I took both of my kids shopping on Saturday. They needed a few things. With that little bit of info and the above cartoon, you can probably already see where I'm going with this.
I bought my daughter two pairs of boots. One pair for winter and one pair to wear. The winter ones aren't waterproof. I live in Canada by the way. Our winters are cold and snowy and wet and yucky. These boots are lined with fur and are very warm on the inside. As long as they don't get wet on the outside that is. And did I mention these boots are not waterproof? Oh, I did? I guess I'm still trying to compute that little tidbit. My daughter is thrilled with her new winter boots. She assures me that they are totally suitable for our miserable Canadian winters because (a) she's not a little kid anymore and she's not going to muck around in the snow and (b) everyone else has them.
Yeah, yeah...I know it doesn't make sense. Yeah, yeah...you don't have to tell me I'M the mother. Do I have to tell YOU that doesn't actually mean I'm in charge?
The jeans I had planned to buy her for Christmas are...well...she's wearing them to school today. And the new sweater I wasn't going to buy...well, it was half price. I did draw the line at buying the twenty dollar beret. I mean, you've got to take a stand somewhere, right? We'll probably get it next week.
I'm not even going to tell you what I bought for my son. When I balked at the price of the BillaBong shirt, (trendy name-brand with appropriate matching price tag) he asked me how much money I've spent on clothes for my daughter in comparison to him.
I got him the BillaBong belt too.
How much money would it take to make me happy? It's hard to put a number on it. The cost of life always seems to ebb and flow. I recall griping about the expense of diapers and formula. A friend with teenagers told me to suck it up and quit complaining. She said diapers and formula were the least expensive time of a parent's life. What's that they say about hindsight?
So, again...how much money would it take to make me happy? I dunno. I'd have to say all in all, I'm pretty happy right now. I'm not rich and I'm not poor. More important, my family is healthy and enjoying life. My mom and dad are both still around. I have a career that I love. There's not a whole lot more one needs, is there?
Although...orthodontal insurance wouldn't hurt...
I'm pretty sure this is the strip you asked me to find. Thanks for giving me the date! That made things extremely easy as it was just a matter of a few clicks in my archives. Confirm with me that this is the strip you wanted and I'll color it and send it in.
(Stridergirl asked me if I could find this strip to put up in my Online BF store. Once it's in the store, it can be printed on just about any item there...tees, coffee mugs, totes, hoodies or just as a print)
Anyone who has a favourite strip or BF image that they'd like me to put up in the BF store, just let me know and I'll do my best to get it for you.
It would help tremendously if you can tell me the date of the strip...otherwise it's like looking for a needle in a haystack! The date is usually written near my signature. In the above strip, for example, you can see the numbers " 12/16 " above "Bell-Lundy". This means December (12th month) 16th (the day).
If there's an image here in the blog you'd like to see in the store, you can just let me know that's it's here and I'll be able to get that image easily.
I'm also going to be working on a Between Friends calendar for 2010. Which means I have a lot of strips to re-color...which means I better get to work. Talk to you later!
I don't think I ever told you that I have an online store, did I? My bad.
Well, I do. And it has tote bags and coffee mugs (of course) and tees and hoodies and soon, some water bottles. I am in the process of updating the images and adding some new designs...but you can check out the designs that are there now if you like.
...and if there's something Between Friends-ish that you'd like to see, please let me know and I'll see what I can do. You can visit my store by clicking right here.
I'm thinking about our veterans today and saying a little prayer for our soldiers overseas.
Why do we do this to ourselves? A bazillion people can pay us a compliment and one insignificant boor can make an insensitive jab and what will our psyche ruminate over all day long? You betcha.
So-for this week, I'm going to suggest that everyone inflate their egos and tell themselves that they are the best thing since sliced bread. One hundred percent whole wheat sliced bread...let's go with the good carbs, shall we?
And what if you really do do something stupid? Well...then cut yourself some slack. Tell yourself that nobody's perfect but hell, you're as close as they come.
Happy Monday!
My exhibit of my specially selected Between Friends artwork is now up at the Artway Gallery in Brampton! (Can you tell I'm excited?) As the above poster says, I'll be at the Staples Court in Shoppers World on November 14 to give a PowerPoint Presentation, Q & A and a booksigning. Brampton is about two hours away from where I live so I won't get to see the exhibit until then.
I sent over 200 pieces of art along with a few other bits and pieces. I selected three story arcs: the infertility & adoption story, the domestic violence story and the two-week story line that was inspired by my Newfoundland grandmother's childhood.
In addition to the story arcs, I wrote a little bit of background about the story lines' inspirations and explained a bit about the research that was done.
Also included in the show, are a selection of my favourite humourous strips, both Sundays and dailies.
One thing I neglected to send (hindsight thinking) was an explanation of how I work. By this I mean, people will see strips as they are before they are sent to my syndicate for distribution. You'll see spelling mistakes, smudges and overdrawn lines. You might notice that words in the balloons are not perfectly centered. Maeve's black hair won't be filled in with ... well, black. Kim's skin tone (as an African-American woman) will not be screened.
The reason for this is that although I'm still old-school enough (or perhaps I should say a purist?) to draw and ink on bristol, I scan the strips and finish detailing in Photoshop. It's quicker and easier and more productive. So, people will be seeing the real deal when they view my original art...warts and all.
When Keith and Janice came to pick up my work, I recall asking if I had compiled enough pieces for them. Apparently, I sent more than they needed...so in addition to having my work shown in the Artway Gallery, my Sundays have been displayed in their "Fridge Fronts" in the entrance way of Shoppers World.
If you come out on Saturday, Nov. 14, make sure you say hello!
