes all day and anxiously anticipating what next period will bring.

Luckily, I?m working with a group of talented, friendly and interesting people at school. Everyday I learn more about who to go to when I need help, advice, or supplies. Even though I am still learning the ropes, I?m already feeling like a complete member of the school community.

Here’s to week 2…

Categories: Work, General
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I’m enjoying my first full day in the Tuscany region with my parents and sister. Thus far, the weather (and the Italian wine) have been perfect! We’re staying in a small villa in the heart of Tuscany. I’ll post the name of the town later, since I’ll offend any real Italians in the audience with my Gringo version of the spelling. We’re surrounded by vineyards, olive groves and plate after plate of delicious food.

This evening brought a beautiful red sky, and I’ll have several pictures to post upon my return. It has been great to get reacquanted with my family, and clear my head from my previous job. I’ll be more than ready to crank things up at the new gig upon my return.
Disclaimer: I am posting these updates via the 4mm keyboard on my Blackberry, so I apologize for any spelling errors!

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I going on vacation with my family, and it?s the first time in a number of years since the four of us have taken a vacation together since we?ve gradually become scattered across the northeast. It?s also the first time in a long time since Meghan and I have been apart for more than a week, so that is the one negative aspect of the trip. The trip was planned and reserved almost a year in advance by my father, and was booked before Meghan was ?officially? family, so I think it will be the last family trip I go on without her.

I?m literally packing for a flight that leaves in about four hours and am then rushing out the door bound for JFK. If the technological forces are aligned correctly, I?ll try and post an update or two from the road.

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One last look at Barry Place, where I worked as a Pitney Bowes employee. After a great send off party, today is my last day!

(image removed in preparation for new gallery software)

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This is the second time I?ve changed jobs since I started working in 1999 and one of the many details of the change is the ?letter of resignation.? I think my original concept of the letter of resignation comes from Whitehouse TV dramas, where a disgraced subordinate of the President walks into the Oval Office, head bowed in defeat, and says ?You?ll have my letter of resignation on your desk tomorrow.? These letters seem to follow some epic disaster; perhaps the Vice President accidentally declared war on China while the President was on the golf course, or the Secretary of State spilled salsa on the Mexican First Lady?s dress. On the rare TV show or movie where they actually show such a letter, it usually looks to be a good three to five paragraphs, with lots of official seals and other stately details, apologizing for whatever transgressions the official committed, and heroically admitting the disgrace brought on by those actions, sentencing the official to a life of $100,000 college graduation speeches and lackluster autobiographies.

When I first switched jobs, resigning from IBM in early 2003 I was asked to write such a letter. My ?transgressions? consisted primarily of not being particularly fond of the way Big Blue was treating her newly acquired consulting practice, and I could not think of anything particularly valiant or conciliatory to say. Instead of 100% cotton bond paper with an embossed seal of some sort, I fired out an email. I did not save the email, but it went something like this:

Dear HR Person I?ve Never Met:

I hope you had a pleasant weekend. I am resigning from IBM effective at the end of next week.

Best Regards,

Pat

PS: Go Red Sox!

Thus far, Pitney Bowes has not mentioned a requirement to submit a ?Letter of Resignation.? Again my transgressions against my country and humanity at large are pretty unimpressive. I wish I could admit to some grave violation of the standards of goodness and decency, like attempting to reincarnate Joe Pitney and Franky Bowes using stolen brains from the local asylum. Unfortunately all I can come up with is that I am leaving to get some more leadership opportunities, and experience with some of SAP?s new products. Maybe on my last day I can make some dire predictions about the death of postal mail, or perhaps stop by my local asylum on the way to work and see what their brain inventory looks like. I wonder if the Employee Handbook tells you where Mr. Pitney and Mr. Bowes ended up?

Categories: Work
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Tomorrow is Meghan?s first day of teaching at her new job in the Bronx! We?re turning in early so she?ll be ready to go tomorrow morning! Meghan has promised an update here after her first day.

In other job news, this is my last week at Pitney Bowes! It?s been a good run, but it?s time to try something new. I?ll let everyone know how my new job goes when the time comes!

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Only a few days after our engagement, Meghan and I made our first wedding related purchase. The wedding books and websites advise buying planning kits, calendars and all the latest wedding magazines, however, still in the throes of post-engagement bliss, the only logical first purchase was, of course, two Italian champagne flutes! During a visit to the island of Murano, renowned for its glass (and not a funny looking SUV) we visited the glass blowing houses, and laid down the AMEX on two handmade, etched flutes.

The Glass Factory at Murano

This afternoon the wedding became just a little bit more official as I penned an email to the good folks on Murano to have our wedding date, 20 August 2005 engraved on the glasses, completing the transaction and making them ready to ship. It’s amazing that we have less than a year to go, and still so much planning to do. If nothing else, at least on the 20th we’ll be sipping champagne from our Italian flutes!

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Meghan and I are back from York, PA. and wanted to wish Matt and Amy the best of luck! We attended their wedding and had a great time! The ceremony took place outdoors, on a really beautiful setting. I’m sure by the time this gets posted they’ll be off to Hawaii for their honeymoon!

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Our life is reminiscent of the David Bowie song “Changes” these days. I just signed an employment contract with a German consulting company called syskoplan, and bought a new car, all in the course of one week! I’ll be leaving Pitney Bowes after three great years, to try my hand back in the rough and tumble world of CRM consulting.

Meghan and I are “on the road” at the moment, attending a friend’s wedding, but I’ll provide more detailed updates on everything that’s happening when we return!

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