Top Five Reasons My Workplace is Awesome

Our office supplies and company forms are very unique.


We have a variety of mascots.

We make fantastic mistakes and fix them accordingly.


Practical jokes occur often.



We're not afraid to get a little silly from time to time.

Congratulations, Uncle Joe!

Congratulations to my Uncle, Joe Papili, for his new appointment as a U.S. Marshal for Delaware! Here's some of the Papili's celebrating in Wildwood last week when they received confirmation of the appointment. We are all very proud!

According to the news release:

The US Senate has confirmed Joseph Papili to be a US Marshal for Delaware. He was nominated by President Obama and will be sworn in in the next few weeks. He is a twenty-four year veteran of the Delaware State Police and holds the rank of Major. He has been a member of the Executive Staff of the State Police since 1999.

Carper, Kaufman Statement on Papili Confirmation to be U.S. Marshal for Delaware


WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sens. Tom Carper and Ted Kaufman (both D-Del.) issued the following statements responding to the U.S. Senate’s confirmation last night of Joseph A. Papili to be the United States Marshal for the State of Delaware:


“I thank my colleagues for their swift consideration and confirmation of Joe Papili,” said Sen. Carper. “Joe’s career of public service in Delaware has been exceptional. The President has made a wise choice in nominating him for the position of U.S. Marshal and my colleagues have made a wise decision in confirming him. I’m confident Joe will do an excellent job and continue his outstanding record of public service. Joe will have big shoes to fill; the current US Marshal Dave Thomas has done an excellent job in the position and the people of Delaware are in his debt for his high degree of professionalism and his commitment to the Marshal service over the past eight years.”


“I am very pleased that such an outstanding and committed candidate as Joe Papili will serve as Delaware’s next U.S. Marshal. His long career of dedicated service to the Delaware State Police has prepared him well for this position, and we will all benefit from the expertise and professionalism that he will undoubtedly bring to the U.S. Marshal’s office,” said Sen. Kaufman.


Joseph Papili will be sworn in later this month or in early September. He is a twenty-four and a half year veteran of the Delaware State Police. Holding the rank of Major, he is the Special Operations Officer currently overseeing the Intelligence, Homeland Security, Homicide, Tactical, and other specialized units within the agency. He has been a member of the Executive Staff of the State Police since 1999. He received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Delaware in 1983.

Puppy Wars

So Elizabeth, Steph, and I have an ongoing dispute over which is cuter - wrinkly faced, floppy eared, short haired dogs or small curly coated dogs. I am in the first camp and love pugs and French Bulldogs especially. Elizabeth and Steph feel differently. I have Zach Braff's french bulldog, Scooter, as the background on my computer. See how cute Scooter is?


Well, this prompted Elizabeth to download this picture of a labradoodle as her background, and then she and Steph stood around her monitor and clucked about how cute it was and how clever it was to have an elongated snout so it didn't have breathing problems.



It's sort of gone on like that for a few days now. For example, Elizabeth sent me this picture.



Which I then corrected.



And she then counter-corrected.

Well played, Elizabeth.


And then today, she sent me a picture of Dakota the cockapoo, a dog she helped rescue on Salem Church Road over the weekend.


Luckily, Dakota is now safely home with her owner, so I was glad of that. But since Elizabeth sent it with the subject line, "I'm Cute", I sent back a bunch of pictures of French Bullies with the subject line, "I'm Also Cute!"


She made fun of me, so I made this.



And then she sent this.




And on it goes...


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EDITOR'S NOTE: Update August 19, 2010

Today, I sent this to Steph and Elizabeth after they changed my background to a picture of a St. Berdoodle (which is the stupidest thing I've ever seen).




This is what Steph sent back.


So I sent this.



And she burninated it.




I took a bizarre picture and made it the background on her phone. She waited until I went to the bathroom and made it my background.

It's Like Poland Meets the Jersey Shore

For those of you who haven't heard yet, my future husband has an alter ego. Starting a few months back, CK Kung Fu in Wilmington began a monthly Pro-Wrestling Showdown event and it turns out the fighters are a bunch of characters. Think WWE-style fighting — a little actual wrestling, a lot of smack talk, and ridiculous theme music. Let me tell you, the kids love it.

Check out the recap from ProWrestling Showdown 3, featuring Skateboard P, Buff 'n' Stuff, Shonuff, and of course my favorite...The Broski.

So after the Broski's tough loss to Shonuff, he's put himself in the drivers seat and decided to host his own version of the Showdown. Be sure to come out next Friday for the ProWrestling BroDown IV. I promise you it's totally worth the $8.00.

Wedding Photography

image copyright 2010 Kalen Foley

So it turns out that choosing a wedding photographer was one of the easier choices we've made for the wedding so far. I did a bit of comparison shopping and found a handful of folks that I liked, including Alex's friend and former coworker, Kalen Foley.

I set out with a photojournalistic style in mind, meaning I want candid, clever shots with lots of attention to details. The problem is that all photographers advertise as being photojournalistic because that is one of the biggest buzzwords out there in the industry right now. So I scoured through portfolios and only found a few that really did a great job of capturing teary-eyed mothers, beaming brides, and proud dads in a way that would be meaningful looking back at the photos for years to come.

Unfortunately, of my favorites, more than a few were just a little out of our price range and the price didn't seem to match what you would actually be getting. Lots of time limits. Limits to the number of photos. Thousands of extra dollars to add a second photographer. And for the most part, the photographer owned the copyright, which would make getting prints made a total pain. In all honesty, even though some of the photos were beautiful, they just weren't worth the price.

After speaking with a few different folks, it turns out that Kalen is able to offer us everything that we're asking for at a price that fits snugly into our budget. Not only does he offer himself for an unlimited amount of time during the course of the day, but all of his packages include a second photographer without a ridiculous upcharge. And when it came to grilling him with all of my logistical questions, he had all the right answers. Liability insurance? A back up plan if you're ill the day of the wedding? A plan to visit the church beforehand to get a feel for the space? Yes. yes. And most certainly, yes.

Also, as far as reviews go, this kid has some stellar ones. I'm looking forward to a great experience so I can add to his ever growing list of comments from happy brides. Go check him out for yourself at www.kalenfoley.com and let me know what you think!

Wild Wild Wildwood Days

So if there's one thing that can be said for the Papilis, it's that they definitely know how to have some fun.

Over the weekend, I headed down to Wildwood for the yearly beach trip. Britt, Matt, and Cait and I left after work and drove down to the usual haunt on Pine Street. We've been going to the same place for as long as I can remember — my earliest memory being the infant Caitlin eating sand crabs in the surf and her parents freaking out...so that's at least 20 years worth of memories right there. As far as I can tell, not much has changed since those days. We're even still rocking the same orange, green, and white umbrella from not only MY childhood, but apparently Dolly's own kids' childhoods.



That's Cait in the foreground with the pail and shovel, Nick directly behind her, my dad behind them, and me off to the left with the ponytail and shades.

Friday was a perfect night in my opinion. The weather was gorgeous. All my favorite folks were there. I got a chance to sit and talk to Pop Pop on the patio outside the room for a few hours, which is one of my favorite things to do. I got to hear about things from his childhood, how his parents got to America, and even a bit about his Dad who was long gone before I was ever even thought of. It turns out that Pop Pop's dad passed away just a year before he and Dolly got married back in the fifties. Like Alex, Dolly only got to meet Pop Pop's dad a few times before he passed away, and like my Dad, Pop Pop's dad was already very sick at that point. It was already special that Pop Pop is going to walk me down the aisle this time next year, but there is something comforting about the fact that he understands my loss in a very real way. I will be very proud to walk down the aisle of our church on his arm surrounded by generations worth of history. There is something very special in that.

Besides conversation and a shared funnel cake with Pop Pop. I also got the scoop on what's going on with everyone at St. E's from Mary Ellen (along with a really grusome story about Uncle Lou injuring himself for a second time this summer), stories from Mary Ann about her newly retired lifestyle, and talked to Mom Mom about getting ready for my wedding at her house. I think that made her really happy. Caught up with Sis and Barry as well, and Matt Byrne joined Barry in a whole lot of torturing Mom Mom. This year there was a whole lot of banana antics. I have to say that Matt has come a long way in feeling comfortable around the family.



Mom Mom said she wanted to make sure that she didn't eat that banana, so she said she was going to mark it so she wouldn't be confused. Barry went ahead and did it for her.



Also, I was fortunate (unfortunate?) enough to suffer not one, but several Uncle Barry attacks. This is something that happens at family dinners pretty frequently, and happened to my Dad even more than most. Barry will wait until you least expect it, come up on the side of you, and lick your face. Here's him getting my dad at Christmas in 2009.


And here's Uncle Barry attacking me in Mom Mom and Pop Pop's hotel room.


Along with catching up with everyone, I made it down to the beach where Aunt Mary Ann helped me make sure I didn't get burnt too bad. As compared with other years, I didn't do too badly. Its sort of inevitable that I miss a spot or two, so I always have some sort of bizarre pattern. This time I have spots on both my knees and one on my chest. I was even careful and got out of the sun to have lunch with Mom Mom, Pop Pop, Aunt Ellie, and Uncle Lou. All in all a very good beach day.

That evening, I had dinner with Britt, Matt, Cait, and Marcus. We played some boardwalk games and shopped a little bit. We ran into Aunt Mary Ann on the boardwalk as well and she treated us all to glass bead necklaces (which I LOVE and am wearing right now). After the boardwalk, we walked back to Pine Street and took some photos. I really like this one of Mom Mom and Pop Pop. It's not often that you can get them both looking at the camera and smiling.



And I'm thrilled to have a new one of the three of us since the most recent one I have is from three Christmases ago. The only downside is you can see my terrible sunburn, but that's okay.



You really can't help but love this family. I'm so glad to be a part of it all.