Yellow Belt, Poster Contest, Character Recognition

Can you do this?

It's been quite a week for Alex, on Friday he had a private test to acheive his yellow belt. Master Hong started the exam by stating that private tests are usually more difficult. Great way to calm Mom's nerves. Alex did great...he was loud, he did his combinations well and gave thorough answers during the interview portion. He also broke his first board with his foot...He is officially a yellow belt!

On Saturday (while I was having my Croptoberfest scrapbooking day) Tony and the kids went to LA to see the premier of Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa. The kids are still talking about it. Highly recommended.

Monday was the start of Red Ribbon Week at school, focusing on the five pillars of Character Counts and being drug free. There was an assembly at the start of school that I thought was just to take the school picture. As Abby and I were walking home, another mom called and said that Alex had been recognized for Character (he received a certificate in front of the whole school) he also won the Kindergarten poster contest. We are so proud of his poster because he did the whole thing all by himself.

A week of firsts...

What a week we have had! Summer is officially over...

Tuesday was Alex's first day of kindergarten. He got up with his alarm clock and was ready to go. We had the new lunch box, new shoes, new backpack and we were ready to go. Our plan was to walk to school but with me wanting to get those first day of school pictures we did end up driving. We found a place to park (no easy task with all of the first day of school drivers) and Abby and I walked Alex to his class. We found a spot for his lunch and backpack and went inside. Abby was thrilled to see all of the stuff that they have in the big kids classroom. Alex gave me a big hug and he was on his own. No tears from either of us. That next hour was SO long. Even though he's been in preschool for the last 3 years it was different this time. Knowing that he was in kindergarten just felt different. Fortunately for me I had scheduled one of Abby's firsts for the same day...

Abby's first haircut. Abby has been needing a trim for some time and I scheduled her appointment at Chloe's Carousel to be the same day. We got there and they have a fantastic play area to entertain the little ones before their appointments. Then it was Abby's turn. Tony was adamant that we not cut a lot of her hair and I agree. She was only getting an inch trim just to clean it up. She was great the whole time. Of course she got to pick out a Dora video to watch which definitely helped. She let Lisa wash her hair, trim it and do this beautficul heart braid with lots of jewels and glitter. 3 Days later we are still washing the glitter out. It's always nice to see your child sit still for someone else when they won't do it for you. I took lots of pictures and it was a good thing since the hair was out by nap time.

Mom's first day of quiet nap time and then it was 2 o'clock. Time to wake up Abby and go get Alex. We made sure we were there and waiting when his teacher opened the door-He looks a little relieved that the day is over.

Friday was Abby's first day at preschool. It's really the only school that she has ever known and it's fun for her to now call it "my preschool". She was a little hesitant when we first got there but after a turn on the swings she was ready to do playdoh and play with her friends. So now the kids are both in school and Mom has 2 hours and 55 minutes 3 days a week to get things done: run errands(read: go to the grocery store by myself), scrapbook (get caught up on all of those albums), work on my businesses. It's so hard to believe that we are finally at this point.

Happy Birthday Abuelo

FMF Approved

On June 9th, 2008 Forward Motion Foundation was approved by the state of California as a corporate entity. We have filled out all the questionaire paperwork for our 501(c)(3) status and will be moving forward on those. It takes around 6-10 weeks for the drafters to put it all together. We hope that all goes smooth with this process.




We are moving along and recently had our logo and brochure completed. Here's the logo:

Til next time.

Tony

Central CA Tour and turning 35

One June 2nd I turned the big THREE FIVE. My goal for this big birthday was to get out and do a credit card style cycling tour. This is where you carry just shorts, t-shirt, flip flops, and other minor items to get by each night at the hotel.

After completing the Central Coast Double last year I decided that I wanted to do something longer in this region. I contacted Geno with GoodRides California to help me with the route. He did a fantastic job of routing and I'm looking forward to getting out there again next year with a group of friends. This region of California is so beautiful in so many ways.

Day 0 - Larry and I meet up at the Solona Beach Amtrak Station to catch our 12:30pm train to San Luis Obispo. The train is a trip at times, but it was nice not having to drive. We meet two Irish surfers who were surfing the from SoCal to NorCal. Once in SLO we jumped on our bikes and rode to the hotel. Readied ourselves for Day 1 and went to bed.

Day 1 - San Luis Obispo to King City - On our first day Larry and I rode through vineyard, rolling hills, oak covered roads, and much more for a total of 112 miles and 7,200 ft of climbing. The highlight was when we turned off Hwy 1 onto Old Creek Road, which we took to Paso Robles. The end of the day was tough as this was our longest day with 112 miles and 7171 ft of climbing. We had a hot headwind for the last 20 miles or so and I ended up getting a flat, the only one for the trip, about a mile from our hotel. I just pumped up the tire a couple of times and then changed it in the comfort of our AC hotel room.

Day 2 - King City to Santa Cruz - King City is located along Hwy 101 in the central valley where there is much agriculture. We thought we would be in this would be our scenery for the morning ride. To our surprise we headed north-east into rolling hills. It was fantastic as we rode for 50 miles with few cars.

Day 3 - Santa Cruz t0 Big Sur - One the coast. It doesn't get much better than this as we rode around Monetary Bay, 17-mile Drive, Carmel-by-the-Sea, and down the to Big Sur. 17-mile Drive was the highlight with spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean and Pebble Beach. We stayed at the Big Sur Campground and Cabins where we had a wonderful one room cabin. The worst part of day three was that my camera came flying out of my hadlebar bag a few miles after we left the hotel. It's a real bummer because there were so many great opportunities as we headed down the coast.

Day 4 - Big Sur to San Luis Obispo - Our final day. Man, I was having such a good time, but I was hurting in some places. Larry talked me into leaving at 5am so that we would make our train. I'm glad we left early. We rode for the first 2 hours with only a handful of cars passing us. We had Hwy 1 to ourselves and it was wonderful as we followed the coast south to SLO.

Total Miles - 416
Total Elevation - 22,000 ft appox.

Overall it was one of the most memorable trips I have taken. I hope to do more in the future and get the family involved as the kids get older.

Til next time.

Tony

Forward Motion Foundation

Forward Motion Foundation

Mission Statement: Forward Motion Foundation is a non-profit organization that promotes environmental stewardship and the self-sufficiency of San Diego’s recovering alcoholics and drug addicts by engaging them in bicycling as a means to build confidence, strength and self-esteem.

Our Vision: Forward Motion Foundation envisions a community where all members have the support and motivation required to move towards self –sufficiency. Every major city has an alcohol and drug problem. We work to rebuild, revive and re-energize individuals. It is only when we have the self-respect, self-confidence that we are truly able to move forward. Forward Motion Foundation focuses on helping our members find a road of happiness, hope and opportunity. This is our goal and we will get there one pedal stroke at a time.

What We Do/Who We Help: Forward Motion Foundation is dedicated to giving recovering alcoholics and addicts the opportunity to experience and learn about the natural beauty of San Diego from the seat of a road or mountain bike. FMF exists to provide these individuals with an opportunity to see a different side of San Diego, to expand their understanding of what they can personally achieve, and to make personal connections with the natural world. Forward Motion Foundation believes that their positive, physically challenging, educational road and mountain bike outings, can make an unquestionable difference in the lives of recovering alcoholics and addicts by opening their minds to new possibilities, arming them with greater self-esteem, and giving them a chance to achieve demanding goals.

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I am moving forward each and every day with Forwad Motion (FMF). The corporation has been formed and this next week I will submit the federal application to gain 501(c)(3) status. The logo has been completed and the final touches on the brochure will be completed in the next couple of days. Once these are good to go we will start to develop the website.

I've had a couple of friends drop off bikes and other bicycle components that we will sell to fund the organization. If you are clearing out the garage and have a bike or other bike components and live in San Diego let me know. We would love to be able to turn these items around.

As I continue with FMF I will post to keep everyone up on our progress.

Tony

The DiLorenzo's Do Disneyland and a whole lot more

This has been a busy month...we took the kids to the happiest place on earth (aka Disneyland) at the start of the month for 3 fun filled days and we managed to be smiling at the end of it. Abby is now permanently thankful for Mickey Mouse, Alex loved the roller coasters and Mom and Dad are just greatful that Abby did not sustain a broken nose when she went face first off of the bunkbed in our hotel room. Special thanks to our friends the Bensons who came up to do a day at Disneyland/California Adverture with us, to Nonno and Nonna for letting us wear them out and to the Orange County gang for introducing our children to chicken wings.

Tony is moving forward and gaining momentum with Forward Motion Foundation. He's been receiving a lot of positive support and encouragement.

Alex is about to graduate from pre-K (yes, cap and gown) and is eagerly awaiting the start of kindergarten.

Abby is Abby. One of her favorite expressions right now is "I don't know" with a shrug of her shoulders. She is my constant companion in the kitchen and I'm thinking it will only be a few more years until she is making ME dinner.

As for me I have started a new business as an Independent Demonstrator for Uppercase Lettering. These decorative expressions change the personality of your home. I fell in love with the product as soon as I saw it and have been adding expressions all over our home. I'd love for you to check it out: www.uppercaseliving.com ID 137562 Token DiLorenzo