Hold That Thought

Greetings everyone. It's hard to believe that the Christmas and holiday season is complete. New Years Eve nearly here too. Man did the year fly. Me, Jill and Mia spent some time last weekend  visiting Jill's friends and family. It's always difficult trying to see everyone before we had to quickly head back for Christmas Eve with my familia. Mia got a LOT of gifts this year, and enjoying opening them too. Her typical response was "ohhhh MY GOODNESSSSSS!!" Sometime she'd get so excited and say "YAYY MIAAAA!!" I absolutely loved her reactions. I'm not going to go through everything she got, but she deffinately liked everything. At one point, she said "no more presents". We may have to adjust when she gets everything in future Christmases because like some kids, she was Christmas'd out. My nephew too, I heard was pretty spent on opening gifts. I guess there can be TOO much of a good thing sometimes.

Today, Jill, Mia and her familia went back to Illinois till New Years when I go pick them up. It was a pretty rough leave because I had to carefully load a sleeping Mia into her car seat and while slowly walking down to the car, I thought how much I'm going to miss this girl (AND Jill). I'm missing both of them right now. I was able to take down the Christmas tree tonight and position Mia's new castle/tent she got. This sucker is huge and fits pretty decent in the corner of the living room. Mia even gave everyone in the house a tour of the inside of the tent, grabbing each of our hands. Adorable.

Didn't accomplish any art today, despite having some projects to start/complete. Tomorrow morning after my walk with Remi, I plan to spend some quality time with my drum set before work. Looking forward to it. Usually rusty on the first day back, so we'll see how it goes.

Actually ended up spending some of the night looking for a spring 2013 adult soccer outdoor league to play in. Not an easy task, however it's still winter so there really isn't much info. I worked a Saturday morning one time and there were some people that stopped in on their way to a game (I'm not sure where or who they played for) but I really want to figure it out. The second session for Brookfield Indoor is out and every time I look at it, I think "why even bother trying". Sad effort right? I dunno. I really really wanna play, but don't want to drag the family out to be disappointed like myself. I'll keep trying I guess.

That's all for now. Have a safe New Years Eve friends :) Thanks for reading :)

Donde Esta Santa Claus?

Hey friends. Hope all of my readers are surviving the holiday craziness. Including the "snowmegeddon" that could be coming our way. Depends on where you live. It's finally starting to look Christmas-y around good ol' Wisconsin which has put me in a semi better mood. I've still got a few things souring me on a daily basis, but I try not to let it get in the way of the holiday spirit. that my darling wife carries through our humble household.

I don't want to harp on this in an intense and lengthy way, but I do need to address it. The shooting in CT was absolutely heart breaking. Especially that because these were kids. Small children. AND two faculty members that gave their life to save some kids. If ANYONE ever tells me that all teachers are lazy and money-hungry, really need to shut up. I couldn't imagine being one of the parents impatiently waiting the news at the fire house down the road from that school for their child to check in. My heart could barely take this tragedy when I first saw it on the news last Friday. I had to put Barney on for Mia  and get this off the news. The fact is, guns are absolutely horrible. I'm sorry gun supporters but it scares me how many shootings have happened over the last 4 years. I do not think arming teachers and faculty members with weapons is the answer. Perhaps sticking unemployed serviceman in schools may do the trick. Who knows. Another major problem is that this guy had a serious mental issue and it was never addressed. His Mom needed to get him the help he deserved and there was some sort of issue there. I hugged Mia so tight that night after work. I am incredibly lucky to have her in my life and I don't know what I'd do without her and Jill.

On a positive note, I completed Mandi's tattoo for her kids. She dug it, which made me happy. I ended up restarting and resizing it last weekend at some point and was pretty content with the complete project. All I need to do is finish a gift and I'm good for a short while. Still need to start a Lil Wayne picture for Mandi's daughter. Hopefully she's patient.

Chelsea FC won today. Didn't get to watch the game but just now watched the highlights. Great goals. Too bad they lost in the Club World Cup to a Brazilian team. BOO!

Leaving this weekend for the holiday and will be back come Christmas Eve. Hopefully the weather is somewhat decent and we don't have any issues. I'll never forget the time I drove home from a crappy night at work in the crappiest driving conditions. I arrived at our (then) apartment and Jill wanted to head down to Illinois a day earlier then we played.I told Jill "we really should go to Illinois tomorrow. The roads are absolutely horrible". She said "No way, nothings stopping me from driving down tonight!" and then she slipped on our stairs and messed her ankle up pretty good. Needless to say, we didn't make the drive. The next day we went down and the roads were wonderful. I took Mia out in the show the other day when it was lightly coming down. She wasn't super impressed. Maybe we'll try sledding this year. Who knows.

That's all for now. Have a good holiday weekend folks. Drive safe and thanks for reading.

Three Little Birds

Hey friends. Another quick update on things before calling it a night. Haven't been getting the best sleep lately. I think Saturday night I slept like 3 or so hours before my 6am-2pm shift. Because of the severe lack of sleep, I didn't even make the effort to go attempt to play indoor soccer that night. Ended up watching a movie with Jill & Mia. Speaking of indoor soccer, I'm pretty frustrated as of lately with the place. I read on their website that if you submit your info (if you're a sub like me with no team) to the people who run the leagues, they can forward it out to the teams in case someone could use a sub or another player for the future. Sounds cool. Drove out there today with Mia and the guy in the office flat out told me "no we don't do that for the adult teams, you just have to keep showing up". BS. As much as I love dragging myself and my family to watch me get turned down week after week because every team tells me "we're good, don't need any subs", it starts to wear you down. I'm sure Jill's getting frustrated that we drive out for NOTHING. Yes, this is the only way to go about do this, but it's pretty crappy. Every team that plays is formed prior to seasons starting. Totally sucks for ones like me who have zero contact with any of these adult teams. There's no community board, or section of the website for players in search of a team. I'm either A-going to try AGAIN in January to play or B-wait till spring time and try to get on a team and play the season. Either way, it's frustrating.

Mia napped for 3 hours today, which gave me time to work on a coworker's tattoo. 3 hours were pretty wasted in the end because I drew the scorpion too big and the numbers and zodiac signs that circle around it don't fit well SO while watching the 121212 Sandy Relief concert tonight after the familia went to sleep, I drew it AGAIN. Got the scorpion part done. The numbers and symbols shouldn't take too much effort. Phew. I'm getting behind.

Getting more and more amped for the holiday. Mostly because I know Mia's going to have SO much fun. She already mastered the fine craft of opening presents whether they're for  her or someone else. I love her so much and couldn't imagine my life without this kid. She can get irritating at times, but my heart lights up when she gives me those big big hugs. Being a Dad is an amazing experience. I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. The other day, her and I had the most fun drumming on my kit. She's honestly getting quite good with the snare. She totally concentrates on what she's doing, which is awesome :)

Okay, gotta call it quits for now. Thanks for reading friends.

6 Months In a Leaky Boat

Hello friends. Getting late over here so I'll make this one quick and to the point. Over the weekend, Jill, my Mom and I went to my old High School for Breakfast with Santa. We arrived late and skipped the breakfast part. It was weird strolling through the school I haven't attended in nearly 10 years. Ran into an old 7th grade band director that still remembered me as well as some other alumni's and such. Mia enjoyed watching Santa from a good safe distance. Or as I call it "stranger danger distance". We didn't want to ruin her morning/afternoon by sticking her on his lap. My buddy Mandi and her kids met us there. They too had a fun time, especially with Mia. Later Jill and I hit up a holiday party. First party we've been to since Mia was born. It was a great time seeing old friends that we sadly don't get to socialize with anymore. Always fun catching up.

Later Sunday after work, I attempted to play some indoor soccer. Mia fell asleep on the way and when I walked in the arena, I once again was turned down by both teams. They didn't need subs that day. Goddammit. I just want to play. I understand the goofiness of the process that if you are a SINGLE player, you have to show up and hope to play. These teams are formed by paying players who all know each other. If there was any way for me to contact a "coach" or whomever runs any of the Men's Open Soccer teams, I would have done that a month ago. But, they keep telling me they can't give out any contact info so I just have to keep trying even when I get the frustrating "no thanks, we're good tonight". I'm debating about waiting till the new season starts to try to find a team. This weekend, there are TWO 9pm games, which means I would have the opportunity to try to persuade one of the 4 teams to let me play. If it ends up snowing a bunch, I'll probably skip it.

Working very hard on Mandi's tattoo design. It's more of a concept for her to take into a good tattoo place and show them the direction she'd like to go with the tattoo. Eyes are bugging out sketching this one out.

Mia and I had a great day off. Got my oil changed and we were able to catch the majority of the Chelsea FC game. It was wonderful to see my team FINALLY win, despite being knocked out of the Champions League. There's always the Europa League right? Lately, Mia's been grabbing both Jill and I by the necks and saying "momma, daddy and Mia" over and over, followed by family kisses. It's incredibly adorable. Especially when she says "I'm gonna kiss you Dadda!!" Love this kid and her Mom more then anything in the entire world. Alright, that's all for now. Sleep time for this tired father. Adios and thanks for reading :)

Rabbit Heart (Raise it up)

Hello friends. Another quick one. It's getting late, and I've gotta fold some laundry before heading off to bed. Mia had some gnarly molar teething and went to sleep a little while ago. Not fun. Anyways, here's a quick run down on how the Thanksgiving festivus went. After working a very busy day, I met up with my family for dinner. Before hand, my oldest brother, my nephew, my sister and my Dad kicked the ball around. It was a lot of fun, and good practice for ME for the next game I can get in. (HOPEFULLY THIS SUNDAY) Dinner was amazing, desserts were super tasty. Mia thought her cousin Alex was the coolest kid and would give him a hug every once in a while. The next day we headed off to Illinois for round two, Jill's familia. Once again, awesome dinner but this time, Mia slept straight through the meal. Right on the floor. Poor kid was tuckered out from running around during the day. It was quite weird not having her next to either Jill or myself eating. Mia got really into taking pictures with our Nikon. She'd say "picture Grandpa, cheeeeese Grandpa" and do that with everyone in the room, including Remi the dog. She just may be showing signs on what she wants to do after high school.

Today, Mia and I watched my lil bro play some pick up hockey. Of course she had a blast. We soon headed by Jill for a quick visit, then Grandma, THEN my Dad just in time to watch a very frustrating game between my Chelsea FC and Fulham. Way too many chances blown by the Blues. They've got to get their act together and win this Sunday against West Ham.  Now that the Stamkos picture is complete and in my Dad's possession (he surprisingly loved it) I continued work on Mandi's family-inspired tattoo. Did some good work yesterday and a little today on it. Once I get the scorpion done and the rest of the zodiac signs, I'm going to take my sweet time on the lettering and numbers to make sure everything looks real tight and smooth.

This weekend-Breakfast with Santa at my old high school and a Christmas party later. We're both stoked for the party because it's with a group of friends we haven't talked to or seen since Mia was born. Sad,  I know but a kid really consumes your life. We don't have a lot of time to spend with friends  unfortunately. We barely see each other, but hopefully things will change some day. Like I said, hopefully I'm playing Sunday night. Keep the fingers crossed. Thanks for reading :)

In Vein

Evening folks. Going to make this one as quick as possible. I gotta get up at 5:30am to take my faithful buddy Remi out for a walk before working the zombie shift at 7am.  Afterwards, it's Thanksgiving dinner with my family (super excited by the way), plus celebrating my parent's birthdays. Speaking of which,  successfully completed my Dad's Stamkos picture. My final thoughts on it, is that it's an acceptable attempt at a rather tricky picture. I'd post it here, but had issues with the Nikon D70 shooting a picture. This was my third hockey picture. The previous two were of my two brothers. Both turned out pretty good. So this one, I had some tough issues getting the sizing just right. It still feels a bit compacted on paper but I hope my Dad likes it. The detail is defiantly there and overall, it's passable.  Should be fun seeing everyone Thursday after work. May even get to kick the ball around with my bro's if the weather is decent.

In other news, my brand new Samsung Galaxy sII came in the mail the other day. Activated it with Mia  at US Cellular. Nice people working there. Mia was extra awesome and behaved quite well. Lately she's been letting her shy guard down some. Been saying "hi" more often to new people. Anyways, the phone is pretty great. Taking time to get used to a full-touch Android smart phone since I've used real basic stuff for 10 years. My first phone played "oh Canada" for it's ring tone and I thought THAT was real cool. Haven't put a lot of apps on it yet. Just in the experimental stages with the awesome device. The camera is real great too.

Heading to Illinois this weekend for the Thanksgiving holiday. Hopefully the following weekend I can hit up the indoor soccer place and play a game. Speaking of soccer, totally bummed Robbie, De Mateo was axed from Chelsea FC today and replaced with a douche from Liverpool. The team lost a fantastic manager and I surely hope this new temporary manager can get the team's act together and win some games!!

Okay that's all for now. Short and sweet. Off to bed. Have a great holiday everyone.

A Praise Chorus

Hey dudes. Been super busy with art, mainly trying to knock out this birthday gift for my pop. I doubt he'll enjoy it as much as I'd like but we'll see what happens. I've restarted this sucker so many times. It's not at the level I'd like it to be as far as what I know that I can do, but overall, it's good enough, I suppose. I've got a few things to discuss so let's get right into it. Worked the early shift last Sunday because I had planned on playing some indoor soccer at 9pm that night. I was nervous and excited because my parents, my sister and of course Jill and Mia were making it out to watch me play. So we drove out in the rain and I casually looked around for any guys playing in the 9pm game. There were 3 girls league games going on so I figured it wouldn't be too difficult. Saw a guy chilling on his phone and asked "hey you playing in the next game?" He responded with "Actually I'm looking to sub". Perfect, I said I was too so we both headed downstairs to see if any teams arrived yet. We found one bunch of guys and asked them if they needed any subs. The goalie responded with "no thanks. Wonderful. We turned around and saw a large team they'd be facing shortly. Looked like kids straight out of High School or something. We didn't feel like they would want us to play so we didn't bother asking them.

We head back upstairs pretty bummed out. So we sat behind where the teams were taking the pitch to warm up. This guy next to us "who I SWEAR looked & sounded exactly like Washing Capital's Alex Ovechkin, yelled out "HEY where's the rest of your team?" to the goalie. He responded with "you wanna play, man?" Me and the dude I met were like "this guy had to see us there, what in the HELL man??" So we hoped they would lose for that BS. And sure enough, 10 seconds into the game the guys were scored on immediately. Me and my anxious family left after the kids scored 3 goals. I couldn't have been more bummed out. I just picked up some new soccer cleats (or boots) fore a pretty good price. Didn't even get to use them. Mia was looking forward to watching some soccer as well as my Dad. The other sub ended up sticking around to play at 10pm with other teams. I just wanted to head out, there was no way Mia would last till 11pm. I really hope I get to play December 2nd when Pork plays the team that rejected me and the other sub.

In other news, today I ordered a new phone. the Galaxy sii went on sale this week for super cheap for US Cellulars Thanksgiving sale. Yes, it's outdated compared to the siii but that phone is WAY too much for me. So the new phone will be here in a few days.


The picture above I took while colouring with Mia. The lighting in our kitchen was perfect and she was being super cute. A lot of photographers know that most successful photos is skill AND luck. With kids, it's a LOT of luck if you can pull off a really amazing shot. Her smile lights up my heart in ways only a fellow parent could really understand. That's all for now, it's getting late. Adios!

Plastic Cup Politics

Greetings people. Well, it was a long long campaign but it's FINALLY over with. Some are thrilled with the outcome of President Obama getting re-elected, others are very upset. The House went to the Republicans, the Senate went to the Democrats, which means not a lot will get accomplished. Every election, the people want both to work together so lets see what happens. Didn't work so well last term. No one can compromise on anything. Guess we'll have to see what unfolds.
Back to the rock.

Rainy today on my Wednesday off. Not cool, but we made the most of it. After a nap, we drove around, stopped by Jill for a quick "hi", and had lunch over by my Dad. Mia was in such a good mood with him. It was great. We shared a bowl of pasta. She gobbled it up like a hungry little monster. Later, hit up over at Grandma's for a quick visit. Always a fun time. Got some banana's and we soon headed home. All the playing, running around and jumping around tuckered her out and she was soon asleep. Love it when she's passed out on the drive. It's quite relaxing, and when I glance every once in a while to see her adorable face, a smile grows on my face :)

Last Sunday on my drive home, I couldn't decide if I wanted to play some indoor soccer at 9pm. When I walked in the door, I found Mia sleeping on Jill's lap. She was hungry so I ended up making her dinner and we had some apple pie. I decided that family time (when Mia woke up) would be a better option. And, ladies and gents, it totally was. This Sunday, I plan to play and hopefully will get on a team. Totally stoked and hopefully will play better. If the weather was better, I could work on my ball control with my brother. Rats.

As I was printing out some reference art for a tattoo design for my buddy and co-worker Mandi, I couldn't help but think how incredibly lucky Jill & I are to have such an amazingly smart, beautiful, loving and always funny kid. She's just amazing in every way. She counts, knows her ABC's, sings songs, plays instruments, loves soccer and hockey, gives great great hugs etc etc. Her earlier months up to a year were some of the hardest times we've experienced but if you can ride out the waves, you can make it to the next steps. I'm not excited for when she's a teenager dealing with heart aches and pain, but as a parent the best thing Jill and I can do is be there for her no matter what. Okay, that's all for now. Thanks for reading

This is Halloween!

Holy jack o' lanterns Batman! Do I have a lot to discuss tonight, so let's get right to it! Sunday morning, I went out and played a soccer/futbol game for the very first time in 16 years. Really! I took Remi out early in the morning for a warm up run. Got to Brookfield Indoor about a half hour before game time. Found a team to play with and we hit the pitch. I was nervously excited because I was watching some of the earlier games when I arrived and let me tell you, these guys played HARD CORE! They were super quick and fast, and could really boot the ball. As excited as i was to play, I felt sorta intimidated. Outdoor soccer is totally different then indoor. You sort of switch positions as times, but I ended up playing striker. next time, defense. It was defiantly a learning experience and look forward to playing the night games. What was great, was that Jill told me that Mia kept pointing and saying "daddy! How awesome. Legs were pretty sore after the 9-12 loss, but it was totally worth it.

Later in the day, we went trick or treating. Mia almost napped through it. Because it was pretty windy and cold, we only went out for an hour, which honestly was long enough. She did pretty well. It was cute watching her drag her little pumpkin full of candy around. She wouldn't wear the hat to her purple crayon outfit. Oh well. My mom and Tommy joined us. 

Tonight, we got he into her awesome pirate costume and hit up Waukesha. She plundered the streets in search of M&M's and Kit-Kats. Once again, didn't stay out long. My sister and Mom came along. We all had a great time, plus Mia looked awesome. 

Mia and I hit the voting polls and I casted my absentee ballot early. Just like Jill and I did before the last election before we hit NYC. It was cute how Mia asked me when I was filling out the envelop "Daddy, what are you colouring?" And after I finished at the poll, she said "yayyy Daddyyyy!" Love this kid so much. 

Making great progress on the Stamkos picture. Could be done in a week or two. Still, have lots of other art to do. 

All Hollows

Hey peeps. Short blog post today. Gotta be up early Friday morning. Just had some cool things to share. The warm weather has been great (even though it's gone now) Today, Mia and I took advantage of the seasonable October weather and raked up some leaves. I'd rake the ones out of the drive way, and she'd pick them up and put them back. Eventually she would realize it was more FUN to just throw them up in the air and put them in her hair. Strange kid. Anyways, so my Wednesday off was quite busy. The first and important stop, was to Brookfield Indoor Soccer complex. I recently discovered that they host Men's Open soccer on Sunday nights. Games beginning at 7, 9 and 10pm. So we ran down and checked out the place and got more info. When Mia and I walked in, it was pretty dark in the complex since they had no games going on, but Mia could tell what wasn't lit up: 5 beautiful soccer fields/pitch and she quickly said "DADDA SOCCER!!!" We talked to a woman who gave me the run down that you basically show up on game days for the first few weeks to see if anyone needs an extra player. Since THIS Sunday is trick or treating, I didn't think I'd be able to play at night..BUT she did inform me that the Waukesha Men's 35+ group meets and plays Sunday mornings. Even though I'm 29, she said I was "close enough" so she gave me some contact info. Today I got a response from the guy who must run it on game days. No permanent spots open for anyone, however he did say I could come down and see if they needs a field player. As stoked as I am to go down and play, I will not get too excited because who knows if they truly need a player. He said it's no guarantee but most likely I'll be able to play. So Friday morning, Mia and I need to hit up Steffans and get some shin guards, long socks and a pair of shorts.

When we left, Mia was pretty bummed she didn't get to watch any live soccer. She loves watching live hockey so I know that if daddy gets to play Sunday, she'll have an absolute ball. The complex is pretty cool. Very big with great seating everywhere.

Like I mentioned, Trick or treating is Sunday, so we're pretty stoked to take her out. It's gonna be 45-48 degrees so hopefully it won't be as windy as it is now, or we won't get that far for a 2nd year in a row :(

Anything else to discuss? I dunno. She pooed in the toilet a few days ago which is rad because it's one step towards her getting potty trained! Yay. Alright, that's all for now. Thanks for reading!

This Is Only A Test

Hello friends and loyal readers. Or... casual readers. Taking a break from drawing at the moment. Really kicking the Steve Stamkos portrait for my dad into high gear. Also, did a little work on the soccer home jersey. It's going be interesting. It's good to being able to put some creative energy into some art. Sometimes I feel like my days at work only destroy the already numb creative brain sells in the ol' noggin. Hence, why I need art in every way. I need to be doing something creative as often as possible. And that's a fact. Would be great if I could do it for a living. You know, actually be excited to go to work for once. Wonder what that's like. We carved pumpkins with my family over the weekend. As you can tell from the picture, Jill and myself carved Elmo and Cookie Monster. My sister with the help of Jill carved Big Bird. I'm quite happy with how they turned out.

Mia had a doc appt today. Would love to tell you what he weight/height is, but frankly, she was incredibly upset the whole time that I could barely hear the measurements. It started with the scale. She's much too big for the small one they used to be able to lay her on. I stood her up on the "big girl" one and she pretty much lost it. She used to be able to handle the head measurements and such, but she just freaked the HELL out. She's at the age where she remembered what the doctor and assistant do when we come in for the visit. Her next visit is at 2 years old, so hopefully we will be able to explain to her the situation and she'll handle it better, but it doesn't sound like it'll be that easy. Her and I kicked the ball around earlier today. Weather was perfect for some soccer. Couldn't have been better. She even did some dribbling around with her ball.

Other then that, nothing else to talk about. I defiantly would like to get the Samsung Galaxy S2. It's on sale currently online at the US Cellular site, but I need to go into the actual store to use my discount so hopefully we can work around or with the online deal for the phone. If I have to order it, then fine, I just want to get the phone and use my discount :)

That's all for now. Thanks for reading

Luciferian Blues

Hey friends. Man, today flew by. Mia and I headed out to Eble Ice Arena to watch Uncle Andy play some pick up hockey. Now, she's been there a few times, but I swear, today she REALLY loved watching today. She saw the rink when we got in the arena and said "HOCCCKKKKEYYY!" She pounded on the glass, waved to the goalie, cheered on the few goals that were made. It was awesome. Best part is that she even wore one of my toques winter hat) on her head. She hates wearing hats these days. Every one of them. But I told her today "you have to wear the hat if you want to watch hockey" so she put up with it. After the pick up game, and Andy came out of the locker room, she gave him a big ol' hug. Awww...

We drove around visiting Jill, Auntie Ashley, had some lunch with Grandpa and stopped by Grandma. On the way to Grandpa's, she napped for about 15 minutes. When I brought her into the house, she didn't wanna sleep anymore, and just played with us. Later, Jill and I were able to watch both episodes of Modern Family. The one had the oldest daughter going off to college. It was pretty sad sorta too. Jill and I both don't know how we'll be able to contain ourselves when Mia goes off to college many years down the road. I don't know what I'll do...

The other day we had a great time on a rather windy bike ride, followed by some soccer training. Mia would say "go get the ball Daddy" when I'd boot it across our large back yard. Super fun. Can't wait to boot it into a goal on a team some day hopefully sooner then later..

Been tough feeding Riley (the last guinea pig) and not seeing Devany. We really miss her. Mia even too!

Last but certainly not least, I've been putting in some late hours trying to knock out three solid soccer logo concepts for my MLS Milwaukee FC project. Posted today the three to see which one would be the logo my friends would like the most and make it on the jersey. Now that it's figured out, I can work on the 2nd part in the near future. PLUS I need to start my Dad's birthday gift PLUS a tattoo for a coworker PLUS PLUS that Lil Wayne portrait for a girl too. SUPER busy here. I will prevail and pull it off.

That's it for now. Can barely keep my eyes open. Thanks for reading!

Prevent This Tragedy

Lots to discuss today, so let's get right to it. Friday, somehow on my daily run with Remi down the bike trail and through the park, I LOST my cell phone. How?? When I picked up his crap, I noticed the phone wasn't next to my keys. Damn. Where could I have lost it. I retraced my steps and couldn't find anything. The next day, still couldn't find anything. I suspended my account and phone so whomever had it couldn't do anything with it. I was due to get rid of my carrier and get a better phone. My lost phone was very basic, but regardless, I needed to find it. 5 days later, I got an email from AT&T that a woman found my phone. Jill picked it up Tuesday after work. I was relieved. I was bummed because I had a lot of old awesome photos of Mia on it. Thankfully I have it again, but I do plan on giving it to Jill to replace her old one, and I'd like to get on board with a different carrier and pick up a smart phone.  Leaning towards US Cellular.

First, I said "Okay, I want an iPhone, let's see what Sprint offers because Verizon is far too expensive." Sprint's 99 buckos for unlimited everything wasn't happening. Forget it iPhone. Looked at T-Mobile. Good deals, but then I heard the reception is awful. Rats. Heard good things about US Cellular. So now I'm looking at different smart phones and hope it works out. 

Now for some sad news. A couple days ago, when Mia and I went to go feed our guinea pigs Riley and Devany, Devany wasn't looking too good. I sat there and petted her for a while saying "it's alright buddy you can eat lettuce later". Later at work I got a call from Jill that she died. That moment when I decided to rub her little piggie head would be the last time I'd see her alive. I know to most people it's just a pet, but this guinea pig and her sister Riley were the first pets Jill and I got together. Devany's was mine, Riley's was Jill's. When we moved into an apartment in Waukesha, we wanted pets. Cats were pricey for the deposit, so when a friend of Jill's was giving away some guinea pigs, we picked out two. They were always a hit at our parties back in the day.  My favourite memory with the pigs was a long time ago in our apartment, Jill and I were laying awake in our bed just talking. Jill was poking fun at me about something, I responded to the insult, and in the living room we heard both piggies squeaking like they were laughing at me. Devany was a good little piggie. I'm going to miss her. It was incredibly depressing when Mia went in tonight to feed Riley. "Where's Devany??" Broke my heart. Jill's too. I'm going to have to bury her Saturday. I know, I know "it's a guinea pig Mike". Still loved her, and love her now lonely sister.

This weekend, yard work, maybe a bike ride. Hopefully. We went on a really nice bike ride the other day. It was incredibly awesome. The colours were beautiful, Mia had a great time.  Hope to do it again.  That's all for now. Thanks for reading. 

Summon Monsters

Hello friends. Another delightful day off for Mia and myself. Hung out with my Dad, visited My mom over at her work ( Mia even scored a free sugar cookie) and stopped over at Kwik Trip to adjust my weekend schedule (thank you Meena!)and per the usual, she passed out very quickly on the ride home. Speaking of ride, we switched our car seats to front facing which is awesome. Why? well she needed the leg room, which was the main reason why we did it, but NOW she can see us from the back seat and likes to wave and interact. Makes driving places a little easier.

Art is at a stand-still. Motivation is a little low. I really need to kick it into high gear. I think when I don't have a deadline, I tend to procrastinate. Not good at all. Gotta work on that big time. Super stoked to watch my nephew play some soccer Sunday. Should be a fun time. Plus it'll be Mia's first live soccer game. Hopefully she won't try to get on the field. I may have to bring a ball for her to kick around.

Mia's doing a fantastic job as my "trainer" during the day. My daily routine includes a run with Remi at 7am, and if it's nice out, Mia and I will take the bike out for a mile or two ride. When we get home, we kick the soccer ball around. I'll boot it across the yard she'll say immediately "go get it Daddy!" and I'll run and kick it back and she'll say "kick it again!" This goes on for 45 minutes. Totally a blast. All before I work later at 2. I told Jill she's getting me in training for HOPEFULLY Winter or Spring soccer.

Alright, that's it. Short blog tonight. I gotta check laundry and head off to sleep. Later :)

You Dress Up For Armageddon

Helloooooo friends. So I've got  rad story to share. But first let me tell you about Saturday: We've been to the zoo about 8 times (well I most certainly have) and Saturday was the very first time Jill & Mia saw the sea lion/harbor seal show. That was actually the main reason why we even went to the zoo that day. I wasn't certain how Mia would do just sitting in the benches, but ocne the show started she was absolutely riveted. She would clap and point to the animals, and wave as they'd do tricks. She'd even talk to the strangers next to her pointing out to the pool saying "SEALL!!" All in all, great time. So on to my rad story: Sunday, me, Jill and Miss Mia went to the park and took the dog for a walk. Jill had an idea to bring the bike and Mia's helmet and see if she would want to take a ride. Sure, why the hell not. Got her in the bike seat, strapped the dreaded helmet on that she absolutely hates and headed down the bike path. She through a mild fit going down the path and sorta calmed down later. Not a bad first ride at the park. Monday, another gorgeous day out so I tried again. This time, built the bike ride to be an exciting adventure. She would respond with "oh boy oh boy! With helmet Daddy!" Umm okay perfect. Sure. Pulled out the bike then carefully strapped on the helmet. She was amped and ready to roll. Awesome! And off we were. bike riding, together. Daddy and daughter. This was what I wanted to do this summer. I wanted to go bike riding with Mia so badly, and for a short while she wasn't interested in it. Monday morning was amazing. We actually rode for a mile. She enjoyed pointing to the dogs, waving to some of the neighbors and laughing as I had to pedal hard up some of the hills. We came back to the house, and of course she said "AGAIN!!" The last few days have been cold-ish and rainy so we haven't gotten back on the bike sadly.

Last night she was finishing up with bath time and I recently found out that there was a Chelsea game on my day off :) So I told Mia "Do you wanna watch Chelsea and Juventus tomorrow??" "OH BOY OH BOYY! GO CHELSEA!!" It was awesome. Wednesday morning I told her "Miaaaaa we're going to watch the Chelsea game today!" She got super excited. Didn't sleep well due to Jill having to get up in the morning early to photograph a school. But later got enough sleep to enjoy our day together. Oscar's two back to back goals were sick. But of course Juventus some how caught  up and tied the game. Damn! Oh well.

Art is kind of at a stand-still at the moment. Slightly because of motivation, mostly because the creative wheels in my head aren't turning (regarding the MLS Milwaukee team logo & kit) I'm trying to nail some really good rough sketches. Nothing clicking as of yet.

Seems like Summer is ending and Fall is just about here. Love the Fall time, but sort of sad to see Summer go. We had a scorcher of a summer this year, but there is more daylight to enjoy in the evenings. Oh well. Still stoked for Halloween :)

That's all for now. Adios :)

Let The Stars Play

Evening friends & readers. It's been a pretty good Wednesday off, as usual. Spent some time with my pops. Mia was actually pretty happy around him. Sometimes my dad comes off a little strong around her and she gets slightly frightened. Even got a nice picture of them. Later, she shared some sea food salad with my Mom on her work break. She didn't nap on the ride home, but that's alright. When Jill came home tonight, she got super excited! "OH BOY OH BOY!" I couldn't stop laughing.

Tonight on the drive to the store, she did something that blew us away. She started rattling off the ABC's. The letters sounded well-enunciated and she finished it off with "Now I know my ABC's, no more monkeys jumping on the bed". We couldn't stop laughing. When I pulled out my iPod touch to try to video record it, she stopped after about 10 letters. Ah rats! Oh well. Hahaha. Jill & I were discussing tonight how amazing she truly is. She can be a pain at times, but man this kid is the center of all things beautiful. Her smile, her eyes, her laugh, it's pretty amazing.

Making slow process on my MLS Milwaukee team logo/jersey kit. Did some sketching at work the other day and I think I've got a pretty cool concept on where I want to go before I take it to Adobe Illustrator. Was asked my a girl to do a Lil Wayne portrait. One of our third shifter's daughter loves him and asked very nicely for me to do it. Defiantly not my cup of tea. To be honest, I can't stand his auto-tuned voice but that's alright, I'll nail this. No time table for it which is always nice. I've got to work on the third shifter's tattoo as well. She asked first, so her daughter's portrait will wait. So my art plate is getting more and more full, but that's the life of an artist.

Saw that it was national news that the new iPhone 5 specs were being announced today. It's pretty crazy that everyone all over the world was tuned in to see what the magical elves at Apple had in store for the masses. It's mostly because the iPhone is the major competition against Droids and that Samsung Galaxy iii thing.  I love Apple, and the programs and products I've been fortunate to use, but my life won't change if the new screen isn't as big as other smart phones, or whatever complains people will have right off the bat. It's funny. When I started the graphic design program at W.C.T.C, I had to learn how to use an Apple desktop. Man, was it different then the PC's I learned everything on. I dare you to find someone with a Macbook Pro that even knows what a zip disk is! I dare you! That's how we used to have to save files on! These big zip disks. Not small practical flash drives. When I transferred to Carroll College, zip disks there too for the art majors. It'd be nice if Jill and I can upgrade from our basic phones to an iPhone but it doesn't have to be the newest toy. A 4 or 4S would suffice. We'll see come March 2013'.

Enough ranting for now. Later people.

If All My Days Go By

Good evening folks. Looks like I'm going to have a nephew come 2013. My little brother and his wife found out today they're having a healthy baby boy. Stoked for the kids. They've wanted a baby for quite some time so this little monster is a big blessing for them. Tonight, they should Jill, myself and Mia all the cool clothes they've got for the little dude. Awesome.

So I'm in the process of working on a very cool project. The Major Soccer League includes a lot of major cities all over the country and one state they missed, was Wisconsin. Sure, soccer isn't really viewed as a 'seriously viewed sport' compared to the likes of American football or baseball, but as a fan of soccer, I'd like to create a hypothetical MLS soccer team logo for Milwaukee, WI which would include a home and away kit as well. I've got colours figured out, I just need the damn team name. Any ideas would be appreciated. :) I even found a vector template to play with in Adobe Illustrator and later Photoshop for the finished piece. I promise this will be absolutely amazing.

I also have some rad onesie ideas for my little bro's kiddo but will have time to figure that out. I know what I'm doing for it, I just need to actually DO it.

If I can play in an adult soccer league come Spring of 2013, that would be incredibly amazing. I have this amazing urge to play again. It's funny because my Dad's like "why? why do you wanna play again?" I feel like I should have played longer when I got out of middle school. Come High School, I was heavily involved with band and in sophomore year I tried HS volley ball because I got pretty good at summer league volley ball freshmen year. Well the point is, I want to seriously prove to myself that at the age of 29, I can play soccer again and play real well. Plus, I'd really like to have something to look forward to during the dreaded working week. When I was active playing shows, by Thursday, I was stoked for the weekend to play a show or two with the band. As lame as it sounds, playing live was my drug. Playing in front of a crowd got me to a place only a die-hard musician can appreciate and be familiar with.  Playing in a band, won't be for quite some time. The time it takes to build and polish a band takes a ton of effort and this isn't the best time to start or join a group. One day, these drums will sing again for the masses :) That's all for now. Going to finish this bowl of ice cream and call it a night soon. Cheers!

Little Dawn

Good evening friends and fans of my blog :) Well, for the past 3 lovely days, I've been off of work. Why you ask? My older bro's kid Alex stayed by my parent's for a few days while his school was getting ready. So my mom and I took him and Mia to the zoo on Monday. Both kids had a great time, despite it being pretty damn hot. Alex wanted to ride the train with Mia but I was uncertain she'd enjoy it. The flipped the first and only time she was on the carousel. When the train came in with my mom and Alex on it, she got nervous and kept saying "NO..NO....NO!" On the short drive home, Mia passed out in the car. I took her in and she slept off all the excitement from her fun day with her cousin and grandma at the zoo. Later after dinner, Jill, Alex, Mia, my Mom and I took the kids to the pool. After 6, Cool Waters is slightly cheaper. It gets a little cooler after 6, but it's still a good way to cool off. I took Alex down the water slides (about 6 times) and Mia got upset when she saw him go down because SHE wanted to share the excitement with daddy. Afterwards, Mia suggested Kopps for custard. The kids totally loved it.

Tuesday, Mia and I went over to visit my dad in the morning. The kids played with Legos, kicked the soccer ball around, played with toys,  had some lunch, overall a great time was had. I later asked Alex what was his favourite part of his visit, he told me "just hanging her with Mia". Very cute. He's such a nice, smart little nephew. My favourite part was when he told Mia "Peace out homey" when they said goodbye.

So back to the daily grind tomorrow. It's been nice spending nights with Jill & Mia. Her parents are visiting this weekend. Mia will be stoked to see them. Tonight after grocery shopping, we walked around Steffans and Baby's R Us. For a part-time job on Saturdays, I'd love to work at Steffans, even though they're never busy, but it'd be fun to work and watch soccer games. Ha! Man do I miss playing soccer. Maybe Spring 2013...

That's all for now. Cheers friends :)

BLUEEEEE IS THE COLOUURRRR....

Hellooooo people. Another busy day off. But first, let's get to last week (thursday or friday) I believe. After work I  checked the mail and to my surprise found my brand new Frank Lampard Chelsea FC 2012/2013 jersey in the mail :) It came from out of the country so it took quite a while to get here, but nonetheless, it's awesome and because Chelsea played Reading today, I wore it when Mia and I watched the game with my Dad. I absolutely love watching the game in real-time verses having to check Twitter for updates, or watching it online (sometimes the live feed struggles). What made the game extra-special, was how amped Mia was for it. This morning I said "Mia, we're going to watch Chelsea play today!!" and she'd say "GOALLL!!" During the game, Eden Hazard was tripped in the penalty box and the Blues were rewarded a Penalty Kick. Super Frank stepped up to take the shot. I knew he'd make it because they don't call him Super Frank for nothing. So he took the shot and when it went in, my dad and I said "GOALLL!!" and Mia just flipped with excitement. She yelled "GOALL GOALL GOALL" and was bouncing on the couch. It was easily, one of my favourite moments today with her. Well, I'll tell you about LATER tonight when we were working on folding laundry. Jill mentioned once "we gotta find something Chelsea for her" but the custom little jerseys are pretty pricey for a little kid, and they don't really have anything on Amazon for kids that's not a newborn. Oh well.

After the game, (Chelsea won 4-2) we headed over to visit Grandma as she shopped, and then drove home. Now normally she passes out before we make it to the freeway, but she didn't today. I think it's because we didn't stop and get her daily banana at Kwik Trip. It was getting late and we had rush hour/Brewer traffic to fight. Nothing worse then a kid who's angry in the back seat during rush hour! We played some soccer when we got home and soon, Jill came home.

Later, we had some serious work to do with organizing the closet. Mia clothes EVERYWHERE so when I was putting together her socks, she was running up and down the hall "scaring" me. She had so much fun. Nothing like a goofy kid laugh to put you in a good mood right?? :)

Speaking of soccer, time for a little rant, so bare with me. This is an obnoxious trend in soccer jerseys as of lately that's getting out of control. Some team's jerseys have this silly "sash" that goes from one shoulder to the bottom corner of the shirt. WHY?? This makes you look like a boy scout or some sort of pageant contestant. Chelsea's away kit has a light blue one on white. It's pretty cringe-worthy. I love the home kit and the away black/yellow one is pretty cool. Okay enough ranting on this. Overall, it's a stupid trend that I hope goes away in years to come.

That's all for now. Better get my ass in gear to start that Stampkos drawing and a Falcon tattoo. Adios!!

Lost in the Supermarket

Hey peeps. Well I've been off the last couple days, and back to work tomorrow. Last week into this one, I had to work 5 days in a row, which included a Saturday, so lucky my boss said "why don't I give you tues and wed off this week. Perfect. Yesterday some friends visited for a bit. One dude was in boot camp for a while and hasn't seen Mia obviously in quite some time so he brought the gf and we played in the sandbox. Today, Mia, my friend Nicole and I hit up the zoo for the day. We had a great time. Benny was teething some, but luckily had a pretty good time. Especially the Cheetah that was pacing around the cage. Mia of course loved it too. Always love taking Mia to the zoo because every time we go, she's still excited about the animals :) It's always nice catching up with Nicole. I brought up during our lunch that it doesn't seem too long ago that her and I were eating lunch in college. Now, we're both feeding our little ones, raising families. Man, time sure flies.

So it's Shark Week at discovery, and man this is the ONE time of the year I wish I had cable! Well, besides with hockey season starts and the Penguins are playing. Luckily, my older bro supplied me with his password so I can watch Chelsea games online :) But anyway back to Shark Week. Man, I've always loved sharks and because Discovery never puts up full episodes ANYWHERE of Shark Week, all I can do is watch jumpy clips of some of the shark shows. Guess it'll have to do. Sharks are rad, aren't they? Both terrifying and beautiful. A little misunderstood. They say the chances of getting attacked by one is pretty rare. I would just love to see one in the wild. Haha.

Today, we brought this little grocery cart my mom got for Mia to the store. Mia had a blast with all the groceries we stuck in it. At home, she has a random array of objects and things and takes the cart all over the house. This kid loves to push things around. Neighbor kids came over for a while. It's going to be sad when they move in a few weeks, because Mia love them. Hopefully the next neighbors are friendly. Alright, it's about 12:45am, time for bed. Adios :)

Night Of The Living Living

Hello friends. Wisconsin made national news when a scumbag neo Nazi took out 6 Sikh people and injured others including a police officer at a mass last Sunday. Great way to put Wisconsin on the map, you pathetic racist jackass. These victims were at a mass and are peaceful. But when you are a far-right Nazi, anyone who's not white, are the enemy. Of course there are idiots claiming that someone should have been armed to have taken him out. Really? at a mass? Is this what we're going to go to now? Everyone should be armed because a world where the entire population is armed to the teeth with weapons is a "safe" one? That's bull. A paranoid gun nut, is a frightening gun nut, and that pretty much what makes up the whole macho "its-our-second-amendment-to-own-a-gun population. It's never going to change. There will always be a large group of people who don't feel safe without their weapon and will defend this weapon against "the man" till they can't shoot no more, despite stating that they are patriots. Ahhh this country...

Anyways, over the weekend, Jill and I went out on a date. Yes, an actual date. With dinner! And drinks! I honestly can't remember the last time we went out, just the two of us. We hit up Mitchell's Fish Market. The food and drinks were absolutely amazing. Fresh fish+ unique cocktails=awesome time :) It was a rare delightful evening and I look forward to doing it again some time. It was quite strange not carrying Mia in my left arm, but she was in good hands with a Grandma.  Speaking of Mia, she's getting ridiculously smart. Knows and remembers a lot of different things, names,animals etc. Walks really well. Stumbles every once in a while, but that happens. She makes me so proud every day. One thing that's getting quite annoying, is how EVERYONE asks me "so when is the next kid?" Come on, why in the world would we want a 2nd kid so quickly? I've heard the same old story "have all the kids when you're young and get it out of the way". I guess we don't look at having kids to "get it out of the way" while we're young. Psff. If we have another one, we'll have one when we do, end of story.

Our super-nice neighbors with 4 kids sold their house across the street and are moving out at the end of August. We're pretty bummed because they are the nicest neighbors we have, and Mia loves their kids. Hopefully the next family that moves in has some kids, but I'm not holding my breath.

Found out today Ted Leo is playing in November at Turner Hall. Man, that'd be rad if we could go, especially since he's opening for an artist so we could easily get home at a good time to put Mia to bed. :)

That's all for now. Adios and beunas noches.

Coming Too Close

First off, been in sort of a shock state-of-mind today as I found out that No Use For A Name's Tony Sly passed away at the age of 41. Still unsure of the reason, but all I know is, that the punk rock community won't be the same. I saw No Use perform quite a few times and was incredibly fortunate to run into Tony after a memorable show in the Rave basement.  He posed for a picture, and signed my record. Hard to believe it'd be the last time I'd see him and the group perform. They were quite underrated and it's a big loss. May take a while to get over this. Not even sure I can listen to them right now. Okay, on to more positive things. (the picture is from the Milwaukee show 2005)

Had quite a lot of fun with Mia today. She gobbled up a banana at my Kwik Trip before hanging with my dad in the early afternoon. Later, Jill and I went swimming. Mia walked straight in as far as her little  body could go before she thought "oh crap, I'm getting a little too deep here. Water's up to my neck!" This kid loves the pool. It's great after 6 because it only costs Jill and I $8 to get in. Mia's still free. So anyways, I guess the last time Jill and her Ma took Mia to the pool, she really enjoyed watching the kids go down the slides. There's one slide that was more her size and she really wanted to try it. Jill said "Well I'm not doing this!" So I said "hell, why not, I'll hold her on my lap". So she excitedly walked up the stairs holding my hand. I placed her on my lap and held on. I scooted down and we flew faster then I thought. As soon as the slide hit the water, I went under very quickly but like a smart, protective dad kept Mia high above my head. I sort of freaked out because I had no idea what in the world just happened. I probably should have put my legs down as soon as we hit the bottom but I didn't even think of it because I had her on my lap. Stupid. Luckily, we were fine and of course like any daredevil kid, Mia wanted to do it again. I said "forget it, we'll do it next time kiddo". If I would have put my legs down when we entered the water, it probably would have been fine, but the slide is quite steep. One lady laughed at me but when SHE went down she experienced something similar. "HOLY crap you REALLY fly down this thing!" Her boyfriend or husband too had something similar. I think he even hit his tailbone on the bottom. "NEVER AGAIN" he said.

Later in the deeper end, Mia said "ALL DONE!" then "ICE CREAM!" So, the park was closing and we headed home. She kept repeating "ICE CREAM" so we picked up Jill's mom and headed out to Kopps. Easily our favourite place to get custard. Mia and I shared a dish of vanilla, but after a few spoonfuls, she would rather eat that little triangle cookie piece they give you. When we got home, we went on a firefly adventure trying to catch some, but soon realized that the local bats were hunting them and other bugs. Mia would say "BAT!!" when she'd see one. Overall, great day off.

Sold the dog portrait finally to the guy. Glad to get it out of my house. Ready to start my Stamkos photo for my Dad. That's all for now :) Thanks for reading dudes

Falling Like Rain

Heyyyyyyyyyy...whatttttss uppppp???? (in my David Luiz voice from Chelsea FC) Lots been happening over here. Let's discuss. First off, last weekend, we celebrated mine and my twin's birthday early at Stonefire Pizza not too far from our house. Great place, especially for kids. Lots of different pizzas at the pizza bar, and the games were a lot of fun. Jill and I were discussing tonight how she'd just go to play the Deal or No Deal game over and over. I enjoyed beating the crap out of my lil bro Andy at air hockey, 7-1. Almost a clean sheet too. He got lucky on his only goal :) The racing games were fun too. Sometimes it's just a blast to be a kid again. Especially with the big 30 coming next year :( Anyways, got some great gifts. TONS of beer. Good beer too. Jill's aunt sent me an Amazon gift card (which will be going to a Chelsea FC jersey), and my sister got me a cool Penguins poster. The biggest surprise was what my loving wife Jill had in store for me. She had some funny and cool shirts for Mia for me, and something she had our parents help contribute for: A Sidney Crosby 3rd hockey jersey. It MATCHES Mia's Winter Classic one Jill got for me FOR her for fathers day. I am SO stoked! So incredibly stoked. Jill's going to take some amazing photos of us. Can't wait to see how they turn out :) I tell ya, my wife is amazing. So amazing. Totally caught me off guard on this gift.

Today, Mia and I visited my dad at home, headed over to visit my mom at work, stopped at KT for a banana (which she loved) and she napped on the drive home. Turning into a weekly habit. make some visits, eat the banana then BOOM, sleep easily on the drive home. Later tonight, I told Mia that Chelsea was playing later and she kept saying "GOALLLL" so she caught part of the 2nd half with me. She loved it, and I'm not just saying that. I hope to coach her on a soccer team some day. That could be a fun saturday activity :) We also did a little drumming today with Jill behind the camera. Mia didn't wanna drum too long. Probably tired-ish. Anyways, as I type this, it's midnight. July 26th. At 8-something am, I'll be 29. Not the most exciting age to be. Way too close to 30. Something has to change this year. I need a more solid, creative outlet. I'm not putting out art as much as I could, not playing in a band (which is fine because that takes a TON of energy)...What I really need to do, is play some bloody SOCCER! Right now, open soccer is THURSDAY indoor and I'm only off Wednesdays....ahhhhhhhhh....SOME day....hopefully someday soon. Watching Chelsea today made me really wanna play some sort of soccer with some guys again.

Okay that's all for now. Thanks for reading :)

Rabbit Heart

Wonderful day off. Mia and I spent most of the day paying visits to some friends and family members, did some grocery shopping, and later when my wifey came home, we even went to the nearby water park. It turns out that it's cheaper to get in after 6pm. When we arrived, a cold front sort of came through, but we still jumped in the water anyways. Not a lot of people floating in the pool at 6:30pm. No big deal. It eventually got cold enough to split and head home for the night, before this lovely thunderstorm rolled in. I use the word "lovely" very lightly. As a kid and teen, I absolutely loved storms . I thoroughly enjoyed those crazy storms with the lighting and thunder. The power outages were quite fun, trying to come up with different things to keep you occupied. I remember one summer the only thing that we could enjoy for entertainment, was this super old set of radio head phones and for some reason, a bunch of Queen songs were playing at the moment. Even later as a teen and adult I loved storms.

 When I started disliking them, is when we adopted Remi. Some pets handle bad weather fine, others like my dog, are terrified. He didn't use to be. A few years ago, I used to walk him in the rain all the time. He totally didn't care. These days, the first crack of thunder, he's done. This morning he wanted to bolt across the street during our walk and I had to keep him calm and tell him 'wait till the cars cross dude!". Thankfully, Mia's at the age where storms don't really bother her. Even better, they don't keep her up when she's trying to sleep, which is very awesome. We still have to worry about Remi pacing around the house, trying to find a good place to hide. Poor dog!

This weekend, we're celebrating mine and my sister's birthday since I work on my actual birthday next week. I have no idea what Jill has in store, but I'm stoked :)

Other then that, nothing else exciting to talk about. Still on the fence if I want to throw together another Pirates photobomb picture. Need a little inspiration. I also need to start my Stamkos photo for my pop. Luckily, it's not a major priority.

Thanks for reading :)

Birds and Ships

Unbelievable day off today. Well first off, let's discuss last weekend's road trip to the Indiana san dunes. Hot as hell of a day for a trip to the zoo/dunes that Saturday, but we had a great time with Leanne, Rick, Jacqui and their little Caleb. Mia seemed to really take a shine to Mr. Caleb. Kept trying to give him smooches and hugs. He wasn't super into it most of the time. Hahaha, but what little boy is? Mia seemed to really enjoy the big cats at the zoo. Loved watching the tigers. Kept saying "big kitttty". Super adorable. A cool exhibit was the river otters. It was rather rad that they had this small tube for the kids to crawl into to watch the otters swim around them. After the zoo, we headed to the beach. Great day, if there was one to jump in the water. Felt amazing, except the horrid sun burn Rick and I received! Mia actually fell asleep in the water too! Rick and I saw the girls out in the water and I thought "I wonder if Mia passed out" since she didn't nap at all that day...Sure enough she was out, so I carefully walked her back through the sand to the car. All and all, great weekend.

So back to today. Tuesday morning I came up with the idea that Miss Mia and I would spend a few hours together at OUR zoo. So at work Tuesday, it was all I could think about: A nice day to ourselves.  I packed her bag, through the stroller in the trunk and we headed out later in the morning. The goal was to hit up some exhibits we missed the last time we were there, which included the Big Cats, the Aviary and the animals of Australia. Well she couldn't have been more excited in the Big Cats exhibit. We actually went through it twice. The 2nd time was great awesome. The cheetah was pacing around the cage/habitat. At one point, the cat saw Mia and started to walk towards her. Mia quickly said "NO NO NO NO NO!" Very cute. So I got her up and we headed over to the large lion again. The lion got up and faced the glass and started to ROAR loudly. In all my years of going to the zoo as a kid, I've NEVER seen the lion roar before. The building was almost shaking too. But the highlight was while the lion was roaring, Mia was cracking up laughing! She couldn't stop giggling. It was too funny. Sharing lunch with her was just another little moment that I really enjoyed. Found myself having to take her out of the stroller in between exhibits to see some of the animals that weren't close. Later tonight, we were outside catching fireflies. She didn't care for them crawling on her face though, haha. One of the best days off I've had in quite some time. Thursday, the grandmas are taking her to Cool Waters. Should be a great day to splash around :)

Okay, time to finish this beer and head off to bed. Later :)

1000 Answers

What a great, busy and eventful Saturday. This morning I woke up super tired and utterly confused on what day it was. My alarm went off and I normally don't set it for a weekend unless I'm working the early shift on a sunday. I thought "uhh...is it Friday? Thursday? Oh wait it's Saturday!"  Today, we packed up the car with beach stuff and headed out to Madison to spend some time with my older brother, his wifey and my nephew Alex.  Checked out the infamous Madison Farmer's Market, which I've heard a lot of great things about. It really is huge. We didn't even make the smallest dent in seeing everything. I did pick up a loaf of some spicy bread my friend Stephanie recommended. It was very tasty. Jill and I also got some smoothies and bubble tea. Mia drank some of my smoothie, and totally loved it. After the farmers market, we headed out to lunch at this mexican bar/restaurant (the name escapes me) the food was very good. Then, it was off to the beach.

Mia was so excited to see the beach again. It may not have been the clear waters of the beautiful ocean, but she didn't seem to mind too much. I helped Alex build sandcastles while Jill played with her in the water with my bro. All of the awesome weather and fun in the water exhausted the kids and they could barely keep their eyes open on the drive back. I didn't want Mia to fall asleep in their van so I tried to give her a little snack to keep her awake. Alex was eating some too but his eyes were getting droopy. Mia eventually passed out for about 2 minutes. She got a 2nd wind of energy playing with their cats and dog. Overall, great day. Jill's mom got to have the day to herself to do whatever she needed to, and not chase Mia around the house or yard. Saturday's are such an important day for Jill and I. It's the one day that we both are off and can spend time together as a family. We always try to do something fun or important on Saturday. Last weekend's visit to the zoo was an amazing time. We bought a family pass and plan on going as much as possible. I already took her by myself last Tuesday while Jill went to PT. The short 30 min visit was so much fun. Mia loved the penguins and gorilla/monkey exhibit she missed last weekend.

This week should go pretty quick. Work Sunday, Monday, Tuesday Thursday. Off Fri-Sun and we're heading down to the Indiana sand dunes. I have no idea what to expect. Hopefully Mia will survive the drive. That's all that matters. And of course she has fun with Jacqui, Rick, Leanne and Caleb. Hope everyone who's going to Summerfest has a great time and stay safe. That's all for now friends. Thanks for reading :)

Perfect Lines

Hey Hey! Had a delightful Father's Day for the most part :) Worked a busy 9am-5pm shift, followed by  dinner with my familia. Got a hand-made card of Mia's hands in the shape of a heart. Plus, a gift for Mia for myself. A little Penguins 3rd jersey for her to wear. Jill KNEW I wanted it for our little one and I can't wait to get a photo of her in it! She'll be ready for September when hockey starts up :)

Boy it's been hot this week. I've been getting tons of complaints at work "oh it's SOOO hot, this sucks" I'm sorry but I'll take heat over snow any day of the week. So Summerfest is coming up next week. It's been quite a while since we've attended. There's been a lot of great bands but I just don't have the time or patience. To get a great spot, you really have to get there early. Like, 3 hours maybe 4 early. I've been there early and to be honest, it's incredibly boring waiting and waiting and waiting. I've stood in the rain a few times waiting for Alkaline Trio and A.F.I. Both great amazing shows. This year, there are 4 amazing bands playing that I most likely won't be able to see. Ben Folds Five is playing this year, which is absolutely amazing. Seeing the original band would be something else to take in and enjoy. I can't imagine how insane the crowd will be. The Promise Ring, another recently reunited group that would be great to see. I saw them in their earlier years at Summerfest with my sister and it was a great experience in front row.

Now, if you're going to the Fest with just the intentions to drink and enjoy the food and walk around the grounds, and it happens to be the day the Hives are playing, you really need to catch them. They are the essence of rock and roll. Their live show is something everyone should catch when they can, and Summerfest is the perfect place to do it. Howlin' Pele, their front men makes the crowd beg for more songs. As I type, I'm remembering the time we saw them at the Rave and how much fun it was. Easily one of the best shows I've seen there. Last but not least, the Smoking Popes are playing this year and I absolutely love them. Great live performers, and they pack the set list full of songs. There, I'm done. Hahaha.

Mia actually was saying "dadda" and "daddy" today which made me feel quite good, since she says "MOM" and "Momma" a lot. She had a doctor appt today. Nothing worse then taking your kid in for shots. Especially if it's three of them. Post-shots, she's always fine. A little tender on the legs, but fine overall. Next one's are 18 months. Should be walking very well on her own by then. She does well now but gets nervous at times and likes to hold on to one finger. I truly am a lucky man. I may complain about work and the stress of current situations, but there's nothing like having this little family always on my mind. My little girl and my always-adoring wife. Nothing could be better.

That's it for now. :)

Architects and Engineers

First of all, big win for the Los Angelas Kings tonight. having a Leinies to celebrate as I type. My brother Andy kept me updated on game 6 while I worked a busy shift at KT. I also made a friendly wager to a regular customer that they'd hoist the cup tonight. We 'bet' a beverage from KT of the winner's choice. Looks like tomorrow I'm gettin a 40! Haha! kidding. Didn't write last week in the blog. Things I've been thinking about I didn't feel like writing about. Again. But, I HAVE been keeping myself busy, art wise! :) Last week when I was at work,  I thought about those common photo bomb photos of people being silly in the background of photos. Then there's also been super heros photoshopped into some older photos. Fun, right?  So anyways, I thought to myself, "why don't I do a few photo bombs of some classic photos in time, but instead of super heros, use some characters from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies??" In the words of some of the old Guinness ads, "BRILLIANT!" So I've got about 4 so far complete and up on the Thrill Factory art page on Facebook. So far, the response has been pretty good. The small project was put together mainly for laughs  and fun. Not sure I'll do much more, but we'll see what happens next. Nearly complete with the dog portrait. Next-a Steve Stamkos picture for my pop.

Last wedding of the year this weekend for my buddy Steve, who used to work at KT with me. When i first transfered there, he was like, 17 or 18. Can't believe the guy is getting married. His fiance is real nice, so I bet this marriage will last a life time. They seem quite happy together. I don't think we're bringing Mia with us, since we're uncertain she'll behave well in church. Not too big of a deal, I suppose. With all the heat we've had lately, she's been able to enjoy her pool and her new water table. Even the neighbor kids came over the other day and played while I was at work. I love it that she plays well with other kids. I'd hate to have the kid who flips out or doesn't wanna play well with others. That's all for now :) Off to bed.

Hurricane Season

Greetings. Last week I decided not to write a weekly blog post due to some personal health things going on in the family, that I really didn't want to write about/talk about or even think about. So with that out of the way, let's continue shall we? Tomorrow is our 4-year wedding anniversary. It's amazing. 4 years ago I was hanging out with my family, the night before my wedding. Later in the evening (about 1am) I laid awake on the floor of my bro's room thinking about how amazing and important of a day was the next day. I was way too excited to be marrying the woman of my dreams, the love of my life. Man, that morning of our wedding, I was super stoked and couldn't wait to see my bride in her beautiful dress. With all of our friends and family on top of that rooftop that gorgeous spring day, all I was focusing on was that beautiful woman walking down the aisle. It was the same girl who walked into accounting class at Carroll College that took my breath away. 4 years just flew by. One moment, we're getting married, the next we got a house, a dog, traveled and are now parents to an adorable little girl. I absolutely look forward to what's in store next. Are we doing anything for our anniversary? Nah. I work 2-10 thursday night. She works as well. We talked about going out Saturday night, but I dunno if she's still up for it.
Slowly making progress on the dog portrait (yawn, right?) Had a pretty nice day off with Mia and memaw who's visiting for a few days. Mia's been getting into chasing Remi around the house with either one of her toys or one of his. It's cute, but Remi always gives me this look like "duddeee leave me the hell alone kid!" haha. We had dinner tonight with my mom at New China and it was hilarious watching Mia play with chopsticks and eat noodles. She wasn't crazy about dessert and was quite unsure about the orange cube of jell-o on her plate. She tried crab meat tonight there. Seemed to like it, which is good.  Been thinking about wanting to play in a soccer league again. I suppose I'll wait to play soccer till Mia's old enough to kick the ball back to me. Haha! :)

That's all for now. Adios and thanks for reading :)

The Empire Strikes First

Hello friends and acquaintances. Beautiful weather we're having right? That's always my go-to thing to say at the store when I feel like I need to talk up the customers. Yeah, it's stupid but for the ones that kinda linger after their transaction is complete, I feel like I have to say something. Sometimes customers tell me what they're doing today without me even asking. "So today, I picked up my kids, then got dinner ready, THEN..blah blah" okay okay. So anyways, not too bad of a day off. Great day to take Mia and Remi to the park. Lots of big kids there today. No one for Mia to play with, even though she was saying "hi" to everyone. They loved petting Remi though. He was flashing his big lovable eyes at them. The same eyes that roped us into adopting him. For dinner, spaghetti tonight. Always tasty. Mia loves playing with the noodles and sauce. Mia got a swing set last weekend (thanks Grandpa and Memaw Ridenour!) So now we'll be able to play on the swings every morning!

Time for some good old fashion ranting. For the record, I seriously dislike cell phones. Why? because they can be nothing but a pain in the ass, for both Jill and I. My last cell phone didn't even make it a year before the battery just crapped out and I had to replace the battery..Yet THAT battery also crapped out. So last year, I picked up a new phone. This current one turns it self off and restarts every once in a while. NOT fun. Why are the cheaper cell phones (through AT&T) made horribly? Is it a ploy to buy some 2-300 phone? Jill's phone isn't much better so we're hoping that once her contract is up in MARCH, we can get out of AT&T and get on a family plan. Why? Well I feel like for the money I pay for my cell phone, I'm not getting enough bang for my buck. So lately I've been researching and reviewing different companies and plans to see what's the better option. I also feel like I'm going to be dropping some good $ on some new phones for both of us. Would love to get an iPhone, but I dunno if we'll be able to afford them. May have to get some phones a tad cheaper or something. I just want a good quality phone that doesn't have as many issues as my previous ones. Any recommendations?

The dog portrait is getting OH so close to getting complete. Can't wait to rid this beast and get paid dudes!! Next project will be a picture of a hockey player for my pops followed by (possibly) putting together a Tumblr site for my art. I've been meaning to build a proper site and my friend Micaela recommended Tumblr. It'll take some time, but it should turn out great. I also need to update and upload some photography work to my Thrill Factory Facebook page.

Thats all for now-Later, thanks for reading!

Bridges,Squares

Well, we survived our first wedding that we brought Mia to. Ran a little late to the ceremony but MADE IT! Mia looked gorgeous in her blue/white flower print dress with matching color bows she didn't want to wear. As I watched my cousin walk up the aisle as her now husband waited, it reminded me of when I got married and how excited I was to see Jill in her wedding dress. The feeling is truly amazing being the guy standing there awaiting the person you love most who's about to join hands and marry you. I remember like it was yesterday...Anyway, Mia did quite well in the church. Kept saying "Hi" and "Bye Bye" a lot, while making stink faces at my family. Always fun. Towards the end of the ceremony she started to get a little bored and fidgety so I walked her out and in a few minutes it was over with. After a nice nap, Mia was ready for the reception later in the evening. She enjoyed clapping with everyone during the speeches, got a VERY nice plethora of food and devoured her own slice of wedding cake. What kid doesn't love wedding cake or cake in general?

After words, her and I danced to the Beatles (my father in law would be SO proud) she had such a great time walking around the dance floor and trying to sing along. Overall, the evening was great. Couldn't stay too long because she was uber tired, but the next wedding Jill and I will most certainly dance :)  Just gotta survive the drive to Peoria first.

Hooray, Jill and I got the day off together :) Woke up a little later then usual which was great because Mia slept well last night. Sadly, it was raining though this morning but thankfully not for too long. I was able to finish cutting our grass. towards the end of it, Mia and Jill came out and Mia was waving like a crazy kid. Totally made me smile.

Was hoping to complete my dog portrait this week, but I don't know if that'll happen. I've got like, 14 hours left of work to probably get into it. maybe 10. I was approached recently to play drums in an all-cover band. I just don't think it's in the cards to happen. These guys wanna play 40 songs and half are bands I really could care less about. If I ever consider playing in a band again, I want it to be mainly original stuff, not Pearl Jam or any songs about cowboys. Music is very important to me, and I want to be a part of something creative, original and in vein of what I like. Plus the guys/girls have to be real down-to-earth. I can't play with grade-A deuchebags anymore. Totally sucks the fun out of playing and performing.

That's all for tonight-:)

Writing A Letter

LOVE the warm weather today. Especially because I was off from work :) When the weather is nice, I can take Mia outside and she really enjoys that. This morning the pouring rain woke us up and we weren't able to take Remi out. Luckily the sun came out early in the day and we could go for a nice walk/jog. Makes me want to get a jogging stroller. AND a Bicycle. :( Hopefully this summer I can find one. So the other day when I was playing with Mia, I remembered that my mother in law took Mia down and let her play with my drum kit. The first and only time I ever took her down to play with it, she was petrified of the cymbals. No biggie. Well I guess my mother in law said she didn't seem to mind, so Tuesday, I thought "hey, let's try this again my Mia.."

 Well believe it or not, she had SO much fun! I gave her one stick and she hit every cymbal, my snare and the two toms. Gave her TWO sticks and she would alternate sticks on the snare drum. WAY RAD!!!!! I know she's just exploring and playing around with the instrument, but it makes me so happy to see her enjoying herself. She still likes playing with my bass guitar, but this was a new smile for her. Something different. She figured out that "If I hit something on this drum kit, it will make a noise and if I hit EVERYTHING on here, they all will make noise!" Couldn't get some good pictures, but got a few. I told Jill about it later and she suggested we do a photo shoot with my drum kit and Mia outside sometime. Should be a lot of fun.

Speaking of fun, we've got our first wedding of the year this weekend. My cousin's getting married Saturday and we're bringing Mia. Should be interesting and possibly challenging. She's never sat through a full catholic mass before or even been to a wedding so hopefully she doesn't cause a ruckus. The last wedding Jill & I attended was in Fond Du Lac and her parents were kind enough to come along to watch her. I'm thinking we'll do alright. We've got another wedding this month in Peoria. Then one in June in Waukesha. Man, I remember when Jill and I used to go to a bunch of weddings a year. Some to attend, others to photograph. They were fun times, but photographing weddings got to be pretty stressful, so that shipped graciously sailed.

Back to work on my dog portrait. Finally able to focus on this beast of a picture. Maybe complete it in a week or so. Then I can start other projects including some sports art for my dad's "man cave" in my parent's new house.

Adios and thanks for reading :)

True Believers

Well hockey season is officially over with as far as I'm considering it. My beloved Pittsburgh Penguins are out so with that, I really don't have a lot of invested interest in who wins Lord Stanley's cup. Just as long as it isn't the Flyers or the freakin' Bruins. It's tough when your team doesn't make it very far into the playoffs. Especially since they were on fire pre-playoff season. There's always next year. We've got a great team full of some amazing players so I have high hopes that they'll come back in October hungry to win the cup.

So it was a rainy day off. Not a lot I can do with a kid who'd rather be outside exploring and having fun. At one point it stopped and we were able to take Remi out for a short walk. She always loves going for walks. Said "hi" to this couple checking a house for sale down the street.

 I FINALLY found the original dog picture for the portrait I should have completed a few months ago. If Mia sleeps, I can actually work on it :) Did a tiny tiny bit of work on it today. I've got SO much more to do, but I hope I can pull it off. I've got other projects I wanna get done so the faster I get this out of my house, the happier I'll be. Nothing else to discuss for now.  Hoping this crappy cold weather disappears. Jill's sinuses are kicking her ass a little bit. Possibly Mia has a cold too. Never fun. Here's a picture of Mia trying to text someone on Jill's phone. Silly kid.

HOCKEY NIGHT IN MILWAUKEE

Let's talk about Hockey. Easily my favourite sport of all time, right next to soccer. I've never been a fan of football and basketball is more fun to play, then to watch (barely). Baseball is fine for the most part. I'll cheer on the Brewers and White Sox when I can. I've always looked at hockey players as knights. Armed with a stick that is also their tool to score goals. When they get on the ice, they're going to battle and will do anything to win the game. Soccer probably seems boring to some because the halves are longer then short 20 min quarters in football and the scoring isn't crazy high..but it takes patience and skill to be able to hit your mark from a good distance. It takes a hell of a lot of skill to kick a ball as far as they do, as apposed to throwing it.

My love of hockey started young in grade school. When we'd get some hardcore raining back in the house I grew up in, part of our backyard would flood some...and if we were lucky in the winter, it'd freeze and we'd get our own personal pond. Sure the ice was choppy and crappy at times, but it worked. We could walk out our backdoor and play hockey with the neighbor kids. And if we didn't get a good rain one year, we'd pack up our skates and sticks and head to a pond down a few blocks. I've never been the best ice skater but I've always loved hockey in it's entirety. In the spring/summer, we'd play street hockey. My oldest bro would DIY make me some goalie pads out of cardboard, some used shin guards and whatever else we had. It was a BLAST. I love playing goalie despite not being the biggest guy out there, but being quick and agile helped. :) I remember one or two nights playing at night in the driveway of this storage facility. We played real late into the night and it was so much fun. My brothers are pretty great and in January of 2011, we all got to play hockey again on an outdoor rink in -2 degrees weather. It was cold as hell but So worth it. I had purchased some used skates for 30 some bucks earlier and it proved to have been a wise investment. Last winter I didn't get to play with the guys sadly, but I know we will skate again.

Today, my little bro stopped over and we exchanged thoughts on our beloved Penguins against the filthy Flyers. Both quite nervous about tonight's game. Because I don't have cable, he kept me updated tonight throughout the game. a 10-3 win for the Pens couldn't have made me happier. Still in it, and I'm STILL smiling.

"Get in the fast lane grandma, the Bingo game is ready to roll."

That's all for now people. Thanks for reading :)

Back In Your Head

Man, my art is taking a major back seat for me lately. I don't know why. I have an unfinished project I need to complete but the picture is missing. DAMMIT. I've got other projects I wanna start too, but Mia's getting more needy..but that's okay, right? Went to the doc today. Mia's 21 some pounds and 29 1/2 inches long. Man, she grew fast. She can eat anything now and start drinking whole milk. It's crazy, because I remember having to hold her little head up as relaxed in my lap drinking formula. Now she's little independent Mia wanting to drink/feed by herself. Today she tried her very first slice of PIZZA. Glass Nickel's chicken/Alfredo sauce/mushroom/spinach. It's amazing, really. Glass Nickel is one of our favourite pizza places. She also tried fish, and milk. Not bad for a girl who had two shots today.

Other then that, nothing else to talk about. Been thinking about how much I wanna play in a band again lately. It's such a conflicting thing: wanting to be an active musician, but loving the life of a dad. Planning something I can't talk about (you'll find out later). The Pittsburgh Penguins are in the playoffs (but lost today). Not a good way to end the night :(. All I need is a Pens jersey and I'll be a happy fan. LETS DO THIS PENS!

That's all for now :)