Hello February Goodbye January

Good evening. It's been a busy end of January and I'm quite ready to move on to the next month. Closer to hopefully spring. I was quite busy this week working on some big announcement images for the Milwaukee Torrent. I can't say much yet, but the league info should be out real soon. They've got another community game that was announced, this time against Cardinal Stritch. I think it'll be great for the community to see a professional level of soccer and hopefully it'll be a good turn out.

Mia's been blowing my mind with what she's learning in school. Her math skills are sharp and she's been able to sound out words in front of her almost easily. She seems to be enjoying school more and more, just not the "3-Kers" that harass the girls at recess. I dunno if they still do, but she'll pull out a random story here and there about how they push girls. Oh boys.

I sort of decided to abandon my Jose Mourinho portrait. It wasn't coming out how I hoped and I know I can do better. Jaw lines are tough and I gotta get better at them.  Saturday night, we went out to the movies after Jill worked. Kung Fu Panda 3. I've never seen any of the previous ones, but it was good. Jack Black shines in animated roles as well as Seth Rogan. Mia liked it as well. I think we'll have to watch the previous ones at some point.

Today was soccer day. But first, I had to get Remi out for a walk. While walking the pup where I normally do, I got hit by an SUV. well, less hit, more smacked. Remi and I were walking across the road that this car was had stopped and was planning on turning right. The older woman was focused on the traffic from one side, and didn't notice us walking in front of the car. If I didn't smack the hood of the SUV, they would have drove right into me. The car was right into my side before I let them know they hit me. They didn't role down the window or anything. They turned and went out. On top of that, Remi's leash broke AGAIN so I had to replace that today. Thankfully it was an easy exchange and we said "goodbye" to retractable leashes. Anyways so after that ordeal, I watched Chelsea win 5-1 in the FA cup game on Youtube. First half, Oscar netted his first hat-trick. I missed Hazard's PK and Traore's goal because I had left to go to the pet store during HT. Good to see Chelsea win a game they really shouldn't have had a problem winning. Hazard FINALLY got a goal this season as well.

All was great and wonderful in Chelsea FC, until I read that they were not going to offer John Terry a new deal. All day at work, I was pretty bummed that the player who's given his heart and soul to this club for 20 years would not get offered a new deal. Then, I just looked at Twitter again. Within 5 minutes, I read that they may offer him something...still. I know that players older than 30 don't get more then 1 year extentsions on contracts, but this guy bleeds blue. He IS Chelsea and I hope they can get a deal for him. He doesn't below in the MLS or any other organization except the Premier League. I hope Chelsea can pull their head out of their ass and get this worked out. We signed A former Red Bulls defender Miazga and Corinthians forward Pato. Transfer Window just about complete so we'll see if anything big happens. Ramires left for China, which doesn't surprise me since Mikel has been heavily favored since the returning of GH to the Blues. Luckily, Mikel hasn't been too bad, but Ramires clearly didn't want to hang out on the bench any longer.

This week, more work for the Torrent and Flood, hopefully will do my best to avoid the snow storm we're supposed to get but I gotta work Tuesday and get Mia to school Wednesday. Hopefully it's not too bad. Mia's got a birthday party this Friday evening for her friend Kaylee. Should be fun. that's all for now. Thanks for reading.

GOLAZO!

Good evening everyone. Busy week (and weekend) over here, and I'm dead exhausted, but for some reason, feel like writing before hitting the showers/bed. Cold temps this week, which sucked, but after school on Wednesday, I took Mia over to the temporary ice rink at Malone Park and we skated. We had the whole place to ourselves, so it was nice to skate, just the two of us. She would get frustrated because the surface isn't all that smooth and was difficult at times to skate solo. It's not as easy to get going as the Petit but we still had fun. She's really into "ice dancing" and we'd have to dance together. It was cute. Later that night, I played a very rare session of pick up indoor soccer at Brookfield Indoor. Rusty at times, but I had a lot of fun. Only snagged one assist and no goals, but it was a good time. The guys were pretty cool. I gotta work on ball control a bit. My finishing was rough at times. I would get in a weird angle with a player against me, and I'd lose my bearings. It was crappy at times. I got a few good shots, but not enough for me to be happy with. I hope to play again some time.

Friday, I got Mia registered for Kindergarten for the 2016/2017 school year. YES, you actually have to have them registered already. It's insane, really. We could never get the school district site to work, so we walked across the street, sat down and did it on their stupid laptop. Took a while, and thankfully Mia was very patient but she's registered. She has an "assessment test" scheduled for March so we'll find out where she is for the class. It'll be a totally new environment for the diva, new friends, teachers and schedule. She'll have to get used to going to bed even earlier then she is now, and a full days worth of school and fun. She's excited, but sorta sad she won't have her best friends in class anymore. Luckily, we keep in contact outside of school so she'll have opportunities to be with them.

Saturday, I had a Flood meeting later in the afternoon. We discussed merch, the league and schedule that should be released soon, the songbook and other things at the Nomad, the jersey sponsor for the Torrent. I picked up the Flood scarf after we did a photo-op with the Fonz to help promote the supporters group. I'm really happy with how my design for the supporters scarf turned out. The detail looks real cool and I'm quite proud of my work. When the schedule comes out, I"ll be able to get some solid work on it. Should be soon. Myself and the intern are also taking on a project to get a kids club put together so that will be fun.

Later Saturday evening, we went tubing with Mia's BFF Olivia, her bro Gavin and Dad at The Rock Sports Complex. TOTALLY fun for a couple hours. The kids totally could have gone longer. Jill watched and will probably do it next time. I would go down with Mia, then her BFF, THEN her Bro..it was fun. They have this "magic carpet" that takes you back up the hill. The kids had a blast.

Today, I watched Chelsea defeat those no-good rivals Arsenal 1-0. Costa got a great goal in, thus digging into the rivals more, which was perfect. The 2nd half,  the Blues shoulda done a bit better since the team was down to 10 guys after the red card early in the 1st half, but a win is a win.
Mia and Jill went to my nephew's birthday. From what I was told, they had fun and Mia was social with every single one of the guests. This week, I've got some serious Torrent stuff to do, and most likely cleaning. That's all for now. Thanks for reading!

Day Trip

Good morning everyone. Hope you are able to stay warm on this SUPER cold day. We had a busy week, but it was pretty fun. I've been coming up with some fun and cool concepts for some Match Day posters for the Torrent games. I think it'll be great to get the word out. Last night I thought it'd e good that if someone was at the game, they kept the  FB page updated during the game. I'm going to be busy as it is pounding the drums and chanting with the supporters group. I may go to some of the games early to get some training photos snapped for everything and anything graphic design related. I started working on the pre-season schedule. So far it looks solid and I look forward to the league update and schedule release to get everything finalized. My brother got his Torrent kit in the mail recently and it looks really good. He said it's very light and fits like a glove. We have a supporters group meeting this weekend at the Nomad so we'll have a lot of different things to discuss. I hope to get some match day posters printed as mock ups to share my vision.

Wednesday, Mia and I watched the Chelsea game at our house. It was a draw, but a close one. Would have been nice to get the win, but what can you do? They tied this weekend against Everton (missed the game) but it went right down to the wire. Speaking of which, the weekend. We left Saturday morning for Indy and stayed at a super nice hotel in Merrillville. The place was very cool. Own kitchen was great, but Mia really liked the TV in the bedroom. She was reunited with long-lost pal Caleb. Jill's friends met us there for a weekend of fun, laughs and food. We had a great time. The kids got along well and even got to swim in the indoor pool. Mia's favorite part was probably the pie-in-your-face game. You know, the game where they put creme on the hand, you crank it and get pie flung at you when you least suspect it. I won, but the kids loved watching others get pied.  Sunday, we said our goodbyes and drove home. Great weekend with her friends who have always been very nice to me.

It was a cold morning today. Too cold to take Remi out, but we made it to the park and he didn't even mind a bit. BRRRR..Mia shivered her way to school on this frigid MLK day. She'll be learning once again about him and his dream. This week, meeting Saturday, Jill and Mia will be going to nephew Easton's birthday party Sunday. That's about it for now. Thanks for reading!!

Faintly Falling Ashes

Good evening everyone. Hope the weekend was good and if you're experiencing the frigid temps currently, that you're not frozen solid. Mia had her first week back at school, as well as Jill to work. Both didn't seem that excited to get "back to normal" after their time off in Ohio. Mia had a good week at school, and seems to be doing well with everything. This week, she's got the letter "M" for Show and Tell so she's stoked and wants to bring Mommy, Marie..etc. Sorry kid, but how about a picture of them together? Wednesday after school Mia and her BFF Olivia went sledding at "Pickle Pond" hill. Perfect day for it. Temps were good and the ladies had a blast. A couple falls here and there but overall, it was fun. Her Dad and I always enjoy spending time with the girls. Olivia even gave Mia a belated X-Mas gift of a Minnie Mouse picture with "MIA" in it, pink frame and everything. Mia loves it. "Daddy, this is SO cool!"

Saturday was mostly enjoyable. Mia picked out some patterns to make a pillow case and blanket with her Grandma Missyshell (for Sunday). I came home tonight and she's got both of them in bed. Looks like they finished them with no problem. Of course it's Monster High, Mia's big obsession. Later, we had my parents over for dinner. Jill made the most delicious teriyaki turkey burgers with pineapple and onion. What Jill was REALLY excited about, was her Hawaiian bread she made with her brand new bread maker. It took quite a while to complete but it was well worth the wait. Even this morning, still super tasty with lots of amazing flavor. I've got a feeling we'll be eating lots of homemade bread.

This morning, I got up and watched the FA Cup game between Chelsea FC vs Scunthorpe. I hate that I have to look high and low all over the web for a solid stream of the game just because I don't get Fox Sports 1. I was tempted to go to my Dad's to watch, but luckily found a decent stream on youtube. Solid game. Great to see Costa scoring again and especially a good day for Ruben Loftus-Cheek who got his FIRST goal on the team (he previously played on the youth CFC team). Hope to see many more goals from the youngster. They play this Wednesday (My Dad says he doesn't get the channel) so hopefully I can watch it at home on the computer.

This week, not a lot planned. I've got some Torrent projects to work on and other freelance stuff. Speaking of Torrent, The Flood supporters scarves came in and they look great. We've got a supporters group meeting next week so I'll get to see one in person soon. We're leaving Saturday though for a day-trip to a town in Indiana with Jill's friends. Should be a lot of fun. Mia gets to play with her long-distance friend Caleb.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading.

Welcome 2016-Hitting the Hills

First post of the new year. A lot of great things to come in 2016 which I am absolutely excited about. But first, looking back at the busy week. The snow storm on the 28th was super sketchy but I was fortunate to make it home. Mia and Jill came back on the 31st. I thoroughly enjoyed the quiet time while they were vacationing in beautiful Columbus, Ohio, but I absolutely missed the hell out of them. The little voice running around and singing and of course my wonderful wife Jill's warm hugs after a long day at work. After my shift at work was done, I couldn't wait to get home. I could have ran back to New Berlin from Waukesha, I was that excited to see them. Came in the house, Mia ran to me and didn't let go. Just like previous years. I love it. Best feeling ever. We watched the ball drop and the star rise (in Chicago) and that was it. A mild new years which is totally fine. Every year we think about doing something, but after she drove 7 plus hours from Ohio, going out was never really going to be an option, and that's okay.

Saturday morning I got up early to watch soccer only to find out that the Chelsea vs CP game is SUNDAY not Saturday. Stupid. Went back to sleep till 10am. We had breakfast and hit the hills sledding. Perfect day for it. A few kids prior to our arrival must have built a little ramp or jump and Mia LOVED going off it. Total blast. I'm debating about seeing if my Mom still has my little brother's old little snowboard for her and she if she'd like to try it. We went down dozens of times Saturday. It was a nice little family activity. Saturday night, we went out to dinner with my parents. They were happy to see Mia again.

Sunday morning I got up nice and early (again) to watch a very soggy wet game of soccer. Chelsea got the win 3-0 which was fantastic to see. A winning Blues with everyone looking confident and happy. Hazard picked up an early injury, which was too bad since he probably could have netted his first goal of the unfortunate season. Willian's blast was superb. It was 3 needed points and proof that the team does care, and has to keep winning to stay out of the bottom and make it for the UCL.

I started a new art project this week: I'm working on a portrait of our latest-to-be-sacked manager JM. I think with enough time and work, I can really nail this one. This week, nothing too exciting going on. Mia's back at school, the Blues play Saturday and we're thinking about taking Mia bowling at some point at the New Berlin Ale House.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading!