Never Stop

Evening folks. Hope you enjoyed your holiday weekend and the good weather. Thursday was my triumphant return to my private art lessons. My students Micah and Gigi were excited to start up again and did really well on their daisy mixed media sketch. A friend of Micah's also joined. She's got some work to do, confidence-wise but if she decides to continue with the art, she'll totally get there. and I'll do my very best to get her skills sharpened. Later, we cut grass till it got dark. Friday was Hot Dog Day at Mia's school. The last few days, the weather is absolutely beautiful but sadly for the first time in ten years (apparently) the outdoor part of the event was cancelled. We walked in the rain to the school and ended up having lunch with Mia in the art room. We walked back to her room and said our goodbyes before heading out. Despite the lousy weather, she enjoyed our company. When I got home from work, Mia, my sister in law Ashley and Jill were chilling eating unicorn-themed treats and watching My Little Pony.

Saturday, Mia had dance class. Jill and I did some shopping before picking up the diva. For the first time in her three years, she was holding back some years describing it as the worst dance class ever. The dance director did some adjustments to Mia's style and kept requesting she smile while she dance and it was enough for Mia to really dislike the whole dance class. I don't know if it's just that Mia doesn't like constructive criticism but man, was she upset. We talked to her and explained why she was trying to give her advice and to give your last performance everything you got and do your best to smile and be happy. Hopefully, that will work. Just a few weeks left of dance before the recital.

The rest of our Saturday, we spent cleaning the garage and getting some things ready for a future garage sale. While Jill and I worked on the garage, Mia befriended a tiny baby mouse we found. The little creature's eyes weren't even open but it was still alive. She made the mouse a nest, gave it water and tried to keep her relaxed and alive. It was nice to get the entire garage in order and I look forward to selling all the extra crap this Summer. We hung out the rest of evening and had sushi and watched a movie. Sunday, nothing major before I went to work.

Today, we decided last-minute to visit the zoo. The weather wasn't too bad for Mia to see her favorite red pandas. Luckily, it was decent enough for the two furry buddies to be hanging outside napping. We checked out the new elephant and dino exhibit, got a rare glimpse of the snow leopard and a family photo with some giraffes before calling it a day. When I have to work, we always have to cut the visit short, plus it was starting to rain. Bummer. It was quite the painful week at work, but I'm back at the grind looking for a better job. Can't give up on this. Can't stop.

This week, possibly another art lesson, Chelsea plays for the Europa final against Arsenal, job hunting and hopefully better weather? Who knows. Man, if this is Hazard's last game, I certainly hope he pulls off this win for the Blues. The team won't be the same without him. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Motivation and Inspiration

Greetings everyone! Such a busy week as well as the weekend, but first the week. Jill and I tried this new tropical smoothie place for lunch this week. The food wasn't too bad and the smoothies were tasty. Customer service was meh. Not for sure we'll be back anytime soon, but overall, not a bad place to try. Mia's cat Marie turned 3 so she gave her some special treats and card (I think?) Friday I took off so Mia and I could go to the 2019 Milwaukee Women's Kick-Off party/kit reveal in Milwaukee. I knew traffic would be horrendous due to the Bucks playoff game but somehow we found parking at the venue. What luck! We got our season tickets, and Mia met some of the fans and coach before we called it a night. She helped me do some video interviews as well. She's really getting into video editing so it pains me a bit that I had to do it after we got home when she was asleep. I just wanted to knock it out and have it online before Saturday. It was a lot of fun reuniting with the supporters and staff before the girls had their first match of the season on Saturday.

Mia had a dance class open house on Saturday morning. Jill's parents as well as both Jill and I went to the event. I haven't been to an open house since she was in Kindergarten, so I was excited. They performed for a small crowd their routines for the upcoming recital. Mia did really well, despite not showing a lot of excitement. Later, we went to my nephew's 5th birthday party. A bit of rain, but it was still a blast. A little backyard soccer per the usual and some good food. His Mario cake looked pretty awesome (despite it being chocolate). Jill made some super tasty passion fruit Fruity Pebble macarons for the party as well. Mia mentioned she wants to join the girls running club next year, which was totally random. Over the Summer, she said she'd like to do some running with me to get her endurance up.

After we got home, Mia goes "So...are we going to the Torrent game still?" Really? Alright cool. Jill stayed home while Mia and I ran last-minute to Hart Park to watch the girls take on FC Pride. Mia decided Friday night she'd join me in sporting a mask at matches to chant and drum with The Flood (Torrent supporters). She put on a fox mask and striped tail and refers to herself as Moon Fox. Super cute. Plenty of people gave her props on her completely made-up-on-her-own costume. Despite it being a 0-0 draw, Mia told me she had a great time. She anxiously wanted to grab her very own Torrent shirt at half-time. When I got home tonight from work and did my nightly kiss on her head, I noticed she was wearing the new shirt for school tomorrow. Sweet.

After the match, She put her mask away, grabbed her soccer ball from my trunk and ran back to the pitch to play a bit. Her footwork is improving quickly and she can't wait till the season starts. I've got the feeling after every game, she's going to want to play a bit of soccer. Totally fine with me. I really can't thank the Milwaukee Torrent enough for having this women's team for young girls like Mia to look up to for inspiration and motivation. For Mia to watch these girls and say "Wait, someday this could be me?" Is pretty awesome.

 We relaxed the rest of the night with Jill having tacos and watching Rio. I found out later that the Earthquakes beat the Fire 4-1 and that Chris Wondolowski scored a good handful of goals, beating the all-time leading record holder Landon Donavon. So stoked for the 36 year-old to now hold that prestigious record. He's a top-notch player that hasn't had many goals this season so for him to really outdo himself and become the new leading goalscorer of the entire MLS is pretty amazing.

Today, we ran to the store and were hit by a gnarly thunder storm. The power was out before I had to shove off to work. Not the best night at work, but I was relieved when I heard the power came back on. On the side of her school, a tree went down. I'm not sure if it was due to the high winds or the lightning but it looked pretty rough.

This week I'll continue my epic quest for a new job, I'll be reuniting with artistic sisters Micah and Gianna for some awesome art lessons and Friday is Hot Dog Day at Mia's school, which is basically a large picnic on the playground for families.

Early Bird

Good evening everyone! Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms reading the post. The week went pretty well leading up to the special holiday. One of the major highlights was Chelsea beating Frankfurt in PKs. It was an absolute nerve-wrecking match and what made the win extra special, was that Mia watched her favorite player Eden Hazard make that final shot. He's been heavily rumored to leave the beloved club so this win to send the Blues to the Europa league final was surreal and poetic. I literally watched the PK's a handful of times. Such a great performance by Kepa as well.

Unfortunately, Liverpool and Spurs will face each other for the UCL title. Two Godawful rivals of Chelsea FC and I wish Madrid would open up and swallow both teams to prevent either team from getting the trophy, but what can ya do. City pulled through today keeping Liverpool from winning the Premier League title, so that works. Not that I'm a fan of City, but if it prevents a rival from getting it, I'm happy. Now the goal is to keep Hazard at any cost.

The ladies made some macarons that were absolutely amazing. Saturday, Jill had to work so Mia and I worked on a very special Mother's Day poem. Usually, we'd work on an art project, but Mia made a really special string art piece. We picked up some orchids for the Grandmas and the rest of the afternoon, Mia did some bike riding at Orchard Lane till Jill came home. We rented Lego Movie 2 and had pizzas. I had forgotten that the movie is sorta all over the place. Jill wasn't a huge fan of it. They made some homemade donuts and a breakfast casserole till we went to bed.

Early in the morning, I felt some tapping on my arm and it was Mia on the other side of my bed wanting to make Jill a little breakfast. I looked at my phone and it was 6:30AM! Mia hasn't gotten up this early in quit a while. There was no way Jill wanted to get up that early so Mia attempted to sleep a little more. Couldn't do it, so a bit before 7:00am, we put together her breakfast and gifts. Jill loved it and soon, both of them fell back to sleep while I tried to find the Chelsea vs Leicester match. Around 10:30, my in-laws and family came in and we had a really nice Mother's Day brunch. Lots of great food and craziness with the cousins. Mia directed and put on a puppet show as well. Saturday, she wrote it and built the puppets for the special one-time performance. Both Jill and I had lines for the play as well. It was a pretty cute performance and since Mia had so much fun with it, she'll probably write more.

This week should go quick. I took off Friday so I could attend the Kick off Party for the Milwaukee Torrent. Mia wants to come with me as well so it should be a great time. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Kindess Counts

Good evening everyone! Quite the busy week as usual. I just had to get to the mid-week to enjoy 3 busy days off. The previous week I had applied for a social media marketing position but unfortunately after getting the assessment test this week, I got an email that I wasn't the right fit. The test was timed and pretty difficult so I didn't feel too confident before getting the email. Ugh. The salary was perfect and the duties seemed up my alley. Oh well. Back to the grind looking for a job to replace my current one.

During the week, I did some Lightroom editing of the photos I took of Mia in her various outfits and I think they turned out pretty good. Totally stoked about it. Watched some of the Chelsea vs Frankfurt match Thursday. 1-1 draw so they'll take them on this week at The Bridge. Friday was High Interest Day at Mia's school. It's always a huge event and this was my 3rd year participating. Despite the request that Mia should wear an OL spirit shirt, we decided to rebel and wear similar Alkaline Trio shirts :) I co-lead a rock painting class. It was a super fun day teaching for an afternoon some specific rock painting and blending techniques. The kids had a great time and I'll be returning next year to do the same thing. Mia's super stoked that when she's a 3rd grader, she'll have a bigger variety of classes to chose from which will include the rock painting one. She did some string art, slime making, pony beads and some community service work. After lunch, I surprised the diva and her crazy friends at recess. They did a foot race before the recess was over.

I had a few more classes before the session ended. I had planned on returning home till it was time to pick up Mia, but I ended up helping tear down some stuff in the lunch room and waited till they were done with the assembly. All in all, really fun day. Later, we went to my nephews soccer match. The kids team didn't win, but they certainly had a lot of fun. We had dinner with my bro and his family after before calling it a day.

Saturday Mia received the Youth Community Kindness Award from HAWS at the Romp n Rally in Sussex. Unfortunately, she built up a lot of pressure and got super nervous. Way too nervous to go up in front alone to receive her award. They even tried to give her a puppy to bring up to relax her and she just couldn't do it. In the end, I went up there with her with ol' Fluttershy Mia who turned herself around so no one could look at her. We were super proud of her as well as both of our parents of all the hard work Mia's done for  the animal shelter. Ugh. We walked around a bit, picked up a few things and headed out.

Mia didn't have a lot of time before having to go do her dance photos in her 3 different costumes. They looked pretty good and she was glad when it was over. The photos turned out pretty good as well. On the ride back home, Mia stated that this will be her very last year doing dance. She said it's become too easy for her and after this June's recital wants to be done with it. Interesting. Guess we'll see what peaks her interest after dance is done. I very cautiously let her fly my DJI Spark drone for the very first time before returning to the studio to pick up Jill. She had a really good time and I had hoped to get some photos from it, but the sun blew out the image so I need to do some color correcting before flying the Spark again.

We watched some of the new Goosebumps movie before crashing. I did some drawing as well. Today, I watched the 1st half of the Chelsea vs Watford match before we drove to a church to photograph a communion. It went pretty well and even better 2nd half for Chelsea as they won 3-0 securing a spot in the UCL next season. Now we just need Hazard to sign a new deal and we're good.

This week, back to normal work. Jill's got some dance academy photos to do and from what I've heard, the weather is supposed to be hella lousy. Blah. Luckily Mia enjoyed what she could today. Thanks for reading!