The Reflection

Evening everyone. Plenty to write about from this weird week, so let's get right to it. The week started a bit strange after I applied for a job. I got an immediate response looking for a Hangouts chat interview. Okay. First time for that but that sounded positive. The next day was the interview for this company called O&J productions. I started getting suspicious when I couldn't find any website or anything. Still, I went through with the interview. The person interviewing me asked some pretty generic questions, mentioned it would be a 20-40 hour a week $30.00 an hour freelance position. Okay then. Then it got super suspicious. They wanted me to purchase an entire "mini-office" list of supplies to set up at home which included a MacBook Pro, printers and a whole lot of expensive supplies. They said they would send a check for everything and I'd get immediately trained after signing a contract. Hell, no. Everything that I was suspicious about was confirmed. This "company" didn't really feel like a company and I wanted nothing to do with it. Luckily, I have people in my network that called BS when I explained everything. The next day, I e-mailed that I would terminate the contract and wanted nothing to do with the production company. I'm just glad I've got people in my life looking out for me.

Thursday we had our last soccer practice. Sadly, the conditions weren't the best and the field was a disaster. We couldn't really use the net for any shooting or goalie drills for Elia but the kids definitely had fun. Last match of the season was Friday. Going into it, I had a plan to release Olivia in the 2nd half and stick Elia in goal with a strong defense to keep her safe since she has never played goalie. 1st half, the Lazer Hornets (yes that's how they spelled it) got one up on us in the middle of the 1st half. Ryan picked up an equalizer before the end of the 2nd half. The girls were looking good and things were looking up. Remember, a draw would have secured us 1st place so all we had to do was keep it up. 2nd half, we started dominating the Hornets and Alice picked up a beautiful goal. 2-1. They got back into this and it was 2-2. 30 seconds left, Ryan took an injury to the face or hand and we subbed her out quick. Next thing we know, they got ONE more goal on Elia in the final seconds finishing the dramatic finale 2-3. Such a heartbreaker. These girls worked so hard all season and all of them thought we could pull this one off. It was such a major bummer. Both of us tied but they got 1st place only on GD. Ughh...

The good news was that they earned themselves 2nd place trophies. I couldn't have been more proud of these talented girls and I hope each and every one of them continue with soccer wherever they play next. Alice finished off the season with 14 goals, Ryan had 5. Linnea had 5.Alice was such a good team player and excelled every match. Ally wins my vote for Most Improved Player with all the skills and heart she played with every single game and practice. Olivia was a coach's dream as far as goalies are considered. Earlier in the season, she had a great kick save and in the tournament, she had a beautiful save that was heading over her head. She struggled in the 2nd half of our final match on the field when I pulled her out of goal per her request but couldn't stick to ONE position when I gave it to her, but what can ya do...She had an AWESOME PK save that had all of us holding our breath in the final match. The whole crowd went crazy when she saved it. Linnea was a warrior all season. She could attack and dribble with the best of them and I sincerely appreciated having this girl on my team. I fully believe if Ava didn't end her season 5 weeks ago with an injury, these kids wouldn't have been in this high-stress match but it happens. Elia was fantastic and always played with heart. Ryan was super competitive which didn't surprise me and probably always will be. Mia and Cecilia both made improvements and I hope wherever they play next season, they can work on their attack and drive. Playing with and against 4th graders certainly wasn't easy for both of these two but I think with a lot of off-season work, they can make major improvements. Lastly, it was awesome having Coach Kevin and Coach Jim this season helping out with the girls. Both had a great time and I'm thankful they joined me this season. I didn't get to watch the Chelsea vs Burnley match but saw highlights of them winning 4-2. Pulisic got a beautiful hat trick and will be one to watch this season now that he's getting into the starting XL.

Later, Mia went tick or treating in the downtown Waukesha businesses picking up some candy while dressed in her soccer attire, complete with her new trophy. Most of the day, she never let it go. We attempted to do some Spiderman/Spider Gwen pictures at Jill's studio but Mia HATED the costume. We got a few before I send it back this week to Amazon.  My parents came over later to carve pumpkins with us before we called it a night.  Today, we started our day with a visit to the zoo. I had informed the diva that the weather was perfect for the red pandas to be out and about. What do you know, I was correct. Kiki, Dr. Anne and Dash were roaming around. Mia watched them for probably an hour. They were so cute playing, yawning and eating. When we got back, Mia dyed her hair and it looks pretty rad. After washing it out, we got ready for our family trick or treating. My sister handed out treats as my parents, brother, sister-in law and nephews plus Jill and Mia ventured out looking for fun and treats. The older these kids get, the longer they last trick or treating. On top of that, the weather was close to perfect for the end of October. When we got back, everyone split and we made spaghetti before Mia and Jill went off to sleep. This week, I'll try to get some good edits of the Spidey photos and Mia's trick or treating Thursday in Waukesha. Friday, Jill and I are helping out at Mia's Fall party. Should be a lot of fun. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Space Oddity

Good evening everyone. I'll get through this quickly so I can crash for the night. So most of the week, I've been thoroughly scouring the webs and store websites looking for a nice snowboard for Mia for Christmas. She's been really really wanting one so I've spent a great deal of time trying to get the most bang for my buck. I'd prefer we find a board her size, but have looked at some a bit bigger. Wednesday I was off so after school, Mia and I hit up a Play it Again Sports in Tosa. The store was much older and smaller than the one I've been to in Greenfield, but we checked to see if we could get her boot size figured out. Turns out I was right and she is a size 2. The guy helped us figure out how to tighten them on these apparently better boots. She liked them, so when I eventually get her board, I'll pick up some boots too. Boots are a heck of a lot easier to get than the perfect board. The hunt continues...

I had debated about getting one for myself for cheap as well so we could learn together. We'll see how this goes. I know the sport is tricky and difficult but I don't want Mia to get discouraged so if we both fall and laugh about it, it'll make the the all-important process of learning all the more enjoyable. Saturday, Mia made a birthday card for her friend Charlie while Jill and I did some painting in the kitchen. We tried a couple of new paint colors for the wall. Not sold on either so we'll try again. Mia mentioned how much she misses soccer and wished we still played matches on Saturday. I miss coaching it too kiddo. The fact that she ended this season on the high note of scoring her first goal was amazing and she's setting her goal for the 2019 season of a hat trick, is feasible. I like her determination so I think it's very possible.

Sunday, Mia went off to her friend's birthday party. Always cute how they greet her "MIA'S HERE!!!!!" We cleaned out Jill's car and picked up Mia an hour or so later. She had a blast making slime and chilling with her friends. We started to think what to do with Mia's birthday next year, so we'll see what happens. Mia wants it "Red Panda" themed. Not sure what that means for her, but we'll figure it out. Plenty of time, although the month of March will be hectic because we'll be hosting the school-wide art gallery show. So much going on, so little time.

This week, we've obviously got Thanksgiving, so that'll be fun. Mia's got Pajama Day on Tuesday along with a big writing day. Not sure what they have the kids doing but it's supposed to be a ton of fun. Wednesday I have a pair of art lessons so this week leading up to it, I'll have to come up with a good lesson plan. I've been sorta casually looking at jobs here and there. Something to get me out of the current FT place. Nothing serious as of now. Chelsea are back in action on Saturday after a 2 week international break so it'll be good to catch them again.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Send Help

Greetings. Keeping this one short and sweet. Super tired today. Rough night trying to sleep last night. A pesky mosquito was trying to drain me of all my blood and patience. Over the weekend Jill's Mom drove up Saturday morning en route to take Jill to a wedding shower. They ended up taking Mia too because a little job opportunity came up. Last week a good friend from college had informed me of a possible second job graphic designing neon beer signs for a small company from home. I haven't applied for a job in quite some time so I didn't really think too much of it right away, until she brought up that it would be a mostly stay-at-home position. Perfect for the few hours I'm home before I work at 2. So After reconstructing and updating my resume a few days ago late at night, I began working on piecing together my website. Friday night, I pulled artwork from different places and Saturday I had some alone time to get serious work done on the site. I decided to make a real clean, easy to navigate website for clients and anyone interested in my work. Since I did the free sight, I was limited to a mere 30 images so it was a bit tough getting what I wanted on. I still may change things up. Overall, quite happy with the layout and my little logo I created for the header :) Later, we did dinner and I worked 2nd shift Sunday evening.

I was quite stoked for my day off with Mia, but for some reason it just wasn't a good day for her. She woke up earlier then usual, didn't feel like breakfast and just was a crab 80 percent of the day. I promised earlier in the week that on Wednesday we'd hit up Helium trampoline park. When we got there, they weren't open yet, so on her request, we went to the library. She played with puzzles and did some reading. After lunch, we drove back to Helium but she fell asleep on the way. So, I turned around and spent an hour or so working on a portrait of her. Hell, it may end up on my website :P Chelsea's playing friday. GO BLUES! :) Gotta love those guys. Some love the Packers, others go crazy for the Brewers. My team will always be Chelsea :)

This weekend's kind of up in the air as far as what we're doing. All I know is September is going to be busy, so bring it on :P Thanks for reading.