Many Happy Returns

An early Happy Birthday to my little Robin, wow it's been a few years (literally). So apparently "many happy returns" is from British English and other variants of British but not American. But there was a tv show named that about a returns department manager and that's an amazing title for that premise. There's also a Sherlock mini-episode named that. Who knew.

Explanation: "Many happy returns" is a well-wishing phrase, and some people have many items to return (unknown if the items are happy).

Text:
M: Here are the returns.
L: Are they many and happy?

Blink182

 

True story, except this exchange happened in the car and it was a bumper sticker on someone else's car - but I prefer drawing stick figures over cars, so this is my interpretation based on a true story. Punk bands were very popular back when I was in high school but way back then I just listened to music on the radio and knew nothing about the artists so I'd know all the lyrics and music but be clueless about the band. One way this showed up was when I was quietly singing something around the house and my husband asked "is that Yellow Card or Green Day?" and I didn't have a clue (I don't recall the song so I can't say which one it was). 

Explanation: This is basically like when my grandparents tell each other that all their friends are getting old, what is with that?

Text:
L: That's a Blink182 sticker - how old is she?
M: She looks about our age.
L: ... yeah, that checks out.

Sleep Sack Physics

 

Both of my kids have/had the ability to walk around nearly unimpeded by their sleep sacks (the toddler doesn't wear one anymore but she did for about two years). A sleep sack is like a nightgown that's sealed at the bottom, or a sleeping bag with armholes. They're very nice for when your kid is too small to keep a blanket on and you don't want them waking up cold at night. I don't understand how my kid walks around in one - it shouldn't work, per my mind, but it does. My daughter would walk from her room to our room in the morning like no problem here, just strutting along. Maybe this skill will help them in life somehow...

Text:
M: How did he do that - he's in a sleep sack?!?
L: He doesn't let things like physics stop him. 

Bronze Lining

 

For those unfamiliar with this game, the goal is to have the least points. Oh, a bonus version below? 

You win some, you lose most? I'm pretty sure that's how that saying goes. 

Explanation: The goal in the game is zero or even negative points. 82 is not a good score. But it's cool that 28 and 82 are reverse of each other! Seeing something good in a situation is "seeing the silver lining" so it makes sense that seeing a cool thing that doesn't actually help the situation improve is "seeing the bronze lining." 

Text:
L: Well, that's cool - I got 28 points and that takes me to 82!
M: You found the bronze lining! I got -12.

Man Myth Legend

I'd watch that movie. I just recently watched "The Ballad of Nessie" which is a short film on Disney+ and was a nice little animation. There are many movies about Nessie, so why not make another? I watched a fascinating documentary about the Loch Ness many years ago and I don't recall any identifying info about it other than the summary that there could be a whole school of Nessies deep in the Loch which has so many caverns and a totally uneven floor so you can't use sonar to find what's down there. Also, I made the fake movie title to a similar cadence of the main Narnia book. 

Explanation: "The man, the myth, the legend" is a way of describing a super cool person. If you think of it instead as three separate nouns, then you get a man (the person), a myth (Nessie), and a legend (the thing in the corner of a map that describes what's there). 

Text:
Title: Coming to a theater near you: The man, the Myth, and the Legend
*image of a person, the Loch Ness Monster, and a map with a legend*

Dad's Shoes

 

Happy Birthday to my Mom-in-Law!

So I like to give my toddler options (not show above for brevity but it would have been like "rain boots or black shoes") so I don't just pick one arbitrarily and she has a meltdown because it's the wrong one but if I give her unlimited options she will either (1) pick an impractical one or (2) dither over options for far too long. But sometimes she doesn't like the options I give however that can be fine provided the one she wants is practical. Thankfully in the case above she was just being silly and knew she was being silly so I was able to redirect to a more practical choice. 

Text:
L: Get your shoes on - which pair do you want to wear?
R: Daddy's!

March Madness Giants

 

So my in-laws do a March Madness bracket nearly every year and last year I won! I always pick UConn going all the way and that carried me to victory. This year I stuck with my tradition however many others joined my bandwagon and basically I only had UConn correct after the first two games. So I did not win this year BUT I did not come in last which is where I was until UConn won the big game. I picked my teams alphabetically this year, whichever team was further in the alphabet went further in my bracket, and yeah that was a bad plan. I made an alternate bracket with the opposite strategy, and it did waaaaaay better. I also made an alternate bracket where I picked all underdogs (other than UConn) and that one did about the same as my actual bracket, so that shows how badly I picked. Whoops. One year I picked my teams based on who had a higher scrabble score - I don't remember how well I did then. 

Explanation: There's a phrase "a giant among men" to mean someone really stands out in a good way, and I adapted it for when everyone is over 6' by a good margin but there's one who's sizeable bigger.

Text:
Title: March Madness: Purdue
L: That man is a giant among slightly smaller giants.
M: He's 7'4". 

Toddler Songs: Lullaby Edition

This is a true story. I have been singing Edelweiss as a lullaby to my toddler for a while now, and just recently she added her own words (singing over mine). She also has been adapting more of her songs, like singing "No more daddies jumping on the bed" instead of "monkeys" - I am sure she gets this from her parents as we tend to make the song lyrics work for whatever we need (granted, we often know songs with the lyrics we need, no change needed, but she doesn't know that). 

Text:
Title: To the tune "Edelweiss"
L: ♫ Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep my darling 🎝
R: ♫ Wanna stay awake, stay awake 🎝

Toddler Songs: Church Edition

 

So yeah this happened. I aim to keep my kids with me through the hymn section of the service and put them in the nursery before the sermon begins, but my toddler has been wanting to skip the 11am service altogether and just do nursery for the whole time. She really likes the toys and workers. My baby, on the other hand, wants to be with me the whole time and has been crying when I drop him off in nursery. But the workers say he's been warming up to them and he does like the toys so who knows - maybe both will be clamoring for nursery before I know it. 

Text:
Title: At Church
L: ♫ Amazing love - How can it be 🎝
R: ♫ Nursery - wanna go to nursery 🎝

Foolproof Plan

 

Another foolproof idea :) I think many horror movie victims would be saved by a foolproof plan. Or maybe the clowns aren't all evil anymore - I was never into horror movies and still am not interested at all in them so who knows. My main association for clowns is from PBR since my grandparents liked watching that and there the clowns are the good guys, distracting the bulls when a rider falls. 

Explanation: Like the previous comic, clowns are also called fools. When you have something foolproof, that means nobody can mess it up but it also could specifically mean that a fool (clown) can't mess with it. 

Text:
A: And you're certain the clowns cannot foil our plan?
B: Yes, it's foolproof. 

Foolproof Brownies

 

Happy Birthday to my sister! And a belated Happy April Fool's Day to everybody. It didn't seem right to post this the day before the holiday as that was Easter, so you get it belated. I could have posted it a day early, but that's not my schedule and I rarely deviate from it. As for the comic, I saw an ad about foolproof brownies and thought, oh I guess those aren't for clowns. I'm not sure what the recipe was however I did Google for recipes and found these: 1 2 

Explanation: Clowns are also called fools. When you have something foolproof, that means nobody can mess it up but it also could be taken to mean that a fool can't get it. 

Text:
C: Why can't I eat this?!?
L: They're foolproof brownies. 

Repost: Robin Eggs

Way back in 2012 (wow, 12 years ago!), I came up with one of my favorite comics of all time and yes this is it. I also really like Robin Egg candies so I'm a little biased on this. I didn't come up with a new Easter comic this year because it's hard to get specific ideas, and I usually get them after the holiday and have to write them up and save for the next year. 

Happy Easter / Resurrection Day to all! There are many resources to learn more about the reason for this season, but here's one if you'd rather not search around.

Text:
A: Look at this - it's a robin egg!
C1: cool!
C2: that's amazing!
A: CHOMP
C1&C2: G A S P  (for two panels)
A: haha - it's a candy robin egg - a malt ball! You don't think it's funny. OK, then. 

Present Gifts

I was trying to word an invite for my kiddo's birthday and say that my kid has enough stuff so we just want to chill together for the party, but instead I thought up this comic. Also now I'm reading the word "present" as "pre-sent" and how do you pre-send something? If you're wondering what to get for a baby: books and snacks are always a win. If you're wondering what to get for a toddler: non-messy crafting supplies and snacks. If you're wondering what to get for an older child: I don't know, we haven't gotten to that stage yet.

Explanation: "the only gift we request is your presence" = "we just want you to chill with us, no gift giving needed" VS "the only gift we request is your presents" = "we just want a gift from you, no fraternizing needed."

Text:
R: "The only gift we request is your presents."
L: Shouldn't that be "presence"? 
R: No, I want stuff, not visitors.
O: *grabby hands for the paper because he likes to grab things to crumple and/or eat*

Cake Made Wrong

 

Happy early Birthday to my Oriole! So this comic was inspired by someone I know saying how they made some changes to a cake due to various reasons and it reminded me of one time when my husband and I were making cookies and did it ALL wrong like stuff added out of order and wrong amounts (but we scooped out what we could to get it close to the right amount) and in the end they were the best cookies and everyone loved them and we can't replicated that experience.

Text:
M: I hope the cake tastes ok.
N: It's really good!
M: It's super easy to make when you do it wrong. 

Speaking My Language

 

So there was an article I read that I will probably never find again but it mentioned that families have a dialect and when someone is angry then they use standard language and not the dialect and that's how you know. This means that your family isn't weird, you just have a really strong dialect! That's my own conclusion. I think my family's dialect involves using forced loan words from a number of European languages. 

Explanation: The translation with the (language) : I need (Spanish) cheese (French). No (German). The insider knowledge is that my husband likes cheese but I am lactose intolerant. 

Text:
M: ¡Necesito fromage!
L: Nein.

You Snooze, You Win

 

I'm not sure what more there is to say - I'm certainly too tired to think up something quippy. 

Text:
A: What phrase makes no sense now that you're a mom?
L: "You snooze, you lose" - every moment of sleep is a victory. 

Setting Goals for Spring

 

Happy first day of Spring! It has sprung. Set goals for the new season? My pastor used Don Quixote in a sermon example and that got me thinking on a tangent and spawned this comic. I abbreviated Don Quixote's name to DQ and then I was thinking "wiser than Dairy Queen? That doesn't make sense." 

Explanation: Don Quixote is the fictional character that, among other things, charged at windmills while believing they were giants. He is not someone that comes to mind when thinking of a wise person.

Text:
S: We aim to be wiser than Don Quixote.
Y: Let no one accuse you of being an overachiever.

Driving with Duo

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day! The Duolingo owl is green so this counts as a holiday post, right? 
At a previous job, we had the text on the website available in several languages and to check that it was all translating like it should, we would change the language on the browser and move around the site to ensure it was all in whatever language. It was tricky the first few times, to remember where exactly the option was to change it back to English because I was not fluent in any of the languages we were testing. 

Explanation: Duolingo is a language learning app. If you change the settings on your phone to a new language, e v e r y t h i n g will be in the new language not just your driving directions. Tis a bit extreme.

Text:
L: They should make a driving mode for Duolingo - understand the language enough to follow directions!
M: Phone settings → change language.
L: *Gasp!*

TDM: Nailed It

 

In case you missed it, here's a link to my other comics in this series. Many are from 2017-2018, so you might not remember them. I certainly don't, and I drew them! 

Explanation: The show "Nailed It!" is a baking show where people try to make masterpieces and usually fail horribly/hilariously. When you hit a pothole full speed, your copilot is obligated to say "nailed it!"

Text:
Title: Totally different Movies TV Shows Presents... NAILED IT!
A: Listen to these tales of automobile woes and potholes:
B: You didn't even try to swerve!?!
C: *hangs head in shame*

Fruitful Emotions

 

Why do these fruits equal these emotions? I don't know and I feel like that's a deep rabbit hole to follow so if you take the plunge, let me know. 

Explanation: If things are going well, you can say things are peachy. If things are not working out like they should, then it's pear-shaped. And if things are crazy, it's bananas. I don't think there's an emotion for apples. Let me know if you find one.

Text:
T: How are things?
A: Peachy! 
B: Pear-shaped.
C: Apples? No, BANANAS!

Accountability Partner

 

The other week, I got a push notification from the green owl with something like "you're in 6th place in your league but I know you can do better!" and I was kinda insulted but I get what they're doing there. Not to make light of accountability partners - they are great for keeping you honest with your goals and helping you make good choices. 

Explanation: DuoLingo is a language learning app with a green owl as their mascot. Said owl is used in their push notifications to cajole you into doing your lessons for the day. 

Text:
Duo: Need an accountability partner?

Days Since Last Meltdown

So this one time when Robin was two, she had a big meltdown because I gave her a snack when she wanted her dad to give her the (exact same) snack. I turned to my parents and said she gets this from my husband's side of the family and my dad just laughed really hard and enlightened me that it was indeed from my side of the family as he has vivid memories of raising three highly emotional daughters. But I still like to blame my husband's family. 

Explanation: the sign is not a whiteboard or flip-number - it's just a solid printed sign. Also, it's not at a height that allows for changing the number. 

Text:
Sign: 0 DAYS SINCE LAST MELTDOWN
A: How do you change the number?
L: I'd like to know.
R and O: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Little Sluggard

 

Good news - Ori is now feeding himself! He's almost a year old so we were a little worried (more like annoyed because he wants to eat and eat and eat but he wouldn't bring it to his mouth - he would pick it up and drop it off his tray but wait with his mouth open if I picked up a piece - so meal times were taking a long time). After weeks (months?) of him refusing to bring food in his hand to his mouth, I found the right motivation (frozen whipped cream) and once he ate that he just kept feeding himself all the snacks I was giving him so it's all good now. Or at least better, if not yet all good.

The Bible verse referenced (haha) is "The lazy man buries his hand in the bowl; It wearies him to bring it back to his mouth."

Text:
L: Ok, my little sluggard.
O: Don't you mean "slugger"?
L: No, he's still refusing to feed himself.

Welch's Wine

 

Happy Birthday Eve to my Dad! 

I was having a conversation with sibling-in-laws and the topic of alcohol came up and somehow this comic was spawned. 

Explanation: Welch's makes, among other things, grape juice but not the fermented kind (i.e. wine). When Baptists (and probably other denominations but I'm not familiar enough with them to say) do Communion (bread and wine), they use grape juice in the place of the wine ("fruit of the vine"). 

Text:
Title: Baptists
A: What's the wine pairing for this meal?
B: Welch's.

Fishy Advice

Happy Leap Day! Enjoy the extra February-ness. Maybe don't take this comic's advice - it seems fishy.

Explanation: Clams, oysters, and mussels are all shellfish. "Clamming up" is a phrase but I'm pretty sure "oystering up" is not. And "mussel" sounds like "muscle", and "muscle through it" means to press on despite obstacles. 

Text:
RF: Don't clam up!
BF: Should I oyster up?
PF: Mussel through it!

Thank and Excuse

 

I had my second ever successful jury summons recently and I wrote about it on my other blog, Not So Comical - http://notsocomical.comicaltruestory.com/2024/02/jury-duty.html 

I support the trial by a jury of your peers system, but I don't want to go through the process any more than I have to. I just find it interesting that I was called once right when I turned 18 but I was away at college so I got excused, then nothing for over a decade, then basically back-to-back summons in the sense that I was summoned three years after getting my first successful summons, so right after I got put back in the pool. I know it's not really back-to-back - my sister had that when somehow she was summoned three times in one calendar year - but it feels like it. Also I wonder if now I'm gonna get summoned every three years - somehow they just didn't notice me when I moved to my current state about 15 years ago? But my husband has lived here all his life and has never been successfully summoned (he has been called up twice but was excused or not needed). So it's odd how some people are summoned more frequently than others. 

Explanation: When selecting a jury, either side of the court case can excuse a potential juror with the phrase (at least this is the phrase they used in my recent summons) "please thank and excuse juror #" and I just think that's a great way to dismiss someone's opinion. 

Text:
A: I love jury duty - I think we should get back on the list every year, not every three years!
B: Please thank and excuse your opinion.

Engaged Parenting

 

Our pastor was talking about engaged parenting as the opposite of absentee parenting, but when I hear engaged I think proposal and that means a ring is required. But our pastor was speaking on 1 Corinthians 4:14-21, with the title "Parental Guidance Required" and you can find his sermon on SermonAudio under faithbiblemd.

Text:
A: Why did your wife give you a solitaire ring?
B: She wants me to be more engaged in parenting.

Reckless Abandon

I don't remember where I heard someone use the phrase "reckless abandon" but it sparked this comic. Also, if you're not reckless are you reckful? Like the opposite of careless is careful? You should be reckful rather than reckless? Also it's a real question - is there another type of abandon?  

Text:
A: With reckless abandon?
B: Is there any other type?

Have the Halves

 

The ability to finish someone's sentence is really not that hard - it's finishing it correctly that's difficult.

Explanation: The proper phrase is "haves and have nots" but "haves" sounds like "halves" and clearly halves are paired with wholes. 

Text:
A: In every scenario, there are the haves and -
B: The wholes, yes.

Gaming Mouse

I'm not sure I like how I drew the mice here - this is a stick figure blog for a reason. But the joke needed mice! So the mice are here. Also this was inspired by my husband getting a gaming mouse with cool colors in it. 

Explanation: A gaming mouse is a fancy computer mouse that has features beneficial for online gaming. Dota and Halo are popular games. A mouse (mammal) that plays games all day could also be called a gaming mouse. 

Text:
A: All he does is play Dota and Halo all day long.
B: What did you expect? He's a gaming mouse.

Love and Star Wars

 

I often struggle to come up with comics for holidays, but this one came to me out of the blue, like a bolt of lightning (from the sky not the sith kind). How would the Jedi handle static electricity? Would the younglings shuffle their feet across the carpet then cackle evilly while zapping their friends? I feel like I should write to Mr. Lucas (not my brother but actually he might have a solid opinion on this) and see what his take is. 

Text:
LS: Leia, she touched my hand and sparks flew 💗
LO: Luke, that means she's a sith! That's Force Lightning! 

Light Headed

I think if you glowed when light-headed, it would make everything worse. But then people would know when you're not feeling well in that exact way so that could be helpful. I hope you can see in the comic that she is glowing - there are faint yellow lines around her head like sunrays. 

Explanation: "Radiant" is a compliment but also means "sending out light," and "light-headed" means you feel like passing out. Yay for "light" meaning "not weighing much" and also "bright." 

Text:
M: You look positively radiant!
L: I am feeling rather light-headed. *sunrays around head*

Super Bowl Players

 

I am surprised that "Taylor Swift" showed up in my tags and now I'm wondering what other comics I've made about her. Here they are! 1 2 3

I'm really not into sports so I was unaware of who made it to the big game, other than not my local team. Also I'm pretty sure TSwift isn't doing the Half Time Show but she's being talked about more than whoever's doing that so yeah that's how this comic happened.

Text:
A: Who's playing in the Super Bowl?
B: Taylor Swift.

Big Farmer

This post is neither in favor of or against the Jolly Green Giant and/or Big Pharma. It's just having fun with accents turning words into other words which facilitates a joke. 

Explanation: Bostonian accents (like most New England ones) drops the 'r's in words usually, so "farmer" turns into "fa'ma'" which sounds like "pharma" which is short for pharmacy. And the Jolly Green Giant was the biggest farmer I could recall. 

Text:
A: If you're going to rant about Big Pharma, please say it with a Boston accent so I can picture the Jolly Green Giant as the subject of your ire. 

VROOOM

 

Happy Birthday to my brother-in-law!

This was inspired by true events. I don't understand what there is to like about loud cars, but I did have a slightly loud car back in the day because it had hard engine mounts and those are a big job to replace, or so I was told. The car gave you a massage while you idled, it was as bonus feature!

Text:
Background: VROOOM!
A: They do not have a muffler.
B: What??

Counter Productivity

But is he making a greater number of these kitchen prep surfaces for his company's business competitor, therefore making his counter productivity counter productive? 

Text:
A: I have made so many kitchen prep surfaces.
B: You're very counter productive. 

First Word

 

Any day now I'm sure Ori will say his first dinosaur name. Robin, who's nearly 3, has been learning dinosaur names and it's super cute to hear her say 'patasaurus or pterodactyl or really any of them. She's at the stage where she points at literally everything (it seems) and asks "this one?" meaning "what is this called?" and so I've been trying to get her to say all the dinosaur names as we have numerous dinosaurs about the house (books, figurines, magnets, ...).

Explanation: Most kids have "dada" as their first D word, and also usually their first word. 

Text:
O: D-d-d-
P: Is he going to say-
O: Diplodocus!

End of Month

 

WHAT?!? 

The thing with getting ahead and scheduling posts is that you're only as ahead as you've scheduled, and that lead time is constantly shrinking. How obnoxious. 

Text:
L: No worries, I have comics scheduled through the end of the month.
M: But it is the end of the month.
L: WHAT!?

Headlamp Etiquette

Do you see a problem with this? Neither does the new construction worker. 

Explanation: If your headlamp is at eye level, it's covering your eyes. It's meant to be on your forehead. 

Text:
B: I'm ready for my first day on the construction site!
S: Don't forget to wear your headlamp at eye level.

Modern 12 Drones of Christmas

 

Happy early Birthday to my brother! 
If they're all birds, and birds aren't real, then did your true love give you nothing??? Also, as I figured out in my previous 12 Days of Christmas comic, if you do the additive version then it's 364 drones. You could make a cool lights show with that many. 

Explanation: people wearing tinfoil hats are (usually?) conspiracy theorists, and a popular conspiracy is that birds aren't real. 

Text:
A: How was your Christmas?
B: Excellent, my true love gave me a modern 12 Days of Christmas so -
A: 78 drones?!
B: Yep!

Strainers vs Stressors

 

It's always a hunt to find kitchen utensils in someone else's kitchen. This comic was spawned over Christmas at my parents' place. So many cooks, but it's a nice open kitchen. 

Text:
D: I can't find the strainer!
A: We only have stressors here.

Toddler Communication

 

Many times I (and others) can't understand what my darling toddler is saying. Sometimes, like in this comic, she is helpful and gives context clues and additional noises to help make the connection. But most times she just says the same sounds and I'm like, I haven't a clue what "eesh" means so can you point or give a few more clues? It's like playing Mad Gab with someone who just says the words the same exact way over and over and gets frustrated when you don't get it. 

I just remembered that Robin started off calling dogs "woof woofs" because that's easier than the real word, and later progressed to calling them "goggies," so when her friend couldn't understand her newer word she just fell back on her previous one. Hmmmm. Or maybe she just did the sound. It's hard to really know. But the interaction was quite funny because her friend has excellent diction in three languages but apparently doesn't understand toddler English, which is all Robin has. 

Text:
R: Goggy!
N: What is a goggy?
R: ... woof woof. 

Should Have Paid Attention

 

Happy almost Birthday to my niece!
This one was inspired by a family gathering where there were people chilling and people who wanted to play complicated games. And the second group needed more people so an attempt was made to make someone stop chilling. It was only partially successful. But a good time was still had by all. 

Text:
A: *Explaining rules to a game*
P: That sounded like something I Should have been paying attention to but I wasn't. 

Stamp Your Beet

There's a photo I've seen circulated with the text "If you're happy and you know it" and the image is a spiral ham in a C-clamp (i.e. "clamp your hams"). I then thought of this successor, "stamp your beet" (i.e. "stomp your feet"). I did not realize there are many variations of this song until I compiled a playlist of kid songs for my toddler. Many people sing the same songs but often there are some changes. "A stamp costs way more than 32¢!" you say. Well, congrats on knowing that there is a money amount connected to stamps. Also, they use to be cheaper, as that's how inflation and such things work. I didn't make it a forever stamp because drawing one would be more complicated than what I did. 

Explanation: The song "If You're Happy and You Know It" has several verses of what to do to show your happiness, including clapping your hands and stomping your feet. "Stomp your feet" sounds similar to "stamp your beet" much like how "clap your hands" sounds like "clamp your hams." 

Text:
If you're happy and you know it...
[image of a beet with a stamp on it]

13th Day of Christmas

 

I did the math, that's 78 birds if you ascribe to the "they're all birds" theory of the 12 Days of Christmas and you don't repeat the birds (i.e. on day two you just get the 2 doves, not the partridge again). That is an excessive amount of birds, whether they are for a menagerie or a feast. And if you do the additive version, where you get all the previous days on top of the new day's gift each day, that's 364 birds. That's a lot of birdseed.

Text:
Title: After the 12th Day of Christmas
W: Finally, the Amazon package that I have been expecting for two weeks!
TL: Is it birdseed? 'Cause we need a bit of that.

CT Rest Stop

 

I really like the mouseover in this one. Check it out. 

We traveled to CT over Christmas and we did see a rest stop with just a DD listed and we did not stop there. We prefer a selection of foods when we stop, but then again we have little kiddos so sometimes you just have to take the exit. I do like that the rest stops on the NJ Turnpike are getting renovated - the new ones are quite nice. One had the best changing table station I have ever seen in a public restroom, which might not be saying much but a nice countertop with a ledge and a garbage bin not near the door / high traffic area - it was just right. Sadly I don't recall the name of the stop, but maybe that's a new blueprint more places will use. Way better than the flimsy fold-down koala care ones. But sometimes you're just grateful to have a place to change the baby. 

Text:
M: This rest stop only has a Dunkin? 
L: Welcome to CT! 
R and O: *along for the ride*

Late Lunch

 

So one of my migraine triggers is if I don't eat at regularly scheduled times - namely I need my three meals each in their own two-hour window of morning, noon, and evening. I discovered this trigger when studying why I was regularly getting migraines on the weekends - once I fixed my sleeping in to a point where my breakfast was within two hours of when I normally eat it on weekdays, the migraines stopped being triggered. It was enlightening. Due to this limitation, if I go to a brunch I usually eat a light breakfast beforehand. If I go to a fancy afternoon meal that's basically a lunner? dinch? there isn't a word for this that I know of - I thought repass was generic but a quick check shows that's just after a funeral. Let's not make it a thing and instead we can eat lunch around noon and dinner around 6. In between those times is snack time. 

Explanation: I can't wait until 2pm for my midday meal - I need it between 11am and 1pm - so usually on holidays I just get some granola or PB or trail mix to hold me over until the big meal. Also, I don't care how big the lunch was, I still need dinner between 5pm and 7pm. When is breakfast you ask? Between 7am and 9am. If it slides early, I'll need a 10am snack. Sometimes I need a 10am snack anyway. 3pm snacks are good too. 

Text:
M: What do we need to grab before going over to the 2pm meal?
L: Lunch. 

In Cahoots

Happy Birthday to my brother-in-law! 

If I were to make a fashion label, it would need to be something punny like this. I also think it's weird how at the big fancy gatherings, the media asks "who are you wearing" like the outfit is the embodiment of a person. Which, I mean, some fashion designers are very connected to their artistic expressions, but it's still weird to me. 

Text:
R: That's an interesting outfit - who are you wearing?
C: I'm in CahootsⓇ.

Fine Motor Skills

My little Oriole is working on his fine motor skills, it's like one day he's crying because he wants something he can't reach and then the next day he's just crawling over to get whatever he wants. Also, baby grip strength should not be underestimated. Tis very strong. 

Explanation: "Fine motor skills" refers to babies learning how to use their hands distinctly to do tasks other than just smacking things around. "Motor skills" would imply something with cars. 

Text:
L: *holding O*
M: Little man is working on his fine motor skills.
B: He's already driving?!?!