Turkey Fest

Good morning. Hope everyone got to enjoy their long weekend. I had Saturday off, but we'll get back to that later. Mia had a fun week at school. She learned all about the first Thanksgiving and had a feast at school on Wednesday. They watched one of those Peanuts movies with Snoopy and the gang as well. When I went to pick her up. she had on a headband that she made complete with feathers. She had a blast. Later, Mia and I hung out with my Dad for his 69th Birthday. He enjoyed his Chief (their dog) shirt and the brownies I picked up. Mia was extra sweet to him for his day. Later, Jill and I surprised Mia with tickets to see the premier of The Good Dinosaur. It was beautifully done but maybe a little long for a kid who was up since 7:45am. She needed a nap and at times, was distracted by that. She liked it though. Pixar really pushed the envelop with the art on this one. Everything looked like a live action movie. The trees, willows and water looked so real. It was incredible. It was a nice little family outing before the girls got the long weekend.

Thursday, I had the early shift like I do every year. 6am-2pm. We were pretty steadily busy throughout the day. I just wanted the day to end so I could enjoy family time. Later, we went to my parent's and joined my sister and brother's family for Thanksgiving. It was fun. Friday, nothing too exciting. Worked at 2pm. Jill and Mia went to a cookie sale event at the hotel in Pewaukee, and later a craft fair. She got her face painted like Rudolph. It was cute.

Saturday I had the day off. Finally. We went to visit with Jill's family for their very first Thanksgiving in Wisconsin as new residents. It was great. Good food and delicious pie. Sunday morning, I got out of bed at 5:30am for the Chelsea vs Spurs match. I tried to remain quiet not to wake anyone. To my surprise, 15 minutes into the first half I heard a little voice next to me. "Daddy?" "Mia, what are you doing up so early?" "Well, I said the other day I wanted to watch the game with you" So we did. We watched the rest of the score-less first half together, as the sun was rising. It was a special morning for us. She never gets up that early and it was just her and I. by ourselves. The only thing that would have made that moment better, was if Chelsea would have scored and won. Instead, it was a draw. Mia and I went out at half time to walk Remi. I carried her shivering body in my arms as we quietly walked the dog before the start of the 2nd half. We brought him back in and she promptly decided it was time to wake up Jill. She was less than enthused to be up that early on a Sunday. Oh well.

For some reason, Chelsea started Hazard as a striker over Costa. Apparently, his attitude has been rough and JM figured Hazard could get the job done. He's an attacking midfielder that hangs on the left so it was odd they'd put him front and center. He's played the number 10 spot before but it wasn't a major improvement. Yesterday, he did alright but just couldn't find the net. Begovic was superb in the net. Fabregas, I'm ready to see leave. He didn't do squat again, and just seemed lost at times. I don't know what the January transfer window is looking like at the moment, but it wouldn't surprise me if he left then or at the end of the season.

This week, try to start some new art, and watch the game Saturday. Last week, I started and completed a cool graphic for The Flood that turned out real nice. That's all for now. Thanks for reading!

Two Little Monkeys

Good evening.
Hope everyone is keeping warm and got to enjoy the weekend. It was an overall enjoyable week over here. Wednesday after school, Mia and her BFF Olivia met up and went to Monkey Joe's together. When I went to pick her up at the end of her day, Mia and Olivia came out of class bouncing with excitement. It was adorable. Anyways, Olivia's Dad and I brought the kids to the jump joint and they had a total blast. They would hold hands going down the big slides, race and shot some hoops at the arcade-style basketball game. It was cute. Mia's definitely a lefty and made quite a bit of baskets. They play so cute and act like sisters when they interact. I love it. Despite the fact that they will be in different kindergartens next year, I hope they can continue being best friends.

The Christmas tree is already set up. Jill and Mia tackled that traditional set up that I usually get to help with. I was a bit bummed. Oh well. Saturday, I watched the Chelsea vs Norwich game. It was a long international break. Everyone did well individually for their country so I was quite amped for this game. Chelsea needed this win and they got it. It most certainly wasn't a blowout, but the win was so well-deserved. They all played so well, and it was a great result. I was quite occupied with helping Jill with her Wild Tree sale preparations and getting Mia breakfast but what I saw was great. Pedro, Hazard and Willian performed fantastically. Although I will not get to watch the 2nd leg of the Champions League game, I feel like they can get the win. Every one's feeling good, JM is feeling good, the team looks solid and that's all what matters.

Jill's sale went alright. A few items sold. After break down, we stopped at my parent's for my Mom's birthday. She was totally surprised and quite happy :) Today Jill had her pal Heather (and kid Bella) as well as her Mom over to help bake a ton of cookies to raise money for a local cat shelter. Mia and Bella did an amazing job with the cookies and had a ton of fun. It was great seeing the two getting along. Heather is a sweet and genuine person so it came no surprise her little 10 year old was just the same. I have to stop over Wednesday for my Dad's birthday this week. He's going to love his gift :) Mia also has a Thanksgiving Feast at her school on Wednesday. I'm not quite sure what that means as far as "does she bring some traditional food?" or what. Guess we'll find out.

Thursday, I'm working 6am-2pm which is quite typical for me on Turkey Day (as I requested) and then it'll be off to my parents. Saturday, it'll be Jill's parent's house. Their first of many Thanksgivings in Wisconsin.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading!

The Rock

Good evening everyone. Lots to discuss tonight as I eat some tasty motz sticks after a busy Sunday evening shift. Wednesday after I picked up Mia from school, my father in law watched her for me as I went rock climbing with my pal Andy at Adventure Rock in Pewaukee. I have never rock climbed, nor had the opportunity to do so, so when he invited me, I was very stoked to try it. I was a tad nervous because I have never done anything like it and wasn't sure how to go up, but once they get the harness on you and give you the rundown on how to clip onto the device that keeps you from hitting the ground when you repel down. Pretty straight forward. So first one I did, climbed with no problem. It took me a few times to get the repelling down but after a while, I found it quite fun.

It most certainly takes a lot of upper body strength to pull yourself up the sides, plus some super strong fingers. The grips on the side were graded for Mt Everest I believe, and some were really difficult. The colorful mustaches were super tricky. Absolutely no grip whatsoever. I named that side "Mustache Mountain" The whole experience was an absolute blast and I'd totally do it again. Jill even wants to go too :)

Mia had a pretty good week at school as well. She still needs to work on talking more as far as Show and Tell, and when she's called on. She's improving but I know she can do better. Saturday, I had a Flood meeting (Torrent Supporters). We had a good turnout, and unveiled the official Milwaukee Torrent mascot. Me. Wearing an authentic luchador mask, Torrent jersey and scarf. It's ridiculous but we hope the mascot will get the fans amped as I chant and pound the drums. It'll be a blast. The new Torrent intern made an appearance as well and shared some ideas. It'll most certainly be exciting. Another meeting will be most likely held in January. We just need to get more pre-order sales for the pack.

Saturday night, we went to the Paint-Bar in Delafield. I had received a gift certificate for my birthday for the place so Jill, myself, my brother and sister-in-law met there and painted. It was a lot of fun. Basically, you can either sign up for a class, or do a freestyle paint session. A lot of people take previously painted pieces off the wall, and try to replicate it. That's what Jill, Ash and Andy did. I had a print out of a Hawaiian sunset I wanted to do. Everyone had a great time. Jill's winter piece turned out amazing. Andy's space kitty was adorable and Ashley did a great job with her African sunset. As far as my Hawaii one? I'm pleasantly surprised that it turned out well. The table of people next to us really liked our pieces which was nice to hear. I sincerely wish they would have given us real white acrylic paint at the beginning instead of a jell medium. Oh well. We had an amazing time. It was a rare night for us all to hang out, and not have the kids. Mia went to the movies with Jill's parents. She saw the Peanuts movie. Loved it.

Today, I cleaned the gutters before work. This week, not totally sure what we're doing yet. Saturday, Jill's got an event going on with Wild Tree. I believe she is baking cookies for a local animal shelter real soon as well.

That's all for now. Time to hit the bed. Thanks for reading!!

Friends In Fun Places

Good morning all. Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend. Last week was pretty busy. Mia's been learning a lot in school and especially has been playing with a boy from 3K, Nate. Last year, she wanted nothing to do with him. He would give her a kiss while her friends would give her hugs good bye and she was totally grossed out. This year, they've become close friends. She would ask him to open her Lunchable during lunch time because "Daddy, boys are stronger and can open things I can't". They play at recess too. Just about every day. He was out last week with a fever and she was pretty bummed out. She learned that she had to open her Lunchable by herself and at recess, was just hanging with Irianna. The 3K boys at recess were playing "guns" and were annoying Mia and her girl posse. So she would simply just hang out on the bench and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Wednesday after school, Mia and I watched the UCL match between Chelsea and Dynamo. Luckily, CFC got a great win with a fantastic free kick from Willian. I'll get back to this weekend's disaster a little later. Mia and I had all kinds of fun watching them win. Her favorite thing to do when Chelsea scores, is me tossing her into the air. It's amazing.  I was supposed to go rock climbing with my pal Andy, but when I arrived there was absolutely nowhere to park, which can't be a good sign. When he got in, we walked in and saw first hand, that they were hella busy. We rescheduled for the next week during the day. Hopefully we'll be able to do it and have some fun.

Friday evening when I came home from work, Mia was working on math! That's right. She's actually pretty good at it, which is awesome because I always hated it. With that, I'm trying to encourage her to keep working on it since it's actually something she enjoys. Saturday, Mia and I watched the Chelsea vs Stoke game (most of it) before taking her to her pal Alexa's 5th birthday party. Kids in Motion was absolute madness. At least 7 birthday parties going on at once with at least  100 kids running around the indoor play place. Mia's entire 4K class attended and she had so much fun. She played quite a bit with her friend Audrey in the market, the kitchen, submarine and the jungle gym. Alexa loved her present and Mia's hoping she will make her a friendship bracelet in the near future. I love watching her play with her friends. They're so fun to watch running around and being imaginative.

During the party, I found out that Chelsea once again, blew the game losing 0-1. They are in dire crisis. JM was absent for the game with a stadium ban, and they just couldn't win. Defense was a mess, with Azp making a rare mistake leaving the attacker open for an acrobatic shot at Begovic. They're in an international break for the week, and I hope they can pull a win next week against Norwich. JM doesn't deserve the sacking that is surely coming. Patience is key, and the Blues need to strengthen every bit of their squad to stay out of the relegation zone.

Saturday evening, we watched Inside Out. Such a solid and intriguing movie. One of Pixar's best in my opinion. Sunday, I worked 2-10 so nothing too exciting to discuss. This week, I'm going to try to rock climb again and I have a Flood meeting for the Torrent Saturday afternoon. Should be fun. That's all for now. Thanks for reading!

Keepin' it Surreal

Good evening everyone. Hope the readers had a great week. Wednesday, we went over to the studio and had some photos taken of Mia in her beautiful Fawn costume. It took some clever trickery to make her smile, but we got some good shots. Mia had her Halloween party on Thursday. Wednesday, she's normally in school but because she's off on Thursdays, they did sort of a switch for the kids who don't go to school Thursdays. Anyways, she had an absolute blast. They played games and had teams of kids wrapping up two friends as mummies. Mia was one of them. They did ring toss around the witches hat and tried all kinds of food. We made Frankenstein treats for the kids. Cups with green grapes, two marshmallows for eyes and I drew Frankie faces on all of them. She was in her Fawn costume and I guess her teacher thought she looked like a "pumpkin fairy". I don't even know what that is. She's been really enjoying getting homework from school lately, which is great. I honestly think it's the challenges that she likes.

Friday, Mia had a conference. Overall, she's doing great. Knows a lot of numbers and letters and how they're written. She's shy as far as when she's called on to answer a question, but is totally fine in one-on-one situations. She's a total perfectionist which makes sense. I am and Jill can be. Her teacher told me that she tends to erase and re-write her name so it looks totally perfect when it doesn't necessarily have to. She gets along with all of the kids and has definitely improved on doing things outside. Earlier in the year, she would just sit out there by herself, and as of lately, been playing with her friend Nate.  I'm proud of the kid. She's got a lot to learn before Kindergarten apparently, and things seem to be moving well.

Saturday, I had to work the early shift. I stuck a bandanna on my noggin and myself and one of my coworkers were dressed as pirates, or at least we made our best attempt. It was good for morale and kept the costumers happy. I missed the disastrous Chelsea vs Liverpool match. 3-1. WHY???? I can't think about it anymore. They better win their UCL game Wednesday. After my grueling work shift, I got changed at home (into my Dali costume) and we went Trick or Treating with my brother and his boys/wife, as well as my in laws. This was their first Halloween with Mia. The weather was absolutely crappy and cold, but they had fun. My sister, still as a statue, scared trick or treaters at our house. She had fun and Mia shared with her some candy for helping. My parents came over later for dinner and we had a good time. I tried to replicate a Dali picture with his cat. It mostly turned out alright.

Sunday, work work work. Nothing too exciting. Lots going on this week. Off tomorrow (STOKED). Mia and I need to find a birthday gift for her pal Alexa. She's going to her birthday party Saturday. Wednesday, I'm rock climbing at this indoor place with my pal Andy. Should be fun since I've never done it before. Jill's got some stuff going on this weekend as well. I'm just too tired to remember.

Thanks for reading everyone.