Rise and Grind

Evening everyone. Quite the busy weekend with even more snow, so let's get right to it. During the week, nothing too exciting to report. Thursday was a normal day off for me. I started attempting to work with alcohol-based markers. Definitely not an easy medium to work with. Mainly because I think I may or may not have asked for the correct paper for it but we'll see how the next attempt goes. Hopefully I can figure it out. After I picked up Mia from school, we knocked out her homework and got to spend some quality time playing her favorite Switch game; Luigi's Manson 3. It's definitely a game you want to play with a friend as the challenges go on. Since Jill's not really a fan of video games, Mia settles for me :) We made turkey burgers with Jill before calling it a night.

Friday while at work, we got some serious snow. It picked up quickly as my shift went on. Certainly made my drive a nightmare and question if we'll have a game the next day...at 7:00AM!
5:30am came and we woke up early to get ready for Mia's game. I had parents concerned for the weather since we had received a healthy amount of the white stuff the night before. If we were going to cancel, I would have had to have done it the day before. Majority of the kids made it. The only two that didn't notified me prior which wasn't weather related. The game certainly wasn't one to remember. The girls lost pretty badly. Couldn't even pick up a goal unfortunately. EBU that beat us are a club that keeps the kids together from season to season so they clearly knew how to play. They haven't even lost a game yet this season. They were well organized and had no trouble beating us. We had a few close moments to score, but in the end, couldn't find the net. I need to figure out how to get the kids to stay in positions, not bunch up and PASS. They focus more on dribbling. Liv had a break away but her touch was too heavy and she couldn't get the shot off. Angie and Scarlett are showing improvement as well as Vida as a defender. She just has to work on her passing when the ball comes towards our end. Jill's parents made the early trek in the morning so Mia was happy to see them. Our next match is at 4:30 next weekend. Hopefully they can pull off a win or at least make some goals.

You'd think Mia would want to nap after wards, but she had some post-game energy which we used to help me shovel for a while. She ended up playing in the snow while I snow blown the driveway. She buried her legs in the snow, which was cute. After I pulled her out, we packed up our gear and went snowboarding. This time, I set up a couple PVC pipe rails so we could learn some grinds and slides. Mia figured out the FS 50/50 pretty quickly. Helped that a few months ago I had set up a rail for her to practice tricks on flat ground. She did a little smith grind as FS board slide as well. I realized way later when we got home I should have set up the rails on flat ground. Her board slides would have been better and cleaner but you know, you learn and figure things out. After a few hours of snowboarding, we went home. I ran to TJ's for some groceries, and Mia and I soon met up with her friend Scarlett and her sisters (and teammate) Angelina and older sister Sofia for some free ice skating. For the last 3-4 years, Mia and I have gone skating at Eble during Waukesha's JANBOREE where the public could skate for free for 2 hours. The girls had a blast. Mia was grasping hands with myself and Scarlett till they were comfortable skating without me. Her goal is to get better and it and I hope one day she does. Angie got better as the day went on and Sofia totally knew what she was doing. She wasn't feeling the best and I ended up taking Mia, Scarlett and Angie back to our house after the skating session was over while her sister and Mom went to the doctor. The girls were so excited to play with our animals and hang out. Mia and Scarlett went straight to the Switch while Angelina went through my art books looking at the stuff I've done. Everything impressed her and she picked mine and Jill's brain about literally everything. Art, photography, life etc etc. The girls were having so much fun that they requested I call and ask if it was okay if they stayed for dinner. Of course their Mom was cool with it so they excitingly had some pizza while Jill and I ate sushi. Sadly, our sub pump line had some water frozen which backed up in the corner of our basement with my beloved drum kit getting sprayed heavily with water. UGH. Luckily, we melted the pipe and things were fine. The kids ate dinner, played some more Switch, a little hide-and-seek and a whole lot of fun. Eventually, I had to talk the girls into going home. Mainly, because I think their Mom was probably missing them. It was quite the day that started at 5:30 in the morning. After I dropped the girls off, Mia, Jill and I crashed for the night.

I completely skipped the Chelsea vs Newcastle match to snowboard with Mia, which ended up being a good idea since they blew the game. This week, Mia's off Monday so we'll find something fun to do. Other than that, that's about it. Thanks for reading!