Settle For Satin

Evening everyone. It was a slightly busy week, but starting tomorrow, it'll be a LOT busier. We'll get back to that. Monday was President's Day so Mia had the day off. It was also a day with plenty of fresh snow. The temps were actually pretty decent so with all that, Mia and I went snowboarding at Valley View. I was anxious to get my new board in the powder in hopes it'd be better than the other one I had that was too big and heavy. There were a lot of people out tubing and sledding off ramps. Mia did really well and rarely fell. I made one run down and couldn't for the life of me get my bindings to loosen. Ugh. Mia was getting irritated that I couldn't help her with her bindings she was getting stuck with so overall, the day wasn't super great, but we'll have a better time next time. It took me a few days to get to it, but I was able to figure out my bindings and adjust them to better fit my boots. They aren't perfect and probably meant for smaller boots, but I think it'll work. Hopefully we can get some more snowboarding sessions before Spring comes.

Mia and I didn't do too much on my day off except her usual $1.00 smoothie. Friday, kicked off Yearbook Season for Jill's studio so I joined her boss at St Mary's to photograph all the kids. I've got 5 other schools to do over the course of a few weeks. Saturday, Mia and I took her picture for her birthday invites and had them sent out (email-wise) Hopefully the kids will have an awesome time come March. She's been excitingly checking to see who's RSVP'd. She's got a birthday party a few weeks before hers that's a sleepover and she already has a sleeping bag out and ready for it. Oh Mia...

We watched the Penguins vs Flyers game while working on some of the Art Show stuff. Mia surprisingly watched the whole game and gave me updates as I was making delicious grilled cheese sandwiches. Rough ending with the Flyers beating the good guys in the Stadium Series match. Ugh.

Sunday, I watched the league cup final between Chelsea vs City. Last time they met, City destroyed us. Today, they played like champions. Chelsea refused to let them score and it went to PK's. Sadly, a couple misses from us and some unfortunate mistakes from keeper Kept, lead to City getting the hardware. Rough ending for the Blues as now they just have the Europa title to play for. This also could be the manager's last week with them. Who knows. It was nice to see the Blues playing like they cared.

Tomorrow, I'll be in Waukesha and Tuesday in Watertown photographing for the year books. We've got a PFC meeting Tuesday after Mia's dance class. So much to do, so little time. Will we get snow this week? Who knows. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

A Rare Night

Afternoon everyone. It's been a busy week, but mostly an easy one for the diva. She had a snow day this week which was pretty enjoyable (till I went to work). We built little snow penguins and a fort in our front yard. The temps were perfect to build and we even had a snowball fight. :)

Throughout the week, I worked on a special Valentine's Day compilation video of all the moments of Mia singing from baby to recent. It was super fun working on this and reminiscing about Mia throughout the years. Best of all, Jill enjoyed it. Her and Mia made me a card and got me some delicious candy :) We made sandwiches for dinner and watched Coco. Awesome time overall. Mia had her Valentine's Day party Friday and had a great time. Jill's friends visited came in for the weekend. Saturday, Mia and I had a full on Daddy/Daughter Day. We started with the trampoline park (after winning two free passes). Such a great time. She really enjoyed shooting hoops. After wards, we picked up some lunch and ran to the zoo specifically to view the red pandas. We've never been to the zoo in the winter so it was completely unique. Not a lot of animals out obviously, but it was fun watching the penguins. Mia named one of them honker because  he was honking a ton. 

We made our way to the red panda exhibit and sure enough, all three were outside playing in the snow. Mainly, baby Lily was exploring while the parents slept. Super cute. Mia could have watched her for hours if possible. 

After wards, we picked up movie candy before relaxing at home with Jill and her friends. Later, we made our way to MOD before the movie for some dinner while the ladies went out for sushi.  After wards, it was Lego Movie 2-The Second Part. Really good sequel. Today, the ladies left and we have been just relaxing before I head off to work. I'll probably shovel soon as well. The quality time Mia and I shared Saturday will be the one thing that gets me through today. I look forward to more days like this. So much fun just chilling with the diva. 

This week, more art and Mia's got a day off tomorrow. Hopefully we'll get to snowboard in the fresh pow. Chelsea plays Man U tomorrow so hopefully they can pull of this much-needed win. The time now is 11:30pm, and it was an awful night driving home in the heavy snow with a phone that was completely dead. Not cool when the snow is flying terribly. Hope we can snowboard tomorrow. I picked up a new board this week and am amped to try it out. That's all for now, thanks for reading! 

Worn So Thin

Evening everyone. My body is beyond exhausted after today's shift so I'm going to try and get through this quick. The week wasn't too bad but the weather was beyond frustrating. The combination of rain, sleet, snow, and MORE rain wrecked havoc on Southeastern Wisconsin so we had ice aplenty everywhere. The snow, the driveways everything is covered in ice. It's ridiculous. My store has been out of salt for days and the guests are leaving irked. Fun. I spent a lot of time this week working on some logos for a friend's amazing doll company she runs. So honored and proud to help with this project. Thursday, while drawing I finally watched a movie I really have been wanting to watch for a long time. Whiplash staring JK Simmons as the tyrannical band director. Really good movie, with a few issues that mainly musicians would catch, but overall happy with it. Mia and I enjoyed our weekly smoothies from KT before picking up Jill from work. Too icy for her to drive to the studio. 

Saturday, Tommy came to town so my in-laws came over to visit. We worked on trying to clear some of the driveway with whatever salt we had. Later, we went out to Big Tuna for delicious sushi. Mia even tried Uncle Tommy's eel sushi. Gotta hand it to her for trying new things. We watched Incredibles 2 with Tommy before calling it a night. Still love the sequel. 

Today, I watched one of the most frustrating matches between Chelsea and Man City. I knew it'd be a tough match, however we beat them earlier this season so it was possible. Guess it wasn't our day. City tore us apart 6-0. They had 4 goals in the first half. The Blues mentally checked out of this match and it was utterly embarrassing that they blew this one. Only a handful of shots, mostly easy ones. I don't know how Sarri thinks he'll get out of this one alive. Pretty sure he'll get sacked this week. His approach just isn't cutting it and his squad needs to mentally get back into this season so we can somehow finish in a more respectful place. Overall, not the way I wanted the day to start. Work wasn't much better after we hit up Trader Joe's and Target to get Mia her Valentines for school. Speaking of which, Mia helped me Thursday put together a fun gift for Jill. It's simple but she'll love it. Mia and I won tickets to Helium so we may be using them next week. 

This week, plenty of art, snow, get some resume work done, flyers for the art show etc etc. Jill's got friends coming this weekend. That's all for now, thanks for reading! 

Bouncin' and Chillin'

Evening everyone! What. A. Week. Mia had a handful of snow and COLD days this week. Wisconsin got a nice dumping of snow this week which is AWESOME. Mia spent one of her snow days sledding behind OL. Didn't bring out the snowboard, just a trusty old sled to make some trails. Not a bad time, but the temps started to shift and she got a bit chilly. Nothing a hot chocolate can't cure.
She had a few really chilly days that caused the district and most of Southeastern Wisconsin to close down, so she had some time to relax, work on art and do some much needed quiet reading. Her last cold day, I was also off so we did two really fun things: We had a drawing challenge where we chose for each artist the colors to use, and took turns picking subject matter such as shave ice, breakfast items and tsum tsums. Really fun and worked our creativity.

Later, we met up with friends and did some bouncing at Helium Trampoline park. Haven't been there in at least 4 years. The place looks totally different and we totally had a great time. Plus, she got to hang with Noelle, her sis Cora and Ellahrose. All in all, great time. Her favorite part was jousting Noelle. I enjoyed dunking on the hoops. We also did some filming for our Mia and Daddy's Adventures video, which turned out nice. Friday, was her 2nd day of school for the week. I believe she was in Wednesday as well before that 2nd cold snap came on Thursday. From what she said, the day was pretty good.

Throughout the week, Chelsea had two matches. One was an utter embarrassment against Boro and Saturday was against Huddersfield. I didn't bother watching the 1st one's highlights because of the shear embarrassment but Mia and I did watch the 2nd one. Chelsea tore Huddersfield apart with a 5-0 win. Awesome to see new striker Higuain pick up a pair of goals as well as Hazard. They've got some pretty big matches coming up so this was needed. After the match, we got our gear and met up with Mia's friend Charlie at Valley View Park for some snowboarding and sledding. The temps were perfect so we had a great time. Mia's improving so quickly. Can't say the same for me. My body is still super sore from some heavy spills. I'm actually debating about trading in my board for a shorter one more specific for freestyle. If I was free riding in Colorado through powder, it'd be fine, but Mia and I are trying to get more into freestyle. We'll see if I pick up a different board this week while Mother Nature hopefully gives us some more snow. I honestly think Mia could hold her own at The Rock Snowpark. Still needs to be able to stop and move her back tail to carve more. We did some more filming and despite having some battery issues, we made a 2nd video. Mia had a blast editing it this morning.

Later, Mia made a red velvet "Spring Cake" because the groundhog didn't see his shadow. I had a slice today and it's pretty tasty. She's such a talent baker and rarely needs much supervision when it comes to baking. This week, I've got hella logos to complete. Hopefully they turn out okay. I also want to continue working on my resume and portfolio if time allows. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Skate and Destroy

Evening everyone. While Wisconsin prepares for one of the worst weeks snow and cold temps-wise, I'm going to reflect on the week and try to distract myself from my horrific commute to work Monday. Work was pretty busy. Thursday I watched Chelsea take on the Spurs. Really good game that ended in spectacular PKs that saw Chelsea into the finale at Wembley! Later, Mia and I were determined after school to go snowboarding. The temps started to drop but we still made a few runs before it got dark over at Pickle Pond. It's a bigger hill than the one behind Mia's school so I was eager to see how she'd do. Despite the chilly temps and higher winds, she had fun, even though we had a few bails. We both still have to work on turns and stops. I want to take her to a different hill next time. A wider one with more room to try new things. This week, we'll probably have to skip snowboarding because the weather is supposed to be absolutely insane. Bummer. I had to do some adjusting to my bindings so it'd be more comfortable to strap the boots in. Looking forward to going again. Maybe next weekend.

Friday, Mia didn't have school so we did some art before bringing her to my parents house. Saturday, Mia had her makeup dance class. She said it was pretty intense but was really looking forward to spending time with her friend later. Mia and BFF Cecilia went ice skating at Eble for a couple hours during the Winter Jamboree. Last year it was super busy because the temps were much warmer. This year, mildly busy. We randomly ran into their former teammate Jana so they skated a bit with her from time to time. The girls had a great time and ended up playing for a bit back at our house. A little later, we ordered sushi and they had fun trying different rolls. The highlight of the evening was them competing to see who could hold wasabi in their mouths the longest. They played in Mia's room a bit and sadly, we had to her back off. Mia sincerely loves playing with Cecilia and she really is an amazing friend. She made her best efforts to help Mia skate. Hopefully in a few weeks, they can do a sleepover.

Sunday after dropping off two big boxes of books and getting very little for them, I watched Chelsea take on Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup. Comfortable win for the Blues as well. Mia and Jill did some pretty awesome art as I was leaving for work.

This week I should have my phone interview with C2 (that is, if their office is still open) and I'll try my very best to get some serious logo work accomplished. That's all for now, stay warm and thanks for reading!

Reflect

Evening folks. Got to watch a little bit of the Super Wolf Blood Moon before diving into this post. I think I"m going to split this up actually. A quick recap of the week and my 2018 review. I know I haven't done this in the past but I wanted to knock out both of them anyways, so bare with me. First the week. My illness resurfaced and I've been coughing and sneezing all week. Perfect. I had a 6 day work week Sun-Fri so didn't get to see much of Mia. She had some friend issues that resulted me in joining her for lunch/recess one of days. Didn't mind coming but hated that there were problems again. Hopefully things get better. Coming for lunch and recess will never be the same again. Every kid came up to me saying hi with a "remember me??" Super cute. Mia couldn't give me enough hugs before I left. I really need to get a day job so I can see her more often.

Friday we FINALLY got the snow Mia and I have been wishing for. Yeah there are plenty of resorts to snowboard at but I want just a little one-on-one time with her learning at our own pace without a lot of traffic before we take on snow parks. The drive home was dicey but made it. Saturday Jill, myself and Mia were supposed to make it to Indiana. Due to the driving conditions and our unfortunate illnesses, we didn't make it, so we played low Saturday. Chelsea played Arsenal and I really don't want to go into how bad that game was.

Sunday I got my snowboard boots from a local guy. Really nice condition pair of Burton Invaders. Took them for a spin today with Mia and they were super fun. Despite the chilly weather, we went to work learning how to snowboard. Mia went from "DON'T LET GO OF MY HAND DADDY!" to "let's built the kicker bigger!" She refused to release my hand but eventually I slipped it out and she was good to go. She never wanted me to hold it again. She started to get better at stopping and slowing herself down as well as a bit of turns. Need a bigger hill to learn to turn and carve. I did a few runs but not many due to having to help her get her bindings on strapped on. It was probably 10 degrees out but you never knew she was cold. Such a great time before getting stuck at work all day. Nothing major for the week ahead. I have to find goggles and a helmet still, and tomorrow at 9am I have a phone interview with C2 talent for possible work in my field.

______________________________
2018 Reflection. 2018 was quite the year for us. So many things going and I hope I hit the majority of them in this post.  The big one was celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary with a major trip to California and Hawaii. We had such an amazing trip and were so stoked to have Mia and our good friend Leanne with us. Shark diving was a big first for me as well as body boarding. Didn't get to surf but if I make it back, I'll make the attempt.  Our beach ceremony was perfect and it was fantastic hanging out with our local friends and exploring new places.

Mia had her 2nd season with the NBAA soccer. First time having an assistant coach which was fantastic. Mia focused on her footwork before every single practice.  On paper it wasn't the best season, but these girls bonded so well and Mia made her very first goal in their last game. She never game up and really improved along with her BFF Cecilia. Both will a play with bigger kids next season along with some of my other 2nd graders from the Cheetahs.
Mia's in her 3rd year of dance. From what I've heard she's doing really well. Her recital last April was awesome. 3 dances and styles in tap, ballet and jazz. Cecilia joined to cheer her on :)

Speaking of which, Jill, Mia AND Cecilia went to their first Wave game. Great time for everyone! Mia and Cecilia want to make another one this season. I hope I can bring the dynamic duo to a Torrent one. Speaking of which, Mia made it to her first Torrent Women's game. She had a great time and even got to play on the pitch after wards. She became a huge fan of player Mariah Downs that season and hopes she can help her improve her soccer skills over the Summer.

One of the biggest things of 2018 for me personally, was conducting art lessons as a side business. Throughout the Summer and school year, I've been working with some talented kids developing their art skills. I'm sincerely grateful for the opportunity and flattered to be considered a mentor and teacher for them. The kids are terrific listeners and will continue to get better the more they practice. I've loved working with them and (since its been a while) look forward to seeing what they've been creating in school.

I've continued my freelance work creating logos as well as the main designer with the Torrent. I'm hoping the upcoming season to get to do more work with the Flood since they have a marketing team at the helm of the creative side of the Blues.

Jill and I (along with the help of her parents) were able to redo some of our kitchen. We busted our butts painting and replacing the cabinets. Looks so much better. We had an amazing and memorable holiday in December. Having my brother and his family take the train to Wisconsin from California was awesome. My half brother and his boys made the trek too from Michigan so it was overall wonderful having everyone here. Seeing Conan O'Brien perform was absolutely amazing as well. Perfect and rare night with Jill!

2019 has already been a busy year and I hope to continue working hard in my creative complicated mind. The goals are is as follows-A brand new FT job, Leave KT and learn 3 tricks on my snowboard. I just started today and hope Mia and I can progress together.

That's all for now, thanks for reading over the year!!

Art Teachers For a Week

Good evening everyone. First of all, totally forgot to do my year-end review of 2018, but will go through all of that and the exciting things we've done last year in another blog post. For now, a well-thought out post about our week as Artists in Residence at Orchard Lane. In 5 days, we had over 450 kids and lead 22 art classes and assisted several kids in 5 separate lunch/recess sessions. Each class had a specific artist as well. Kindergarten had Picasso, 1st graders had Van Gogh, 2nd graders had Klimt, 3rd graders had O'Keeffe, 4th graders had Britto Romero, 5th graders had Dali and finally, 6 graders had Warhol. Phew.

Kindergarten was easily, the toughest group. No matter how much we tried to clarify how to do the project, we always had kids that didn't pay attention. A lot of them did an amazing job, and had a great time helping me put the pieces of my in-class portrait together. The first class we taught, all gave us huge hugs afterwards. Our last class drew us some cute pictures.

1st graders was another tough one. We knew water color would be a tough medium for them to work with along with the oil pastels, but for the most part they did okay with the majority of the projects. Starry Night was a huge struggle. The wheat fields and flower piece turned out alright for the most part.

2nd graders did pretty well with Klimt. Mia's class was our very first one of the week. Each class took on a different version of the Tree of Life. Mia's class did really well. Some struggled with the basic tree shape, but overall they were pretty great. All 3 classes recognized Jill and myself so they were pretty sweet.

3rd graders had a tough one, using mainly chalk pastels with Georgia O'Keeffe. The landscape one was a pretty basic one, but some had a hard time getting those basic mountain shapes. It was our first group that we got to instruct and teach how to properly blend the pastels. A different class took on her flowers and our last class on a sea or snail shell (pending how you look at it). They really liked the last one and most of the class did a great job.

4th graders took on Britto Romero. They drew their version of his fish, cat and dog pieces. Our class that did the dog was the only one that had a handful of people struggling, but once they got that basic shape, they were off and running. I had one girl in tears trying to get her fish shape. She told me how she was never confident with art but once I calmed her down, she was totally into it and make her piece her own. Totally proud. The cat drawings were super cute as well. We always had some 4th graders stopping in during their lunch/recess to finish their Romero-inspired drawings. We had a handful of girls in our last class asking for our signatures or a quick drawing (with an autograph) Super cute.

5th graders had a pretty tricky one. Salvador Dali's pieces are both intriguing and intimidating for kids but I think all 3 classes knocked them out beautifully. First class took on his elephants. They carefully worked on getting that shape and bringing in the background to give the illusion that this creature is larger than life. 2nd class took on his "Eggs On a Plate (without the plate) which was basically the kids creating their own food images in the same style he did. We were prompted this group would struggle with this project but they were super creative and had a total blast. Very proud. Our last group had the famous "Persistence of Time" or better known as Melting Clocks. Most of them did a great job. A few needed some blending and shaping help but they rocked it as well.

6th graders took on that wild Andy Warhol. They all did their own food-package artwork. There was some seriously talented artists throughout the 3 classes. Our last class of the week blew me away. Some of the kids methodically planned their artwork out and will be finishing it in due time. Like i mentioned after wards, we always had kids hanging out during their lunches so it was pretty fun.

This was definitely an experience we'll always remember. Jill wrote a well-thought post the other morning about her experience that sums it up perfectly. She found herself gravitating towards the struggling kids, where myself and the school art teacher would help out wherever we were needed. IT may be with some kids needing some blending techniques or simply getting kindergartners to draw a simple circle. Ever since I began doing private art lessons, so I knew this would be a fun test for myself and I sincerely love working with kids. A lot of them would take our suggestions to heart and many asked if we could return. Of course we'll be back for Showcase Night and I can't wait to see the kids again. Lastly, I've always respected teachers of all subjects and everything they do, but when you're thrown into the mix teaching over 450 kids in a week, you really feel what they go through. We were there for only a week, so I can only imagine how this art teacher goes through. We had a lot of kids asking if we could just work at OL..If only it was that easy. Mia really enjoyed having us at school every single day and we even had lunch with her on one of our breaks. Super fun. She was always a great helper setting up our classes before school and helping us take them down after school. I'm super thankful for Jill and Mia's art teacher for making this happen.

Saturday I watched the Chelsea vs Newcastle game. Great match. Even better that Spurs and Arsenal lost over the weekend as well. Saturday evening, Mia and I went to the Petit. She was super fortunate to skate on freshly zamboni'd ice. She absolutely loved it. Still needs to release my hand and skate solo, but hopefully we get there someday this year.

Sunday, nothing special. I returned back to work unfortunately. I've got some logos to design this week and we'll be heading to Indiana for the day on Saturday. I promised Mia that unless the conditions are lousy, we're going snowboarding. Can't. Wait. That's all for now, thanks for reading!