Business A.U.

Greetings everyone. We've officially entered March on one of the warmest starts to the month that I can remember but first our week leading to that. Nothing super exciting to report. I worked very quickly on Rapunzel sketch for my little buddy Gracie that visits me during the week. I'm not super thrilled with the final image and had panned to give it to her at her little birthday party Saturday afternoon. Thursday after school, I took Mia pants shopping. The little diva is growing and needs more pants. Specifically jogger-style. Literally the only style pants she will wear. Our first stop was Justice. One of her favorite stores. She had a mission to find a comfortable pair of camouflage pants for some reason. She also was eyeing up some camo skirts and overalls for some reason. She took a pile of clothes to the dressing room and tried everything on. Luckily, the pants fit and despite the $28 price tag, I got them. We stopped at Target next.

Target was preparing for Spring or Summer and had very little pants out so we didn't find anything there. She picked out some much needed socks and we were on our way. Overall, not a bad time with the kid. Even though we were just shopping, we still had fun together. Friday, she woke up with a fever of 101 which meant she sadly stayed home from school. We hung out, I worked on my drawing and she did a lot of reading in between naps. Saturday morning, we drove to my parent's house for my Dad's quilt presentation from the Quilts of Valor group that makes and donates quilts to vets. The quality was beautiful and hopefully he appreciates it. We watched Chelsea vs Bournmouth draw 2-2 unfortunately. They shouldn't be drawing the Cherries. Ugh. Luckily, Liverpool, Spurs and Man U also dropped points. Later, we grabbed some lunch, I gave the sketch to Gracie and we went to the Dragons game. We were playing against another Polonia team but this time, our first and only match on the middle field. The Dragons kept up with Polonia (or what Scarlett calls KFC FC) pretty well for a while till Elia made a few mistakes and the goals started coming in. They struggled keeping in positions and they just pounced on our dragons. 2nd half, Adalyn took over goal and that didn't help much either. I let Jess have her way and play defense which she did really well but I wish she would have played keeper. We had a few good chances but it just wasn't our day. We play our final game at 9am against the Strikers who are just below us and haven't won a game yet. Hopefully everyone shows up and we can get the big win. We had three girls sick and Mia wasn't 100%. We hung out at Jill's parents later and had dinner before calling it a night. Today, Mia looked better and we mainly just did some grocery shopping before I went to work. Mia probably played outside because the weather was perfect. I sincerely wish I was off so we could have went snowboarding. The Spring-like conditions would have been perfect at The Rock.

This week, I'll work on Cecilia's Rey sketch, maybe build a new football kit and possibly could be getting rid of my car. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work!

Evening peeps. Quite a busy weekend but we'll get to that later. The week was a fun one for Mia, because they got to dress up in different themes including crazy hair day and "work out" your problems (wear workout clothes) where a chunk of her teammates all wore their Dragons jerseys. Awesome! I worked on a giraffe sketch for Mia's friend Scarlett's 9th birthday gift. I used a slightly heavier paper with a different pencil. At first, it went well but I was getting frustrated when it kept breaking. Also, the tan pencil wouldn't allow me to get those "darker darks" when it comes to heavier shading. In the end, the drawing looking great and Scarlett loved it and gave me a hug Saturday.

Thursday, Mia worked on her very own soccer jersey concept for a made-up team; The Red Pandas. It was her first time playing in Photoshop as well as using multiple layers and editing. Overall, she did a great job and was totally proud of her concept. Later, she took a shower and we had dinner before she crashed for the night.

Saturday was a busy day. I got up early to watch the Chelsea vs Leicester match. It ended 2-2 which was frustrating, but not terribly surprising. They're in 3rd and we're in 4th so I expected a tight match. After Mia woke up, we went to the Pet Expo for a few hours. Plenty of animals to pet. Mia loved the huskies and dachshunds, all the kittens and cats and the adorable mini horse. Wish I could have grabbed a shot of the diva with the horse, but it didn't stick around long. All in all, she had a great time.

We grabbed some lunch before picking up Cecilia for a much-needed soccer practice. My buddy Brad set up a time slot for us where his team practises in a futsal-setting. 5 kids were already waiting for us and were working on some drills already. I let Brad lead the practice since he got a good view from above last week at the match and could tell what we needed to work on. I mean, I knew what we needed to work on, but he also works with a U-11 girls team and knows some seriously good drills to tighten things and improve technical skills. A little 6v2, some Y-passing and a scrimmage was all we could squeeze in before we had to split for Vida's birthday party. I brought Cecilia home and despite the fact that she really wanted Mia to sleep over, we had plans for the evening. Mia, Vida, Cecilia and Scarlett (along with Vivana her sister) went tubing at The Rock. I low-keyed wish I brought my snowboard, but my job was simple: push the kids. Myself and Vida's parents pushed the kids on their tubes and I think every one of them won at least one race. They had an absolute blast. I hope the next time I get there, Mia and I can snowboard.

After wards, we went back to her house so the kids could eat pizza, cake and be silly while the adults chatted. The girls had a great time. When we got home Mia was pretty tuckered out and crashed.

Today, not much happened. Mia played Mario Kart with Uncle Tommy after I left for work.
This week, not much going on. I'll keep applying at jobs and working on art projects. I think Mia's got her first week of Art Club? We're heading out of town Saturday and Mia's Dragons team may have another practice. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Keep Fighting

Evening. Going to try and get through this rather quick because it's been a pretty lousy day. Monday, Mia was off from school so we enjoyed some time drawing and playing a little Luigi's Mansion 3 before I went to work. Thursday, Jill's Dad and I drove her ride to get a remote starter put in that her boss got for her for Christmas. It's a nice little novelty that she's enjoying on cold days. We had another round of snow Friday evening but it wasn't as bad as the week prior. I went to lunch with Mia and her friends Friday. Lunch was fun. her friends were a little crazy and she skipped recess to go work on art with Scarlett. Vida joined as well. All in all, fun afternoon before going to work.

Saturday, I tried to catch the Chelsea vs Hull FA Cup match but the stream wasn't working. The Blues ended up getting the win so that was great. We did some grocery shopping before Mia's 4:30pm match against the Dynamo. I requested the girls arrive early so we could have a good team talk and get through some of the issues. I explained about how they need to hold their positions, communicate and PASS. Some got it, the the majority struggled. At HT, it was 0-6. We weren't able to get really any solid shots for a while but they were grinding and trying really hard. Jess was trying her best in goal but I was ready to get the kid on the field and score. Sadly. that didn't happen. They were all struggling with picking a position to stay in at times. Defense was problematic and offense wasn't spreading out. We had a few chances but in the end, it finished 0-10 again. Somehow, we're not in last place still with the one win still under their belt. The girls kept fighting till the end, but it wasn't enough. I'm starting to question my ability to coach indoor against these bigger club teams. We need practices or something before our next big game against a tough team. Luckily, my buddy is looking to see if we can get in where his Pewaukee soccer club trains. I feel like the majority of the parents would be happy with more practice. Speaking of which, he's looking at possibly having me redesign some kits for their club teams. I'd love to do it and I hope he comes through with getting me some time. Cecilia had her first match and I think she did pretty well. Angie is staying aggressive and Bella proved she prefers defense. Mia's got some work to do on staying aggressive. Averi and Scarlett never gave up and ran their hearts out. I hope we can get the problems fixed before the next game.

I may have an assistant coaching role for spring soccer with SC Wave this season. Actually, it would be a co-assist so the Cecilia's Dad can help out on days I can't do. Tomorrow, I'll talk to the head coach and see what we can work out. I think this team would be great for Mia and Cecilia. More soccer and the ability to grow with a team that's established would be a better fitting than NBAA where you get new players every year. Overall, it should be a pretty positive experience.

When we got home, Jill made an incredible dinner. Mediterranean gnocchi, chicken and air fryer zucchini. Mia tried escargot which was a bit weird. Jill was quite proud of her creation. She never gets to cook like this anymore and it's honestly like watching an artist paint. She's incredible. Mia and I played some Luigi's Mansion 3 before crashing.

Today, nothing exciting to report. Work was absolutely awful after 9pm. One of the 3rd shifter called out and I was stuck till 10:40 till our unfortunate ASL had to return to work. I felt terrible calling him after he worked a full early shift. Applied at a job Friday after I re-did my resume so let's hope this time I hear back.

This week is a busy one. I'm working on a sketch for Scarlett's birthday, I'm building football kits for Pewaukee-Sussex club and Mia's going to hang out with Vida for her birthday Saturday. I think they're going tubing at the Rock. I'm tempted to go and snowboard while she has fun. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Soccer and Snowstorms

Evening! Quite a busy week over here to let's get to it. I spent a good majority of the week working hard on an intense baby Yoda (or better known as The Child) from the Mandalorian series. I honestly didn't think it would turn out as great, nor even get the attention and praise it got, but I'm flattered and humbled. I made 3 valiant attempts at doing it in color pencil on toned paper but it wasn't blending well and almost made me put my pencils directly into my eyes. The graphite sketch worked and I just kept at it blending and getting as much detail in as possible. The real hero was a 2H pencil that helped me achieve the darker darks to build the details up. All in all proud. Could have done better in areas, but I'm content.

Saturday, I watched the Chelsea vs Burnley match. Great 3-0 win. The highlight was Mia jumping on my lap to watch her fav Hudson-Odoi get his first goal. Awesome job for the youngster. Mia made her very first over easy egg for breakfast. Awesome job kiddo. We had a severe snow advisory for Southeaster Wisconsin that tapered off throughout the day but picked up closer to match time. All by two girls made the trek to Brookfield Indoor in the snow. Honestly, the drive wasn't great but we made it safely. As the kids started arriving and we got them warmed up and stretching, I noticed the Genesee Kickers weren't there. The ref gave them some time and sure enough, it was a forfeit. We won 5-0 and picked up 3 needed points. The best part was that we had an hour of field time to practice. The ref put 50 minutes on the clock and BOOM, we had a free practice till the next game. The kids were confused that we didn't have a team to play against but we certainly made the most of our time for practice. Coach Kevin ran a drill on one side and I did one on the other. He was doing some pass and finishing and I was doing 3 v 1 so the kids could learn to play into space and work on getting around the defender. I honestly wish I could have prepared for a last-minute practice more, but it is what it is. We took the last 30 minutes to scrimmage which was a big favorite. The girls started to show improvement with their passing as well as punting from the goalies. Mia's got some work to do on her endurance but all in all, the kids had fun. It was good to see all of them smiling. I can't thank the parents enough for making the drive including Jill's Dad Tom. He made the trek in the snow and luckily had fun watching us practice.

After wards, we had Cecilia over for a sleepover so we picked up some sushi at Wasabi and made it home. Not the best or worst sushi but the kids had fun. The girls played some Mario Kart, and watched a movie with popcorn before crashing. It's funny that they ended up hitting the bed early because they ran their butts off at soccer. It was Cecilia's first time playing as well as Elia and both did well. Anyways, the last time Mia had Cecilia over, they talked all night. This morning, they slept in a little bit and played before Cecilia's Dad picked her up. All in all, great weekend. This week, I'm going to start working on marker drawings with all my new markers and illustration paper and we've got our early match Sat.  We're supposed to get more snow this week so hopefully Mia and I can do some snowboarding again. That's about it for now, thanks for reading!

On a quick sad note, I was pretty bummed Friday when I found out the passing of drummer God Neil Peart. He was a huge influence on every drummer on the planet and will surely be missed.

Back to the Grind

Morning everyone. Normally, I'd write before crashing for the night after work on Sundays, but today I felt like getting that out of the way as I watched the 2nd half of the Chelsea vs Nott Forest match. So far so good! We had a great New Years Eve after I got home from work clinking glasses of sparkling juice, tossing our recycled confetti from the last 3-4 years (which is just cut up paper). I wanted to hit the bed early so I could watch Chelsea vs Brighton early in the morning. The game resulted in a draw sadly. Boo.

New Years Day, we had just enough snow to snowboard, like we did last year. The only exception was that Mia was in a far better mood last year on NYD when she first started snowboarding. We made a few laps on Orchard Lane's little hill just to warm up Mia to see if she still remembers it. I also busted out my board I acquired over the Summer. The thing rides well so I'm happy. Mia did really well and even rode switch (goofy stance) a few times and looked quite comfortable. She got upset because I didn't have a shovel to build any little jumps for her and after getting some snow in her pants, she wanted to head home. It was a frustrating morning to say the least.

She went back to school Thursday and had a short week. Friday, she was happy to see her amazing friend Scarlett again who's family had to put their dog down. I'm going to make my best attempt to draw a memorial sketch of their beloved dog. Friday night after work, I made tried hard to fall asleep, but I was too excited for our first indoor game.

Mia and I arrived around 9:30am. Jill stayed home due to a bit of an illness that had her down and out for the day. Her teammates arrived soon after. Vida's Dad Jorge helped out today which was great. He was a vital part to Vida, Angie and Scarlett's team in the Fall so I was happy to have him since Coach Kevin was traveling back from Florida with the fam. They gave us ZERO time to do any warm ups before the game so we had to stretch in the hall right before the previous game ended.

1st half started out great. Jessica was the first Dragon to put in a goal off an assist from Olivia. She got the 2nd goal as well. A thumping blast from center. The girls looked solid. Things started to slowly fall apart throughout the game and in the end, we lost 2-13. Mia made her first attempt at defense AND goalie. She shocked me when she went in goal but with the major goal difference, putting her in didn't make a huge difference. She actually did well and even made a great save. We have a lot to work and it kills me we can't do a weekly practice. The kids would benefit greatly but I can't keep asking for $75 from the parents to secure that time. PLUS the Sportsplex doesn't always have openings for practice. Ugh. There were some positives. First,  Jess blew me away as a forward. Always strong touches on the ball and has a great shot. Averi is a shy little defender and would shut them down in the corners by the boards. I look forward to seeing how she does as a forward next week. Alice, like always was good but just needs to stick with her position up front. Lastly, Olivia hustled her butt off on the field and I need to get her to understand the importance of playing defense. She really wants to score, but I know I can count on her in defense if she'd try. Vida started the 1st half strong but got confused the 2nd and never wanted to go back in again. I feel like her and Olivia could be rock stars in the back if they allowed themselves.

Mia and I picked up Panera for Jill and ourselves before heading home. We played some Luigi's Mansion 3 for a few hours, later went to Trader's and Mia made us tacos for dinner. Today, Mia's been hanging out with BFF Cecilia while Jill relaxes and tries to knock her illness out of her. Cici has been in Florida since the 21st of December so Mia was stoked to come over and hang out.

This week Mia has the Jumpstart Your Career thing where she gets to see different professionals which includes HAWS this year so she's super excited. We play at 6:30pm Saturday as well. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Up and At Them

Evening everyone. It's been an alright week with some added stress, so let's get right to it. Starting this week, Jill's able to work from home on my day off, which is nice. We're able to get some things done when possible all the while getting our own work done. For me, I'm looking at jobs, working on Mia's Christmas book and trying to get this indoor soccer team up and running. We picked up some little liquor bottles for Jill to experiment with some macarons for my parents birthday presents. She made Friday evening some Chocolate Kahlua macarons for my Dad as well as some Cherry Amaretto ones for my Mom.

The New Berlin Dragons Have all the players and now I'm in the process of getting all the money and funds for the team. We're going with a Rave Green jersey color with black socks and shorts. It'll look nice and hopefully I'll get everything in order so we can get the jerseys ordered. I'm just thrilled everyone ones to play but it's a bit stressful gathering everything.

Saturday, my brother Andy and I made plans to meet with his BFF at the Highbury Pub in Bayview to watch the Chelsea vs City match. We had to suffer through the Liverpool vs Palace match first. The pub was super packed with Gunners fans watching them struggle against the Saints, and surprisingly there were Palace fans watching the Liverpool match. They almost had them but Liverpool had a pair of ugly goals that got them the win. BOO! Chelsea was next. Great crowd of Blues fans and a handful of City fans as we watched a tight match. Sadly, they couldn't get the win but it was a great time. I don't make the Highbury that often with the fellow Chelsea fans, but we had some good fun cheering. Andy even got himself a free MKE Blues scarf. We wanted the pins, but they had nothing. Boo. It was my first time literally losing my voice at a football pub, but to cheer on our team was worth it.

While I was at the pub with Andy, Jill and Mia saw Frozen 2 and had a day at the mall. Later, the two did some reading while I worked on her book. I'm trying to knock out a page a day so we're not struggling at the end of the month. So much on my plate, so little time. We had dinner with my family at Red Robin for my parent's birthday celebration. Mia wanted me to tell the staff it was my Dad's birthday so they'd sing to him but I let it go. We had some annoying teens behind me slamming into my chair and making annoying noises so I wasn't exactly in the best mood.

Today, we did some grocery shopping and I had hoped to mulch some leafs but sadly the rider's battery was dead. Jill told me later her Dad tried to mulch with the rider but it didn't really make a difference. Ugh.

This week, Mia's got a short week of school with just Monday and Tuesday. Thanksgiving is Thursday so we'll have dinner with family at my parents. Jill will make her famous mashed potatoes and her new recipe for stuffing that's pretty awesome. Will we go get some Black Friday deals? Not sure, we'll have to see what's available.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Roll Out

Greetings! It's been a crazy week with a lot of different things to discuss so let's get to it. Sunday through Wednesday, Remi unfortunately had diarrhea. Ugh. Woke up to crap in our bedroom so we had to clean that pile up. Monday night, I was taking him out every hour and only got an average of about 3 hours of sleep, maybe. Felt like a complete zombie at work and it certainly was a horrid start to the week. Luckily by the end of the weekend, he was better.

Wednesday into Friday, I can't discuss via social media the absolute craziness that occurred but it was definitely an experience for Jill, Mia and myself. Saturday, Mia was stoked to go to her friend Charlie's birthday party at Skate Land. I had all the intentions of leaving Mia after she got her skates on and was ready to go have fun. I ended up talking a while with Scarlett's Mom for a while and after she got on her skates to join in the fun, I honestly thought I was leaving. But...when Vida arrived, her, Tenley and Ryan demanded I stick around and help them skate. Vida was super scared and Tenley struggled as well but after asking Mia "Mia, should I stay or leave?" she responded with "Stay and help, Daddy" so I would have 3-4 girls on my arms at a time. Vida would keep her eyes on the skates and and Tenley would be all over the place. She was actually doing well taking my advice about alternating feet to glide. We would also get one of Mia's new friend's, Lily's who had her first time on roller skates that day as well attach to my arm. Scarlett's sisters laughed and said "WHY are you so popular?!" I don't know. A lot of parents see me as a "fun" Dad for some reason. Only Mia really knows why her friends like me and want the help. It was hard to have so many kids all stay on their feet, but I did my very best preventing them from eating it. Overall, It was a great time and they had a blast. On our way to the party, Mia wasn't sure if she wanted to go to Cecilia's for a sleepover till we were skating and after she heard "Despacito" and I said out loud "Aw, I miss Cecilia" and Mia responds "Alright, I'll sleep over at Cecilia's".

Later, Mia went over for sushi and an epic sleepover. Jill and I wrapped gifts, watched a movie and crashed rather earlier than usual. We got up and after breakfast I went to pick up the diva. Upon arriving, she wasn't even at Cecilia's but on foot with Hayden and Harper walking down the driveway after I had been there a few minutes. She ended up sticking around to play while I ran to Waukesha to feed my in-laws cat as they hang out in Florida with Jill's Grandpa. I came back and the girls made ornaments. Cute. Mia said her goodbyes and we went home. Cecilia's Dad and I discussed the upcoming indoor season and everything going into it. The rest of the day, Mia relaxed with Jill the rest of the day while I went off to work. When I got home I discovered some amazing homemade macadamia nut cookies the girls made for me. Awesome! Before I went into work, I started getting more info for the indoor soccer team. One of the parents said she would order jerseys for the girls so for an additional $10, the kids will have matching uniforms. Totally cool. It's surreal so many kids want to play soccer this Janurary so I'm thrilled to make it happen.

This week, we have Mia's conferences. The little snow we had has mostly melted and with the upcoming warm up, there will be nothing left. Not totally bummed out since it's still November. I worked on my board set up and discovered the previous owner made a mistake with the ankle strap and I ended up having to order a replacement one from Burton. I'll work on Mia's book this week as well so hopefully I'll make some good progress.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

It's Coming Together

Greetings everyone. Plenty to discuss so let's get right to it. My work week was a quite one because I worked the weekend, so that was somewhat nice. Wednesday, we got some snow so I spent the majority of my day off working on art, looking at jobs and all in all, enjoying watching the weird snow in November. I also made a few concept football kits for EPL teams so that was a lot of fun. I'll design an Everton one this week as well. It was nice because anything I had to do, it could wait till Thursday because I was off then too :) Thursday, I drove to Play it Again Sports to sell my black Lamar Mission snowboard. I had picked it up off the Facebook marketplace and it just was way too heavy for any freestyle or park riding. Surprisingly, they gave me $60 for it so I was happy. When I got home, I met up with Mia for lunch. She was pretty surprised as I hung out with her and her crazy friends. It was difficult to eat because literally every one of them at our table had to ask me a million questions. I'm glad they're all intrigued about whatever is going on in my lame life but in the end, Mia was happy I was there. Of course I had to go to recess with them so we played our traditional street soccer. Some boys joined in and it was girls vs boys. Mia was proud that she nutmegged a couple boys and scored. After saying goodbyes, I went home.

I forgot the mention that about the middle of the week, I sent out information to Mia's team in search of kids that wanted to continue playing soccer. Immediately, I got a response from Alice's Mom that wanted to sign her up. Amazing. I put the info out in the community and had about 9 kids so far confirmed to play including Ice Breakers Mia, Cecilia, Elia and Alice. Bella from the Pink Panthers (and my 1st year team), a couple of girls from SC Wave, Vida the beast in defense and Adalyn from my team last year. We've got a few "maybe's" but still need 3 more kids to get a 12 kid squad. I'm stoked that so many kids want to play and really hope I can make this happen since they all want to play. I need to find a gym for practices still as well.

After pick up on Thursday, Mia immediately put her snowboard gear and wanted to go snowboarding. Since we don't nearly enough snow for that, Mia had to settle for a little PVC pipe rail setup to work on building muscle memory for grinds. I didn't think she'd be able to develop and progress that easily, but she certainly surprised me. She went from a basic 50/50 grind position to frontside lip slides, backside board slides, backside 50/50s and frontside board slides. Unreal. I know it's not the same as in motion, but for her to build the muscle memory from an ollie to twist herself was remarkable. Hopefully she can try them out soon with a regular amount of some good powder.

Friday, I got up nice and early to watch the Chelsea vs Palace match. Goal-less 1st half, but it didn't take long in the 2nd half for Tammy to net his 10th goal of the season. Pulisic picked up one as well to find the match. Earlier in the week, Chelsea played against Ajax and came from behind to draw the match. Azpi had the 5th goal that would have won it but VAR confirmed that there was a handball. Ugh. Good effort coming back though. The rest of the day, we did some cleaning, shopping and made a late dinner.

Today, Mia and I attempted to find some regular water-proof boots for playing in snow at recess, accept oops, the mall stores weren't open. Target had nothing so later while Jill and her former co-workers at tacos at our house, Mia and my in-laws and myself went out to lunch and Mia later found some boots when the mall opened. This week, I hope to complete the team, I need to reassemble my snowboard bindings and illustrate Mia's book. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

The Gourd Gutting Festival

Good Afternoon. It's been quite a week, and this coming week promises to be even busier! Tuesday, Mia and I met up with my friend Nicole and her boy Benny at Kids in Motion. They had a blast running around and playing. Wednesday, my little brother, his boy Easton plus Mia and myself went to the trampoline park. It was my bro's first time there, so they were stoked. Well, they changed a few things. You have to purchase their jumping socks now for a few bucks to participate. I assume someone got hurt and filed a complaint or something. The kids had such a good time. Mia always enjoys Helium Trampoline Park more with a friend to play with. It's always fun hanging with my brother, and we hope to make it a weekly thing that we meet up somewhere and do something with the kids (since he now works 3-11 during the week at a new job)

Wednesday night, I was fortunate to play some pick up indoor soccer at Brookfield Indoor. I had this feeling that after trampolining for an hour and a half, I'd be dead exhausted playing soccer. At the same time, I also knew that I wouldn't be able to play virtually ANY soccer (indoor or futsal) throughout the Fall and Winter season. This was my very last chance. Thanks a lot work!! :( Anyways, it was a lot of fun. The opening 3 minutes, I was able to secure two fantastic assists (like Chelsea's Cesc Fabregas). I megged one fellow through his legs to a teammate who made a simple goal. My 2nd assist was off a great cross to the right side. After these, I felt super confident. Wasn't able to get any goals sadly, but blew a few chances. While playing on the left side I had received a very fast cross and my attempt to one-touch shoot it. Couldn't get my body behind it and it went wide. I passed it to a teammate and he missed too. Sad efforts, but I was able to get a few shots off. One of my prouder moments was being able to spin out of a challenge from a teammate. The craziest part of the night was when one of the opposing guys had accidentally stuck his boot out with the cleats up into one of my teammates ankle. He went down in pain, got up and almost punched the kid right in the face. They had to hold him back. It was quite brutal. I don't know what is is about some of these guys, but they take the game WAY too seriously. A kid earlier was throwing a fit too. All in all, fun time. Sad it's my last.

Friday, Mia went to school. Her teacher told me she can attend their Halloween party Wednesday. We also have parent/teacher conferences! Really? 3k? Well, okay then! Sadly Jill can't attend because of a Wild Tree event, but I'll be going. Hope to hear good things. When I was signing up for the day we can attend, Mia was giving her classmates hugs goodbye. Well apparently a boy had got up and snuck in a kiss to her cheek. I didn't see it, but Mia sure told me about it. "Dad! HE WAS A SNEAKA AND KISSED ME! EWWW GROSS!!" So that story was shared throughout the weekend. Saturday, I watched the Chelsea vs Crystal Palace game. Quite intense. Oscar got a goal off a free kick near the box. Azpilicueta got a red card for a bad challenge but soon after that, one of their players picked up his 2nd yellow card, which meant he was red carded out. 10 vs 10. Fabregas got our 2nd goal off some beautiful passing. I missed the 2nd half because the NBCSports.com feed completely went down. We ended up winning 2-1. Great game for the Blues and we're still top of the table. Tuesday we've got a Champions League game. The rest of Saturday we did yard work and carved pumpkins with my parents. I free-handed a Minion, Jill and Mia worked on two Sophia The First ones, and my parents did some creative pumpkins.

This Saturday, we're going to a Halloween party. First one in probably 4-5 years. Should be a great time, plus Jill's friend Leanne is coming in. Sunday is trick or treating in our neighborhood. I just found out the weather will be a nice 73 degrees. Perfect for her Anna dress. I'm very bummed out that I'm missing it because I'm stuck working 2-10. First Halloween I won't be going trick or treating with my little love :( Hopefully she has fun.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading :)

When It Rains, It Pours

Good morning. Late, per the usual. It's been a hectic few days. Over the weekend we visited Jill's family for her bro Tommy's birthday. He's been working crazy hours, so we didn't get to see him till about 10:30pm Saturday night. Mia was so anxious and excited. Jill made rhubarb pie for the birthday boy. All in all, it was a fun day. Sunday morning before we headed back to Wisco, I watched the Chelsea vs Arsenal game. Great win for the Blues. Any time we defeat a rival, its a great day. Hazard's PK was perfect and Costa's 9th goal sealed the deal. International break this week, so no games, which is fine. When we got back to our house, our lower-level bathroom sink had over flood. So today, we've got a plumber coming to fix that. THEN on top of that, our furnace went out. We've had no heat for two days now. We got a space heater from Jill's work and she picked one up from Walgreen's the other night for upstairs, but it's still been incredibly cold in here. 54 degrees yesterday. So glad it'll all be done today. THEN when picking through clothes the other day, I noticed I stupidly washed Mia's Torres jersey and like an idiot, didn't realize I tossed it in the dryer. Even with it inside-out some of the thread unraveled. Super pissed about that one. May find another one for her (not Torres), or see if Jill can fix it.

Over the weekend, Tommy gave us his Roku for Netflix. Jill had resigned up for Netflix on Friday. His Roku will allow us to watch Netflix on instant on the TV rather then sitting at a computer. We used to have Netflix before we had Mia on my laptop and the mail-in movies, but after she came along, we just didn't have time. Mia's already loves watching Scooby Doo.

She had a great day in school Friday. I love hearing about her day, even if it's just a few hours, it gets her into a more social environment. If we could afford it, she would easily do the two days/per week, but she's told me she really likes her class. She even hugged her new friend Olivia goodbye Friday. I on the other hand, took my few hours of peace and quiet, and played my drums, did some cleaning and working on art. I will be restarting a portrait I was working on. Didn't like the direction it was going. Oh well. I found out recently that there are TWO indoor games (this wed and next wed) that I could play. 6pm is the problem. Jill gets out of work at 5pm so I don't know how it'd work. She'd have to meet me at the arena and I'd bring Mia or something. I dunno if I'll be able to do it, but I REALLY want to. Okay that's all for now. Thanks for reading!

Three Little Birds

Hey friends. Another quick update on things before calling it a night. Haven't been getting the best sleep lately. I think Saturday night I slept like 3 or so hours before my 6am-2pm shift. Because of the severe lack of sleep, I didn't even make the effort to go attempt to play indoor soccer that night. Ended up watching a movie with Jill & Mia. Speaking of indoor soccer, I'm pretty frustrated as of lately with the place. I read on their website that if you submit your info (if you're a sub like me with no team) to the people who run the leagues, they can forward it out to the teams in case someone could use a sub or another player for the future. Sounds cool. Drove out there today with Mia and the guy in the office flat out told me "no we don't do that for the adult teams, you just have to keep showing up". BS. As much as I love dragging myself and my family to watch me get turned down week after week because every team tells me "we're good, don't need any subs", it starts to wear you down. I'm sure Jill's getting frustrated that we drive out for NOTHING. Yes, this is the only way to go about do this, but it's pretty crappy. Every team that plays is formed prior to seasons starting. Totally sucks for ones like me who have zero contact with any of these adult teams. There's no community board, or section of the website for players in search of a team. I'm either A-going to try AGAIN in January to play or B-wait till spring time and try to get on a team and play the season. Either way, it's frustrating.

Mia napped for 3 hours today, which gave me time to work on a coworker's tattoo. 3 hours were pretty wasted in the end because I drew the scorpion too big and the numbers and zodiac signs that circle around it don't fit well SO while watching the 121212 Sandy Relief concert tonight after the familia went to sleep, I drew it AGAIN. Got the scorpion part done. The numbers and symbols shouldn't take too much effort. Phew. I'm getting behind.

Getting more and more amped for the holiday. Mostly because I know Mia's going to have SO much fun. She already mastered the fine craft of opening presents whether they're for  her or someone else. I love her so much and couldn't imagine my life without this kid. She can get irritating at times, but my heart lights up when she gives me those big big hugs. Being a Dad is an amazing experience. I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. The other day, her and I had the most fun drumming on my kit. She's honestly getting quite good with the snare. She totally concentrates on what she's doing, which is awesome :)

Okay, gotta call it quits for now. Thanks for reading friends.

This is Halloween!

Holy jack o' lanterns Batman! Do I have a lot to discuss tonight, so let's get right to it! Sunday morning, I went out and played a soccer/futbol game for the very first time in 16 years. Really! I took Remi out early in the morning for a warm up run. Got to Brookfield Indoor about a half hour before game time. Found a team to play with and we hit the pitch. I was nervously excited because I was watching some of the earlier games when I arrived and let me tell you, these guys played HARD CORE! They were super quick and fast, and could really boot the ball. As excited as i was to play, I felt sorta intimidated. Outdoor soccer is totally different then indoor. You sort of switch positions as times, but I ended up playing striker. next time, defense. It was defiantly a learning experience and look forward to playing the night games. What was great, was that Jill told me that Mia kept pointing and saying "daddy! How awesome. Legs were pretty sore after the 9-12 loss, but it was totally worth it.

Later in the day, we went trick or treating. Mia almost napped through it. Because it was pretty windy and cold, we only went out for an hour, which honestly was long enough. She did pretty well. It was cute watching her drag her little pumpkin full of candy around. She wouldn't wear the hat to her purple crayon outfit. Oh well. My mom and Tommy joined us. 

Tonight, we got he into her awesome pirate costume and hit up Waukesha. She plundered the streets in search of M&M's and Kit-Kats. Once again, didn't stay out long. My sister and Mom came along. We all had a great time, plus Mia looked awesome. 

Mia and I hit the voting polls and I casted my absentee ballot early. Just like Jill and I did before the last election before we hit NYC. It was cute how Mia asked me when I was filling out the envelop "Daddy, what are you colouring?" And after I finished at the poll, she said "yayyy Daddyyyy!" Love this kid so much. 

Making great progress on the Stamkos picture. Could be done in a week or two. Still, have lots of other art to do.