A Carluccio's Tale

2009-11-13T21:41:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween

2009-11-13T21:31:00.000-08:00

Gavin had so much fun this Halloween, he loved all of the attention he was getting for being so cute. I also found out that he is already very competitive and focused when he plays sports. =)

2009-11-12T23:10:00.001-08:00

2009-11-12T23:04:00.000-08:00

2009-11-12T23:03:00.000-08:00

2009-11-12T22:50:00.000-08:00

2009-11-12T22:48:00.000-08:00

2009-11-12T22:47:00.000-08:00

2009-11-12T22:44:00.000-08:00

2009-11-12T22:37:00.000-08:00

Gavin on his bike thanks grandma and grandpa!!!!

2009-09-23T21:25:00.000-07:00

more tomato pictures

2009-09-23T21:20:00.000-07:00

Gavin eating a tomato like an apple

2009-09-23T21:13:00.000-07:00

gavin cleaning the floor

2009-09-23T21:12:00.000-07:00

2009-09-21T00:24:00.000-07:00

Mom I am trying to get the pictures loaded

Grandma and Gavin

2009-08-27T22:00:00.000-07:00

Grandpa and Gavin

2009-08-27T21:57:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa visit seattle

2009-08-27T21:52:00.000-07:00

By popular request.

2009-06-22T20:43:00.000-07:00

Having a conversation with mom about activities that could occur outdoors.
One of his first words was "ba" (short for "ball") he is getting better...

"bow"!
"Oh, noo!", his new favorite phrases. This just seemed like one of those moments.

We had to flip the "beverage" over to avoid paying royalties.

2008-11-23T23:29:00.000-08:00

"Lets celebrate with these 100% wooden Cubans now that I'm a frog . . . wooden?!?" Gavin began to wonder if a solid piece of wood could be smoked. And why would he celebrate becoming a frog! This was perplexing. "I don't think frogs like smoke . . .", Gavin thought, ". . . nor do children. Oh, well I will just use this Cuban to pound on the furniture!"

2008-11-20T18:24:00.000-08:00

Gavin loves to play on the piano. He has wonderful posture....I occasionally discipline him when he slouches, but he is a good boy.

Family Update

2008-11-16T20:24:00.000-08:00

My lovely wife brought to my attention that the blog appears a bit narcissistic. It is, after all, meant to be a family blog, so here is an update on the family.

Nicole is, as I type, feverishly working on an assignment for her first class towards a masters degree from PENN State. She hopes to have the degree complete in about 2 1/2 years. In addition to school and work, Nicole shoulders the larger part of raising our son Gavin...well... its about 60/40. She works very hard and does so much that I am thankful for.

One of my favorite things to do is watch her interact with Gavin. He is hilarious! His sense of humor is beginning to come out by doing things to get a rise out of us. He put his fork (he is just learning how to use it) in his mouth sideways as we were looking at him just to see what kind of reaction we would have. Today we played catch with a big beach ball. Every time I helped him catch the ball he went ballistic. We still have to work on it though...he was content with the ball bouncing off his head about 70% of the time when I didn't help him.

My Last 2 Weeks

2008-11-07T22:03:00.000-08:00

I am an engineer for the Boeing Company and I work in the 737 Flight Deck group. Boeing has a history of being a very cyclical business and as such I have made it my duty to myself and my family to work and study as hard as I can so that I can always provide. I have recently finished a Masters of Science in Technical Management and I am working towards becoming a Professional Project Manager. I also have aspirations of attending Law School. But first, my last 2 weeks....

During the last four months I have been in the process of applying to the FBI. This process is not for the impatient (I struggle). After applying online I received an email saying I was selected to test in what is called Phase I of the FBI hiring process. Phase I consists of taking a logical reasoning and situational test which I passed, qualifying me for Phase II of the process. To be selected for Phase II I had to show that I could pass a physical test and send a modified resume to a regional selection team. They deemed me to be a highly competitive candidate and accepted me into Phase II. This portion of the process included a timed written test and a 1 hour interview conducted by 3 special agents. Phase II took place in Santa Monica, CA so the FBI flew me down on Thursday the 30^th of October after which I flew back on the 31^st less than 24 hrs later. Gavin brought home a nasty bug from day care and politely delivered it to me, so I was feeling terrible during the trip. Lethargic is one word that describes how I felt under the pressure. I had fun with the paper, but the interview caught me off guard. I planned to call Nicole the night before to go over some possible questions but my phone fell out of my pocket into the Yellow Cab we took from the airport. I entered the interview without any preparation, thinking if my mind was clear I would be able to recall situations in my life that best applied to the questions. This turned out to be more difficult than I thought. The questions were simple and general in nature; however, on at least 4 questions, my thoughts raced through the very unorganized closet that is my mind trying to find the perfect scenario. Most of my answers where shallow and didn't in any way show them who I really was. By the end of the interview I was still thinking of a joke I made at the being of the interview when the agents were surprised I was a male (Michele???) in which I tried to make light of the situation and informed them that I had the surgery a couple years ago. They laughed.

I returned home and my right ear plugged up so bad I was virtually deaf. This condition persisted until Monday at which time I was so annoyed at the deafness of my ear I a plugged my nose and blew as hard as I could indifferent to the potential damage I could do. The ear popped like a muffled trumpet so loud that someone nearby actually heard my ear pop! On Wednesday I found out I didn’t pass Phase II. I had surgery on Thursday (corneal transplant to improve my vision for the FBI) and today is Friday.

With the news from Wednesday Nicole and I have decided that Law School is my next destination after all.

2008-11-01T13:26:00.000-07:00

737-900ER. I made this to donate to charity. There will be a silent auction held at the Boeing Company.

2008-11-01T13:22:00.000-07:00

The Salt Lake Temple. I made this for a friend in Maple Valley. He and his wife have it in their living room.

2008-10-26T20:53:00.000-07:00

I thought I would start it all off with a picture of Gavin. He was only 6 months old when this photo was taken but it is a good photo and he's a cute kid so it will suffice.

So it begins....

2008-10-26T20:43:00.000-07:00

This is the beginning blog for A Carluccio's Tale, where your wildest dreams can come true . . . . if your interested. There will be family updates, art, politics, religion, stories of inspiration and general verbal doodling. Friends and family must participate or become subject to severe lashings . . . . verbally, of course.