Turkey Day 2016

Good morning everyone. I need to jet through this post as quickly as possible. I've got way too much to do today. Thanksgiving week was pretty busy. Mia had a short two-day week that finished with a fun pajama day. Wednesday, we spent the day together. Just Mia and I. First thing Mia wanted to do was wander around the mall. WHY. So we went to Mayfair. Later, we donated some food to the Feeding America people at Pick n Save and who was there collecting the goods? None other than Rosco, the dog mascot from the Milwaukee Admirals. Mia got a picture from him and thought he was pretty cool. Later, we came back home. Mia was playing around with my drums. I taught her how to keep a straight beat with the floor tom and snare, playing "We Will Rock You" by Queen. Her friend Olivia messaged Mia and the girls hung out at Olivia's house. Mia played for a while before we had to go, have dinner with Jill and go see Moana.

The movie was absolutely incredible. We've been looking forward to it for a long time. The art, the story, the music score, the characters all were perfect. Thursday morning, I went to work the early shift. After that nightmare was over, we went to my parents house for Thanksgiving. My half-bro drove in from Michigan to surprise my Dad (to celebrate his bday) Dinner was great and the next day, I had to work again 6am-2pm and we did round two Thanksgiving at my in-laws. Another fun time that ended with some games. Mia didn't like not "doing well" at Uno and probably was too tired (Jill said she woke up way too early that morning). Saturday, we set up the old tree (which the cat later knocked down and broke some ornaments) while watching the Chelsea game. Great win 2-1 for the Blues. Love when they beat a rival club. Jill had drove down to Illinois for lunch with some friends that were in town so it was just Mia and I. We met up again with Olivia and hung out at the park. My friend Nichole and her boy came out to play as well.

Sunday, we went out and got a new tree. Our old one had seen better days and we needed a replacement. It took some time, but we settled on one. We did some birthday party shopping for two back-to-back parties in the next coming weeks as well as getting some gifts for my nephew, Alex.

This week, I'm working on Mia's extra special Christmas present from both Jill and I. It's going to take a ton of work. Mia's got her friend Noelle's party this weekend. Easily, the closest we've ever had to travel for a birthday party. Mia may walk there actually. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Fun With Friends

Good morning everyone. Hard to believe Thanksgiving is just about here. Last week was an intense one for Mia. She returned back to school on Monday only to receive 15 sheets of HOMEWORK! Oh em Gee. Luckily, she didn't stress out about it, and even though she didn't have to do it all in one night, she did anyway. She didn't want to get behind and conquered it all. For the most part, homework for her is just repetitive sheets all very similar. Write this out, rhyme words, etc. She also has to read through sight words and poems every day. Seems daunting for a kindergartner but she seems to handle it just fine. I was off Tuesday and worked early Wednesday morning. Strange schedule, but it was nice to spend time with Mia on both days. Unfortunately this week, she got sick (along with Jill). Thursday, she didn't sleep much but got herself to school. We had told her that if she didn't feel good enough to stay at school, she could go to the office and have them call. She apparently was too afraid and instead, drew some pictures that said "Mom Dad, I don't feel good". The other one said "I am miserable".
Felt so bad.

She didn't make it to school Friday and took the day off to try and knock out her sickness. Her goal was to be better enough for her new level dance class and her friend Charlie's birthday party. Mia woke up super excited that we had snow in the grass. She wanted to play in it, but A-there was too little of it, and B-she had dance to get ready for. She made it to dance and really liked it. She's mentioned that its harder than her previous dance class, but she seems to like it all the same. We got home and she changed into a dress and was off to her friend Charlie's 6th birthday party. She was joined with the majority of her classmates at a fancy dress up party. When we walked up the driveway, girls ran out the door to greet her. One gave her a huge hug and they all asked "ARE YOU FEELING BETTER MIA???!!" All remembering that the previous day, Mia didn't make it to school. They did nails, make up, hair, jewelry and a fashion show. All things a Dad would excel at. I helped the the girls tie on their necklaces and was asked by Birthday girl Charlie to help judge the fashion show. They had parfaits, pink lemonade and danced like crazy. I think what was really nice, is during hot potato (or their version was pass the crown) when a kid went out, they weren't upset. They played and danced around while the remaining girls continued. Mia was the last one to leave the party. She (and Charlie) didn't want to split, but I reminded her that she is off Wednesday from school as well as her friends are and that maybe they can hang out. Charlie was Mia's first new friend when she started kindergarten. In fact, her first day they became friends. She would tell us all about her, and apparently Charlie would tell her parents about Mia. It's cute.

Later, we met up with my parents and got some Blaze Pizza for my Mom's birthday. My Dad was sporting his new tattoo (first one in over 40 years). He tries to put up a front that it doesn't hurt but he's not fooling me :) Mia, Jill and I watched Finding Dory till Mia fell asleep.

Sunday I got up and watched the Chelsea/Boro game. Great game. Tricky one but they got the win and are on top of the table once again. Boro played really well, but Costa got the best of Valdes with a quick little kick on an open side. Pedro almost doubled the lead but ended up smacking the crossbar. It's been great to see Chelsea playing so well and I hope they can continue the momentum.

Today, I'll complete my 50th picture for Mia. Haven't decided what I'll do yet, but it should be good. She's got a short week this week and I'm working back to back early shifts on Thanksgiving. Have a great holiday everyone and thanks for reading! :)

Short Vacation

Good evening everyone. Been a busy week. Mostly solo, but we'll get to that later. Tuesday was election. It was also Jill's day off before she was leaving for Florida with Mia and her parents and bro. After we dropped off Mia, we voted and spent the rest of the day together. Something we haven't done since before Mia. We picked up some birthday presents for my parents as well as her Dad's, had lunch and before I knew it, it was time to go to work. At work, I heard from a variety of people their thoughts on the election. A lot thought Hilary had it, but we were all wrong. Mia also had her first day of her new dance class she was recommended. She said it was difficult but she did like it. That night I found out Trump was ahead. I had to get up with the girls early Wednesday morning so I went to sleep when Hilary was gaining momentum winning Nevada.

The next morning at 3:30am, it was confirmed that a TV reality host would be the new leader of the free world. Worse than that, was that the Republicans took pretty much everything including senate and house. Terrible steps that will surely lead us into big trouble. I talked to a customer who was exclaiming his concern that 30 years ago, we should have been taking climate change more seriously, and with the new president and his administration he will pick, it'll set us back another 40 years that we as a planet can't afford. Mia cried that morning "How could Donald Trump win? He's going to be mean to all the cities!!" I explained that it's important to remain kind to one another and not say anything mean that would hurt anyones feelings. Jill's family arrived around 4:00am and they were off to Mitchell International to fly to Florida for a short little 4 days visiting Grandpa Gangier celebrating his 90th birthday. I attempted to go back to sleep but just couldn't. The thought of Trump as president sincerely kept me awake. Eventually, exhaustion settled in and I was able to get some sleep. Later, I did some art, drummed and hung out with some co-workers till 3:00am. We played Super Smash bros, had some pizza/beers and watched their favorite show Rick and Morty. It was a lot of fun even though I totally suck at Smash.

The rest of the week, I took care of my in-law's cat, designed some Torrent and IB26 stuff and worked on a lunch note drawing for Mia  with my brand new 72 pack of Prismacolor soft core pencils. These are total high end and different than I'm used to. I have to find an awesome paper that will work well. The one I used with my note was mostly alright. I think I need a heavier paper. Overall, it was fun exploring what these can do. I've got a lot to learn with techniques but the end result wasn't too bad. Saturday evening, I went to a house warming party my good friend Nichole had at her new house. I could only stay for a little while because my girls were finally coming home. 4 days doesn't seem that long, but for me, it seemed like 4 weeks. I asked Jill how she'd do if she was separate from Mia from that long and she was that far away, and she simply said "no way I could do that". I don't think people think its as hard on us Dads as we may let on.
Back to normal this week. School tomorrow. I'm off Tuesday and working early Wednesday. Mia's got her friend Charlie's birthday party this Saturday and I believe Chelsea is back from International Break this week. FINALLY.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Dance Little Girl

Good morning everyone. It was a pretty busy week so let's get right to it. Monday, I dressed up for work for Halloween. I was 80's hair metal drummer Metal Mike. It's the one holiday we can dress up (sorta) at work so I donned a black/blonde wig with aviators and had drum sticks in my back pocket.
I got all kinds of compliments and guesses who I was supposed to be. Bob Marley, Howard Stern and Ted Nugent were just a few of them.  Wednesday after school Mia and I hung out with her friend Noelle, and Noelle's sister Cora and neighbor Caitlyn. The kids had fun playing in the driveway despite the drab weather till Mia looks at me and says "Dad, I'm pretty hungry, but I REALLY want to play still". We went home. Jill and I stayed up and watched the World Series (which I can honestly say, I've never watched ever) in its entirety. She was so excited the Cubs won (despite being a White Sox fan) Jill believes in city solidarity. If a Chicago team can win a championship, she's stoked. Blackhawks, White Sox, Bears etc.

Mia had dance class Saturday. Apparently, it went really well because when we went to pick her up the woman who runs it pulled us aside and said "Okay, Mia's doing REALLY well and we want to see if she'd like to move up. She's got all of the technical skills down and I think she'd benefit from a more challenging dance group". Awesome. We had no idea what to expect when signing her up for dance or if she'd even like it. Turns out she likes it enough to be the best in class. To be fair, her group consists of 3-5 year olds but since it was her first formal dance class, we didn't know what to expect nor want to give her something she didn't feel confident doing. Starting tomorrow, she's in a new group at a different time. The reason why she's in Tuesday's dance class is because Wednesday, she's leaving for Florida with Jill and her family so it's a "make up day" for her. Hopefully it goes well and she likes it.

After dance class. we worked on the yard and raked leaves (despite the fact that on Sunday you could barely tell we even tried) Later, we drove to my parents house and Jill/Mia/my Mom went to a craft fair at HAWS while my Dad and I watched Chelsea thrash Everton 5-0. What a game. Hazard putting away two goals, Alonso gets his first and Costa adding to his already impressive list with Pedro grabbing the last one. It was a great performance showcasing confidence and pure raw talent that they so badly lacked last season. Conte is bringing the best out of these players and it makes watching every match more enjoyable when you see the players entering the pitch with their heads up high confident they'll bring home another victory.

Later, we drove to Milwaukee's First Stage Theater to watch the Goosebumps-Phantom of the Auditorium play. Mia loved it. Anything with ghosts and creepy singing, she enjoys. Afterwards, we're walking out and she says "I'm going to write and direct my own play called Shopkin: The Musical and have all of my friends star in it". Love this kid's creativity. Before the night ended, she completed a few sheets of homework before calling it a night. Sunday, we cleaned some of the garage before I went to work. Jill went to her parent's house and made her first batch of macaroons. She wasn't too happy with the final result so she'll have some tweaking to do with the recipe.

This week is a busy one. Tomorrow, Mia's got her last day of school and first day of her new dance class before she leaves for Florida early Wednesday morning. They'll return to Wisconsin Saturday evening. My plan is to do a lot of art, organize Mia's play area and make the most of the time. Saturday my friend is having a housewarming party so I'll probably stop over. Going to miss my girls. This is the first time she's ever flown without me.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!