Music+Art

Evening everyone. Not the best ending to my night so let's get right to it so I can pass out for the evening. The week was a fun one for Mia. Mia was off from school Monday so we did some much-needed snowboarding. Didn't stay out too long. The hike up Valley View's big hill is daunting but she made some good runs. We fell a couple times but overall did well. I popped an ollie off one of the rollers as well as a simple 180 to see if I could do it. I wish we had more time for snowboarding but my obnoxious work schedule ruins everything.  Later, Mia went by Jill to help do some envelope stuffing. Not a glamorous job but Mia enjoyed spending time with Jill.

Throughout the week, I continued working on my Joker comic-influenced sketch. It's taken a ton of time, but it's almost done. I've had some struggles blending some of my green colors, as well as the pen not writing well on the some of the colors but I'm mostly happy with it.

Thursday, I photographed at Hillcrest Elementary. Easy Waukesha school to work and navigate. Kids were pretty funny too. For some reason, a small group of 5th grader girls were infatuated with me and kept finding things we had in common. When one girl asked my age and I told them I was 36, they were like "oh wow, I thought you were in your 20's you're almost as old as my Mom!" Sorry? Overall, not a bad day.

Later after I picked up Mia, she had an online Kawaii drawing class. 6 other kids joined this one-off little sketch session. The woman running it was really sweet and Mia enjoyed drawing these little weather characters in her favorite Japanese style of drawing. The only downside was that the diva was SUPER shy and quiet. She shared her drawings throughout the session but never said a word. Bummer. She still struggles with being shy with adults no matter what the situation is. Mia also did some super rare drumming on my drum kit. She used to play it a lot when she was really little and loved it. She still enjoys it and even learned some beats. I was originally going to teach her "Under Pressure" on bass but we ran out of time and Jill was home so we made dinner. Later, we watched Frozen 2.  Mia and Jill LOVE Frozen 2. Me? It's okay. The music is good, art gorgeous. Story? It's alright.

Saturday, I got up early for the Chelsea vs Spurs match. I missed the first goal off Giroud but the replay was amazing. The guy was supposed to leave over the January Transfer Window, but CFC didn't release him so he's putting the effort in to play well and win games. I took Remi out at half time and came back to another goal. Alonso blasted one from a good distance. The match ended 2-1 which means we beat them twice this season. Fantastic! Jill and Mia woke up soon after the game was over, we met up with Tommy and drove to IKEA for the very first and probably last time. We weren't super impressed but Mia enjoyed some Swedish candy and ice cream. The cinnamon roll was pretty awesome too.

We went back home, hung out and had pizza for dinner with Tommy. We watched Frozen 2 again. Afterwards, played board games at "Mia's Arcade" and she drew us pictures as prizes. Super cute. Mia did some reading as well as Jill while I continued my Joker sketch. Mia fell asleep on the couch and I brought up the sleeping diva before we all crashed. Today we didn't do much. Ran to Menards in search of some new light fixtures and or a ceiling fan for the dining room. No luck.

This week, more drawing and we're back in action soccer-wise on Saturday. Chelsea takes on Munich on Tuesday so hopefully we can get a big win. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Soccer, Sushi and a Sleepover

Greetings everyone. Lousy day at work but an overall solid weekend so let's get right to it. Most of the week was pretty mellow with not much to discuss. We got some more snow Wednesday evening, which made my commute to a school to photograph at really lousy. Luckily, it was a pretty simple school to navigate and the class sizes weren't too big. The only struggle was some lag time waiting for the older groups to finish up their sports pictures. The highlight was a group of 3rd graders I had with me looking all over the school to photograph 2 missing kids that were with an aid. We couldn't find these two boys ANYWHERE. These kids with me were running everywhere and I didn't really want to be running after them with a camera but I tried my best to keep up. They were running into the chapel, the lunch room, offices..We must have looked really good on the school security cameras. When Jill's boss and I were done, we left.

I picked up Mia from school who was super cold and she told me this horrid story about her sub that I really can't go into here. Let's just say, it was insane. We hung out with Jill when she got home, played a little Luigi's Mansion 3 before calling it a night. Friday was Valentines Day. Mia was stoked for her class party and hopefully, her teacher's return. Jill and I don't really do anything and saved our "celebration" for sushi with Mia and her friend Scarlett (sleepover)

Saturday we did some grocery shopping before Mia's game. Dragons, who sadly haven't had a solid practice were playing against 1st place Polonia (who practice twice weekly). They destroyed us, which we expected. Clinic passing, oversized and probably way too old kids throwing elbows and tripping one of our kids every 5 minutes and as usual, our defense having some inner struggles were some of the main problems. Our attackers weren't spreading out and it showed. SOMEHOW the 2nd half, Alice scored her first goal of the season. She was a major threat in the Fall and has been sort of a shocker that she hasn't been able to score or even show this indoor season...but she had a good run and put one through their goalies hands. Our supporters went nuts and the kids were high-giving. It was a breath of fresh air. I totally hyped her up when she came off for a break. The kids once again, never gave up and despite all the issues, they still played their hearts out. I really wish I could get Mia involved in some sort of clinics to amp her skills. I know indoor has been a really tough for her and it's clear she likes outdoor a little more. It's not as fast as indoor. My buddy Brad and his wife came and watched our team. Always nice when people can make a match. Some of our top players of the match were Elia, Olivia, Scarlett, and Alice. Angie had some good moments, as well as Jess when she moved to goal. She had her first go at defense and has plenty of potential to be better. Speaking of Angie, she was super thrilled I gave her the sloth sketch she requested. SO many hugs from that little 10 year old.

Afterwards, Mia said goodbye to her awesome grandparents who came, and we took Scarlett back to our house for a sleepover. The girls ordered sushi and I picked up dinner. The kids played Switch till I got back. Scarlett downed her 6 pieces of salmon sushi quickly. They played card games, chased each other around the living room and overall, had an awesome time. She's only the 2nd other child besides Cecilia to sleep over. Originally her sister was going to join her but Scarlett didn't want to share her "Mia time" so she set up a sleepover. Eventually after a dozen of rounds of Snappy Dresser, the girls called it a night. Jill made everyone pancakes in the morning. Scarlett and Mia played Exploding Kittens before another few more rounds of Snappy Dresser before we brought Scarlett back. They're such a hilarious duo. When Mia and I got back, she crashed. She was up late chatting with Scarlett throughout the evening so I wasn't surprised she napped.

Tomorrow, Mia's off so we may try to get some snowboarding in before I head to work. At least I hope we can. Last week, I've been working hard on a joker sketch. Originally it was supposed to be a marker sketch but like an idiot, I realized I drew it on dry media paper so it's now a mixed media color pencil and pen sketch. Luckily, it's coming along nicely. Maybe I'll complete it this week. We've got another by week for soccer this week so not completely sure what we're doing yet but we'll figure it out. Chelsea plays Man U tomorrow but sadly, I gotta work. Hopefully, they get the must-win.
Thanks for reading!

Day Trip

Greetings. Man, was it a busy week with an even busier one coming up so let's get right to it. Mia had a low-grade fever this week, but with schools putting on the pressure to either provide a doctor's note when your child is sick, Mia opted to soldier on and make it through. I joined her for lunch on Thursday to see how she was doing. She was happy to see me, and was looking pretty good. She wanted to go to art, but her teacher made her go outside so we played a little soccer with her buddies. She wanted to simply just sit and talk to a friend. She said her goodbyes and I was on my way. I went in thinking I may have to sign her out if she was still not feeling well, but in the end, she was doing well.

She came home and was very lethargic. Sort of reverted again and wasn't feeling well. Poor kid. She once again, toughed it out. Luckily, when she got home, I got a text from my Mom that she was good. Phew. When I got home, we packed up our bags and Saturday we were on our way to Illinois. Saturday, Jill and her buddies set up a girls night where they watched the Downton Abbey movie and had tea and little sandwiches. First, we went to Caleb's basketball game. This was the very first time Mia ever watched a basketball game so it was sorta fun to watch her take it all in. "Why are they NOT kicking the ball?" First of all, Caleb was a straight baller. He's got confidence and he controls the plays and even got the first basket. The teams were pretty even-matched but Caleb's team won. NOT before the poor kid took a smack to the face which knocked out one of his teeth! He freaked out and after the picked up his tiny tough, the game continued. He sat the rest of the game out and clotted his empty tooth spot. I tried to lighten the mood with some missing teeth/hockey jokes but he stayed quiet. Oh well.

We went back to the house and the kids played games and had some lunch. After wards, I took them to our hotel and the kids swam and played in the gym. This was probably the one time we were at a pool where it was super full of kids. Mia and Caleb still had fun. Later, we went back to the house and the kids continued playing games both board and video games. Caleb had to show me how to play Battlefront 2 and Spiderman. The dude is such a great kid and he and Mia always pick up where they left off. Friends since babies. Mia even refers to him as one of her cousins. Awwwww, right? We said our goodbyes and went back to the hotel for the night.

This morning we got up had some breakfast and were on our way back to Wisconsin through all the crazy snow. I didn't know how much we were supposed to get, but it certainly was quite a bit. Roads weren't great but we made it in. Mia crashed on the coach for a bit while I cleaned up the driveway and walked Remi. Remi had the best time playing and rolling in the fresh powder, just like he did when he was much younger.

This week, the Dragons are back in action on Saturday at 4:30. The kids really wanted to get a practice in over the weekend, but unfortunately there wasn't a place for the kids to practice. Hopefully, we can get some goals and give the opposition a good fight. I've been working on a really tricky and technical drawing of the Joker so I'll be continuing that. Thursday, I'm working at a school with Jill's boss. I'm not sure how many schools we're photographing this year, but this will be the first one. I applied for a new job and will continue to keep looking.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work!

Evening peeps. Quite a busy weekend but we'll get to that later. The week was a fun one for Mia, because they got to dress up in different themes including crazy hair day and "work out" your problems (wear workout clothes) where a chunk of her teammates all wore their Dragons jerseys. Awesome! I worked on a giraffe sketch for Mia's friend Scarlett's 9th birthday gift. I used a slightly heavier paper with a different pencil. At first, it went well but I was getting frustrated when it kept breaking. Also, the tan pencil wouldn't allow me to get those "darker darks" when it comes to heavier shading. In the end, the drawing looking great and Scarlett loved it and gave me a hug Saturday.

Thursday, Mia worked on her very own soccer jersey concept for a made-up team; The Red Pandas. It was her first time playing in Photoshop as well as using multiple layers and editing. Overall, she did a great job and was totally proud of her concept. Later, she took a shower and we had dinner before she crashed for the night.

Saturday was a busy day. I got up early to watch the Chelsea vs Leicester match. It ended 2-2 which was frustrating, but not terribly surprising. They're in 3rd and we're in 4th so I expected a tight match. After Mia woke up, we went to the Pet Expo for a few hours. Plenty of animals to pet. Mia loved the huskies and dachshunds, all the kittens and cats and the adorable mini horse. Wish I could have grabbed a shot of the diva with the horse, but it didn't stick around long. All in all, she had a great time.

We grabbed some lunch before picking up Cecilia for a much-needed soccer practice. My buddy Brad set up a time slot for us where his team practises in a futsal-setting. 5 kids were already waiting for us and were working on some drills already. I let Brad lead the practice since he got a good view from above last week at the match and could tell what we needed to work on. I mean, I knew what we needed to work on, but he also works with a U-11 girls team and knows some seriously good drills to tighten things and improve technical skills. A little 6v2, some Y-passing and a scrimmage was all we could squeeze in before we had to split for Vida's birthday party. I brought Cecilia home and despite the fact that she really wanted Mia to sleep over, we had plans for the evening. Mia, Vida, Cecilia and Scarlett (along with Vivana her sister) went tubing at The Rock. I low-keyed wish I brought my snowboard, but my job was simple: push the kids. Myself and Vida's parents pushed the kids on their tubes and I think every one of them won at least one race. They had an absolute blast. I hope the next time I get there, Mia and I can snowboard.

After wards, we went back to her house so the kids could eat pizza, cake and be silly while the adults chatted. The girls had a great time. When we got home Mia was pretty tuckered out and crashed.

Today, not much happened. Mia played Mario Kart with Uncle Tommy after I left for work.
This week, not much going on. I'll keep applying at jobs and working on art projects. I think Mia's got her first week of Art Club? We're heading out of town Saturday and Mia's Dragons team may have another practice. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Keep Fighting

Evening. Going to try and get through this rather quick because it's been a pretty lousy day. Monday, Mia was off from school so we enjoyed some time drawing and playing a little Luigi's Mansion 3 before I went to work. Thursday, Jill's Dad and I drove her ride to get a remote starter put in that her boss got for her for Christmas. It's a nice little novelty that she's enjoying on cold days. We had another round of snow Friday evening but it wasn't as bad as the week prior. I went to lunch with Mia and her friends Friday. Lunch was fun. her friends were a little crazy and she skipped recess to go work on art with Scarlett. Vida joined as well. All in all, fun afternoon before going to work.

Saturday, I tried to catch the Chelsea vs Hull FA Cup match but the stream wasn't working. The Blues ended up getting the win so that was great. We did some grocery shopping before Mia's 4:30pm match against the Dynamo. I requested the girls arrive early so we could have a good team talk and get through some of the issues. I explained about how they need to hold their positions, communicate and PASS. Some got it, the the majority struggled. At HT, it was 0-6. We weren't able to get really any solid shots for a while but they were grinding and trying really hard. Jess was trying her best in goal but I was ready to get the kid on the field and score. Sadly. that didn't happen. They were all struggling with picking a position to stay in at times. Defense was problematic and offense wasn't spreading out. We had a few chances but in the end, it finished 0-10 again. Somehow, we're not in last place still with the one win still under their belt. The girls kept fighting till the end, but it wasn't enough. I'm starting to question my ability to coach indoor against these bigger club teams. We need practices or something before our next big game against a tough team. Luckily, my buddy is looking to see if we can get in where his Pewaukee soccer club trains. I feel like the majority of the parents would be happy with more practice. Speaking of which, he's looking at possibly having me redesign some kits for their club teams. I'd love to do it and I hope he comes through with getting me some time. Cecilia had her first match and I think she did pretty well. Angie is staying aggressive and Bella proved she prefers defense. Mia's got some work to do on staying aggressive. Averi and Scarlett never gave up and ran their hearts out. I hope we can get the problems fixed before the next game.

I may have an assistant coaching role for spring soccer with SC Wave this season. Actually, it would be a co-assist so the Cecilia's Dad can help out on days I can't do. Tomorrow, I'll talk to the head coach and see what we can work out. I think this team would be great for Mia and Cecilia. More soccer and the ability to grow with a team that's established would be a better fitting than NBAA where you get new players every year. Overall, it should be a pretty positive experience.

When we got home, Jill made an incredible dinner. Mediterranean gnocchi, chicken and air fryer zucchini. Mia tried escargot which was a bit weird. Jill was quite proud of her creation. She never gets to cook like this anymore and it's honestly like watching an artist paint. She's incredible. Mia and I played some Luigi's Mansion 3 before crashing.

Today, nothing exciting to report. Work was absolutely awful after 9pm. One of the 3rd shifter called out and I was stuck till 10:40 till our unfortunate ASL had to return to work. I felt terrible calling him after he worked a full early shift. Applied at a job Friday after I re-did my resume so let's hope this time I hear back.

This week is a busy one. I'm working on a sketch for Scarlett's birthday, I'm building football kits for Pewaukee-Sussex club and Mia's going to hang out with Vida for her birthday Saturday. I think they're going tubing at the Rock. I'm tempted to go and snowboard while she has fun. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Rise and Grind

Evening everyone. Quite the busy weekend with even more snow, so let's get right to it. During the week, nothing too exciting to report. Thursday was a normal day off for me. I started attempting to work with alcohol-based markers. Definitely not an easy medium to work with. Mainly because I think I may or may not have asked for the correct paper for it but we'll see how the next attempt goes. Hopefully I can figure it out. After I picked up Mia from school, we knocked out her homework and got to spend some quality time playing her favorite Switch game; Luigi's Manson 3. It's definitely a game you want to play with a friend as the challenges go on. Since Jill's not really a fan of video games, Mia settles for me :) We made turkey burgers with Jill before calling it a night.

Friday while at work, we got some serious snow. It picked up quickly as my shift went on. Certainly made my drive a nightmare and question if we'll have a game the next day...at 7:00AM!
5:30am came and we woke up early to get ready for Mia's game. I had parents concerned for the weather since we had received a healthy amount of the white stuff the night before. If we were going to cancel, I would have had to have done it the day before. Majority of the kids made it. The only two that didn't notified me prior which wasn't weather related. The game certainly wasn't one to remember. The girls lost pretty badly. Couldn't even pick up a goal unfortunately. EBU that beat us are a club that keeps the kids together from season to season so they clearly knew how to play. They haven't even lost a game yet this season. They were well organized and had no trouble beating us. We had a few close moments to score, but in the end, couldn't find the net. I need to figure out how to get the kids to stay in positions, not bunch up and PASS. They focus more on dribbling. Liv had a break away but her touch was too heavy and she couldn't get the shot off. Angie and Scarlett are showing improvement as well as Vida as a defender. She just has to work on her passing when the ball comes towards our end. Jill's parents made the early trek in the morning so Mia was happy to see them. Our next match is at 4:30 next weekend. Hopefully they can pull off a win or at least make some goals.

You'd think Mia would want to nap after wards, but she had some post-game energy which we used to help me shovel for a while. She ended up playing in the snow while I snow blown the driveway. She buried her legs in the snow, which was cute. After I pulled her out, we packed up our gear and went snowboarding. This time, I set up a couple PVC pipe rails so we could learn some grinds and slides. Mia figured out the FS 50/50 pretty quickly. Helped that a few months ago I had set up a rail for her to practice tricks on flat ground. She did a little smith grind as FS board slide as well. I realized way later when we got home I should have set up the rails on flat ground. Her board slides would have been better and cleaner but you know, you learn and figure things out. After a few hours of snowboarding, we went home. I ran to TJ's for some groceries, and Mia and I soon met up with her friend Scarlett and her sisters (and teammate) Angelina and older sister Sofia for some free ice skating. For the last 3-4 years, Mia and I have gone skating at Eble during Waukesha's JANBOREE where the public could skate for free for 2 hours. The girls had a blast. Mia was grasping hands with myself and Scarlett till they were comfortable skating without me. Her goal is to get better and it and I hope one day she does. Angie got better as the day went on and Sofia totally knew what she was doing. She wasn't feeling the best and I ended up taking Mia, Scarlett and Angie back to our house after the skating session was over while her sister and Mom went to the doctor. The girls were so excited to play with our animals and hang out. Mia and Scarlett went straight to the Switch while Angelina went through my art books looking at the stuff I've done. Everything impressed her and she picked mine and Jill's brain about literally everything. Art, photography, life etc etc. The girls were having so much fun that they requested I call and ask if it was okay if they stayed for dinner. Of course their Mom was cool with it so they excitingly had some pizza while Jill and I ate sushi. Sadly, our sub pump line had some water frozen which backed up in the corner of our basement with my beloved drum kit getting sprayed heavily with water. UGH. Luckily, we melted the pipe and things were fine. The kids ate dinner, played some more Switch, a little hide-and-seek and a whole lot of fun. Eventually, I had to talk the girls into going home. Mainly, because I think their Mom was probably missing them. It was quite the day that started at 5:30 in the morning. After I dropped the girls off, Mia, Jill and I crashed for the night.

I completely skipped the Chelsea vs Newcastle match to snowboard with Mia, which ended up being a good idea since they blew the game. This week, Mia's off Monday so we'll find something fun to do. Other than that, that's about it. Thanks for reading!

Soccer and Snowstorms

Evening! Quite a busy week over here to let's get to it. I spent a good majority of the week working hard on an intense baby Yoda (or better known as The Child) from the Mandalorian series. I honestly didn't think it would turn out as great, nor even get the attention and praise it got, but I'm flattered and humbled. I made 3 valiant attempts at doing it in color pencil on toned paper but it wasn't blending well and almost made me put my pencils directly into my eyes. The graphite sketch worked and I just kept at it blending and getting as much detail in as possible. The real hero was a 2H pencil that helped me achieve the darker darks to build the details up. All in all proud. Could have done better in areas, but I'm content.

Saturday, I watched the Chelsea vs Burnley match. Great 3-0 win. The highlight was Mia jumping on my lap to watch her fav Hudson-Odoi get his first goal. Awesome job for the youngster. Mia made her very first over easy egg for breakfast. Awesome job kiddo. We had a severe snow advisory for Southeaster Wisconsin that tapered off throughout the day but picked up closer to match time. All by two girls made the trek to Brookfield Indoor in the snow. Honestly, the drive wasn't great but we made it safely. As the kids started arriving and we got them warmed up and stretching, I noticed the Genesee Kickers weren't there. The ref gave them some time and sure enough, it was a forfeit. We won 5-0 and picked up 3 needed points. The best part was that we had an hour of field time to practice. The ref put 50 minutes on the clock and BOOM, we had a free practice till the next game. The kids were confused that we didn't have a team to play against but we certainly made the most of our time for practice. Coach Kevin ran a drill on one side and I did one on the other. He was doing some pass and finishing and I was doing 3 v 1 so the kids could learn to play into space and work on getting around the defender. I honestly wish I could have prepared for a last-minute practice more, but it is what it is. We took the last 30 minutes to scrimmage which was a big favorite. The girls started to show improvement with their passing as well as punting from the goalies. Mia's got some work to do on her endurance but all in all, the kids had fun. It was good to see all of them smiling. I can't thank the parents enough for making the drive including Jill's Dad Tom. He made the trek in the snow and luckily had fun watching us practice.

After wards, we had Cecilia over for a sleepover so we picked up some sushi at Wasabi and made it home. Not the best or worst sushi but the kids had fun. The girls played some Mario Kart, and watched a movie with popcorn before crashing. It's funny that they ended up hitting the bed early because they ran their butts off at soccer. It was Cecilia's first time playing as well as Elia and both did well. Anyways, the last time Mia had Cecilia over, they talked all night. This morning, they slept in a little bit and played before Cecilia's Dad picked her up. All in all, great weekend. This week, I'm going to start working on marker drawings with all my new markers and illustration paper and we've got our early match Sat.  We're supposed to get more snow this week so hopefully Mia and I can do some snowboarding again. That's about it for now, thanks for reading!

On a quick sad note, I was pretty bummed Friday when I found out the passing of drummer God Neil Peart. He was a huge influence on every drummer on the planet and will surely be missed.