Casserole Pans

This one was inspired by a church fellowship in the time of Covid when we were wondering how our church would handle dishing (haha) out the food - turns out they asked for volunteers to serve the food out so they were the only ones to touch the handles (I think that's how some buffets have handled it as well). It was a tasty fellowship - for those outside of Baptist circles, 'fellowship' means a church gathering centered around a meal. Sometimes the food is supplied by the church, sometimes it's a potluck and everyone brings something to share. The potlucks work best when there's a theme and people sign up or are designated what to bring so we don't end up with 15 green salads and three of the same sandwiches. My previous church would use the last names and say A-H brings sandwiches and I-P brings salads and R-Z brings desserts and singles bring drinks or chips. 

Text:
M: How will they serve the casseroles?
L: Let's see how it pans out.

Blissfully Unaware

 

I appreciate those who stay up-to-date with world happenings and national happenings and all that stuff. But I am not one of those people. I use to be, then I realized I was getting unhappy when I reviewed what was going on in the top stories back in the summer of 2020 so I cut back on social media and totally cut out news updates (I just get them from my super helpful husband and a few family members, and also from the social media channels I have kept) and now my anxiety and such have lowered. And I've started looking for the good, tuning my channels to be more positive. I started following humphrey_the_newfoundland_ and rastawhiteshepherd and iroh_the_berner (all amazing dogs) and I recommend following them (on insta) if you want some cute dogs and positivity in your feeds.

Text:
M: Have you heard the latest on *annoying topic*?
L: Nope, I have been blissfully unaware.
M: Well, let me fill you in...

Nature Sounds

We've been having some nice weather which means most days we have some windows open, provided they aren't making too much noise with the construction on our block (someone is putting in a new house and another is replacing their deck). There are lots of birds in our area which make for relaxing nature noise. Pretty soon the seventeen year cicadas are gonna emerge (I saw my first exoskeleton today when I went to get the mail) (today is about two weeks ago because the baby is sleeping so I'm scheduling comics while the peace lasts) and once they are all out and about we might want the windows closed again. Bleh, they are gross. Leaving their shells all around. 

Text:
L: Want to listen to some music or just nature sounds?
M: Nature sounds are good.
L: Ok - Alexa, play nature sounds.

Ambiguous Cartoon Critter

 

Here's a picture of the cartoon creature in question - the model is clearly concerned over what it is. 

After polling many people, we had suggestions of mouse, cow, sheep, bear, dinosaur, puppy, lamb, and koala. I was thinking it's a mouse but upon seeing all the suggestions, leaning towards a polar bear. The critter is repeated on the feet of the sleeper but looks roughly the same there so no help from multiple angles. But it's still a cute outfit, even if we don't know what's on it.

Text:
M: Is that a mouse on her sleeper? Or a ... cow?
L: It's a cute little ambiguous cartoon critter.

Unicorn and Narwhal Renamed

 Continuing on the theme of the last comic, we now have another rename! "Mono-dente-tops" would mean "one-tooth-face" because narwhals have a tusk which is actually a tooth that pops right through their lip and sticks out like a horn. So there's that. Some even have two tusks. Others have none. They're kinda fascinating creatures. I could say more but the baby is crying so I gotta go attend to her.

Text:
Unicorn: I'm a monoceratops!
Narwhal: I'm a monodentetops!

Triceratops vs Monoceratops

 

This came from a discussion on trichotomy vs dichotomy which will come in a later comic. But to dissect the word "tri-cerat-ops" you get "three-horn-face" so a unicorn would be a "mono-cerat-ops" or "one-horn-face." Or perhaps a "uniceratops", that could work too. Rhinoceros just means "nose-horn" but since they have one or two horns on their face/nose then they could be in the same category as a unicorn i.e. uniceratops or monoceratops OR they could be diceratops. 

Text:
Rhino: Are you a triceratops?
Unicorn: No, I'm a monoceratops! 

Pastries in the Park

Before the baby but after the Pandemic started, we began a Sunday tradition of going to Roggenart (which now has a second location open in Ellicott City!), getting some pastries and chai tea lattes, then enjoying them in a nearby park before heading to our church's 11am in-person service. On rainy or cold days, we eat at the restaurant. Eventually, we will restart our tradition once I'm all healed up from the cesarean and the kiddo is ready to be introduced to the world because I really like this tradition. It should go into the Good Times Jar (a mason jar on a side table in our living room which we plan to read every New Years, put the slips in an envelope, and restart the jar). 

Happy almost-Birthday to my Grandma and Niece! 

Text:
Title: Pastries in the Park
L: The good news is I'm not getting any powdered sugar on myself. The bad news is you're downwind of me.
M: I've noticed.

Sticking to your Batarangs

 

This was inspired by the phrase "sticking to your guns" and the knowledge that Batman doesn't like guns. Robin is on my mind because we nicknamed our daughter Robin before she was born to keep the gender and name a surprise. Batgirl shows up in this comic because when Lucy was born, we all got wristbands with 'BG-Conrad" on them and I was wondering why they were calling her Batgirl when clearly she was a Robin but then I realized it was 'baby girl.' 

Happy almost-Birthday to my Niece!

Text:
Robin: Did you get Batman to change his mind on the issue?
Batgirl: Nope, he's sticking to his batarangs on this. 

Introducing Lucy

The first comic inspired by our infant! She is cute and talented. This comic came to me in the middle of the night (of course we were not sleeping since yeah we have a baby). Maybe she will inherit my super sneeze which I inherited from my grandmother (have heard that it can wake the dead).
I'm thinking the person in the comic is Simon Cowell and this is a talent show of sorts. 

Also, Happy Anniversary to my parents!

Text:
S: Your baby is cute, but without special talent.
L: She can sneeze - without losing her pacifier.
S: Ok, one special talent.

Flours for Mother's Day

 

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! Especially mine :) 
It's my first Mother's Day as a mom! But I'm writing this beforehand and scheduling it because my baby is coming tomorrow (two weeks before Mother's Day) so I don't have any motherly wisdom to impart yet. Maybe next year I will. I do know that I'll be super busy with a newborn so it's possible my comic update schedule could change. I also have learned that you can't just substitute any flour for another in a recipe - they are different and behave differently. Specifically with the gluten-free ones - coconut or almond flour can't swap out for wheat flour directly. But there are many recipes that call for whatever specific flour so just use the proper one - it's easier than adjusting usually. 

Text:
M: I got you whole wheat, semolina, cake, and gluten-free.
L: Ah, a lovely bunch of flours for Mother's Day!

Gaston in Valheim

So the game Mark is playing is Valheim and it's on his computer, not the Switch, but it was easier to draw him using the Switch rather than seated at a computer. It's a survival game so you have to build a house and boat, and hunt and gather food, and fight off the dwarves and trolls. When you hunt the deer, you can gather a hunting trophy from them sometimes which is their ANTLERS which I believe you can use in all of your decorating. There are birds in the game from which you can gather feathers - not sure if you can gather eggs which would allow you to make a proper breakfast every morning to help you get laaaaaaarge. Until you're roughly the size of a barge. Now that I look up the lyrics, I see the verse about hunting was just in the live-action version, not the animated original Disney version. Here's the live-action lyrics - they actually are a bit different but still carry the original theme strongly. 

And now I have that song stuck solidly in my head, but maybe you do too. 

Text:
M: *playing game which has deer hunting*
L: You should carefully aim for the liver. Then shoot from behind.
M: Is that fair?
L: I don't care.

Surprise Birthday Party

 

Well that would be awkward. Happy Belated Birthday to my amazing husband! His birthday didn't fall on a Sunday, Tuesday, or Thursday this year, so he didn't get a spot-on shout out. But usually the birthday party doesn't fall on the day, so maybe this is ok. And the last comic was for our baby's due date, which actually this one would fit for that too. Oh well. Just keep scheduling, just keep scheduling... 

How many people would you need to invite to a party to have the best odds of having someone randomly be the birthday person? I feel like that'd be a cool statistics problem to figure out, but I don't feel like devoting the brainpower to it. Let me know if you do!

Text:
Title: Surprise Birthday Party
A: So, who's birthday is it?
B: *thinking*
C: *shrugging*

Blowout Sale

My mom sent me a picture of an item in Cabela's and I saw the End of Season Blowout Sale sign in the background of the photo and that's how we got to this comic (for the unaware, Pampers is a diaper brand). If you don't know why a diaper brand having a blowout sale is funny, you are probably more mature than me. Ask any parent of a young child to explain this comic to you. Also, not sure when 'end of season' is for diapers...

My kiddo's due date is today, so yes this comic is a scheduled post because who knows when this kid will decide to make an appearance. This is also a warning that there's a possibility that the frequency of comics could change as I adjust to life with a newborn. I hear they're a lot of work. My kid has been tracking large so there's a decent change we will have already met our child when this posts (I hear only a small percentage of kids are born on their due date). I'm trying to write up all the comics in my backlog and schedule them to hold me over for a bit, as my sleep schedule will suffer and nobody wants to write things while cranky. 

Text:
M: Cabela's is having an End of Season Blowout Sale.
L: I wonder if Pampers will have one, too....