Hard Work Pays Off

Good morning everyone. What a busy week and exciting week it was. Almost could say a bit of sadness but we'll get back to that.
Throughout the week (art-wise) I did some spooky Halloween-inspired drawings for Mia. Some were okay, others "meh". I got my car back finally after almost a month of repairs and painting.  I'm going to totally miss the 2018  Rogue, but it was good to have my ride back. They did a fantastic job on it and now I'm just waiting for my insurance specialist to get the deductible back from the truck company. That part of this whole thing has been pretty frustrating so hopefully they'll get it.

Thursday I watched the Chelsea vs BATE match. Great win as always. Mia was stoked to see my car with Remi in the front seat (with his signature sunglasses of course) because she doesn't have to really look for my car, she just hears the chorus of kids screaming "OOOOOHHH LOOK AT THAT DOG!!!" and she knows "yeah my Dad's here". We got a snack post-school and Mia immediately got ready for practice. She wanted to get to the field as soon as possible to prepare herself for a possible 2nd chance at a PK since she missed last week. Okay fine. She didn't really work on the PK's when we arrived and more so worked on dribbling around me to shoot from every angle. Also equally important. We had a few girls missing but ran the practice as usual. Did a bit of a relay working on ball control and speed. A lot of the girls are very quick so it was well worth it. Did a few pass and shoot drills and did something we haven't done in a long time: A scrimmage. They really liked revisiting this familiar part of our practices and played well into the darkness. We called practice a little before 6:30 before visibility was practically gone. Overall, solid practice and they all felt confident going into Saturday's match.

Saturday came. Our final game of the season.  Mia was pretty bummed thinking about it as she got ready after breakfast. We got to the fields, I got the medals as Mia said a quick "hi" to her preschool BFF Olivia and new friend Tenley that played earlier and she joined her team warming up. The kids did their usual 1v1 against a defender and keeper. A few other quick drills and it was time to play. Olivia took the captain role for the last match. The Leprechauns looked almost like mainly 2nd graders. Or, they've got some seriously tall 1st graders on team. Most likely, the 1st one with the way they were shooting. Tons of power but somehow our girls weren't letting them through. In fact, some of these girls played their best game all season. One notable one was Charley. She had the most amazing 1st half ever. Every time the ball came near her, she booted the ball far and high out of our side of the field. Adalyn picked up our first goal of the match dribbling around a few of their players and finally finding the net getting her 9th goal of the season. The big shocker was still to come though.

Mia got the ball and outran one of their much bigger players and left footed it from outside the box right in the left side of the net.  UNBELIEVABLE. She was very reserve in her celebration. Originally she said she'd pick up her BFF when she'd score but she wasn't in at the moment. Her and fellow winger Sophie just looked at each other with big smiles and Mia ran back to the line ready to have another go at a goal. Her bench went crazy because I promised I'd do the "floss" dance if she scored...and well she finally scored. All the hard work paid off and she did so well in our last match. She made two goals this year. Learn to skateboard and score a goal. She accomplished the 2nd one very well. Adalyn got one more goal totaling 10 for the season. Great goal before the end of the half. The girls were feeling great going into the next half. Ainslee was solid in the back getting a great clean sheet. Sofia's turn. The Leprechauns put on the pressure but we did our best to keep them from scoring. A few scary moments of our defense clearing the ball to them gave me small heart attacks. Thanks Jana :P They got a handball against Ainslee and blasted a free kick that sneaked from under Sofia's legs and she scrambled to grab it and it leaked in. Damn. Game ended 3-1 and the girls went insane. Their traditional "Cheetah pile" before saying "good game" to the other team...then they piled up again. As promised as parents circled around the team for the medal ceremony, I floss-danced with the kids. They loved it and we had a good time. In sports, you have to keep it fun and this team was a complete blast. We gave each one of them their medals as we revealed their stats for the season and highlights. I hope they all enjoyed their time this season as much as I did. They bonded so well and were a blast to coach. The frustrating moments always subsided when I'd see the fun and smiles they had. We had just a great group of girls and both Coach Kevin and I are so proud of them. He was a great help this season and I couldn't do it without him.

Next season, 4 of them will be moving up to the 3rd/4th grader's Juniors division. If the sign up is low, they may add 5th graders like they did this season. I hope it doesn't come to that but we'll prepare for it. Mia and Cecilia will (and anyone else who wants to join us) will train over the Summer  for this new challenge. If the younger kids want to play casually with us as well, I fully welcome it. Love the kids so it'll be fun. Later after the game, We went to business trick or treating in downtown Waukesha. Mia kept her soccer uniform on with new medal so she went as a "champion soccer player". The weather was pretty great and she got plenty of good candy. Later, my parents met us up at MOD for pizza and we carved pumpkins. Jill made a gorgeous sugar skull, Mia did a red panda and I did Oogey Boogey. Sunday I had to work an early shift. Later we went trick or treating with Mia's cousins. Not the best weather but they had a total blast. I was Snape, Jill was McGonagall, and Mia was Hermione. This week, a return to art lessons, a Fall party at her school and I have to turn in the equipment back to the NBAA. That's all for now, thanks for reading!!

Spooky Times & Soccer in Sleet

Good evening everyone! Hope you all enjoyed the weekend. Been some weird weather but so what else is new. I took on a challenge to create some realistic food sketches that for the most part, worked out. The last day of the drawings, I literally threw away 4 sketches that didn't work. Frustrated, but I somehow finished it and was glad it was over. Working with toned paper and trying to nail realistic food drawings can be tricky. Toned paper isn't forgiving. You make too many erase marks, and it starts to wear out. Thursday, Mia requested I join her for lunch. REALLY? Alright. So I met up with her and her crazy friends. They all wanted to sit next to Mia. Not sure if that had anything to do with me being there, but it was a good time.

We went out for recess and all of them wanted to know what we were doing. Mia spent a lot of time trying to find BFF Cecilia. Eventually, I spotted her playing soccer with a bunch of kids. Mia joined in and I helped. It was pure chaos. The boys were insane. They'd run the ball in hands, put it down in front of a line of unfortunate kids at the net and blast it. The ball wasn't like a regular soccer ball. It was very light so when you kick it, it's going to travel very quickly. One of her friends Hayden got blasted in the stomach. A few tears and she was okay. Someone else took one as well. I told Mia today that come Monday, her and Cecilia should just grab a ball and go practice by themselves for their last game. Later, we had a soccer practice and actually had a complete team. The girls weren't listening at times, but other they were fine. They were all feeling good going into our next match.

Friday was the annual Star Trek to pickle pond. I volunteered to help. Not the best day for the trek, but the kids had fun. They did an obstacle course and played on the playground while it rained. Yuck. They didn't seem to mind and had an awesome time. Saturday morning was the return of Soccer Saturday.  I got up nice and early to watch Chelsea take on Man U. An early lead, and they were looking great. Man U's Pogba was awful the first half and after our goal, I thought we had them. 2nd half, they tied us and got another goal to pull ahead. Luckily, Barkley got the equalizer and we picked up a point. Frustrating but entertaining match.

Later, Mia and the Cheetahs took on her good friends Charlie and Tenley at 12:30. We also found out her long time BFF from pre-school Olivia was on their team. Crazy. It was our first match in a few weeks (due to all the cancellations) so I didn't know how great we'd be. The weather was godawful. Heavy winds, sleat/snow and freezing temps were not playing in our favor. A lot of the kids were out of sorts playing in the cold temps. The Lady Badgers caught Ainslee out a few times and picked up 2 goals on us. Ugh. Our kids kept trampling over each other, and not getting ahead of their defense. 2nd half, they had a hands in the box so we were rewarded a PK. Mia made the attempt and shot it straight at her friend Charlie. Damn. If I would have got her to take a running start and shoot, she would have had a better chance of getting her first goal. Luckily, Ainslee picked up one for us and the crowd went crazy. I don't know why, but it always seems like we have a lot more supporters than the other team. A few more chances but we just couldn't equalize. They had a PK on our end and their biggest kid took a blast at our wall of a keeper Sofia and she stopped her with ease. The funny thing is, that she didn't even want to play goalie but said "okay, I'll do it" pretty easy and had a great cleat sheet the 2nd half. Not the result we wanted but the kids still had fun. ONE last game left. Can we pull off a win? I certainly hope so. It's been such a frustrating season. While some players are doing pretty well, others just lack the focus to A-pass the ball, B-not run into fellow teammates, and C-LISTEN! Mia's been the hardest on herself lately and I have to figure out how to get her to listen more. She played very well, but sometimes backs off too much on the ball.

Later, Jill and I went to our friends Kat and Gregg's annual Halloween party dressed as Snape and Trixxxy the witch (Jill's made up character) Plenty of drinks and fun with old friends and like always, met some pretty awesome new people. We picked up Mia and went home. We watched a weird movie on Netflix before heading off to bed. Today, I didn't get much accomplished before work, but when I got home, it appears they took off all the cabinet doors to start the new project.

This week, hopefully a practice, some drums (maybe) and our last game. Trick or treating is Sunday so I've got an early day. We'll have to find time to carve pumpkins as well. That's all for now, thanks for reading

No Mas Lluvia Por Favor

Good evening everyone. Another week in the books. A rather disappointing week unfortunately so this won't take long. We had yet another spell of crap weather unfortunately which cancelled our soccer practice. I felt bad because we probably should have had it, but I'm sure the parents didn't mind chilling inside a warm house. Mia ended up reuniting and playing with her friend Noelle after school for a few hours, which was nice. The two always can pick up where they left off and play after several weeks apart. 

Saturday, we were supposed to play, but Friday night, we got an email cancelling the match. 4 out of the 7 fields still had standing water. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Mia was super disappointed because her fav Milwaukee Torrent Women's Player Mariah Downs had planned to attend the game. Mia was going to play against her preschool BFF Olivia as well. Her BFF Cecilia misses playing as well. She was stoked because Adalyn's Mom was going to make hot chocolate for everyone too.  The only good thing about our game getting cancelled was that we were going to be short two players. Ainslee was out of town as well as Charley was ill and be out for the game, leaving us short on the bench. Mia still felt confident she'd score, but sadly we didn't get to play. The Cheetahs just can't catch a break this season. There's even a chance the game won't even get a make up because the season should be wrapping up at the end of October. So disappointing. We spent the Saturday running some errands, a little yard work, relaxing, and some Dominos/Sushi for dinner. We even watching the Brewers game. Mia for some reason, was booing them. Later, we went to my brother's beer league hockey game. They unfortunately lost, but Mia enjoyed watching her uncle. He even hooked her up with a game-used puck which she was pretty stoked about. 

Today, not much going on. Laundry then work. This week, hopefully we can practice and we have one make-up game as well. Mia takes on her friends Tenley and Charlie. We should have a full roster if my kids can stay healthy. My car should also be finished getting fixed. I definitely didn't mind driving in this SUV, but it'll be interesting to see my Corolla fixed. I'm honestly surprised they didn't total it, but it's still got plenty of life left in it. I'll miss push starting my car, and how incredibly smooth the Rogue drove. Chelsea is back in action this weekend as well, so hopefully they can pull off a win against Man U. That's all for now, thanks for reading! 

Shutterbug

Good evening everyone. Going to try and make this late-night post brief. It's been a busy day and I'm exhausted thinking about tomorrow's busy day too. The week was a busy one per the usual. I got my rental car this on Tuesday which is ridiculously fun to drive. It's a 2018 Nissan Rogue. This thing is loaded with features that I'm going to totally miss when my Corolla is fixed. Mia does too and she'll miss the Rogue as well.  We had a practice on Thursday that was mainly okay. With the help of Jana's Dad (since my assistant coach was at the Brewers game) we got some pass and shoot drills that seemed to work well. At the end, we were ready for our game. Sadly Friday night, we found out that it was cancelled. We've had a lot of rain for a while and unfortunately the game fields never had enough time to dry. Our make up game is all set, so hopefully we'll get a win. When I had to text the kid's parents Saturday morning, I found the sad news one of our players Ainslee was crying. She loves loves loves this team and she's missing the next game because she's out of town. Total bummer. The talented 1st grader will be missed but luckily will have another couple of matches.

We spent the rest of the Saturday taking out Mia's clothes from the Summer and replacing them her Fall/Winter apparel. We also met up with my in-laws to celebrate Uncle Tommy's belated birthday with a tasty dinner.

Sunday we didn't do much. I watched Chelsea win 3-0 over Southampton. Such a solid match. Hazard looks great and I hope he continues to keep the great form. Recently they announced John Terry officially retired from football. 22 year career with some great memories mainly at CFC.
They all came over again we mainly just hung out till I went off to work.

Today, Mia was off, so the simple goal was to go to the zoo and see the brand new baby red panda. Upon walking Remi on my morning walk, the temp seemed warm, giving me the unfortunate thought that the red pandas wouldn't be out. They only let them out if it's below 70. Mia got up, dressed, ate and we were off to the zoo. We immediately made our way to the red pandas and like I assumed, they were not out. BUMMER. It was too humid and they prefer cooler temps. Mia did enjoy snapping photos of the river otters, giraffes, penguins, bears and other animals. After my busy day at work, I pulled up the photos she took and they're actually very impressive. The kid has a total eye for photography. Loved watching her creatively get different angels of the animals today.

Tomorrow, Jill and I've got an early meeting for the epic art show we're putting together. A few days ago, we started going over artists we were going to focus on and some pieces we'd like to use for inspiration and I swear, it felt like we were back in college doing research. Totally a lot of fun.

Practice on Thursday (unless our weather is crap again) as well as a game Saturday. That's all for now, thanks for reading!