Best Imitations Of Myself

Hey! Hope every one's enjoying this rather strange week. 4th of July on a Thursday is a bit strange. Some people are getting a full 4-day weekend, others (like my wife) get just Thursday off. Me? I'm not off. Didn't take the holiday off. Used to back in the day when we would go to to catch Less Than Jake every 4th of July at Summerfest. Lots of fun, but as time went on, I just stopped wanting to go to Milwaukee's famous fest. Loss of interest. Would take a lot for me to go now. The Lawrence Arms would guarantee me to attend, as well as probably Ted Leo & The Pharmacists. Okay, that's enough of that.

Over the weekend, we drove down to Illinois Friday after work.  After we gassed up and got on 43, Mia fell asleep rather quickly watching her new favourite movie "The Princess Frog". While driving through Huntley, there were cones and cops everywhere with floodlights in a parking lot. I swear, it looked like border control. Well, they were stopping every single car and did a "safety check", which of course meant they were checking for drunk drivers. Great idea, but crap, they just HAD to shine the flash light in poor sleeping Mia's eyes.  She fell asleep soon after we went on our adventure. Saturday morning, we drove to the Shedd Aquarium. LOVE LOVE LOVE driving through the city. Leanne (one of Jill's friend's) came with too. It was a great time. Was quite blown away by how amazing the beluga whales are. I've seen them there before, but every time we go, they impress me more and more. The string ray touch thingy was actually better then the Milwaukee County Zoo one. Why? Well, the cow-nose rays were SUPER friendly. They swim right up to you like a dog would rub their head. It was pretty amazing. My favourite part of the Shedd (besides the awesome penguins) still is the Reef animals down stairs. Plenty of awesome sharks swimming. Nice 6 foot ones too. A rad part of the experience, was Mia was enthused to shoot some pictures of the coral and fish with our DSLR camera. "Daddy, I take a pictures of this" *CLICK- CLICK- CLICK- CLICK* All in all, great time at the Shedd. I figured something out why Chicago residents drive rather defensive in Wisconsin. In the city, its "drive defensive, or be crushed" as my bro in law puts it. Everyone in the city has to be on their toes to get to where they're going. Cutting people off to make a turn is just part of it. There's no hesitating or middle fingers flying when someone makes a bold move to get in front of you. It's their way of life. So with that, I have 0 hatred for "FIB drivers" here in good ol' Wisconsin.

 Anyways, so Thursday is the holiday. Jill's taking Mia to the fireworks in Waukesha with my parents. We heard some neighbors shooting some off today and it peaked her interest, but of course they stopped. We put on the local news channel that had the fireworks on and I said to Mia "hey, look fireworks" and she responded "Daddy, I'm learning Spanish!" Well alright then! Saturday, we're going to see Wicked. Should be fun. Jill's parents got her tickets for her birthday. I've heard only great things about the play/musical for quite a while so I'm anticipating a wonderful evening. PLUS after work Sunday, I've got soccer. It's been a few weeks, so I'm stoked to play again.  Before I finish this, I gotta bring up this new thing Mia does every once in a while. Maybe once a day. Sometimes when we ask her about something such as for example "what would Daddy say if you fell off the swing?" Mia responds with this hilarious impression or imitation of me saying "Oh no, Mia fell off, don't cry Mia" She imitates Jill and Remi all the time too. HILARIOUS! That's all for now. Thanks for reading!

Jimmy Jazz

Greetings, people. Nothing too exciting to report from the weekend. A rather quiet Saturday for the familia. Mia was crabby most of the morning, so we decided "hey let's go to the zoo, maybe that will cheer her up". Didn't help too much. We tried the sting ray/shark touch thing again and since she couldn't reach the rays, she got upset. I finally was able to pet one of the sharks. Very cool bumpy skin. Totally worth dealing with her crabby attitude to pet a shark.

After that, we went to the sea lion show. Last year when we did it, she loved it a ton. Didn't change at all. She couldn't get enough of the sea lions performing. Clapped for every trick Slick, the sea lion performed. "Let's watch it again!" Nah, we gotta head home. Saturday evening, we had my sister over for dinner. Mia had a lot of fun playing with her. Sunday, I worked the early shift. Tossed the idea of soccer that evening, but the heat was 90 degrees all day, and I didn't want to get super dehydrated on the pitch. I know "well drink water dumb ass" but I wasn't feeling it that day. We tried to hit up the local pool, but after driving through the park to GET to the pool, we could already tell that it'd be impossible to get in the water. So we turned around, and tried the Pewaukee Lake. It was super busy as well, but we were able to park and walk to the beach. Mia didn't like the water temperature, or the crazy amount of people so we didn't last very long. Oh well.

Today nothing too eventful. Mia slept in till 10:30. Sort of through off her day a bit. Visited Grandma a bit, then later Grandpa. Highlight of my day, or maybe LIFE was when I was juggling and heading a soccer ball a bit, and Mia, who was eating grapes at the moment stops and tells me "Daddy, you're a great soccer player". That's the very FIRST time anyone in my life has ever said that to me. I stopped playing soccer nearly 17 years ago because I didn't think I was any good. I know she's 2 years old, but it really made a difference to me. I'm missing the pick up game this weekend because we'll be in Illinois Friday thru Sunday but I plan on making the July 7th game. Seriously hope she stays awake for the game and can watch me :)

Last but not least, a big congrats to the Blackhawks for taking out the Bruins for the Stanley Cup. It was an insane series in a season that almost didn't happen. In the end, with 17 seconds left, the Hawks tied and got the game-winning goal. Very rad. I had to root for them when the Bruins destroyed the Penguins. That was a hard series to tune in to. When your team gets taken out of the playoffs that they could have easily taken. Anyways, glad the Hawks took down the Bruins.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading!

Fools In Love

A lot to discuss this bright and sunny morning (way too tired to type last night). So last weekend was a complete blur, and not in a drunk-every-night blur, just a blur because I was here, there and everywhere. Friday night, worked till 10. Came home hoping that Mia would want to get some sleep, but the kid wanted to play. I had to get up at 4:45am and at 12:30am she wants to play my drum set. Well anyways, I think I ended up getting 3 hours of sleep somehow. So while at work, I got the text from my in-laws that drove up planning to watch Mia that evening so Jill and I could go to a wedding, that Jill got sick. She finally caught what Mia and I had earlier in the week, so Jill couldn't make the wedding or reception. I ended up going to the reception solo because I didn't want the bride/groom to pay for two empty plates. Jill's parents were gracious enough to take care of both Jill and Mia. So I went to the wedding, and when I got home, both Jill and Mia were sound asleep. Reception was a total blast. Great catching up with some friends from long ago.

The next morning I went to my nephew's baptism at 9am. Too early for this uncle :P. Ended up photographing the event. Later, came home, changed and got ready for my first adult-league pick up soccer game. Jill and Mia came too. Mia ended up falling asleep in the car so both of them ended up missing the whole game :( So the first half, I realized that I didn't hydrate myself enough and found it tough running with this super dry throat (still recovering from the illness too) and I played left-mid-forward. Wasn't getting a lot of passes to me (some ball hogs) and eventually dropped back to play mid-left-back. Much more comfortable playing defense. I really don't know why, but I enjoyed it. As much as I'd love to score a goal, I felt good keeping the other forward covered making sure he didn't get any shots off. Our team ended up winning like, 7-3 I believe. It was a lot of fun, even in 87 degree heat. OH! For Father's Day I got this little NHL air hockey game thing I can play with Mia, and this amazing Mia & Jill painted soccer ball. It's beautiful. When I came home from the baptism (I was gone all day) Mia was super excited to see me and kept saying "HAPPY FATHERS DAY DADDY" with the ball in her hand. Melted my heart.

This week I took off Tuesday and Wednesday. My nephew Alex was in town so my Mom and I wanted to keep the kids busy. Tuesday we went to the zoo. I finally got to pet the sting rays. The sharks you can't reach for so I didn't get to pet any sharks. Mia was a little irritated they wouldn't come up close enough for her to reach. We didn't see everything, but we saw enough. I have been to the zoo enough times where it doesn't matter what we see, just as long as everyone leaves happy.

Yesterday we tried Monkey Joe's. I have never been there, but both my Mom and my mother in law have been there and I guess the last time Mia was there (I think was quite a while ago) she was too little to enjoy the bouncy things. Well, this time she started out timid. Wanted to watch Alex do all the big gnarly slides. Later she slowly walked through this little kids one and was totally fine. Alex went in as well to show her how fun it is. Well in the end, they both chased each other around all of the obstacles, falling and bouncing all the way. They wanted to go into this other bouncy thing were you climb this ladder and go down the slide. Alex helped Mia climb the ladder (what a great guy!) and she went down the slide like a bullet. She got up "That was TOO fast DADA!" Then wanted to try it again. So she climbs the ladder, got scared at the top and I had to go in and take her down. For dinner last night, we went to Stonefire Pizza. She was too distracted by all of the games to actually want to eat her dinner, but she ate some. Both kids loved playing the games.

Sigh, so that's it for now. Back to work today and tomorrow. No idea what's going on this weekend. Thanks for reading!

Torture Doctor

Greetings. I'm not feeling that great, so I'm going to keep this one short. Over the weekend Jill and I went to our first wedding of the year. A friend from college had a SCOTTISH wedding. I've never been to one, plus it was outside which is always a thumbs up in my book. The groom was in a kilt as well. Jill's parents watched Mia for the evening while we enjoyed a rare night together. This saturday, we've got another wedding. In fact, this weekend is going to be incredibly busy for me. Working 2-10 Friday night (per the usual) followed by a 6am-2pm shift, THEN I'll have to change and meet Jill later for the reception. SUNDAY we've got a baptism to go early followed by some soccer later at 4pm. PHEW....I sincerely hope this sickness goes away. My little bro got my Mom sick a few days ago, she gave it to me and then Mia had it (for a little bit) Yesterday on the way back from Jill's studio I started getting sort of achey with my head starting to hurt. The throat was getting sore as well. Great....

Well later I was able to get Mia to nap (after driving around) and while she slept, I decided to as well with hopes that I could sleep this crap off. When she woke up she was very whiney and couldn't tell me what she wanted. Then, she stood up, and vomited hardcore. This was probably the very first time she's  ever thrown up so she was a complete mess, choking and crying. It was very bad. Within an hour, she threw up I believe, 4 times. Thankfully, after the last time, she started to feel better and was drinking juice and had some noodles with me.

This morning I took Remi out. Looks like the majority of New Berlin was spared during the storms last night. Art-wise, haven't done much lately. I've got projects to finish and projects to start, just need some time to work on them.

That's it for now. Thanks for reading!

The Double Feature

Greetings.  The picture to your left is from Mia and I playing some drums at the music store. I swear, that kid loves music as much as I do..ANYWAYS I was a bit too tired to write last night, so I figured after my morning walk/run with Remi, I'd tackle this blog. I find myself having the opportunity today to in fact write TWO reviews from the weekend: An Alkaline Trio concert in Milwaukee, AND some thoughts about the Great Gatsby Jill and I saw on Sunday! It was quite the busy weekend. Friday was our anniversary but we both worked opposite hours and didn't get to properly celebrate that day, however we DID plan on going to the movies Sunday. Mia and I brought Jill flowers Friday. Awww...right? Anyways, so Sunday morning I was getting 7am texts from my little brother that he needed someone to go catch Bayside/Alkaline Trio show in Milwaukee at the Rave. I was unsure about going. My toe, still hurting and since I've seen Alkaline Trio about 10 or more times, I remember in the past, the sea of people in the crowd turning into a crazy bull stampede trampling everyone in front of them. PLUS, I worked at 6am Sunday morning, so all signs pointed that I wasn't going to go. Well, after a lot of thinking, I decided to go as a favor, plus he said it was a free ticket.

It was a fantastic show. First time at the Rave since 2008 when I caught the always entertaining The Hives. The very opening band Off With Their Heads wasn't very exciting. Next was my bro's favourite group; Bayside. Never really was a big fan of the band. A lot of breakdowns and guitar solos, however, they can put on a great show. I enjoyed their Smoking Popes cover of "Meghan". The next time I'm cutting grass, I'll probably put them on and give them another listen.

Alkaline Trio finally was on. Great performance. Very little banter in between songs, so they can pump in full volumes of amazing rock and roll. Just like old times, they played their hearts out. Here's a list of the majority of the songs they played:

This could be love
Cringe Olde English 800
Radio (encore)  If We Never Go Inside
Blue Carolina
She lied to the FBI
I wanna be a Warhol
I, Pessimist
Hell Yes Armageddon
She Took Him to the Lake
Donner Party
Clavicle
Sadie
All In Black
Torture Doctor  

There may be more in there that I missed, but that should cover 98 percent of what they played. They skipped over albums Agony and Irony and This Addiction surprisingly, but that's okay. They ended up really hammering out tracks from Good Mourning and a few jams from Maybe I'll Catch Fire. The new stuff sounded great live, and overall the night was pretty awesome. Glad I could go with my bro.  Sunday night after I got out of work at 2pm, we later dropped off Mia and hit up the movie theater for the Great Gatsby. After a very long early shift, I didn't think I'd make it through the movie. I was incredibly exhausted but luckily stayed awake. I'll make this one short: The movie was pretty great. Leo DiCaprio seems to pick the better of the films to get involved with.This one can be added to his list. Toby Maguire played an awesome roll as the neighbor who tags along with the Gatsby in his adventures & gets involved with helping Gatsby meet his former love interest. Both Jill and I were glad we didn't freshly read the book before watching the movie because we'd compare it way too much during the film. If you read the book, I'd recommend going and seeing it. It was a nice rare evening to go out with Jill without Mia for a little date. We haven't gone out by ourselves in over a year. No, really. A year. We've got two weddings coming up, in which she won't be with us either. The grandparents + Tommy are coming up this weekend, so we'll see how the night goes. Sunday, I may play soccer. We'll see. First game is 7pm. My toe is getting a bit better, but the nail is still loose. That's all for now. Thanks for reading.

Effington

Greetings. Lots to discuss, so let's get at it, yes? Over the weekend we had a massive family gathering. My half bro and his kids drove in from Michigan for a visit. We arrived a bit late since Mia was napping earlier. She had a rough morning and really needed to get that sleep in. Didn't want her being a crab-puss. And like we guessed, when we arrived after she had her nap, she was pretty cool with her

cousins. A bit shy of Todd, but that's alright. My older bro and I hit up the park with Grandma, Todd and his kids PLUS Jill and Mia. Because the soccer field was uncut and had long grass, I made a big ass mistake. While we were practicing corner kicks, I went to take a power strike and somehow misjudged the kick and destroyed my right big toe (should have shot with my laces and toes DOWN) It hurt so bad, but at the moment, thought I had just stubbed the toe. When I got home, saw my toes were all bloodied up. Felt so incredibly stupid. The nail looked broken and was oozing juices.

The worst part-I have a game this Sunday. Well just about 4 days later, my toe is slowly improving but after thinking about it for quite a while, I decided it'd be best for me to sit this week out. All week at work, I've been limping around a bit. Today before I cut a TON of grass, I took some shots (with my left foot) to see if I can at least plant the right while shooting with the left. Not bad. Jogged a tiny bit too. I'd prefer to give it a full rest before playing a long game. If I was to risk it, I could hurt it worse, and I don't want that.

Today as Mia waved goodbye to Jill as she left for work, I decided that I'd declare today "Daddy-Daughter Day". She was in tears watching Jill leave and I quickly thought "hey, after breakfast, we'll walk Remi, get dressed and go to the zoo!" She was super stoked. We packed her back pack with some snacks & a water bottle. I have NEVER seen her so excited. "Daddy, I got my back pack, LETS GO!!" She had no patience for traffic either! Hahaha. So we spent 2 hours walking around, taking in all the animals, fish and everything in between. Later, Grandma came over so I could tackle the back yard grass cutting. Was like cutting the Everglades.

Friday is Jill and Mine anniversary. Time sure flies. 5 years married. I get a lot of "you're stupid to be married at work" but honestly, I couldn't imagine my life with out her. So much as happened in these 5 years and I look forward to the next 5. See what's in store for me and the Mrs. :)
That's all for now. Thanks for reading :)

Falling Like Rain

Hey folks. Okay, first off the bat. I have NO idea what in the hell happened to the blog. Last weekend in Illinois, my phone tried to sync with something and for some reason, every picture that was on my blog was deleted. So, if Blogger can't retrieve the pictures, I'll have to go in and find every single one of them. A very tedious task to take on, but I'll do it if I have to. I almost debated about starting a new one to avoid the task of finding every single picture again, but since I've got some great followers and readers here (thanks guys!) plus I've got two+ years of entries, I didn't want to just delete everything.

Anyways, Friday we made a last-minute trip down to Illinois for a funeral/wake service. Well, sort of. Jill stuck around for it, I had to head home for work. Jill's good friend's Dad passed away, so with the drop of the hat, we were Illinois-bound. She spent most of the day with her friends, Mia, I and Grandma hung out for the day. Monday, they came back. It was great seeing my girls again after work.

Today, nothing too exciting happened during day. Went to the sports store in search of another pair of soccer socks. I turned around and I saw Mia with a box of Nike soccer cleats. "Dadda, I try these on?" Sure why not! She tells me "I sit on the bench, take my shoes off and put soccer shoes on.." We did this for about 10 or so minutes. She tried on a slew of different cleats. She just had to see all the different colored cleats. I also found her stacking soccer cones too. When I said "hey we gotta go" she replied "No, I"m busy right now Dadda". After a visit to Jill's work, we soon went in to visit Grandma and lastly Grandpa.

Later, we went to dinner at Rock Bottom in Milwaukee by the Riverwalk. Our good friend Leanne was supposed to meet us there, but somehow one of us went to the wrong restaurant.  Oops! Great dinner, fantastic beers and we still met up with Leanne to chat before the performance. I've got my half bro coming into town this weekend for a big family pic nic thing Saturday. Should be a great time. I also got word that they are FINALLY starting the adult pick up soccer THIS Sunday, but I'm already scheduled to work 11-7 so I'll miss the first game, sadly. No big deal. The season will be nice and long. That's all for now. Thanks for reading. Hopefully I can fix the blog soon :P