BLUEEEEE IS THE COLOUURRRR....

Hellooooo people. Another busy day off. But first, let's get to last week (thursday or friday) I believe. After work I  checked the mail and to my surprise found my brand new Frank Lampard Chelsea FC 2012/2013 jersey in the mail :) It came from out of the country so it took quite a while to get here, but nonetheless, it's awesome and because Chelsea played Reading today, I wore it when Mia and I watched the game with my Dad. I absolutely love watching the game in real-time verses having to check Twitter for updates, or watching it online (sometimes the live feed struggles). What made the game extra-special, was how amped Mia was for it. This morning I said "Mia, we're going to watch Chelsea play today!!" and she'd say "GOALLL!!" During the game, Eden Hazard was tripped in the penalty box and the Blues were rewarded a Penalty Kick. Super Frank stepped up to take the shot. I knew he'd make it because they don't call him Super Frank for nothing. So he took the shot and when it went in, my dad and I said "GOALLL!!" and Mia just flipped with excitement. She yelled "GOALL GOALL GOALL" and was bouncing on the couch. It was easily, one of my favourite moments today with her. Well, I'll tell you about LATER tonight when we were working on folding laundry. Jill mentioned once "we gotta find something Chelsea for her" but the custom little jerseys are pretty pricey for a little kid, and they don't really have anything on Amazon for kids that's not a newborn. Oh well.

After the game, (Chelsea won 4-2) we headed over to visit Grandma as she shopped, and then drove home. Now normally she passes out before we make it to the freeway, but she didn't today. I think it's because we didn't stop and get her daily banana at Kwik Trip. It was getting late and we had rush hour/Brewer traffic to fight. Nothing worse then a kid who's angry in the back seat during rush hour! We played some soccer when we got home and soon, Jill came home.

Later, we had some serious work to do with organizing the closet. Mia clothes EVERYWHERE so when I was putting together her socks, she was running up and down the hall "scaring" me. She had so much fun. Nothing like a goofy kid laugh to put you in a good mood right?? :)

Speaking of soccer, time for a little rant, so bare with me. This is an obnoxious trend in soccer jerseys as of lately that's getting out of control. Some team's jerseys have this silly "sash" that goes from one shoulder to the bottom corner of the shirt. WHY?? This makes you look like a boy scout or some sort of pageant contestant. Chelsea's away kit has a light blue one on white. It's pretty cringe-worthy. I love the home kit and the away black/yellow one is pretty cool. Okay enough ranting on this. Overall, it's a stupid trend that I hope goes away in years to come.

That's all for now. Better get my ass in gear to start that Stampkos drawing and a Falcon tattoo. Adios!!

Lost in the Supermarket

Hey peeps. Well I've been off the last couple days, and back to work tomorrow. Last week into this one, I had to work 5 days in a row, which included a Saturday, so lucky my boss said "why don't I give you tues and wed off this week. Perfect. Yesterday some friends visited for a bit. One dude was in boot camp for a while and hasn't seen Mia obviously in quite some time so he brought the gf and we played in the sandbox. Today, Mia, my friend Nicole and I hit up the zoo for the day. We had a great time. Benny was teething some, but luckily had a pretty good time. Especially the Cheetah that was pacing around the cage. Mia of course loved it too. Always love taking Mia to the zoo because every time we go, she's still excited about the animals :) It's always nice catching up with Nicole. I brought up during our lunch that it doesn't seem too long ago that her and I were eating lunch in college. Now, we're both feeding our little ones, raising families. Man, time sure flies.

So it's Shark Week at discovery, and man this is the ONE time of the year I wish I had cable! Well, besides with hockey season starts and the Penguins are playing. Luckily, my older bro supplied me with his password so I can watch Chelsea games online :) But anyway back to Shark Week. Man, I've always loved sharks and because Discovery never puts up full episodes ANYWHERE of Shark Week, all I can do is watch jumpy clips of some of the shark shows. Guess it'll have to do. Sharks are rad, aren't they? Both terrifying and beautiful. A little misunderstood. They say the chances of getting attacked by one is pretty rare. I would just love to see one in the wild. Haha.

Today, we brought this little grocery cart my mom got for Mia to the store. Mia had a blast with all the groceries we stuck in it. At home, she has a random array of objects and things and takes the cart all over the house. This kid loves to push things around. Neighbor kids came over for a while. It's going to be sad when they move in a few weeks, because Mia love them. Hopefully the next neighbors are friendly. Alright, it's about 12:45am, time for bed. Adios :)

Night Of The Living Living

Hello friends. Wisconsin made national news when a scumbag neo Nazi took out 6 Sikh people and injured others including a police officer at a mass last Sunday. Great way to put Wisconsin on the map, you pathetic racist jackass. These victims were at a mass and are peaceful. But when you are a far-right Nazi, anyone who's not white, are the enemy. Of course there are idiots claiming that someone should have been armed to have taken him out. Really? at a mass? Is this what we're going to go to now? Everyone should be armed because a world where the entire population is armed to the teeth with weapons is a "safe" one? That's bull. A paranoid gun nut, is a frightening gun nut, and that pretty much what makes up the whole macho "its-our-second-amendment-to-own-a-gun population. It's never going to change. There will always be a large group of people who don't feel safe without their weapon and will defend this weapon against "the man" till they can't shoot no more, despite stating that they are patriots. Ahhh this country...

Anyways, over the weekend, Jill and I went out on a date. Yes, an actual date. With dinner! And drinks! I honestly can't remember the last time we went out, just the two of us. We hit up Mitchell's Fish Market. The food and drinks were absolutely amazing. Fresh fish+ unique cocktails=awesome time :) It was a rare delightful evening and I look forward to doing it again some time. It was quite strange not carrying Mia in my left arm, but she was in good hands with a Grandma.  Speaking of Mia, she's getting ridiculously smart. Knows and remembers a lot of different things, names,animals etc. Walks really well. Stumbles every once in a while, but that happens. She makes me so proud every day. One thing that's getting quite annoying, is how EVERYONE asks me "so when is the next kid?" Come on, why in the world would we want a 2nd kid so quickly? I've heard the same old story "have all the kids when you're young and get it out of the way". I guess we don't look at having kids to "get it out of the way" while we're young. Psff. If we have another one, we'll have one when we do, end of story.

Our super-nice neighbors with 4 kids sold their house across the street and are moving out at the end of August. We're pretty bummed because they are the nicest neighbors we have, and Mia loves their kids. Hopefully the next family that moves in has some kids, but I'm not holding my breath.

Found out today Ted Leo is playing in November at Turner Hall. Man, that'd be rad if we could go, especially since he's opening for an artist so we could easily get home at a good time to put Mia to bed. :)

That's all for now. Adios and beunas noches.

Coming Too Close

First off, been in sort of a shock state-of-mind today as I found out that No Use For A Name's Tony Sly passed away at the age of 41. Still unsure of the reason, but all I know is, that the punk rock community won't be the same. I saw No Use perform quite a few times and was incredibly fortunate to run into Tony after a memorable show in the Rave basement.  He posed for a picture, and signed my record. Hard to believe it'd be the last time I'd see him and the group perform. They were quite underrated and it's a big loss. May take a while to get over this. Not even sure I can listen to them right now. Okay, on to more positive things. (the picture is from the Milwaukee show 2005)

Had quite a lot of fun with Mia today. She gobbled up a banana at my Kwik Trip before hanging with my dad in the early afternoon. Later, Jill and I went swimming. Mia walked straight in as far as her little  body could go before she thought "oh crap, I'm getting a little too deep here. Water's up to my neck!" This kid loves the pool. It's great after 6 because it only costs Jill and I $8 to get in. Mia's still free. So anyways, I guess the last time Jill and her Ma took Mia to the pool, she really enjoyed watching the kids go down the slides. There's one slide that was more her size and she really wanted to try it. Jill said "Well I'm not doing this!" So I said "hell, why not, I'll hold her on my lap". So she excitedly walked up the stairs holding my hand. I placed her on my lap and held on. I scooted down and we flew faster then I thought. As soon as the slide hit the water, I went under very quickly but like a smart, protective dad kept Mia high above my head. I sort of freaked out because I had no idea what in the world just happened. I probably should have put my legs down as soon as we hit the bottom but I didn't even think of it because I had her on my lap. Stupid. Luckily, we were fine and of course like any daredevil kid, Mia wanted to do it again. I said "forget it, we'll do it next time kiddo". If I would have put my legs down when we entered the water, it probably would have been fine, but the slide is quite steep. One lady laughed at me but when SHE went down she experienced something similar. "HOLY crap you REALLY fly down this thing!" Her boyfriend or husband too had something similar. I think he even hit his tailbone on the bottom. "NEVER AGAIN" he said.

Later in the deeper end, Mia said "ALL DONE!" then "ICE CREAM!" So, the park was closing and we headed home. She kept repeating "ICE CREAM" so we picked up Jill's mom and headed out to Kopps. Easily our favourite place to get custard. Mia and I shared a dish of vanilla, but after a few spoonfuls, she would rather eat that little triangle cookie piece they give you. When we got home, we went on a firefly adventure trying to catch some, but soon realized that the local bats were hunting them and other bugs. Mia would say "BAT!!" when she'd see one. Overall, great day off.

Sold the dog portrait finally to the guy. Glad to get it out of my house. Ready to start my Stamkos photo for my Dad. That's all for now :) Thanks for reading dudes

Falling Like Rain

Heyyyyyyyyyy...whatttttss uppppp???? (in my David Luiz voice from Chelsea FC) Lots been happening over here. Let's discuss. First off, last weekend, we celebrated mine and my twin's birthday early at Stonefire Pizza not too far from our house. Great place, especially for kids. Lots of different pizzas at the pizza bar, and the games were a lot of fun. Jill and I were discussing tonight how she'd just go to play the Deal or No Deal game over and over. I enjoyed beating the crap out of my lil bro Andy at air hockey, 7-1. Almost a clean sheet too. He got lucky on his only goal :) The racing games were fun too. Sometimes it's just a blast to be a kid again. Especially with the big 30 coming next year :( Anyways, got some great gifts. TONS of beer. Good beer too. Jill's aunt sent me an Amazon gift card (which will be going to a Chelsea FC jersey), and my sister got me a cool Penguins poster. The biggest surprise was what my loving wife Jill had in store for me. She had some funny and cool shirts for Mia for me, and something she had our parents help contribute for: A Sidney Crosby 3rd hockey jersey. It MATCHES Mia's Winter Classic one Jill got for me FOR her for fathers day. I am SO stoked! So incredibly stoked. Jill's going to take some amazing photos of us. Can't wait to see how they turn out :) I tell ya, my wife is amazing. So amazing. Totally caught me off guard on this gift.

Today, Mia and I visited my dad at home, headed over to visit my mom at work, stopped at KT for a banana (which she loved) and she napped on the drive home. Turning into a weekly habit. make some visits, eat the banana then BOOM, sleep easily on the drive home. Later tonight, I told Mia that Chelsea was playing later and she kept saying "GOALLLL" so she caught part of the 2nd half with me. She loved it, and I'm not just saying that. I hope to coach her on a soccer team some day. That could be a fun saturday activity :) We also did a little drumming today with Jill behind the camera. Mia didn't wanna drum too long. Probably tired-ish. Anyways, as I type this, it's midnight. July 26th. At 8-something am, I'll be 29. Not the most exciting age to be. Way too close to 30. Something has to change this year. I need a more solid, creative outlet. I'm not putting out art as much as I could, not playing in a band (which is fine because that takes a TON of energy)...What I really need to do, is play some bloody SOCCER! Right now, open soccer is THURSDAY indoor and I'm only off Wednesdays....ahhhhhhhhh....SOME day....hopefully someday soon. Watching Chelsea today made me really wanna play some sort of soccer with some guys again.

Okay that's all for now. Thanks for reading :)

Rabbit Heart

Wonderful day off. Mia and I spent most of the day paying visits to some friends and family members, did some grocery shopping, and later when my wifey came home, we even went to the nearby water park. It turns out that it's cheaper to get in after 6pm. When we arrived, a cold front sort of came through, but we still jumped in the water anyways. Not a lot of people floating in the pool at 6:30pm. No big deal. It eventually got cold enough to split and head home for the night, before this lovely thunderstorm rolled in. I use the word "lovely" very lightly. As a kid and teen, I absolutely loved storms . I thoroughly enjoyed those crazy storms with the lighting and thunder. The power outages were quite fun, trying to come up with different things to keep you occupied. I remember one summer the only thing that we could enjoy for entertainment, was this super old set of radio head phones and for some reason, a bunch of Queen songs were playing at the moment. Even later as a teen and adult I loved storms.

 When I started disliking them, is when we adopted Remi. Some pets handle bad weather fine, others like my dog, are terrified. He didn't use to be. A few years ago, I used to walk him in the rain all the time. He totally didn't care. These days, the first crack of thunder, he's done. This morning he wanted to bolt across the street during our walk and I had to keep him calm and tell him 'wait till the cars cross dude!". Thankfully, Mia's at the age where storms don't really bother her. Even better, they don't keep her up when she's trying to sleep, which is very awesome. We still have to worry about Remi pacing around the house, trying to find a good place to hide. Poor dog!

This weekend, we're celebrating mine and my sister's birthday since I work on my actual birthday next week. I have no idea what Jill has in store, but I'm stoked :)

Other then that, nothing else exciting to talk about. Still on the fence if I want to throw together another Pirates photobomb picture. Need a little inspiration. I also need to start my Stamkos photo for my pop. Luckily, it's not a major priority.

Thanks for reading :)

Birds and Ships

Unbelievable day off today. Well first off, let's discuss last weekend's road trip to the Indiana san dunes. Hot as hell of a day for a trip to the zoo/dunes that Saturday, but we had a great time with Leanne, Rick, Jacqui and their little Caleb. Mia seemed to really take a shine to Mr. Caleb. Kept trying to give him smooches and hugs. He wasn't super into it most of the time. Hahaha, but what little boy is? Mia seemed to really enjoy the big cats at the zoo. Loved watching the tigers. Kept saying "big kitttty". Super adorable. A cool exhibit was the river otters. It was rather rad that they had this small tube for the kids to crawl into to watch the otters swim around them. After the zoo, we headed to the beach. Great day, if there was one to jump in the water. Felt amazing, except the horrid sun burn Rick and I received! Mia actually fell asleep in the water too! Rick and I saw the girls out in the water and I thought "I wonder if Mia passed out" since she didn't nap at all that day...Sure enough she was out, so I carefully walked her back through the sand to the car. All and all, great weekend.

So back to today. Tuesday morning I came up with the idea that Miss Mia and I would spend a few hours together at OUR zoo. So at work Tuesday, it was all I could think about: A nice day to ourselves.  I packed her bag, through the stroller in the trunk and we headed out later in the morning. The goal was to hit up some exhibits we missed the last time we were there, which included the Big Cats, the Aviary and the animals of Australia. Well she couldn't have been more excited in the Big Cats exhibit. We actually went through it twice. The 2nd time was great awesome. The cheetah was pacing around the cage/habitat. At one point, the cat saw Mia and started to walk towards her. Mia quickly said "NO NO NO NO NO!" Very cute. So I got her up and we headed over to the large lion again. The lion got up and faced the glass and started to ROAR loudly. In all my years of going to the zoo as a kid, I've NEVER seen the lion roar before. The building was almost shaking too. But the highlight was while the lion was roaring, Mia was cracking up laughing! She couldn't stop giggling. It was too funny. Sharing lunch with her was just another little moment that I really enjoyed. Found myself having to take her out of the stroller in between exhibits to see some of the animals that weren't close. Later tonight, we were outside catching fireflies. She didn't care for them crawling on her face though, haha. One of the best days off I've had in quite some time. Thursday, the grandmas are taking her to Cool Waters. Should be a great day to splash around :)

Okay, time to finish this beer and head off to bed. Later :)