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.