Kneecap of the Woods

Who decided the woods have a neck? Fascinating! "The word neck, in this case, refers to a narrow area of land, woods, or pasture and is an American term dating from the 1700s." So it's not like someone drew a person outline over a map and the desired location happened to line up with the neck. I figured it was something like that, hence this comic. Learn something new every day!

Explanation: I thought with the phrase "neck of the woods" one could replace "neck" with any other body part. I was wrong, but I highly doubt most people know the 1700's definition of "neck" so I think we could still make this catch on - say you're from the kneecap or shoulder blade of the woods when people ask where the  New Years Eve party is. 

Text:
M: Is that in your neck of the woods?
P: No, the kneecap.

Hair Gel

She really likes to grab hair. She thinks it's the best. Also, her hands are always sticky. Probably due to how much she drools and sticks random things in her mouth. 

Text:
P: Your hair looks different - did you use gel?
L: Nope - sticky baby hands. 

Going to Grandma's House

Is this common in other households, to refer to your grandparents' house as Grandma's House even though both grandparents live there? 

Text:
M: We are going to Grandma's house.
L: Grandpa lives there, too.

Up on the Housetop

Merry Christmas! Hope you have a wonderful holiday and don't get the wrong lyrics stuck in your head :) Granted, 'pause' and 'paws' sound the same but the mental image always derails my thoughts and I lose track of the song. Hey, that's a pretty good railroad pun there, with derail and track. Anyways, I always thought the lyrics were 'reindeer paws' as in that's what's clicking on the rooftop but they don't have paws so I just thought the lyrics were taking artistic liberty. It was only recently I looked up the lyrics and found out what they really are. Oh well, maybe someday I can think of the reindeer pausing so good old Santa Claus can jump out on the rooftop, rather than them having paws. 

Text:
S: ♪ Up on the housetop reindeer pause - ♪
L: Reindeer don't have paws - they have hooves. 

Christmas Crime

Are you familiar with a classic German marzipan log? It took me a while to find the listing because I don't know where my mom-in-law gets her German chocolate for Christmas - possibly Aldi's and now I want to swing by there and see what they have for Christmas candy. You should look up if there's a German Christmas Village or Market near you - they open seasonally and have the best chocolate and all sorts of little crafts and treats. And maybe a huge wheel of melty cheese! You never know. Tis the season.

Text:
A: You know what's a real crime?
B: Putting serving sizes on Christmas candy.
A: Everybody knows you're gonna eat the whole marzipan log!!!

Little Drummer Boy Drama

I don't totally recall what inspired this one, since I drew it last year after Christmas when it was too late to post, but thinking of the term 'beep boxing' makes me smile :) Since beatboxing is 'vocal percussion', technically "The Little Drummer Boy" has a beatboxing element with the "Pa rum pum pum pum" part. So there's that. But now I want to call it beep boxing. 

Text:
M: I cannot BELIEVE the kids choir is BEEP BOXING in the Christmas program!!!
U: Ma'am... no. And it's a classic rendition of "The Little Drummer Boy."

Do You Hear What I Hear

 

I have always thought, since listening to the lyrics, that the song "Do You Hear What I Hear" is quite odd. The night wind talking to a little lamb, maybe that's happened since we don't know what sheep know. But the lamb talking to his shepherd boy? Unlikely. Then that shepherd having a direct line to the mighty king? But the king to his people everywhere - that is acceptable. But anyways, it's a popular song. Also, the line from the shepherd here is from another song. "Shepherds, why this jubilee?"

Text:
Title: Ok, I should tell the Mighty King
Shepherd Boy: What the gladsome tidings be, Little Lamb?
Little Lamb: I heard about a star from the night wind.

What the Gladsome

Now I want to slip this into a conversation. It will probably derail the conversation as people try to recall what song is being quoted. It's a great line, both in the song and in a random conversation. I feel like I've posted a similar comic but I can't find it, and also I drew this one last year after Christmas since usually I get all the ideas for a holiday comic after the holiday. So I just draw them, file them away, and try to remember in a year that I am prepared this time. Also, I drew two comics about this phrase and the second one will be posted next so stay tuned! Haha, like a song, tuned. 

Text:
A: How do I festively ask "what the heck is going on?!"
B: "What the gladsome tidings be?!"

Month of Broken Hallelujahs

The song being sung here is "Broken Hallelujah" which, while a pretty tune in my opinion, is not Biblically sound. It blends David and Samson, I don't understand all the lyrics which means I probably don't want to, and overall not actually about Christmas but it's sung around Christmas. Now I want to know why. Here's a theory. Nothing conclusive, basically people don't listen to lyrics and also change the lyrics via covers so now it's played at Christmas even though it's about lost love. But it has a pretty tune. 

My comic here is just the fact that "March" is an action (to march forward in victory) and also a month (right before April). 

Text:
A: 𝆕 Love is not a victory march 𝆕 -

B: Is it a victory April? 

Overheard at Food Trucks

 Our local firehouse does Food Truck Fridays during the not winter (April to November), and it's excellent - usually around six to ten trucks line up in the firehouse's parking lot and the firehouse opens their main hall for seating. You get use to the regular trucks and it's always exciting when a new one shows up! But the regulars are good, too. And many have dessert so that's super tasty! I look forward to the trucks returning next year. 

Text:
Title: Overheard at Food Trucks
Child: Are there chicken nuggets in there?!
Parent: It's falafel, dear.

Sixth Day of Christmas

Yes it's the seventh of December but this comic posts on Sun Tues Thurs so it happened to not line up with the sixth. This is based on a true story - when we were looking for a house last year, there was one that we didn't even venture inside because we did a quick check of the yard and there was a fully fenced in back yard with chickens and geese happily milling about. I hear that means the grass would be very fertile but it just struck us as odd that the listing didn't mention anything about the backyard barnyard. Also there was a retention pond right there without a fence or anything around it, so that was also a negative mark on the house. 

♩♪ On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me - six geese a-laying ♪𝅗𝅥

Text:

R: And this house will have you totally prepared for the sixth day of Christmas!
M: Yeah, we're gonna pass.
L: Hard pass.

Nap Pass

Happy belated birthday to my sister!
Some days it be like that. But there was a time recently where she refused to nap so I just let her play but then she was SUPER tired and also SUPER hungry and she was crying so hard she couldn't nurse but she was too tired to stop and it was truly a mess. Now I know what happens when she skips a nap. It was rough. (I was eventually able to calm her down enough so she could feed and immediately fall asleep.)

The phrase "hard pass" always reminds me of the TV show "Lethal Weapon" - in one episode there is a wedding of an annoying character and one of the lead characters declines by writing "hard pass" on the RSVP. 

Text:
M: Did you try putting her down for a nap?
L: Yep, it was a hard bass.
L2: *babbling*

Gassy Giant

 

I had to look up if stars were gassy giants, and they indeed are not - it is a classification of planets. There are so many things up in space - so much to explore! But are stars just big balls of gas, like Timon and Pumba say in the first Lion King? Now I could look that up or I could leave that up to the readers - I'm gonna choose the latter so I can wrap this up and feed my gassy giant. 

Text:
A: Aw, your little girl is a star!
L: She's more like a planet - a gassy giant.