Yep, it's us again...
Every year I lament that I can’t believe another year has gone by – and this year is no exception. Where DOES the time go?? As usual, as I sit and reflect back on the year, I have to smile – life is good!
In January, I turned 50. Now there’s an event to make one really reflect on life! Willie planned for months for the big day. We spent
the weekend in NYC, complete with ice skating in Central park (something I’ve wanted to do for years), a play and dinner with two of my dearest friends. On Sunday afternoon, thinking that I had had just about the best birthday weekend ever, we stopped into our favorite restaurant out here in the country for an early dinner … where Willie had assembled friends from near and far for a surprise birthday party! To say I was totally surprised would be an understatement! In summary – it was a 50th birthday I’ll never forget! And, I still can’t figure out how Willie managed to plan the whole thing right under my nose without me suspecting a thing.
Mom and Dad came out this summer to help us with a patio project, and we enjoyed a great visit with them.
In other news…My business continues to grow and prosper, and I continue to love being my own boss. I divested myself of my interest in Hearts and Hands Forever so that I could focus on my primary coaching and consulting business. I have also started doing some seminars and workshops, which I thoroughly enjoy!
We made our first trip to Puerto Rico last winter, which we both really enjoyed – something about palm trees and ocean breezes in the middle of February…
I had surgery for tennis elbow earlier this year – surgery went very well, but the recovery has been slower than I’d like. Why is it that the body doesn’t bounce back as quickly as it once did?
Willie continues to race with the He Man Racing Team – and loves every moment of it. They had a couple of top 5 places this year as well as some exciting “off track excursions” (read: wrecks). I remain eternally thankful for all of the safety gear they are required to wear!
Our nephew, Brian, graduated from West Point Military Academy this spring – the whole family was there and we could not have been prouder. He is currently completing officer training in Ft. Banning before “shipping out.” Meanwhile, our niece, Rebecca, who married Jack last year just announced that they are pregnant! So, we are anticipating becoming a Grand Aunt and Uncle next summer! Let the spoiling begin…
We celebrated our sixth anniversary this year – again, WHERE did the time go? Each year gets better and better, though.
We are planning a 12-day cruise of the Mediterranean in fall of 2007 with family and friends. So far, there are about 14 signed up – and still room for more!
Our family and friends continue to be in good health, for which we are grateful. And, our menagerie of pets (Carrie, Cleo, and Rocket) continues to provide us with laughs, trips to the vet, hair everywhere, and unconditional love…
And, now, a few words from Willie...
Is $15.00 Too Much to Ask?
The sending of Christmas letters has become somewhat of tradition in the Bifulco household for the better part of 6 years. Although I don’t know if the formality of it all has done much to reconnect with friends and family, at the very least it provides my disjointed meandering thoughts to mindlessly escape while freeing up some much needed brain space for other thoughts of little significance. That being said, my lovely bride has once again reminded me that time is quickly slipping away, so this year’s comments, not unlike past Christmas letters, have begun at 35,000 feet while traveling somewhere I’m sure I would rather not be.
I must admit, this is a story that isn’t new to some. It’s been an unresolved perplexing situation for quite some time. From the start, you need to know that we live in a part of NJ where we’re more likely to be accosted by a sleep-deprived bear than we are a mask-wearing gun-toting bandit looking to unburden us from all of our worldly possessions. However, we had reason to believe an ADT house alarm system was necessary (at least that’s what the traveling salesman insisted) for those times I was traveling the seven seas. Secretly, you should be glad he wasn’t selling encyclopedias as you would all be receiving books this year instead of this letter.
Anyway, we pressed on and had two very strange men that we’ve neither seen before nor since go through our entire house and wire every door and window – a network that would ultimately be connected to the local Police Department so they too would be made aware of all unwanted intruders. Although I was somewhat skeptical of giving the creepy installer guys the secret James Bond-ish code to “officially” program the system, I’m told I need to be more trusting and therefore complied.
So, a week or so after the installation was complete, we came to realize that it’s necessary to “officially” register our house with the police. Now I can vouch for the house since construction, but I can’t in good conscious attest to where the materials came from so we complied with the hope that the house doesn’t have to wear an ankle bracelet ala Martha Stewart. Although I haven’t shared this with Debbi, it’s my belief that this registration process is necessary so the police know where to send the citation if we accidentally set off the alarm.
OK, alarm installed…CHECK, weird installer guys out of the house…CHECK, monthly monitoring payment made to ADT…CHECK, bill from the police department received….CHECK….wait a minute?!?!? For what possible reason could we have received a $15.00 bill from the police department I asked. Didn’t the police want to know that we were fighting the good fight with them by investing in their police-to-captured-burglar ratio?
Then it came to me! The $15.00 is for bullets! Stay with me for a moment….ask yourself what would typically occur if your house was robbed and you didn’t have an alarm. Let me help. Burglar enters, steals all your possessions (even that old pair of jeans from high school you’ve been saving with the hope that you’ll someday fit into them again), burglar leaves. You arrive home, quickly notice your jeans are missing among other less notable items like TVs, jewelry, etc. You call the police; they arrive and take a report with no guarantees that you’ll ever be reunited with your possessions.
OK, fast forward now using the same scenario and this time our house is burglarized. Burglar enters, (secret alarm goes off at the police station) and while the burglar is stealing all our possessions (even that old pair of jeans from high school I’ve been saving with the hope I’ll someday fit into them again), the police quietly enter the house, startle the bandit (who incidentally is wearing my old high school jeans and fits into them perfectly) by shooting a round of six into the 2nd floor bedroom.
You see, it’s all coming together. By giving the police advanced notice that our house is being robbed, they’re more times than not able to catch the villains while they’re vandalizing and thus the need to shoot bullets. So, although I personally think it should be a wash, meaning I help the police catch the bad guys, and in turn they give me a pass on the cost of the bullets, I don’t think they see it the same way.
So, what does this have to do with Christmas? Not much I’m afraid. Except, as a full year passes without having been burglarized, I’m thinking we have a bullet surplus. That being the case, should you receive an alarm system for the holidays, we would be more than happy to ask our police department to send our unused bullets to your police department. It’s our little way of not just saying we hope you have a Happy and Safe holiday season, but back it up with the thoughtfulness of firepower that seems to have gone missing in Christmas’ past.
Be safe out there!
Debbi, Willie, Carrie, Cleo, Rocket, Smith & Wesson
In January, I turned 50. Now there’s an event to make one really reflect on life! Willie planned for months for the big day. We spent
the weekend in NYC, complete with ice skating in Central park (something I’ve wanted to do for years), a play and dinner with two of my dearest friends. On Sunday afternoon, thinking that I had had just about the best birthday weekend ever, we stopped into our favorite restaurant out here in the country for an early dinner … where Willie had assembled friends from near and far for a surprise birthday party! To say I was totally surprised would be an understatement! In summary – it was a 50th birthday I’ll never forget! And, I still can’t figure out how Willie managed to plan the whole thing right under my nose without me suspecting a thing.Mom and Dad came out this summer to help us with a patio project, and we enjoyed a great visit with them.
In other news…My business continues to grow and prosper, and I continue to love being my own boss. I divested myself of my interest in Hearts and Hands Forever so that I could focus on my primary coaching and consulting business. I have also started doing some seminars and workshops, which I thoroughly enjoy!
We made our first trip to Puerto Rico last winter, which we both really enjoyed – something about palm trees and ocean breezes in the middle of February…
I had surgery for tennis elbow earlier this year – surgery went very well, but the recovery has been slower than I’d like. Why is it that the body doesn’t bounce back as quickly as it once did?
Willie continues to race with the He Man Racing Team – and loves every moment of it. They had a couple of top 5 places this year as well as some exciting “off track excursions” (read: wrecks). I remain eternally thankful for all of the safety gear they are required to wear!
Our nephew, Brian, graduated from West Point Military Academy this spring – the whole family was there and we could not have been prouder. He is currently completing officer training in Ft. Banning before “shipping out.” Meanwhile, our niece, Rebecca, who married Jack last year just announced that they are pregnant! So, we are anticipating becoming a Grand Aunt and Uncle next summer! Let the spoiling begin…We celebrated our sixth anniversary this year – again, WHERE did the time go? Each year gets better and better, though.
We are planning a 12-day cruise of the Mediterranean in fall of 2007 with family and friends. So far, there are about 14 signed up – and still room for more!
Our family and friends continue to be in good health, for which we are grateful. And, our menagerie of pets (Carrie, Cleo, and Rocket) continues to provide us with laughs, trips to the vet, hair everywhere, and unconditional love…
And, now, a few words from Willie...
Is $15.00 Too Much to Ask?
The sending of Christmas letters has become somewhat of tradition in the Bifulco household for the better part of 6 years. Although I don’t know if the formality of it all has done much to reconnect with friends and family, at the very least it provides my disjointed meandering thoughts to mindlessly escape while freeing up some much needed brain space for other thoughts of little significance. That being said, my lovely bride has once again reminded me that time is quickly slipping away, so this year’s comments, not unlike past Christmas letters, have begun at 35,000 feet while traveling somewhere I’m sure I would rather not be.
I must admit, this is a story that isn’t new to some. It’s been an unresolved perplexing situation for quite some time. From the start, you need to know that we live in a part of NJ where we’re more likely to be accosted by a sleep-deprived bear than we are a mask-wearing gun-toting bandit looking to unburden us from all of our worldly possessions. However, we had reason to believe an ADT house alarm system was necessary (at least that’s what the traveling salesman insisted) for those times I was traveling the seven seas. Secretly, you should be glad he wasn’t selling encyclopedias as you would all be receiving books this year instead of this letter.
Anyway, we pressed on and had two very strange men that we’ve neither seen before nor since go through our entire house and wire every door and window – a network that would ultimately be connected to the local Police Department so they too would be made aware of all unwanted intruders. Although I was somewhat skeptical of giving the creepy installer guys the secret James Bond-ish code to “officially” program the system, I’m told I need to be more trusting and therefore complied.
So, a week or so after the installation was complete, we came to realize that it’s necessary to “officially” register our house with the police. Now I can vouch for the house since construction, but I can’t in good conscious attest to where the materials came from so we complied with the hope that the house doesn’t have to wear an ankle bracelet ala Martha Stewart. Although I haven’t shared this with Debbi, it’s my belief that this registration process is necessary so the police know where to send the citation if we accidentally set off the alarm.
OK, alarm installed…CHECK, weird installer guys out of the house…CHECK, monthly monitoring payment made to ADT…CHECK, bill from the police department received….CHECK….wait a minute?!?!? For what possible reason could we have received a $15.00 bill from the police department I asked. Didn’t the police want to know that we were fighting the good fight with them by investing in their police-to-captured-burglar ratio?
Then it came to me! The $15.00 is for bullets! Stay with me for a moment….ask yourself what would typically occur if your house was robbed and you didn’t have an alarm. Let me help. Burglar enters, steals all your possessions (even that old pair of jeans from high school you’ve been saving with the hope that you’ll someday fit into them again), burglar leaves. You arrive home, quickly notice your jeans are missing among other less notable items like TVs, jewelry, etc. You call the police; they arrive and take a report with no guarantees that you’ll ever be reunited with your possessions.
OK, fast forward now using the same scenario and this time our house is burglarized. Burglar enters, (secret alarm goes off at the police station) and while the burglar is stealing all our possessions (even that old pair of jeans from high school I’ve been saving with the hope I’ll someday fit into them again), the police quietly enter the house, startle the bandit (who incidentally is wearing my old high school jeans and fits into them perfectly) by shooting a round of six into the 2nd floor bedroom.
You see, it’s all coming together. By giving the police advanced notice that our house is being robbed, they’re more times than not able to catch the villains while they’re vandalizing and thus the need to shoot bullets. So, although I personally think it should be a wash, meaning I help the police catch the bad guys, and in turn they give me a pass on the cost of the bullets, I don’t think they see it the same way.
So, what does this have to do with Christmas? Not much I’m afraid. Except, as a full year passes without having been burglarized, I’m thinking we have a bullet surplus. That being the case, should you receive an alarm system for the holidays, we would be more than happy to ask our police department to send our unused bullets to your police department. It’s our little way of not just saying we hope you have a Happy and Safe holiday season, but back it up with the thoughtfulness of firepower that seems to have gone missing in Christmas’ past.
Be safe out there!
Debbi, Willie, Carrie, Cleo, Rocket, Smith & Wesson
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