Short Week For Short People

Good evening. So it was a rather short week for Mia at school. The kids at Orchard Lane were granted two days off for teacher inservice or something but come Tuesday night, she wasn't feeling well. I got home from work and Jill said she was dizzy and had a fever. Poor girl. Wednesday we tried to wake her despite having a crappy night sleeping. We ended up letting her sleep in hopes the rest would help her out. After Jill left for work, Mia woke up feeling a little better. She didn't make it to school, however we did have a little adventure together.

Since she was feeling better and eating some food, we took it upon ourselves to surprise Jill. Wednesday apparently marked 16 years since her favorite show Gilmore Girls aired. Jill has been an avid fan since before I met her. She has watched every single episode dozens of times. Can quote it by heart, has researched some of the references etc etc. Netflix is doing a short one-off series based on Gilmore Girls with the same characters and they redecorated 200 different cafes across the country. Two of the 200 cafe locations were in Milwaukee, where they were handing out free coffee to the first 250 people that came. I asked Mia few times if she'd like to go and get Mommy a special coffee with Luke's on it (one of the characters). She really liked the idea of surprising Mommy, so we packed some food and headed out. We knew there would be lines so I made sure she had something to do. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, we talked to some of the people in front of us who thought getting Jill coffee was really sweet. They had Luke's signs on the building and employees dressed up. It was pretty nice. The fans were smiling with their coffee, headed back to school or work. Mia felt so glad she could be a part of this and she couldn't wait to bring the brew in to Jill at work. I personally never got into the show, but I know that it's a big part of Jill's life so I knew I had to get her something special.

After school let out, we took Remi for a walk by the bus stop where her friend Noelle gets out. She was glad to see Mia because she missed her at school. "Charlie said you were sick today Mia!" I'm glad throughout the day she felt better. It was only Wednesday and she was worried she'd miss dance on Saturday morning. She had a great day at dance and we spent the majority of our Saturday doing some yard work, cleaning the house and getting ready for the big Halloween party. Later, Jill went out with some former co workers so Mia and I visited Grandpa and Grandma whom she hadn't seen for about a week. She helped decorate their house for the spooky holiday. We left after 9:00pm and Mia fell asleep instantly in the car. I spent the rest of the evening looking up ideas to draw her for the week. Sunday, we rearranged the basement. My drums are now on the opposite side and Mia has a bigger area to set up toys and play. After the party, we're going to use a long table for her stuff. Chelsea had an international break this week and are back in action early Saturday morning. Hopefully I can watch some of it.

Busy busy week this week getting everything ready so it'll probably go fast. Thanks for reading!

First Day of School

Good morning everyone. Having a very slow Labor Day after a night of drinking and dancing with some old college friends of mine last night, but we'll get to that later. This week was the official last week of Summer before school started Thursday. My goal was to enjoy it as much as I could with the diva. Wednesday, we met up with some friends of hers at the park. Hannah and Gracie met us so the girls had a great time playing and running around. They won't get to see each other much during the school year so I figured it would be great the day before school to hang out, tell secrets and play one last time.

Mia had high hopes her BFF Olivia would join as well since she had a Best Friends necklace she wanted to share with her. She didn't make it. I guess the past few days she wasn't feeling great. Mia was missing her greatly, and well after FaceTiming with her and her Dad, it appeared she was feeling better so we went BACK out to the park (different one) and they hung out for one last time. She gave Olivia the necklace and they played. I love seeing Mia care for her friends like this. To have these special friends that she loves so much, it makes me very happy. Wednesday evening we got the very excited girl to sleep a little after 9:00pm. I packed her lunch for her and drew her a small picture for her to see at lunch time.

Thursday we got up early, got the sleepy diva awake, dressed, fed and out the door. It was a very emotional walk to school. To think how fast the last 5 years have gone, and where we're at right now, is surreal. This little child will be at this school for the next 6 years, making new friends and experiencing new things. Mia was determined as ever as we walked in with the other misty-eyed parents. We waited in the gym for the teachers to meet with the kids. They told them to say their goodbyes, and that was it. I wouldn't see Mia till the very next morning. 7 hours of school. It seems like a lot to take on but that's what kindergarten is these days. Jill and I walked home, both sad and somber about our little girl growing up. We were relieved when we learned the neighbor boy was going to be in her class with her so at least she knew ONE kid. Jill went to work and I went home, but luckily had a freelance photography job to go to at 10:00am to keep me busy. I can't talk much about it till things are published, but it was a lot of fun and you should see something in the near future.

Mia and Jill stopped in by me at work and I couldn't have been more stoked to hear how school went. Mia didn't say much because I was hella busy, but it sounded like she liked it. She said the girls liked her pink/blue hair piece she had in and they thought it was dyed. She simply told them "no, but the blonde hair is natural!" Adorable.

The next day, we walked across the street again and dropped her off but this time at her class. When I saw her Friday night after work, it sounded like she had made some new friends. Saturday she did her homework while I helped my sister move some chairs with my brother to her new apartment. We cleaned and spent some time outside with Jill's pal that drove up to visit. Jill and Leanne conspired a plan Saturday to get early Sunday and drive down to Indiana to visit a friend for her birthday. Sort of a surprise, and thats exactly what they did. They left at 5:00am yesterday and should be home today. After I got out of work last night, I drove over to Bullwinkle's to meet up with some old college friends to celebrate my friend Shawn's wedding. We drank, danced and had an awesome time. It's pretty rare I get to drink with friends these days so this was a pretty fun night. We always have an awesome time, and I expected nothing less than pure drunken debauchery from Shawn and his new wife.

This week, back to school tomorrow for the kiddo,  she starts ballet and tap tomorrow after school, I'll probably squeeze in some drumming and I don't know what else is going on. Thanks for reading!