Last Last Words

 Greetings everyone. Plenty to right about today so let's get right at it. Virtual school has been nothing short of difficult to handle at times for Jill and I. Mostly emotionally with our child. Most of the work load isn't too bad but balancing helping Mia with both our jobs can be overwhelming.  This week we misread something which caused some issues, but we're back on it and things should be okay the rest of this week. The hardest most difficult part, is dealing with a kid who hasn't seen a friend since school starts. In the last 4 years of school at OL, she's built some amazing friendships but because we decided to keep her safe during the first semester, she feels isolated from everyone. She misses them all. Misses hanging out at recess, lunch and all the fun of being in a school setting. It's been getting more and more difficult for her every day not talking to any friends both online, text or in person. Not sure what's going on tech wise, why she hasn't heard from anyone but it's been definitely affecting her lately.  I'd give almost anything for Mia to have a day to just hang with a friend or two. She needs it so badly right now. More than anyone could imagine.

Luckily, she still has soccer. It's not the same thing, but it's something. She's been getting along with her teammates and bonding lately which is great. They had their first game which happened to be a road match for the mighty Jaguars in Franklin against the dreaded Polonia. They beat us in indoor when I was coaching the Dragons so I was pretty glad with the results of a 5-0 win! We had a ref-less first match which was weird, but we made it work. They were pretty even in the first half till Loxley (aka GoldiLox as I call her) got a pair of goals before half time. She's a tough kid who's very competitive. 2nd half, we kept on the pressure and Liv net the 3rd goal of the game. Jessica finished them off with the 5th one after an awesome clearance from Autumn in net. Everyone played really well and all were smiling after the game. Mia certainly enjoyed playing up front even when she was supposed to play defense. She almost got a goal 3 different times and ran over the goalie in the 2nd half. Oops! All in all, great match and great start to the season. 

We had a great practice last night and the kids really are taking a shine to me. I'm finding more kids that want to work with me on goalie drills which is great. Love watching kids grow in the sport the enjoy and seeing them take the advice I give and apply it in a scrimmage we had to close out the practice. We've got two games this weekend. One on the road and one finally at home. 

Still working on art like always. The doggo sketch is really taking form finally. Plenty of detail to drop in still, but hopefully it'll turn out. That's all for now, thanks for reading! 

Quiet Storm

 
Well it's been a while but honestly, there hasn't been much to write about. Mia's outdoor soccer team has been working hard at their home field. We're definitely seeing a vast improvement and I'm even seeing some potential goalies! We're supposed to have a scrimmage/friendly Wed evening so I'm hoping the rain ends and we can get in the match. I'm anxious to see how these girls work together as a group but with my luck, the fields will be a mess and we won't get to play. 

Throughout the last few weeks, we've been preparing for today's first day of virtual school for Mia. Mia picked up her iPod recently and we set up her schedule and she was ready to roll. Is she excited to be home all school year? Meh. Is she thrilled to be in a class with zero friends? Not really, but what can you do. Will she miss all her friends? For sure. Does she know her parents are keeping her home so she stays safe if/when this all blows up again? Definitely. Luckily, our 9 1/2 year old is mature enough to understand  our reasons to keep her home and is embracing this new life for 4th grade. Hopefully, it'll be an overall positive experience and who knows, maybe things will return to "normal" one day. She still has soccer with BFF Scarlett and her teammates so she's got at least something. 

It's weird not to be making her cold lunch or drawing up her lunch notes every day, but my art abilities won't go to waste. I'm still currently working on a dog commission sketch. It's taking a lot of time but I'm really layering in the browns. I may be doing some art lessons for the other fellow virtual school kiddos. I've got a variety of kids that may be be interested so that could be a fun project. I always love working with kids so this could be a great and positive experience. I'm curious on what Mia's virtual art life will be for school, but hopefully we'll learn soon what that and other other specials will be like. I think the most important thing parents need to be with this whether you've got a kid thats going hybrid or virtual is just be patient. I've seen a lot of upset parents getting flustered and mad at IT, the school or anyone they could vent to. Just chill and relax, people. 

Lastly, over the last few weeks, Mia's been doing a lot of skateboarding and rollerskating. It's been pretty cute actually watching her skateboard around, then when her roller-skates came in, she would act as a waitress from Ratatouille and bring out food while we'd visit her grandparents. She's going to need these to keep her active for virtual gym class. If you ask Mia the highlights of her Summer, she'll gladly respond with "swimming with my friends at the beach, or in the pool with Noelle". She had a few sleepovers here and there, but this Summer girl certainly loves the beach and being in the water with friends.  This weekend, Mia's got a very special Zoom call with a Red Panda and zoo keeper where she can ask any questions with her and see the little cutie as close as she can. One day, she'll get to hold one..

That's all for now, keep posted for more updates through the school year and the soccer season. Thanks for reading! 

Skeleton Coast

Greetings. Looks like I'm going to have time to write every other week or so. Things have been hectic, school-wise lately. Parents are split between sending their kids back, or keeping them home for another year of virtual learning. It's a difficult call. A lot of parents work and when everything hit the fan last March, we all had to adjust how we'd work and teach the diva following the instructions given by her teacher. I totally get the parents that feel like they have no choice but to send their kids back, but the slightest hint of a school-wide spread of Covid, and we'll see everything hit the fan again. We don't want to take that chance and are hoping to get her into a virtual learning at her school. I'm hoping they have a re-entry come 2021 if things improve but who knows. Things are so in the dark and it's pretty frustrating to see that our school district isn't really doing anything to protect the kids. Mainly, the "suggestion to wear masks". Not sure how we think we can end this, but sending kids mask-less to an indoor place where they could be interacting with other children that could be carrying it certainly won't help.

The guests I meet on a daily basis that tell me how happy they are that we don't enforce a mandatory mask rule" annoys me. We wear them for 8 hours a day so we can protect us and them. Why is wearing a mask inside a store briefly so difficult? A few weeks ago, Mia had a practice with her team. Her coach got the finalized roster completing the team last week so we'll see who will be added to the Jaguars and when we'll get our Fall schedule. Scarlett is already showing signs of improvement with speed and ball control. Mia's developing strong control of the ball while running and will continue getting better. Both will be great as attackers this season and I hope I can develop some strong goalies. Maybe the new additions? We have practice this week so hopefully we can meet the new kids soon.

We got Mia her own phone recently. Mainly so that when she's out with friends, she has a way of contacting us when she's ready to come home.

Most importantly, one of my all-time favorite bands released their new record last week. The Lawrence Arms released Skeleton Coast which is their first full length album in 6 years. Their bassist/singer BK has been participating in a weekly podcast on a retrospect on their 20 years of albums they've put out. It's been fascinating to listen to it which lead to the release of the new record. It's very good and I'm slowly trying to navigate all the different references and characters they've manifested. They've always been a band that puts a lot of effort into creating stories in their albums and songs. In interviews, they mention that recording at a pecan ranch in Texas inspired some of the overall feels of the album.

Over the weekend, we had a small get together for my birthday. Sad my twin sis had to work and couldn't come, but we'll see her soon hopefully. Jill and Mia picked out a caramel praline Spidey cake and some great new art supplies for me. Always a good choice getting me art stuff. Jill's aunt Gail got me a very unique gift. She ordered me a bracelet made entirely out of glass bottles pulled out of the ocean by 4Ocean. I've always had an interest in ocean conservation and protecting our waters so this is a pretty great gift. Mia and I watched Chelsea's last league match against the Wolves. Great win securing our UCL spot for 2021. We've got an FA cup final still to play for and a UCL match against Munich come August.

Lastly, I've took some time to come up with some more concept shirts/jerseys for some of the youth clubs. The last week or so, I worked on Polonia and PSU. I'm overall pretty happy with the latest PSU away shirt that is actually getting presented at the club board so maybe it'll become something?

This week, we've got soccer and honestly, that's about it. Just trying to enjoy the Summer that seems to be moving insanely fast. Maybe some art lessons? Who knows. Thanks for reading!

And...we're back

Greetings everyone. Time keeps getting away from me and I haven't had time to write here. Been a lot of different things going on both good and bad, so let's get right to it. I'm going to hit some of the highlights of the last few weeks so prepare for some random jumping around here. Mia had a really great charity lemonade sale. We had a couple days where she set up in New Berlin to sell some extra treats and lemonade. She actually did pretty well and the good people of New Berlin really showed their support and bought plenty of art as well. Mia made a total of $777.00 which is way more than she's ever made before. Totally proud of the diva and look forward to her dropping off the cash. HAWS will be so shocked and excited. We just need to book a time for a visit.

Mia's been able to hang with some friends lately including a lengthy pool and chill day with long time friend, Noelle. Just trying to give her a semi-enjoyable Summer. The kids played for a long time and Mia watched the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy. All in all, awesome time.

Another friend day, was a beach and chill day with friends Scarlett her sister Angie and myself. Their Mom was studying for tests so I agreed to take the girlies to the beach for a few hours. They had the best time and even got Mia to jump off a semi-shallow pier. Kids loved it and of course, their awesome Mom was grateful they could hang together.

A few weeks ago, Mia had her first soccer practice with her new club rec team; The Jaguars. I've joined the ranks as an assistant coach for this established team. She's reunited with pre-school BFF Irianna and indoor teammates Olivia and Jessica. She also is bringing sister from another mister Scarlett to the team. She said it was weird not having Cecilia with her (due to her age).  Her first practice saw her scoring the 1st and later a 2nd goal in a scrimmage proving she's got the chops to hang with this team. 2nd practice, she introduced the team to Scarlett on a hot Wednesday with some post-practice s'mores, pizza and fun. She had a nice chip over the defenders head to make a couple other goals.  I'm hoping as the season gets closer and closer, Mia and Scarlett feel closer to the team and all become friends. One of Mia's new teammates already wants to hang out outside of soccer, which is pretty awesome.

I started art lessons again. This week was my first group lesson. Started with watercolor flamingos with the younger group and did some waves in pen with the older group. Overall, it was pretty fun. I have to figure out what I'll do next session. It still amazes me that kids want to learn from me. I'm still learning every day and really need to get some art accomplished.

I've been working a lot of random day shifts lately (including today) which is both weird but nice for a change. It always throws off co-workers and regulars when I show up in the morning. Speaking of jobs, I applied for a trio of positions that I'd be perfect for at a company I've always supported. We'll see if anything comes from it.

Last but not least, Saturday I watched Chelsea take on Watford. Great 3-0 win. Later, Mia hung out with some friends at dusk for the 4th of July celebration.  I assisted with blowing stuff up with their Mom and the kids had an awesome time. I'm really grateful that Mia's such good friends with the girls and we can all hang out. The children are so sweet and fun. This week, I've got a Spidey visit on Thursday. Saturday was the first time I had literally nothing going on and it was the first time since the end of March we didn't have a thing booked. I've also got lessons as well and hope to create a new football kit in whatever spare time I think I have. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Spreading Smiles

Hello everyone. Absolutely exhausted after a long night at work, so we'll get through this quickly. The week was mostly good. Tuesday, we had a Spidey visit in Milwaukee. The kid was super cute and in total shock his favorite super hero arrived for his birthday. His family was very sweet and were so glad to see me. On our drive back, a woman was near us in the neighboring lane and looked over...I waved and she rolled down her window and yelled something at and finished it off with giving me the middle finger. WHAT?! WHY?? I couldn't figure out her issue. Sorta through me off the rest of the day.

Throughout the week, we've been excitingly preparing for our 7th annual lemonade and rummage sale. I love the thought of getting rid of a lot of stuff and Mia loves that we donate it to HAWS. Jill made macarons today and the other day, cat and dog treats. We're hoping for great weather and lots of people, because Spidey may make an appearance.

Friday, Mia decided it would be a great day to get up very early and go to the beach. Sure enough, we were up by 7:00am and hit up the Idle Isle in Muskego. The only ones there were people launching boats or a few kids playing at the playground. Mia literally had the entire beach to herself minus the gaggle of geese watching from a far. It was in the mid 50's so she certainly didn't swim, but she definitely enjoyed building sand castles, skipping stones and having fun.

Over the weekend, we had several Spidey visits booked for West Allis, Germantown, Sussex, Menomonee Falls and New Berlin.  Started with a car parade for a young lad. Swung by another little birthday boy who was just so shocked to see me, he just kept giving me high fives and hugs. He even wanted to throw a football :P He was so tiny and cute. We made our way to visit some twins in a car parade before taking a little break then later hitting up another young kiddo. His smile never left his face. So happy to meet me. We had a few other kids at his party want to take some photos and before long, we were off to our last stop visiting a shy little 4 year old girl. All in all, great Saturday meeting so many kids. We ended the night with sushi and a movie. Somewhere in there, Mia got to hang out with her friend Vida for an hour or so. Something she really needed to do. Haven't played with her buddy since March.

Sunday, we just relaxed and the girls continued making cookies, dog treats and cat treats for Mia's upcoming sale. I finally got a football kit design in for Elmbrook United. Turned out pretty good and I'll probably do an away kit one. Last night, we heard some horrible sounds from a baby deer crying out for help as a coyote trying to attack it, so I scared the jerk face away and the deer got away.

This week, more art, another interview and everything else leading up to the sale. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Web Crawling On the Web

Greetings everyone. Things have been pretty busy over here so I'm going to try and get this out quickly. Throughout the week, I've had some websites such as Yahoo, CinemaBlend.com, SyFiWired.com do some stories on this whole Spider-Man thing. It still shocks me when another outlet discovers me and decides to put together something on us. Yahoo! really surprised me, but I had nothing to do with CinemaBlend.com finding me on Twitter. SyFy contacted me over the weekend but still surprised me that they wanted to write up something.

With all the great things happening, my art is suffering majorly. I haven't been able to spend much time drawing or working on kit designs. With Mia completely finished with school, I should be able to get some more time in to work on commission pieces. The school year concluded I guess Friday? Who really knows. She didn't have a lot to do and by today, she turned in her books, picked up what's left of her school supplies, year book and art projects and said so long for the year. What a weird school year she had. A lot of parents who were sort of oblivious to the amount of work that goes into teaching didn't expect home schooling to be so difficult. I've always understood and appreciated them. They really do deal with a lot so if anything good could come from the Covid-19 pandemic, it truly is that people started showing respect towards educators. Here's to hoping for a better 4th grade come Fall. Till then, we'll try to make the most out of the Summer.

Over the weekend, we had a handful of Spidey visits throughout Saturday. Participating in a 90 year old's birthday car parade was pretty incredible. The car parade was huge and he was just super thrilled so see so many people and was definitely surprised to see Spider-Man. We had a few other visits that day and caught up with some friends we haven't seen in over a year before calling it a night. One of my favorite visits from Saturday was meeting this little boy wearing a super hero shirt with a picture of me on it, and he kept looking at it repeatedly to see if I am the real Spider-Man. He was super cute. It still surprises me how many people still want a Spidey visit, but we definitely try to make as many as we can. We watched Onward before ending our Saturday.

Today, I've got a visit in Milwaukee for a little boy who's going to be super excited to meet his favorite super-hero. Hoping to get some work going on art. Mia's hanging with friends later this week as well and we hope to attempt to get to this beach this week if A-the weather allows and B-it's not as busy.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

BLM

As much as I want this to be a fun little recap of the week (and we'll get to that) I have a lot to address that you may or may not agree with. Things are getting tense in the country following the murder by George Floyd by a cop. He was unarmed and never had a chance to live with a knee to the back of the head for 7 minutes cutting off his air supply. He had two children that he'll never see again. This came only recent after a jogger was gunned down by two civilians claiming an African American "could" have been stealing. Racism is absolutely disgusting and it's hard to believe it's still an issue in this country. Everything is an absolute mess with a dictator for a President that doesn't seem to see the real issues that are going on. Yes, there are looters who are using this platform to destroy property (that he cares most about) but the bigger issue is cops/police not being held accountable for their actions. Today, Trump had peaceful protestors pepper sprayed in DC so he could stand in front of St John's church holding a Bible upside down for a photo op. Not even his own but a borrowed Bible from the church. Even the archbishop didn't appreciate the move. Today in Waukesha, there were peaceful protestors close to Jill's studio as well as not too far from my work. Our management was a little concerned but we were safe. You know, mostly because they were PEACEFULLY protesting.

Racism has always been something that disgusted me. Educating Mia on the issue is tricky but very important. She said "why would anyone have a problem with someone over the color of their skin. Makes no sense. Can't everyone just get along?" Pretty much, kid. Cities all over have seen some pretty ugly things over this major issue and I hope things can improve before it continues to divide people and communities. Alright, enough of that for now.

Over the week, we continued our home schooling. Now on our last week of school. We had some Spidey visits and got to see the Fox6 piece they did on Spider-Man. For the short time they were with us including the Zoom meeting, it turned out pretty awesome. Thursday, Mia got a quick visit with Cecilia before she goes to Florida for a month. The two haven't hung out since this whole thing started. Hopefully when she returns, things improve and they can see each other again. Thursday night, Mia and I watched the last Star Wars. It was weird but shouldn't be hated as much as it is.

We had some Spidey stops Saturday, a little pre-anniversary sushi and we watched Spies in Disguise. Not a bad movie. Sunday, we cleaned the entire basement. A project we've been putting off for years. We're preparing to sell a bunch of Mia's stuff and other things in a Summer garage sale.

This week, more art, Spider-Man visits and hopefully more justice for those seeking it in these dark times following the recent racist murder. That's all for now, thanks for reading!