End of 2017, Hello 2018

Good morning/afternoon everyone. I only say that because I'll probably finish this literally after noon.  2017 comes to a close today with a lot of great highlights and lowlights to discuss, but first, the week we had. It was an unfortunately quiet week as far as Mia's break. Due to the cold temps (couldn't go tubing/sledding) and Jill not feeling the best, we didn't do a lot. It was the first time ever since Jill and I have been together that her and Mia didn't go anywhere for the break. We saw Ferdinand on Wednesday evening. It was pretty cute and I'll probably not have any reason to watch it again. Chelsea played Stoke and destroyed them 5-0. Great win and fantastic to see them fighting hard to get into 2nd place which will be a great position to start in for 2018.

 Later, We took our very disgusting Remi to get washed up. He hasn't had a bath in such a long time and we couldn't stand the smell anymore. Now he's super fluffy and smells great. Jill went to acupuncture while Remi and I watched Man U draw Southampton with my Dad. Jill's parents stopped over later at our house and we had some dinner before Mia decided to have a sleepover by her Grandparents. After dinner, she packed up her bag and was on her way. I drew for her lunch note when she returns to school while Jill watched Netflix till we went to sleep.

As we continue to wait for Mia to come home (maybe I'll see her before I go to work) I'm going to highlight 2017's highs and lows. Here we go:

2017 was a pretty exciting year for us. Despite the biggest idiot on the planet making president, Mia had an awesome year. She completed Kindergarten and started 1st grade. The amount of friends she's made is amazing. Mia had her very first dance recital. She did great and didn't get nervous. Over the Summer, she had her first ever sleepovers at both Cecilia's house and Noelle's house. She's always been nervous about the whole process but when it comes to the actual sleepover, she really loves it. Both are great friends of hers. Mia played on the New Berlin Lightning soccer team that I helped coach. That's probably my biggest highlight of the year (with a close second Chelsea winning the league). Coaching was a complete joy for me. Lots of hard work went into this and I'm super proud of Mia, myself and the team I coached. The parents were great in helping with snacks as well. Mia can't wait to start again in the Fall and hopes to score a goal next season. One of the other exciting things I got to do was teach a 2nd grade class of kids some drawing techniques. The whole class was great and it was a lot of fun. I didn't realize till then that I love teaching art to kids and hope to do it again soon.

Despite not having an interest in learning how to ride her bike, Mia taught herself how to ride a scooter.  Her determination to blaze down sidewalks and hills on it has sparked her interest in teaching herself how to skateboard next year. The last bit of Summer, she would try to do it and she has the general motion for pushing herself but holds my hand. My board's bearings aren't the best (the board is probably 16+ years old) so I promised her when she can push herself on her own, I'll buy her a board for herself that's custom to her specifications. Mia's completely out of Frozen and has moved on to Star Wars and Harry Potter.

We had some great trips and adventures as well. We took a day trip to the Brookfield Zoo, plenty of trips and art classes for Mia at the Milwaukee County Zoo, took Mia to a Torrent game and went ice skating in a suburb of Chicago with friends on Christmas Eve. Some low moments: Remi has had some injuries. Ripped at two different times his dew claw. The worst so far has been the hotspots on his paw. He's trying to recover and we're going on about a month so far with the cone-of-shame. I sincerely hope it improves because its been hella stressful for me to keep coming home from work to see him bloody and gross.

I'm becoming more recognized for my art (specifically in Mia's school) and may have some opportunities in 2018 to do more teaching at her school and possibly others. I did some commission work in design and need to re-evaluate how I price my hours and make more money. Totally low-balled myself on my most recent one.

In 2018, we've got some exciting things going on. January, I'm taking Mia, Cecilia and Jill to their first Wave game. June, I'll hit 20 years with Kwik Trip. Way more then I planned to stick around but the long sentence will reward me with a paid month sabbatical. We're doing our major trip to CA/Hawai'i which clearly will be the most exciting part of the year. I've got plenty of Torrent games to go to and hope to take Mia as well. Mia's excited to turn 7 (oh my God..) and wants to do another fun birthday party with her friends.

That's all for now. Working 2-10 tonight. Stay safe, don't drink and drive and thanks for reading!

A Snowy Christmas in a Galaxy Far Far Away

Greetings and Happy Holidays everyone. Man, was it a busy week but the holidays are over and we're almost complete with the year, but not before a busy last week of school before Mia's break. We did some cookie baking with some friends on Wednesday. Great time and a possibly new holiday tradition. Mia had a Pajama Day Thursday and a holiday party Friday at school before she was done for the year till January. It'll be a nice break from the schedule and we'll take full advantage of the time to relax and hang with friends. Saturday, Jill made the trek down to Illinois to visit her friends Kara and Sammi while I watched the Chelsea vs Everton match. It was quite the disappointing draw and we really need to stop losing or drawing to these teams that we should be defeating. I missed most of the League Cup match against Boro because A-My half bro Todd came for a surprise visit (which was fantastic) and B-I made a haircut appointment at a barber. Great place that I may return to in the future. CFC won and will be in the semi-finals.

After the Chelsea vs Everton match, Mia and I ran to a few stores (bad idea) to get our candy and Izzy before The Last Jedi. She was super excited to see her first Star Wars movie in theaters (as was I). Despite my sister telling me a pivotal moment in the plot, we enjoyed it and Mia lasted the 2 1/2 hours. She of course loved the Porgs and and crystal foxes. The movie has had some serious backlash with parts that could have been omitted or edited, but no movie is perfect and overall, we both liked it. We went home and met up with Jill before heading over to her parents house for a Christmas eve eve dinner. Great time playing the dice game and spending time with family. Mia even tried crab legs and loved them. At Heather's house she tried peanuts and surprise surprise, loved them.

Sunday morning, we got up early and went down to Illinois to skate with Jill's friends Leanne, Jacqui and Rick plus Caleb. Jill somehow got through the crappy snow and we made it. She took pictures of us. It was Mia's 1st time on single-blade skates and Caleb's first time ever skating. Both kids did great and had a lot of fun. We met up with Nicole and Jason after and had lunch before make the trek back to Wisconsin to meet up with my family for Christmas Eve. The drive wasn't as bad going back. Mia got all kinds of great gifts and myself some money towards our big trip. She had a lot of fun playing with her cousins and it is ever so evident that Easton totally looks up to Mia. He wouldn't leave without a hug from her and luckily Mia was cool about it. We drove home, watched a few episodes of Fuller House and Mia crashed for the night. We were all exhausted after the traveling back and forth. I did some final touches on the book before going to bed. Today, Mia got up around 9:00am, remembered we got snow just in time for Christmas, and made her way dow the stairs to check out the loot.

She immediately gave us our gifts she picked out before getting too much into her own. She did the sweet gesture last year as well. As much as she loves to get presents, she equally likes to give. Whether its hand-made gifts or things she picked out with a parent, she's always stoked to give. She LOVED her new Adventures of Mia and Red Panda book that she read before we went to The Ridenours. She got plenty of Shopkins stuff, some Hatchamal toys (ugh) and LOL Dolls (double ugh..) We had breakfast and relaxed before going to the inlaws. Mia opened more gifts as well as Jill and I did. I got an Everything Sucks Descendents record, a cool pocket drone, TLA live dvd, A GoPro stick for our trip, the new Pirates movie, a CFC street sign, A Bob Ross Pop vinyl,  plus plenty more. Jill and Mia both got flippers and snorkels for the trip as well as a crucial inversion table for Jill. Hopefully she can better her body overall with it (as its been recommended a dozen times to her from various people in the medical field) I'm hoping it helps. My parents came over later and we had a delicious dinner, played another few rounds of the dice game before they left. We left soon after. It was a busy weekend and we're off and running with Mia's Winter Break. As far as plans for the week, we have nothing planned. I have work tomorrow again and we may hang out with Mia's friend Olivia. Possibly go sledding? Who knows. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

A Concert And a Sleepover

Good evening everyone! Quite a busy week, and with only a week before Christmas, it's going to get even more intense. Wednesday after school, we raced through the snow to Jill's studio for Mia to have her picture taken with Santa. Like normal, she was pretty shy, but excited to see the big man and tell him what she wants. The reason why we "raced" is that Mia had a holiday concert that night as well, so we had to make sure we were back in time to feed the diva and get her to the school. The snow may have been a bit sketchy, but we made it as well as both her Grandparents and even Uncle Tommy made the trek from Madison. Despite the fact that the songs were a bit silly being related to farms and farm animals and not remotely close to anything holiday-themed, it was pretty adorable and the kids did great. Like always, Mia was stoked everyone could make it. We had a rough angle to watch Mia sing (as you can see on the picture) because one of her classmates stood sorta in front of her most of the concert. Ugh.

Remi's paw has still been a problem. Just when I thought he was improving, I came home tonight and discovered its as rough as ever. The spray and balm I got for it haven't been working much so I dunno what to do. Friday was an exciting day for Mia. She was going to a big sleepover at her friend Noelle's house. Charlie, Cecilia, Noelle, Ellahrose and Katelyn were all spending the night together, watching movies and doing crafts. I came home from work at 10:30 and discovered a pretty cute picture of all of them on the living room floor watching The Santa Clause. Apparently, they were still awake at 11:30 with some wanting to sleep, and others chattering away and giggling. Mia and Katelyn fell asleep first. I spent my Friday evening post-work working on the book.

Saturday morning I got up to watch Chelsea take on Southampton. I got a message from Noelle's Mom that the girls all woke up around 5:00am! WHY kids!? They watched some a Descendants movie and lay around before working on crafts. I picked up Mia at halftime during the game. She had the best time and had so much fun. I thought she'd still want to play with her friends, but she was exhausted and wanted to head home. We went home, watched Chelsea beat the Saints before turning on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. First of all, great movie. Really fun and Mia would explain every single scene to me whether I wanted her to or not. Really enjoyed it. We didn't finish it till Sunday morning because when Jill got home from some photo sessions at the studio, we packed up some baking supplies and went to my parent's for the traditional cookie baking extravaganza. The ladies had fun making all kinds of tasty treats my Dad and I sampled. Mia's severe lack of sleep started to show its ugly colors and she became more and more crabby. We split and went home. She passed out on the way home but awoken when we got in. Watched a bit of My Little Pony before calling it a night...at 8:30pm. Way early for the kid, but she needed to catch up on sleep. I worked on some drawing and an Ian Bennett photo edit before sleeping.

Sunday, she woke up happy and conquered her homework. We finished HP and a bit later, I went to work. This week I need to finish the book and we're baking cookies with some friends of Jill's as well. Saturday, she's doing a day trip to Chicago to meet up with friends while I take Mia to see Star Wars. That's all for now thanks for reading!

Snowy

Hello everyone! We realized today that we're literally booked the rest of the year as far as any weekends off. Insane. The week started out crappy with Remi having to return to the vet to have his irritated paw looked at. He had a really difficult time walking and limped around. It was heartbreaking so after taking Mia to school I took him to the vet. After an x-ray, they didn't find anything broken or infected so back went on the cone :( Just the other day, we wrapped it up because he could still find a way to lick it. At least now he isn't limping.

Mia had Career Week at her school so Tuesday, she dressed as a dolphin trainer. she still wants the job and loves dolphins. Thursday was Spirit Day so Mia proudly wore her Carroll University shirt. She always loves wearing her shirt and tells people that that's where her Mommy and Daddy met and fell in love. So many great memories. Friday night, Mia had something special to attend. Jill's Dad took her to the Shopkins LIVE! event in Milwaukee. Mia's been looking forward to that for months. He even got her the VIP tickets so she could meet the girls after the show. Mia LOVED it and they had a very nice little night together. I'm so glad he could take the diva and have this fantastic memory together.  Saturday, I got up pretty early to watch Chelsea fall to West Ham in a shockingly terrible match. Couldn't believe they couldn't get in this one. Such garbage. They play this Tuesday and better not lose again. Can't afford to drop points to teams that shouldn't be that difficult. So that sorta set the tone for me for the morning. The girls got up shortly after. Mia was super excited we got more snow and it was enough to run around and play in. She helped me shovel while Jill made apple pie macarons for her Dad for his birthday celebration we had planned for later.<3 .="" a="" about="" and="" artist="" asked="" been="" being="" blast="" careers.="" designer.="" diva.="" excitedly="" for="" freelance="" friday="" going="" graphic="" had="" i="" in="" maybe="" nbsp="" next="" p="" presenters="" school="" several="" she="" snow="" so="" some="" talked="" talking="" that="" the="" their="" they="" times="" to="" up="" ve="" walking="" was="" woke="" year.="">

After breakfast, we went to the studio to get some Christmas card pictures taken for Jill's family. Mia was beyond silly and wanted nothing to do with it. Pretty frustrating for a kid who knows better than that. Later, we fed the little diva and had an early dinner at her parents house. Her Dad enjoyed all the gift and we sorta just hung out till it was time to split.

Today, I didn't accomplish much before work, sadly. This week, I need to kick it into high gear on this book for Mia. I need to average about a page a day to get it complete. Luckily, tomorrow I'm off and after my eye appointment, have the day to work on it as much as possible. I'll have to do my daily sketch for Mia as well. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

The Morning Matinee

Evening everyone. Busy week to end off November. With the weather so enjoyable, it'll be tough to get back to a normal December this week. Last week, I had to once again, break Mia's heart that the sleepover her and Cecilia were planning for Saturday would have to postpone. Her parents had forgotten she had a cousin's birthday party Saturday night so she couldn't stay over. I did salvage the day and they made plans for a morning movie to see Coco, so Mia looked forward to that. Mia had a rough start to her Wed morning with a loose tooth that's been hanging on for a month or two bothering he. She tearfully asked if I could join her for lunch. FINE. It's not that I don't love going to lunch with he (I really do) but she's been having me go way more this year and Wednesday was a super busy day for me. Had a dentist appt that ran over the time because they did x-rays. I ran home, grabbed some yogurt tubes for Mia's sensitive mouth and ran to school. I missed the class walking down and had to walk into the lunch solo.

When I sat next to her friend Noelle, who was next to her with Cecilia on the other side, I apologized for being late and explained what happened. She was mad I wasn't there at the bench waiting, but understood and we moved on. Glad she' mature enough to know that Daddy was coming, and I know I was late, but at least I'm there now". We went out for recess with Mia and a dozen of her friends. That's the thing with when I go to lunch/recess. We end up with a dozens of kids wanting to play. Mia ended up playing with Cecilia and Avant (sp) for a while. He's a crazy boy I've never met and kept putting his arm around Mia. I asked if he likes her, and Mia goes "no he's just crazy". Okay. Later Ellahrose joined in and they took turns spinning each other on this disc thing. Mia and Cecilia were so chill playing at recess and for the most part, Ella was alright.

Later I went home to work on some graphics and logo stuff. I turned on the Chelsea vs Swansea match. Good win. Should have been a bigger win at FT but we'll take it. later, Mia met up with her ol BFF Olivia at school. While her bro had basketball, the dynamic duo played some basketball before we went home to make dinner.

Friday, I had a photo session with Wave star Ian Bennett and his wife. Short one, but it went well. The lense broke for some reason, but I made the best with what I had. Later, had to go to work but not before leaving a shirt/hat for Mia from Ian. She was pretty stoked. Came home from work and the tree was all decorated. Bummer I couldn't help, but oh well. Saturday, I got up bright and early to watch Chelsea beat Newcastle. Rough start, but the Blues got the job done and we earned the 3 points. A little later, Mia met up with Cecilia and we took the girls to go see Coco. What an emotional rollercoaster of a movie. Incredible movie. Beautiful art, music and story. Jill was crying. Mia and Cecilia really liked it too. There was a part that had Cecilia gripping and (she was next to me) she looked over gasping and goes "OH MY GOD MY HEART IS BEATING SO FAST!! SO glad the guy is okay!!" We took them back to our house after so they could play a bit before her parents picked her up. They wanted to play longer, but Cecilia had to go. Such a sweet kid.

Later, we went to Blaze for lunch before heading back home to clean and organize a bit. We took our Christmas card picture that I think for the most part worked out. Concept was good. Execution was really challenging.  Sunday, Mia went to Jill's friend's little girl Arabella's 4th birthday party at Kids in Motion. Since I haven't seen them since I went to work, I have no clue how it went, but I assume they had fun.

This week, photo editing, graphic revisions, Chelsea matches and Mia's got the Shopkins play at the Riverside she's been looking forward to for months with her Grandpa Chicago. Saturday is his birthday so we're doing something. Not sure what yet. That's all for now, thanks for reading!