The Perfect Saturday

Today was about as close to perfection as a Saturday can get!

I started the day at church. Our church is putting on an addition, so there are Saturday "work days" for whoever can come and work. When we built our current building about 18 years ago, my Dad and I used to go to the work days together. I was about 16 at the time. I'll never forget being in a muddy ditch with this huge guy named Tom, learning how to use a jack hammer. That was awesome! Anyway, today's order of business was to nail up brick ties so that our mason can start laying brick on Monday. Swinging a hammer for a few hours with some guys from church is fun. Except for the fact that we had to drive nails into cinderblock and morter. By hand. That was kind of tough. moving on...

When I got home, it was lunch, and then mow the lawn. Or, as Kevin sometimes says, "Lawn the mow". The boys helped me with their bubble mowers. Here are some pics...

As you may or may not be able to tell, it's been a while since I mowed last. Last weekend was our Memorial Day camping trip, so I wasn't able to mow last weekend. Also, it rained last night. Hence, you see big, nasty clumps of cut grass! Oh, well, it was fun anyway!

After the lawn, I spent some good quality time with the boys playing on the freshly cut grass. Then, Ryan and Kevin decided it was time to clean the lawn mowers and our cars with the hose. You know that was fun!

Dinner was fantastic! I love to grill (I even grill in the winter). Tonight, I loaded the grill with Johnsonville Brats, and I sauteed some onions. If you like onions, here's an easy thing to do. Double up a piece of foil and fold up the sides to make a little tray. Coat the inside with olive oil, and put on a sliced onion. (Peppers are good too, just make sure you slice them thin!). Sprinkle generously with black pepper, and some salt, and let it cook while you're grilling whatever else you're grilling. I like to add some worcestershire sauce towards the end to give it a little bite. You can also add some beer to it if you're so inclined. I am. Here are pictures of the food (I couldn't resist)...

Yes, I know, there are 10 brats on the grill. Don't worry, we have plenty left over for a nice sandwich for lunch tomorrow!

After dinner, the boys played pretty nicely, and then they all went to bed. Now, here I sit, next to my beautiful fantastic wife, with a cold glass of milk and some Oreos. Perfect!

A Memorial Day to remember!!

My goodness! It's been 8 days since I posted. I better get on the ball...

God has blessed our family in countless ways. Whether it's been directly providing material things that we need, or protection, timely rest, etc, He's always been there for us! Just in the past year, He's given us 1) a newer car to replace one with almost 200K miles (free from a family member), 2) A pellet stove (very inexpensive from a church family member) when filling the tank with oil again would have broken the bank, and 3) a pop-up camper and a truck to pull it with (next to nothing, also from a family member). The first 2 were things that we knew we needed, but there was no way we could have afforded any of them at full price at the times we needed them. The camper was something we always wanted to get to use for inexpensive family vacations, but figured it would be years before we could afford one. Talk about provision!

So this weekend, we took our camper (1995 Coleman Utah) for the inaugural Colarusso Family Camping Extravaganza!! Our church does an annual Memorial Day camping trip to a local campground, and it was high time that we hit the camp trail! In short, we had a phenomenal weekend! It was so much fun. I have always been into camping since I was a kid, but this was my first experience in a camper rather than a tent. What a difference! Of all the stuff we did, the highlight for me, by far, was the incredible quality time I got to spend with my 2 older sons, Ryan and Kevin. It was really good weekend for the boys. Despite some arguments between them, they had a terrific time together. Most importantly, we got to have our first experience with the ultimate boy time, FISHING!!! They've been asking me to go fishing this year, so I bought them each their own "Cars" fishing poles, and a starter tackle box for them to share. I showed them how to cast, and off they went! They did an awesome job! Here's me showing them how to cast...



And here are 2 short video clips of them casting into the pond. Sorry I don't have sound recording on my camera. You'll just have to imagine me saying, "OK, give it a good flick.", and Kevin saying "Wow! That was far!", and Ryan (the first-born...) saying, "Mine went farther!". :)




Then we went hiking. There was a trail that went around the fishing pond. Nice easy trail that took about 20 minutes (at a 4 year old's pace) to hike. It was a great time of looking at God's Creation, and talking with the boys about The Creator. After spending time in the woods, it's a wonder to me how anyone with 2 eyes and a brain could make the claim that it all came from random chance, and that all the birds, frogs, snakes, and bears (yes, bears) that we saw came from a single cell that crawled out of the ooze. Crazy. Here are some pictures from our hike...

When we left to come back home, the boys were asking when we could go camping again! Awesome! We're going at the end of July to Word of Life Bible camp. Can't wait! There's so much more I need to write about the trip, but it would take too long for one night. Besides, I have to leave some stuff for my wife to post about on our family page.

Then, to finish up the weekend, while my family went to Pastor Brinkerhoff's house to watch the local Memorial Day parade, I took a day trip to south Jersey to pick up another blessing from God; a gently used, really high quality leather sofa (from a family member) to replace our cheap, old, falling apart, stained sofa. Again, what a great provider God is!!!

I'll leave you with a picture of "camper, sweet camper". Oh, and there's my beautiful wife who once again amazed me, this time with her mad skills at camping!

Get ready to hunt!

September may still be 4 months away, but it's never too early to get ready for Fall Bow season!!

I usually partake of 2 hunting seasons - fall/winter bow (deer) and spring turkey. This year, I wasn't able to go for turkey, so I had to live vicariously through my new friend, Tony in Kansas. He shot a nice turkey today. Here's his story of the Tom.

So, anyway, since I couldn't go for turkeys, I figured I'd get a jump start on getting my bow ready for deer season. I have an old Hoyt bow. I'm not sure just how old it is because somebody gave it to me a few years back. The draw weight is adjustable from 70 - 80 pounds, I have it cranked up to 80. Yeah, baby! The arrows smoke off of the string! I haven't done a whole lot to change the bow because it was in great shooting condition when I got it, and the guy who gave it to me also gave me about 20 arrows to go with it. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

This year, I've decided to play with it a little. Normally, I wouldn't spend the money on something that wasn't totally necessary (I hate spending money!), but since President Bush saw it fit to give us some money to stimulate the economy with, I feel it is my duty as a good American to do my part to (mildly) stimulate! So far, I've changed the arrow rest to a drop-away rest, and I got a new release. OK, the release I didn't buy. My old one broke, and my neighbor, Randy, who's a competitive bow shooter gave me one of the dozen or so that he has. It's a really nice Scott release that has a hair trigger on it. Thanks Randy!

That's it as far as the bow goes. Now, on to the arrows. Since I got my stimulus check, this is the year that I'm changing to carbon arrows. Also, I'm going to start using Quick Spin fletching. The fletching are the "feathers" on the back of the arrows. Quick Spin fletching has little ridges on each piece that causes the arrows to spin faster, causing greater accuracy and tighter shot groups. I can't wait to get them! All of this for the sake of the pursuit of sweet venison to feed my family!

Well, that's it for me. I hope all 3 of my readers enjoyed reading my hunting preparations! Hopefully I'll have some good stories come the fall. I have a really good hunting story that I told some people I'd post. I'll do that this week. Have a good night!

So, what's on your iPod?

Every year I get 10 sick days. I usually use maybe 2 of them. Today was one. *cough, cough*
Actually, it was a "mental health day". Last night was my Spring Concert at school, so today looked like a good day to be home. Believe it or not, it's actually more work and hassle to miss a day of school than it is to go in, so I usually miss very few days during the year.

The concert went really well. My students did a fantastic job, and the audience was very enthusiastic! At the end of the concert, I always present awards to the graduating 8th graders, and then as a blessing we sing an arrangement of "May the Road Rise to Meet You". Right before the song, one of my students interrupted me, and presented me with a gift from the chorus. Are you ready for this...they gave me a 4GB iPod Nano! I've always wanted an iPod!!!! I am the only music teacher I know that doesn't have one. Or, I should say, didn't have one. I'm so excited!! I spent a part of the day today loading iTunes, charging the iPod, and perusing (and purchasing) music. I knew that it would be very easy for me to lose control and click the "buy" button until it was smoking (especially when the songs are only $0.99!) so, I gave myself an allowance of $20. I bought some Kurt Elling (jazz), Johnny Cash, Jacqui Naylor (jazz), Cherryholmes (bluegrass), and a whole album from The Fairfield Four (gospel). All that for only $17! So, I still have $3 to spend, and any suggestions would be great! I actually found it more difficult than I thought it would be to pick songs to buy. So many choices, so little money!

Here's a sample of what I have. This is Kurt Elling. He is one of the top guy jazz singers out there. ever. This video is him singing "Nature Boy". The song is one that Nat King Cole was known for, but Kurt's version is more "jazz" than Cole's was. Some things to watch for...the song starts out really slow and mellow, then at about 2:10 it changes over to a great bossa nova groove. Totally changes the feel of the original piece. Then, at about 3:20, Kurt takes off into an amazing scat solo for about 2 minutes. Scat - Jazz solo technique that uses nonsense syllables instead of words, so that the singer can improvise freely. Improvise - Make it up as you go along. Sorry, music teacher talking...

After the scat solo, the drummer takes a turn, and then Kurt finishes out the piece by showing off his unbelievable range. This clip is about 9 minutes long, but I promise you, it is worth every minute. Take the time to watch it!



So, what's in your iPod? (That seems to be a hot question to ask on a blog!)

Happy Mother's Day!!

I have 3 special ladies to say Happy Mothers Day to. (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER!!)

1) My mom, Jean. Mom, thanks for raising me right! Thank you for teaching me how to cook! Thanks for washing my mouth with soap on those rare occaisions you caught me swearing! :) Thank you for band-aids, back scratches, comfort when I was sick, taking us to Roy Rogers on Friday nights (hamburger, french fries, and coke!), thank you for all your advice on planting, cooking, parenting, or anything else that I needed help with. Thank you for being "Grandma!" Thank you for a woman's perspective during my courtship of Danielle! Oh, and, I'm really sorry about the time in the car when we were little and we made you so angry, you used that bad word at us!! I'm glad we can laugh about it now! I love you! one more thing, thanks for helping me in the kitchen on Christmas Eve with "the cooking incident".

2) My mother in law, Diana. Mom, thank you most of all for treating me like your own son! Thank you for answering the phone late at night when we need your nursing background to help treat a sick child! Thank you for always encouraging Danielle and I when we need it! Thank you for your amazing Iced Tea! Thank you for being a wonderful grandmother! Oh, and thank you for saying "yes" when I asked your permission to propose to Danielle!

3) Finally, my wife, Danielle! Happy Mothers Day baby! I will never begin to understand and fully appreciate every little thing that you do for our family on a daily basis! From the minute you get up to the minute you fall asleep at night, you are on the go taking care of our family. You are a never ending source of encouragement to me. I don't know how you do it every day. Thank you for saying "Yes" on June 5, 1997, next to the waterfall at my parents' house! Our boys are so blessed to have you as their Mommy. Even when they are cranky in the morning, they still "Rise up and call you blessed", whether you realize it or not! :)
The most fun I have is watching you with our boys, tickling them, changing them, reading to them, and just being a fantastic Mom! You're the greatest!! Oh, and, by the way, you're doing a great job handling the "boy" stuff like bats, bugs, spiders, peeing on trees, mud, etc. What a woman! You are truly a blessing from God to me!

Superheroes!

Lately, we've been into superheroes. We have a Superman cape, and a Batman cape and mask. Needless to say, Batman is the favorite because he wears a mask. Kevin seems to be drawn more towards Batman. So, of course, I had to explain all about them to the boys. So, they know that Batman is really Bruce Wayne, and he lives in a mansion, and slides down a pole into his Bat Cave, where he parks his Batmobile. He fights crime in his spare time. Superman, we have learned, is really Clark Kent, and he wears his Superman clothes under his regular clothes, and ducks into a phone booth to change. Kevin was a little upset when Ryan was bragging that Superman could fly, but then I told them that Batman has a Bat Plane, a Bat Copter, and a Utility Belt full of cool stuff, and that seemed to satisfy him.





I know how to play the old Batman TV show theme song on the piano. It's really easy. For all you music theorists out there, it's just a simple chord progression, I, I, IV, I, V, IV, I. Use all dominant 7th chords. The bass line is easy too. It's the "duh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh" part. Since I can't figure out how to record myself playing it and post it here, here's a YouTube clip of it. Picture Kevin running through the house yelling, "I'm Batman!!!!!" while this is playing in the background...



Then, of course, there's the music for the Tim Burton "Batman" movie. In my humble opinion, this is one of Tim Burton's finest movies ever. Michael Keaton is the perfect reclusive Bruce Wayne, and a fantastic Batman, and of course, Jack Nicholson plays a great Joker. The music was written by Danny Elfman, who has written the music for (I think) 12 Tim Burton movies (Think Edward Scissorhands, Nightmare Before Christmas, Beetlejuice, Men in Black, etc). He is a largely self-taught musician, and a lot of his music has a very distinct sound. Incidentally, he also wrote the theme song to "The Simpsons". Here is a fine tribute to his music for the Batman movie. Watching this clip reminds me why I like this movie so much...




As for Superman, I mean, Ryan, he doesn't stop for pictures, so I don't have any pics of him in the cape, but here is some music from the Superman movies, written by that great composer of film scores, John Williams (Superman, Star Wars, Jaws, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, etc).



Finally, in the spirit of good fun, here's a little "how it should have ended" scenario between Superman and Batman...

My first transmission repair job

I've slowly been learning how to do different repair jobs on our vehicles. So when our Jeep's rear wheels weren't turning, I couldn't resist the challenge. It has rear wheel drive, but only one wheel was spinning. So, I put the Jeep up on blocks, and went to work. After much effort and sweat, I was able to get into the rear drive, and figured out the problem...a loose connection. Once I fixed that, a new problem reared its very ugly head. When I'd put it into "Drive", it would go in reverse, and vice versa. What was I to do? I decided it was time for an overhaul, so I took apart the gear assembly. It turns out 2 wires were reversed. So I switched them. Complicated procedure? Nay! Here's the proof...

The wires that plug into these were reversed.

After I plugged them in, it still wasn't working right. The shifter wasn't going into reverse, so I had to take the whole box apart. I was afraid of what I'd find in there. I've never been one for doing electrical stuff, so imagine my relief when I opened the box and found this...

The grey lever is the shifter. The jeep has 3 settings, Low, High, and reverse. When you shift the lever, it slides over these 2 switches which change the direction and speed of the motors. So, all I had to do was flip a switch and put it all back together to cause happiness in all the land!

I love fixing things for the boys!