So Long Snow

Good evening everyone. I'm pretty exhausted after a busy weekend, so I'll make this one quick. We had some weird weather this week with some lousy snow. Not a fan whatsoever, but luckily after just one more day of snow (which added up to be about 5 inches or so) the warmth and sun reunited  and we've had some more enjoyable temps. Mia and I walked home in some nasty sleet on Wednesday, which luckily, was the last of the snow we would see.

Saturday, She hung out with friends Cecilia and Hayden at the Princeton Club swimming for a few hours. Those girls love to swim and had a blast. After lunch at Subway (which Mia thought was really cool that it was in the massive gym) the girls wanted to go to PetCo to check out all the animals. Cecilia apparently is in the market for some lizards and planned out the next 4 Birthdays. That kid is all talk :P Mia and I went back home so I could walk Remi while Jill did some work and after a quick bite, I took Mia back to Cecilia's so that the girls could play some more. They played outside for a while while Jill and I made a pie. Super tasty. I talked to Cecilia's Dad about possibly helping me coach in the Fall and he seems stoked about the challenge.

Later I went to the 2018 Milwaukee Torrent Kickoff party in Milwaukee. Met my fellow Flood members as well as some of the new and returning players for the men's side. I met a bunch of the new players for the Women's team as well. All great people and excited for the season to start. Today was the first pre-season match that I sadly missed. They drew 2-2. When I got home from the event, I did some video-editing till it was time to crash for the night

This morning while working on the starting XL, I watched the semi final FA cup match between the saints and Chelsea. We won 2-0 and will face Man U in the final. Easily can defeat these guys on a "good day". Hopefully. Later, I went to work till 10.

This week, plenty of photo editing for the Torrent, photographing at a school Tuesday morning and have a plethora of work to do at the ol KT. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Skate Party

Good evening everyone! What a lousy way to end the week. At least 3-4 inches of snow in New Berlin! Ugh. So the return to school this week was pretty good after a mostly chill Spring Break. Wednesday, I was supposed to photograph at Hillcrest Elementary but it got cancelled due to the staff not being "ready yet". Great. That's fine. After Mia got out of school, we had to head to a Journey to the Arts meeting. Jill and I got involved in running this massive project at Orchard Lane.  I'll get into that more later throughout the months as things develop.

Mia sat so incredibly quiet on my lap as I chatted with her art teacher, her gym teacher, Jill on the phone and another Journey board member. As soon as we left, she went back on talking about how her day was, etc etc Very typical. Later, Jill and I went to the NBSD  budget meeting. With the possible threat of Mia's school closing, which would dump about 400 kids into others schools that already are at capacity, there was a pretty good turnout. Plenty of concerned parents wondering where their kid(s) will end up. Felt weird for us to be at something so serious, but when it comes to Mia's upcoming future, we're invested. Plenty of her teachers and administration attended the first of 3 meetings. Jill's parents luckily watched Mia so we could go. Hopefully things work out and the NBSD can figure out the best way to fix their budget issues. I'd hate for anything to happen, Mia split up from her friends and stuck into a classroom packed to capacity with kids.

Saturday, I got up nice and early to watch the Chelsea vs Southampton match. Like they have blown games since January, they gave up two goals they really shouldn't have due to some lousy defending. Pathetic. Somehow after the 2nd goal, subs Giroud and Pedro jumped into the mix and things immediately turned around. Giroud picked up one goal (which was his first EPL goal of the season since he transferred to CFC from Arsenal) and shortly after that, Hazard EQUALIZED and we were back in this! Amazing. Two goals in 5 minutes! THEN, Giroud got another goal! 3 goals in 8 minutes! The Saints blew a much-needed win to keep them out of relegation giving us a even more important win. Spurs are only 6 points ( I believe) ahead of us. Not too bad. West Brom beat Man U today (shocking) to officially give the title to City. Back to Saturday. Jill had to work a dance academy, so it was primarily Mia and I throughout the day.

So later, Mia went to her friend Easton's birthday party at Skateland. She hasn't roller skated since she was maybe 3 or 4 on some Fischer Price wheels. I don't think I've rollerbladed since I was maybe 13 or 14. I had Noelle and Mia on each hand as we skated around the place. Noelle bailed a bit and I did my best to keep Mia from falling. She bailed a few times as well due to some kids running right into her. She claims ice skating is way easier. Roller skates are pretty heavy but she did pretty well. Easton held Mia's hand to help her from time to time move faster. Mia claims "Easton makes me a better skater" which is pretty cute. I wish she would have given him full trust and she could have skated with just him, so I could help Noelle a bit more. Ryan was also there, and it was her very first time on the wheels so it was a bit of a struggle. I'd find her grasping for my arm as well.  Her classmate Kostadinia struggled too, so I would try and help her as well. Throughout the party, I was lacing and re-lacing skates as, Noelle, Mia, Kostadinia and Ryan would remove them, put them back on, take them off again, put them back on again etc etc. They had a jump house, so of course all of them had to try it out. Overall, Mia had an absolute blast and looks forward to skating again. We took Noelle back to her house, and Mia hung out with her, her sister and adorable, yet insane cousins for a few hours.

She was supposed hang out with Cecilia later (actually it was originally planned to be a sleep over, but Mia wanted to just hang out instead) but unfortunately due to the crappy weather, Cecilia's house was out of power. Mia was devastated. Her familia was staying at their uncle's house so there was no way it was happening. We made the most of it and watched a movie till Mia crashed for the night.

Today, we got a bunch of snow, leaving me to snow blow for a few hours before I went to work.

This weekend is the Torrent kickoff party. Hopefully the snow melts because they have a friendly on Sunday :O That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Snow Much Fun

Good evening everyone. First week of school of 2018 is in the books. Well, part of the week since the kids were off on Monday. Mia wasn't thrilled to go back, but had an easy week homework-wise and survived. The temps were pretty chilly so she had indoor recess all week. Not a bad thing since her good friend Cecilia taught her how to play checkers. Cool! Mia may have beat her one or two times. They didn't really keep score and just had fun, which is always really nice. The two wanted to hang out/do a sleepover on Saturday but Jill wasn't feeling good so that wasn't going to happen. We'll get back to that later.

Wednesday, I watched the exciting CFC/Arsenal game. Just really crazy end-to-end football the whole game. I had to split to go and get Mia and we ran back to see the last few minutes only to find out that two more goals happened and in the end, it was a draw 2-2. Wow. Morata blew a few major chances and it's too bad because we really need the win and many more to try and attempt to catch City and beat Man U. Oh well. We picked up Jill at the studio and had dinner before Mia crashed for the night.

Saturday I watched some of the FA Cup match Chelsea vs Norwich. An uninspiring draw 0-0 was the final score sadly. Mia did some science experiments with Jill while I watched some of the game and did some designing. Later, we went snow tubing. Mia's been looking forward to snow tubing at The Rock Snowpark all week so despite the cold temp, we did it. Jill watched as Mia and I tubed for 2 hours. Such a good time. I brought my GoPro and new stick to capture the first adventure of 2018. Love going there and Mia enjoyed watching the snowboarders and skiers perform jumps while we'd take the conveyor back up to the top. Next time we go, she'd like to go with friends. We tried to get a group or a couple kids together, but it just didn't happen. Later, we went home and made some dinner. Mia had planned to stay at my parents house for a sleepover, but it was just to cold for Jill and I to take her back out so she was content crashing at home for the night. The kid really really likes sleeping over at places these days and hopes to plan a sleepover at Cecilia's or have her come over here in the near future. The girls talk about it ALL the time at school. It's too funny.

Sunday, Mia and I hung out while Jill and her parents went to church. We went out to Panera before I went in to work.

This week, not much going on that's noteworthy. I have to send in my drone that doesn't work back to Amazon. I'm going to have to do some heavy research to find a better one that has little problems. This one was having issues connecting to the phone to shoot video/photos so tomorrow, I'll send back the faulty drone. Hopefully they won't give me any issues. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Creativity Never Sleeps

Good evening everyone. Hope you all enjoyed the week and your weekend. The week started pretty rough. As posted in my last entry, Mia started the week sick. She said she was dizzy Monday and stayed home from school. Tuesday, still not right. She didn't want to miss school, but stayed home one more day. Wednesday was the 100th day of school so there was NO way she was missing it. She survived the day and had a great time at school. She did her homework when she got home and we watched Trolls. 

She survived the rest of the week and hoped to be well enough for dance on Saturday morning. She got through dance just fine and went to some sort of Women's convention at the expo center. I enthusiastically stayed home and worked on some projects. They were both for Mia's friends. One, was Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon for her friend Noelle who had a really bad fever Thurs-Friday. A little bird told me she's obsessed with dragons and that movie so it was a no brainer I'd draw her Toothless to cheer her up. Saturday, Mia told me her other friend Makayla is a big fan of my art and wanted Rosita from "Sing" drawn for her. Okay, sure. So after I knocked out Toothless last night, I started working on Rosita. I think I had restarted that drawing 3-4 times before getting the shape and form just right. It's not nearly done, but its coming along really nicely. Toothless, I did in a real sketchy pen/color pencil attempt so hopefully Noelle digs it. 

Picked up the girls later, we came home, organized and changed things around in Mia's room,  made some dinner and put on a movie. Mia was passed out before dinner was out. Seriously, was out the rest of the night. So, I did some drawing before I went to bed. 

The next morning I got up early to watch the Chelsea vs Burnley game. Thought this should have been an easier match than it was but they said at home, Burnley is pretty solid. We got a goal in the first 8 minutes. Pedro netted one in the bottom right corner. Later, they nailed us with a free kick to even the game the rest of the match. Costa was struggling to get any chances at getting a goal as well as others. 10 points still ahead on the table. FA Cup this weekend. Gotta knock out Wolverhampton. Mia woke up an hour later, happy but very hungry. She had some breakfast, we did some homework and put together her valentines for Tuesday's party before I went to work.

This week is certainly a busy one. I'm off Tues-Wed (YES!!!) for Mia's valentines day party at her school. I get to run the cookie decorating table. Hopefully the kids have fun. Wed, I hope to get new front tires. Saturday, Mia's got dance and Jill's leaving town for the day so Mia and I get to spend the entire day together. We're planning on seeing Lego Batman. I kind of want to take her out to dinner as well, so we'll see if that happens. 

That's all for now, thanks for reading! 

The Quest For The Enchanted Fashion Boots

Good evening everyone. Hope you all enjoyed your weekend. The week started off a bit rough with Mia staying home from school due to a lingering fever. She got through it and made it to school the next day. We were a bit worried she'd still be ill but not say anything to her teacher. I texted my father in law from work on my break and he said she was feeling better when he picked her up. Phew.
Wednesday after school, I took Mia shopping for the coveted black fashion boots. We have looked EVERYWHERE! Payless, Target, Kohls, a kids resale place etc. Nothing. I was getting more and more discouraged.So was Mia.

 All hope was crumbing...but we had one more idea..One more thought that just maybe they'll have some boots at Justice at the mall. Justice is another kids store that focuses on girls her age and older. Lots of bright pinks and blues splattered all over the clothing. In other words, a perfect place for her. We looked through their very small selection of footwear and just about when I thought they didn't have anything for her, we found one pair in her size in the style she liked. She quickly tried them on. BOOM. Fit perfectly. She was so incredibly happy that she found the shoes she wanted. They were on sale too. Bonus. As we walked out, she was smiling so much it made my heart happy. I know they're shoes which shouldn't be a big deal, but to see her that happy about something she's going to wear till she can't fit in them anymore is fantastic. One of the main reasons why she wanted a pair, was to attempt to match Jill's boots. Jill is her role model and she aspires to be and look like her all the time, while at the same time, can create her own look that gives her confidence.

She immediately tried them on when we got home again. Perfect. She couldn't wait to show Jill.
Thursday, I had left a lunch note that in my opinion, was one of the best drawings I've done. I spent the majority of my Wednesday drawing a picture of Rey from Star Wars-The Force Awakens for Mia. She's the reason why Mia is liking the franchise and Mia really likes her. I was curious if she knew who the drawing was of when she opened her lunch. She didn't know at first, but when her friend Ryan told her it was Rey (who coincidentally dressed as Rey for Halloween) Mia said "Oh yeah, I knew that". Drawing-wise, I'm getting way more confident with everything I've been drawing the last week or so. Some, I haven't put a lot of effort in, but the ones that I really put a lot of work into turn out fantastic. This was something different for me to attempt and I'm very happy with the final result. For tomorrow, I drew a pretty rad Ursula.

Saturday, she had dance class and I missed Chelsea's win in the FA Cup match. 4-0. Easy peasy. Missing tomorrow's big match against Liverpool but I'll be damned if I miss the early 6:30am game against Arsenal on Saturday. After dance, we drove to my brother's house for his kiddo's 4th birthday party. Mia had a lot of fun playing with the cousins.  Sunday, we didn't do a lot. Mia drew some beautiful portraits of Jill and I before I went to work.

This week, not a lot going on except dance on Saturday and the match. I've got some soccer stuff to design up and an oil chance Wednesday.

Have a great week and thanks for reading!

Hello February Goodbye January

Good evening. It's been a busy end of January and I'm quite ready to move on to the next month. Closer to hopefully spring. I was quite busy this week working on some big announcement images for the Milwaukee Torrent. I can't say much yet, but the league info should be out real soon. They've got another community game that was announced, this time against Cardinal Stritch. I think it'll be great for the community to see a professional level of soccer and hopefully it'll be a good turn out.

Mia's been blowing my mind with what she's learning in school. Her math skills are sharp and she's been able to sound out words in front of her almost easily. She seems to be enjoying school more and more, just not the "3-Kers" that harass the girls at recess. I dunno if they still do, but she'll pull out a random story here and there about how they push girls. Oh boys.

I sort of decided to abandon my Jose Mourinho portrait. It wasn't coming out how I hoped and I know I can do better. Jaw lines are tough and I gotta get better at them.  Saturday night, we went out to the movies after Jill worked. Kung Fu Panda 3. I've never seen any of the previous ones, but it was good. Jack Black shines in animated roles as well as Seth Rogan. Mia liked it as well. I think we'll have to watch the previous ones at some point.

Today was soccer day. But first, I had to get Remi out for a walk. While walking the pup where I normally do, I got hit by an SUV. well, less hit, more smacked. Remi and I were walking across the road that this car was had stopped and was planning on turning right. The older woman was focused on the traffic from one side, and didn't notice us walking in front of the car. If I didn't smack the hood of the SUV, they would have drove right into me. The car was right into my side before I let them know they hit me. They didn't role down the window or anything. They turned and went out. On top of that, Remi's leash broke AGAIN so I had to replace that today. Thankfully it was an easy exchange and we said "goodbye" to retractable leashes. Anyways so after that ordeal, I watched Chelsea win 5-1 in the FA cup game on Youtube. First half, Oscar netted his first hat-trick. I missed Hazard's PK and Traore's goal because I had left to go to the pet store during HT. Good to see Chelsea win a game they really shouldn't have had a problem winning. Hazard FINALLY got a goal this season as well.

All was great and wonderful in Chelsea FC, until I read that they were not going to offer John Terry a new deal. All day at work, I was pretty bummed that the player who's given his heart and soul to this club for 20 years would not get offered a new deal. Then, I just looked at Twitter again. Within 5 minutes, I read that they may offer him something...still. I know that players older than 30 don't get more then 1 year extentsions on contracts, but this guy bleeds blue. He IS Chelsea and I hope they can get a deal for him. He doesn't below in the MLS or any other organization except the Premier League. I hope Chelsea can pull their head out of their ass and get this worked out. We signed A former Red Bulls defender Miazga and Corinthians forward Pato. Transfer Window just about complete so we'll see if anything big happens. Ramires left for China, which doesn't surprise me since Mikel has been heavily favored since the returning of GH to the Blues. Luckily, Mikel hasn't been too bad, but Ramires clearly didn't want to hang out on the bench any longer.

This week, more work for the Torrent and Flood, hopefully will do my best to avoid the snow storm we're supposed to get but I gotta work Tuesday and get Mia to school Wednesday. Hopefully it's not too bad. Mia's got a birthday party this Friday evening for her friend Kaylee. Should be fun. that's all for now. Thanks for reading.

Feelin' it in Your Bones

Good morning everyone. Hope everyone had a great New Years. Wednesday, Jill and Mia finally came home. We had made plans to do a dinner & a movie and have my Mom watch Mia but since she was coming home late on Weds, we decided to reschedule it for another day. Bummed, but we still had a good night. We watched Tinker Bell-Secret of the Wings for the 20th time with Mia and she threw confetti everywhere at 12am. The rest of Jill's time off, we relaxed and enjoyed as much as we could. New Years Day, I turned on the Chelsea vs Spurs game. Ughhh...It ended 5-3 with the Spurs beating us badly. I don't know what happened, but it was awful. We could blame it on the refs making or missing calls, or just overall a bad performance. It just wasn't a fun game to watch at all. Saturday, we went to visit my great Aunt and give her a belated Christmas gift. Mia chased her old dog around and it was a good time. At this point, the snow was flying ,but we still had fun. All day Saturday, Mia talked about wanting to ice skate. We tried to find this place in Waukesha, an outdoor rink by a huge sledding hill, but it wasn't there. So we drove to the Petit, woke up the Sleeping Beauty from her nap and skated. She had a blast and could keep her self going on her own. It was pretty impressive. She mostly held my hand, but every once in a while, she'd let go "Daddy, I can do this by myself". I love the confidence in her. She insisted she wanted to figure skate, so I would spin her once or twice and she loved it. Saturday night, I sliced my thumb pretty good on Jill's new Ninja fruit/veggie thingy. It's amazing how much you use your thumbs and since I'm lefty at 88% of everything, it's making daily tasks a lot harder.

Sunday, I attempted to find the FA Cup Chelsea vs Watford game (but it wasn't online/TV anywhere). We got even MORE snow, so Mia ran out and played in it. She made the attempt to ride her bike and discovered it just wasn't possible. She goes "why did I wish for snow....??" It was a cold walk this morning, but the moon was bright and beautiful. Nothing too exciting planned for the week. If it wasn't so cold, I'd love to take her sledding. That's all for now. Thanks for reading.