daily: Browse The Strips

Friday, December 16, 2011

Lynn's Comments: I don't know about you ladies out there, but I'd much rather get a food processor for Christmas than a nightgown that was chosen by my husband!

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Lynn's Comments: I love having adult children. They tell me the truth NOW about things I suspected when they were little. I just found out that both kids knew exactly where to find my hidden cache of Yuletide gifts. Even worse, they actually unwrapped and carefully rewrapped them! The one concession was that Katie admitted to being disappointed on Christmas morning when she unwrapped gifts that were no longer a surprise. As her grandfather was fond of saying: "Cheaters never prosper!"

Monday, December 19, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Getting the kids ready for tree cutting trip took almost as much time as the event itself. Bundling them into layer after layer of winter duds followed by a drive out into the bush was a challenge. Follow this with a tiring search for the right tree and you have a cold and hungry family ready to take down the first semi suitable shrub in the area.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Lynn's Comments: The annual trek into the bush to get our Christmas tree was a Lynn Lake ritual. The trouble was that the good trees were only visible in the summer. You'd have to tag the tree and hope someone else didn't cut it down before you did! December temperatures would often dip below -39C so you had to know where you were going and take your tree fast - before you froze to the spot where you were standing. A frozen trunk wasn't always the easiest thing to chop or saw through, either!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Lynn's Comments: A good tree, harvested by hand, was something to celebrate. In this strip, Farley is giving the yuletide conifer a canine style christening - another event which never happened, but should have!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Kids are always excited about Christmas. Moms spend so much time preparing for the big day that their fun only lasts for a few hours on the morning of the 25th- before the great feast! Moms don't get the same bang for the buck as the rest of the clan, whereas Dads are far more into "Santa Claus" than they let on. Even though he knew what was in most of them, I would find my husband sniffing and shaking the boxes under the tree when he thought nobody was looking.

Friday, December 23, 2011

Lynn's Comments: My brother and I were allowed to open one gift and our stocking if we got up before our parents did. Naturally, we were up before 6am, whispering in the dark as we sniffed out the right gift to open. Our dad, not wanting to miss any of the fun, was soon sitting under the tree next to us, waiting for Mom to make the coffee. Nothing could be opened until she had a coffee in her hand. Even now, the smell of fresh brewed coffee on Christmas morning signals that it's time for the greed-fest to begin.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Lynn's Comments: When our kids were little, I wished that my parents didn't live so far away. Christmas time, especially, would have been better if the other set of "grands" had been there to share it with. The telephone was the next best thing and the bill became our annual gifts to each other.

Monday, December 26, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Every year, New Year's Eve was celebrated in a private home; all of us taking turns hosting the event. We had a pretty nice rec room downstairs: a bar, big bathroom, two large couches to sleep on and lots of chairs. When it was our turn to have the big bash, I decorated as best I could with whatever was available at the local shops and applied my mother in law's recipe for a good time: "make sure everyone is a little sauced before you serve the food".

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Lynn's Comments: In reality, it was I who felt uncomfortable in a crowd. My husband fit nicely into any large group and could dig into any conversation easily. If the gathering was at our place, I knew my role. But if it was elsewhere, however, I would rather help the hostess in the kitchen than try and fit in with the guests. Despite the public speaking and all the travelling I do, I'm still out of my element when I'm in a crowd!

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Lynn's Comments: I enjoy company, but I always seem to make too much food. I make hors d'oeuvres, salads, mixed drinks and have munchies on hand, so when it comes time for dinner, everyone is too full to eat anything. I always have a ton of perishable leftovers, which then go into the fridge to die. Party food is only good when there's a party!

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Lynn's Comments: My spouse enjoyed big events. He was comfortable at conventions and other public gatherings, but when it came to having folks over to the house, he preferred a very small group. I guess it's because there was less to clean up!

Friday, December 30, 2011

Lynn's Comments: The pharmacist hosted the first New Year's Eve party we ever attended in Lynn Lake. Because the liquor store was in the pharmacy, libation flowed. It didn't take long before my husband was leaning dangerously. Fearing we'd make a scene in front of the town's professionals, I insisted we walk home. As we shuffled the six blocks between houses, we heard a truck behind us. It was the pharmacist and all the guys from the party. They were hanging out the windows... wildly cheering us on!

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Lynn's Comments: The day after the party, my husband was really under the weather. Surprised by how miserable he was, I asked him if he remembered the good ol' university days when drinking was a sport and the results taken for granted. His response was "I've never been drunk before! This is the first time!" I guess he was saving the worst for last.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Lynn's Comments: There were times when we did pull the silent treatment on each other. I don't know if it was a kind of punishment or an effort to think before saying anything else that might hurt. With so many things on our minds, small concerns like this were soon forgotten and life returned to normal.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Lynn's Comments: This bit of dialogue is word for word from my first marriage. When my husband refused to talk about a problem, I sarcastically made up both sides of the conversation. His response was "You have NO idea what I'm thinking!" and my reply was: "Then, TALK to me!"

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Lynn's Comments: I knew the kids suffered any time we fought. We didn't disagree too often, but when we did, Kate and Aaron felt it was somehow their fault. We usually don't talk to them about the issues, we don't explain what's happening and why we're mad, so kids try and unravel the puzzle the best way they know how. To a child, the world revolves around them--and if this is the case, it must be their fault if the world leaves it's axis and gets wobbly sometimes! I tried to show that here.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Lynn's Comments: Since the temperature up north did dip well below --20 degrees C, going for a walk to "cool off" wasn't a bad idea. You either resolved your mental conflict in a hurry or wound up at a friend's place for a beer.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Lynn's Comments: The worst thing about having a kid in hockey is the gear. The odd hours of practice, the driving and the butt-numbing seats in the stands were a pleasure compared to the fitting, loading, dressing and stench of the required gear. Hockey moms go unappreciated until a kid grows up and becomes a hockey parent themselves!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Lynn's Comments: After all the hockey I've watched, after all of the news clips and interviews and hockey related trivia I've had to endure ...I still don't really understand the rules. A pile up like this, to me, might just as well be part of the game. How un-Canadian!

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Lynn's Comments: Being part of a team meant a lot to Aaron. He loved the camaraderie, the excitement and getting together with all the participants after a game. The kids felt a real kinship. Being in "uniform" gave them status and worth. It was important, therefore, to teach them that no matter how padded and colourful, the uniform does not make the man!

We had to make sure the kids maintained their good manners, even though they imagined themselves hitting the big leagues, then hitting the bars, and hitting each other! The contrast between the confident team player and the immature little boy was enormous--it was hard not to "parent" a youngster who was trying so hard to be a man.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Lynn's Comments: Whenever I've needed a serious change in my life, I've changed my hair. For some reason, hair that has been fine for ages suddenly becomes ugly and HAS to be restyled. I don't know why they call it "the crowning glory"--to me, it's less of a crown and more of a barometer!

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Lynn's Comments: This dialogue never took place. Neither did I hit the sack with my face dredged in wrinkle cream. I just took a line of thought, stretched it into whatever space it would fit, and came up with this. No wonder my in-laws would say "Why are you so mean to Elly and John"?

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Lynn's Comments: I don't remember having class outings at all when I was in elementary school, and the Lynn Lake environment didn't provide much in the way of field trips unless one toured the mine. I imagined, then, what it would be like to take a group of children to an average city gallery and see how they'd react to the experience.