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| 29 Feb 2008 03:21:33 am |
 da 'Burgh (aka Pittsburgh) |
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| February 28, 2008: Yes... we are moving back to Pittsburgh for a year. Iron City Beer, Primanti Brother's sangwitches, pierogies, kebosi, salads with steak and french fries on top, Friday fish fries, Pitt losses, O Dogs, smog, bad weather, traffic, and all the other reasons we love Pittsburgh.... well... mostly family. And we are baaaack. Our new address is 5251 Ellsworth Ave. Pittsburgh, PA 15232. See you soon. |
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Posted By : John
| Category : News |  Comments[115] |  Trackbacks [0]
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| 21 Feb 2008 03:15:18 am |
| QUINN-tesencial |
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February 19, 2008: At 3:16 on February 19, 2008... Quinn Gabriella Tweardy joined the family. She was 8.3 pounds (or 3.7 kilo) and 19.75 inches long (or 50.1 cm). She has a full head of beautiful (and long) hair. Baby and mom are both healthy and happy. I may be biased but she is beautiful... Thanks for all the support and warm wishes. We hope you can all meet her soon.
Here are some of the pictures from the first few days... it was like the paparazzi were in the hospital!
More Photos Here! and Here! |
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Posted By : John
| Category : News | Comments[108] | Trackbacks [0]
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| 17 Feb 2008 09:59:22 pm |
| Bambina is coming.... |
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| February 17, 2008: The doctors may want to induce labor... baby will be coming this week... ! I will keep everyone informed. |
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Posted By : John
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| 14 Feb 2008 02:33:27 pm |
| Happy Valetine's Day USA |
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| February 14, 2008: It is San Valetino Day and my first full day back in the USA. I think I will ask Lady America to be my special Valetine this year... since we have a lot of catching up and have been apart for so long (and she is upset that I have been cheating on her with Europe for the last 5 years). I hope everyone has a special Valetine too. |
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Posted By : John
| Category : News | Comments[93] | Trackbacks [0]
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| 08 Feb 2008 02:51:40 pm |
| Grazie Mille Italia! |
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December 2005 - February 2008: This blog entry comes with a large amount of sadness  as it marks the end of a wonderful two years spend in Italy. I will be leaving on the 13th of February for the US and my 5 ½ year adventure in Europe comes to an end. In some ways I feel much more European than American and I value every day and every experience I have been lucky enough to have along the way. I leave Italy with no regrets... ok... only one... that I did not learn the beautiful Italian language. The only words I know have some form of "cazzo" in it... so thanks to all my wonderful teachers (and you know who you are!)
There are so many people to thank for making this personal experience one of the most memorable of my life and making this professional experience one the most rewarding, enriching, and successful of my life.
Let’s start at the top with the ones that brought me to Italy and supported me along the way. That starts with Pino Greco! A wonderful boss, a charismatic leader, and now a close friend. Dave McCullough, the other “expat” who has a gracious, calming, and thoughtful leadership style that worked perfectly to defuse a complex client. I learned a tremendous amount from both of them and also learned to love Dave's fam! We will surely meet again. Also to Adriano Losi for the steady support and always dealing with the rogue “Americano”, to Carlo Zorzoli, to Franco Cassinari, Virginia Magliulo, Tiziana Trova, the PEs, the DPEs, the CSLs, and the many others for all the support.
Let’s get to the team. Truly one of the best team’s ever assembled for transformation and they all bought into a nearly impossible dream to turn it around and delivery it on time. No Money… Just Glory! This motto got us through tough times and they are all a credit to IBM. This includes Innocenzo “Used to be a” Casanova, Jan “Big Red” Christensen, Alberto “Big Bear” Orsatti, Giuseppe “Pino Due” Mastropierro, Sam “da Morman” McConnell, Jes Ravn, “Grande” Michele Corsaro, Maurizio Natta, Mauro Nano, Fausto Bramati, Daniela Bottan, Roberto Caprioglo, Antonio “Big Tone” Lusiani, Alessandro “Glue Stick” Gelli, Danila Ripamonti, Tiziano Bozzola, Paola Maranzana, Stefania Comba, Dario “the CEO” Perreca and many many more. When you are on a foreign assignment… the people you work with are more than colleagues. They are the ambassadors for their country, their culture… they become tour guides, translators, negotiators, and most importantly… friends. I have 100 new friends in Italy and I hope to see every one in the future!
To my wonderful assistant, Silvana Borio, this will be the only time anyone calls me Doctor Tweardy. She was a help always and wish her a wonderful retirement! To the TPO girls and guys... you made the job so much easier and thanks for everything!
To the bigger team… Italian language was often a barrier for me to get to really meet everyone on the personal level I like to reach… but the results speak for themselves. A world class team. I hope you learned as much from me and this experience as I have from you and Italy.
To the basketball team… great moments and I thank you for making me feel like Michael Jordan. Massimo, try to look up before you “bull” to the basket. To the pizza club… I think Giuliano won but I will never tell Enzo. To the poker club… it is amazing that Sam actually won several times… we should not go to Vegas. To the horse syndicate… what were you thinking? To the Sauze club… the balcony incident is a moment I will remember forever. To all my favorite restuarants, namely L'Oca Fola, I may miss you most of all... I have literally eaten my way through Italy... loved every minute!
To our wonderful friends, Dario, Annalisa, and King Georgio Duse. If not for a local San Paolo bank and fate we would have never met and that would have changed our experience in Torino for the worse. We will see you in Steamboat soon and introduce Georgio to his future bride (after 22 yrs at least!!). To the better half of the Ravn equation, Tine and Mie Ravn. We will miss you and hope to see you in the US soon.
To everyone I missed… and there are tons… I apologize and thanks for everything.
Until we meet again… God Bless and Stay Well. Grazie Mille per le memorie!
PS: There is a chance I will go crazy in the US… and be back before you know it!!!
PPS: To all you Nordic friends… we love and miss you too! |
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Posted By : John
| Category : News | Comments[97] | Trackbacks [0]
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| 08 Feb 2008 10:16:36 am |
| The Wedding! |
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January 24-28, 2008: Thoroughly travel beaten from Italy to Finland to Italy to USA in 3 days... I made it back to da 'Burgh for the BIG SHOW (aka the Tweardy/Chahine Wedding). The weekend was perfect and without a hitch. Pizza party on Thursday to welcome the families and friends and enjoy a bit of calm before the storm. I smuggled a Johnny Walker Blue back with me and we all soon realized.... it is better than the Black. Friday was the rehearsal dinner and one of my favorite evenings. This is sort of like the VIP Group of the closest family and out of town friends and as people mix and mingle... everyone is smiling and so excited for the event. My mother did her usual montage for the bride and groom and eloquently thanked everyone for coming. I took the stage next and gave a sort of "Rodney Dangerfield" style speech that people told them made them "pee their pants laughing and cry all at the same time." I will take that as a compliment. The big day was Saturday and we convened at the suite at around noon and were joined by Greg's whole W&L Crew. All great guys and as I start to get to know them (bachelor party included)... I feel like they are all now my friends too. Greg was calm and confident and we got the bachelor dressed and then tested a gorgeous 1996 Dom Perignon (also properly smuggled in). Perfect ! Everyone was ready and we were off to St. Paul's Cathedral. It is the largest in Pittsburgh and had to be... as there were about 500 people at this convention, I mean wedding. The wedding was short and sweet and Donna was absolutely stunning! I could not have been a more proud best man and brother. The reception was next and it started with a bang as immediately after the wedding party was announced and entered the ballroom... the Lebanese band started in and we were swarmed with guests. All of a sudden... both Donna and Greg are on people's shoulders and being paraded around the dance floor. Everyone is clapping and dancing and screaming. All the white folk (aka the Tweardys and Guests) caught the bug and joined in. 45 min later... everyone is sweating and ready for a party! That was the theme of the night... party. Lisa rallied and was even doing the "prego shuffle" all night long... way to go baby! Great night and a brunch the next morning to sort out the stories and say heartfelt goodbyes. I am so pleased to add a wonderful sister and a new family to our family. The bigger it gets... the better it gets.
Here are some pics from Greg's friends:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Calvert.Anne/TweardyTiesTheKnot?authkey=dvO6e2HbTKs
http://picasaweb.google.com/swannf/TweardySWedding |
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Posted By : John
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