Lynn's Notes:

It was common in our household to have one of us gone due to business commitments, so our kids were quite used to having one parent at home- with grandma Ruth and Grandpa Tom nearby to balance our team. In this series of strips, I tried to imagine how other mothers felt when their husbands went to conventions. The thought of one's partner staying in a nice hotel and enjoying prepared meals with adult company must have been a source of jealousy. Even if they were objective and realistic these women must have felt left out!

Lynn's Notes:

There were times when I did accompany Rod to dental conventions and I admit, I did feel a bit awkward. We had many mutual friends in dentistry- people we had known since he graduated from university, but if they or their wives were not in attendance, there was little for me to do while he attended lectures but go shopping. This made the decision to go with him a bit challenging. If the convention was in Chicago- I would go!

Lynn's Notes:

When I'm working, I will make the same faces as the characters I'm drawing. It was funny for the kids to watch me - especially if the face I was drawing was screaming or just plain mad!

Lynn's Notes:

I have advised both artists and writers- when they're starting out, to do stuff for free. This gives you the opportunity to see what the real world is like and adds bona fide material to your portfolio. This arrangement works well for both the struggling company and you. There are times, however, when the willing young artist becomes taken for granted and is expected to do a lot more than agreed upon- because, well...you ARE being published!!

Lynn's Notes:

This is me. These are my words. This is also my mother and her logic. I could waste an entire day lying on the couch, wishing I was someone else, somewhere else, wondering why I had to wait so long to be out of the house and on my own. I wasn't even a teenager at the time - I was in elementary school. As a teen, I was involved in too many projects and clubs and activities to be bored.

As a child, I was either off in a world of fantasy or trying to figure out why life was the way it was. I wanted to know why I was there, what I was going to do when I grew up, and I wanted to get started NOW! A day was so long and a week was forever. I figured I was wasting time. It wasn't until I was sent to the Vancouver School of Art for Saturday morning classes that I felt secure. For some kids, it's sports that get them out and energized. For me and for many of my friends, it was art that filled us with a sense of purpose.

Lynn's Notes:

As a young artist trying to get freelance work anywhere I could, I often found myself doing things for clients who offered to pay me, but when it came time to do so, had no money. It was hard to defend myself against such people, so I just kept producing and taking my lumps. I did a lot of illustration for a small local publisher when I was young. When I pleaded with him to pay me the money he owed me, he said I should be happy just to see my work in print!

Lynn's Notes:

One of the things a mom prides herself in is preparing a healthy meal for her family. This takes time. It was infuriating for me when, after a busy day, I'd plunge into the kitchen, and produce a good dinner only to have the mob too engrossed in a TV show to come to the table - or they had already filled up on snacks. I learned a lot from my friend Mary. She would put a box of cereal on the floor when she'd run out of gas and let her kids eat that! "They won't die if you don't make a meal from time to time" she said- and she should know. Her husband is a pediatrician!

Lynn's Notes:

Again, this was a fabricated scenario. There wasn't much my kids wouldn't eat. Anything that went well with ketchup would go down; quiche included!

Lynn's Notes:

This is a serious point and I wanted to make it; people can avoid so much pain and expense if they just brush and floss their teeth regularly!

Lynn's Notes:

Kitchenware and home cosmetics demonstrations were actually a big deal in Lynn Lake. We all looked forward to the opportunity to get together and if we bought some overpriced items, well, we had supported the seller and the hostess and all was well in the world.

The best home demo party I ever went to was here in Corbeil. It was my first opportunity to meet the local ladies, so I spruced up and took my chequebook. What I discovered was a relaxed and welcoming group, dressed in jeans and T's, drinking beer and gossiping about the neighbors. After several drinks, we were ready for the pitch and with all of us happily into the sauce, the demonstrator sold us everything!

Lynn's Notes:

When I did the weekly comic panel for the Dundas Valley Journal, they paid me $10 for each one. At the time, I was living on a shoestring and was desperate for a few dollars more. When I asked if they would increase my rate to $15, they refused. This is when I started doing cartoons for my obstetrician - preferring the approval from his patients and staff to the paper. I guess my pride was more important than my pocketbook.

Lynn's Notes:

This was an inside joke between Gunther Hildebrandt, a long time family friend, and ourselves. Gunther enjoyed reading the news and discussing current events, especially with my father-in-law. Together, they would solve the problems of the world. Gunther loved to talk, so in this strip I am having a bit of fun at his expense. The dental clinic was never the place to have a really good conversation, especially for the patient.

Gunther was a good sport. In fact, friends and family always enjoyed seeing their names, and it undoubtedly resulted in mail and phone calls from their own friends and family, from all across the continent, saying, "I saw you in the funny papers!"

Lynn's Notes:

This scenario is based on the time I lived alone with Aaron in Dundas. Our house was not close to the neighbouring houses and backed onto a steep ravine. The wind would often whistle across the awning over the front windows and the sound would creep me out! Even though you know you're safe and there's nothing to worry about, the childhood fears still come back. Sometimes, I really did think there were spooks in the rafters!

Lynn's Notes:

Every so often, I'd realize that I had not featured Farley in the strip for a while, so I'd find a way to write him in. Although I never slept with any of my pets, this is how I imagined sharing my space with a character like Farley.

Lynn's Notes:

The real Farley never did live in a house with stairs. His hips were so bad, he needed help to go up or down even a short flight. He was not the kind of dog to bark at a stranger- so this part of the action is true! The Farley that appeared in the strip was part real and part fiction- and always fun to draw.

Lynn's Notes:

Going back to the days alone with Aaron in the Dundas house...I did go outside to investigate strange noises. I even carried a poker from the fireplace, once- just in case the noises I heard were from someone trying to break in. I am a real wuss when it comes to watching scream-fest movies, but I am fearless when it comes to protecting my kids!

Lynn's Notes:

The gift from the airport gift shop was a subject that brought a number of responses. Some letters came from travellers who bemoaned the fact that a small gift was expected. Others enjoyed shopping for treasure and the surprise it would bring. It was a really divisive subject and I learned that when it comes to gifts and the business traveller, it's much better to receive. Personally, I love to shop for "gifties" and sometimes the airport has the best shops!

Lynn's Notes:

This, I think is true. A couple needs to separate from time to time in order to reflect on their relationship. After a rough patch, you might wish your partner would just "take a hike" but when they are away for a few days, you realize just how much you depend on, rely on and love each other.

Lynn's Notes:

To end a dispute between Kate and Aaron, I did divide the kitchen table so that each child had their own side. I then divided the couch and Aaron himself divided the living room. This bit of biblical rectitude resulted in a deep interest in equality. Both kids then wanted to divide the house, the hallways, and the stairwell into "what's yours" and "what's mine".

The task was not a small one, but they were determined. It gave them something to do together and the price of a roll of masking tape was a small price to pay for silence. I decided to use this in a Sunday strip. The thought that they might even have tried to divide the dog had me smiling for days!

Lynn's Notes:

My brother, Alan, moved from my home in Dundas to Hamilton and eventually to Stratford, Ontario - where he was principal trumpet for the Stratford Festival Theatre. In the strip, "Phil" only moved once and I never specified to where.

Lynn's Notes:

My brother's apartment was a roost for friends and a storage space for instruments, sound systems and other musical paraphernalia. After living without furniture, he did build himself a couch with 2X4's which was held together by chains and weighed a ton. He was happiest when he had the least and it's fun to think about those days now that he has a house in the suburbs, two cars and a garden he's proud of. You really have to do these things when you're young... these memories of freedom and irresponsibility stay with you forever- like a great vacation or a sweet love affair!

Lynn's Notes:

Making "Georgia" play flute delivered me from having to say how and where she and Phil met.

Lynn's Notes:

Alan shared the kitchen in this apartment with several other tenants- all of whom were vegetarian. Even though they had agreed to allow equal space in the fridge for each person's groceries, Alan's grub ( largely animal protein ) was always relegated to a back corner. Streams of carrot tops and mounds of fresh celery would pour out of the open door and to add to his misery, the screaming sound of their juicing machine kept him from sleeping in.

Lynn's Notes:

Alan's ordeal with the vegetarians did not end with the fridge and the juicer. He remembers giving them a list and some money for groceries.... and all they brought home was carrots! It wasn't long before he was making plans to move again.

Lynn's Notes:

Around the time that my brother came to live in southern Ontario, I began taking classical guitar lessons. I had learned to play by ear, I owned and played a 12 string guitar, an acoustic 6 string and I still played the button accordion! Many of my friends were musical and I began to go to coffee houses to sing and enjoy the company of people who would eventually become very well known- like Stan Rogers and Leon Redbone.

My dear babysitter would take Aaron for a whole weekend, sometimes, as I joined the musical all-nighters that made for new sounds and crazy new friendships. Some of the places I stayed were less than comfortable. People slept on couches and chairs. You sacrifice comfort for the sake of the music. Musicians are unique, wonderful people and it helps to be a little insane!

Lynn's Notes:

When plastic glasses were introduced to our household in the 50's Alan and I used them for everything from sandbox scoops to stacking toys. It was fun to see how much water we could hold with the suction from our mouths before the glass would fall off. Hopefully we would catch it before it hit the floor and alerted the authorities. Having two kids in the strip allowed me to recall so many of my own childhood antics.

Lynn's Notes:

Alan did have a fish tank and Aaron wanted one as well. I allowed him to have a goldfish for a while...kind of a "Starter" pet. The fish lasted about a week before it died from over stimulation. I think it must have been glad to go.

Lynn's Notes:

Another unmistakable "Aaronism".

Lynn's Notes:

This question is always the "stopper". It's the question that makes you sit on the bed and reassure your child, once more that, yes- no matter what happened or was said during the day, they are loved- absolutely. There were times I knew the question was a ruse- a way to get a few more minutes of wake time. Still, it's an important question and even if it was asked in fun, I always gave a serious answer.