Merry Christmas!

 

Comfort

We interrupt your regularly scheduled program for a PSA.

This time of year can be tough for many people. We all go through hardships, and they can often be magnified during the holiday season.

If you are dealing with some things, and you aren't quite ready to be the social person family and friends tend to expect you to be this time of year, it's okay to back away to mend. They may not understand what you are going through, but hopefully they will respect your decision.

But understand you are not alone. There are people in your life who care for you, and are constantly praying for you! ❤

Parade

Ah, the infamous "Christmas Parade Incident"!

My sister and I were part of a drum and majorette corps when we were young children. The group started to line up for the parade, and all the adults were hollering at the kids as we hustled onto the street, "watch out for the ditch!" Well...guess who wasn't listening? Needless to say I fell into the ditch, and found myself sitting waist deep in icy cold water! Shivering in the cold winter air, my father wrapped me up in his jacket, and instead of marching through the parade I rode on the back of the group's truck. 🥶

For years the director of the group would introduce me as "the kid who fell in the ditch!" 😅

Program

Ah, yes...school Christmas programs! Sure, my parents created costumes for me that were cute and adorable...but as a kid who was performing in front of an entire school of peers...the last thing I wanted was to look adorable 🤪😅

Christmas Tunes

Mother loved her Christmas music! 🎶

EVERY YEAR she'd load the same batch of LP's on the record player and spend the day listening to Christmas music while she baked cookies and decorated the house for the season. 🎄

It may have been okay on the first day, but after a couple days straight listening to the same LP's...😳

Secrets

 

When the school teacher had the kids play "Secret Santa", it was a special treat when she picked me to be the Secret Santa to the girl I had a crush on. 😍❤🥰

Indecembrrr!

Welcome December! 🥶

Gathering

Family gatherings usually involved me sitting in front of my parents, quietly playing with one of my toys. 🚗

Years later, people wonder why I'm not very outgoing in person. It might have something to do with scenarios like this growing up, where I was told to be quiet while the adults talked. 😅

Show

Today is an appropriate day to post this cartoon 😉

My father is a big car fanatic, so this time of year the family would make their way to the annual World of Wheels car show in DC. There would be a plethora of custom cars, it would take us hours to walk through the entire show 🚗 😎 

Wood Burning Fireplace

I miss the smell of wood burning in a neighbor's fireplace when the weather began to get colder. 🔥🪵

Drum Lessons

Remembering when I first learned to play drums...

My father is a drummer, but contrary to popular belief, I didn't learn from my father...I learned from the owner's son of the drum and majorette corps my sister was a part of at the time. He and I'd meet in the evening, just outside of a school, where he taught me how to play. I was so new to playing, I didn't even know how to read music. Through a great deal of persistence on his part, he managed to teach me all the group's cadences solely through memorization.

It wasn't until a couple years later that I'd take official drum lessons from our local music shop, where I finally learned how to read music. 🥁😎

 

Arcade

When I was a child, I was drawn to arcade games like a moth to a flame! 🔥😳

This game was arguably my favorite from the 80's. The idea that I was playing a game that was an animated movie...it blew my mind! 🤯

I wanted to make sure I included the artwork on the side of the cabinet in the cartoon. A lot of kids today may not realize just how much influence the arcade cabinets' artwork had to attracting players. 😎

Movie Rentals

The first time we visited the movie rental store, we were overwhelmed at the amount of movies available. Naturally, we rented at least a half dozen at once, despite the fact that they were two-day rentals. We were determined, though! The family tried to squeeze all those movies into one weekend. 🤯😳🎥

In the Dark

Games of catch became exceptionally more challenging when the sun went down. Often, you couldn't see the football until it was a few feet in front of you! 🏈😲

Trick or Treat!

I have fond memories of trick or treating when I was little. Often, my parents would let my sister and I venture out on our own. My sister had a game plan to stop at as many houses as possible! We walked all over the neighborhood collecting candy! By the end of the night, our bags would literally be bursting with candy! 🍬🍫🍭😋

HISS

Zack and Steve are letting their imaginations wonder off again...

The Cobra H.I.S.S. was an odd looking vehicle, yet a favorite toy of mine. It was used in a lot of afternoon skirmishes in the front yard. 😎

Crush

So I didn't exactly hide the fact that I had a crush on the girl in my kindergarten class, but the other kids made sure EVERYONE knew. 😅

That's okay, I showed them...despite all the rumors, years later I married her 😉🥰

Dream

Time for a dream sequence 😴

Imagining one day I could be driving a sports car like one in my father's car magazines! Maybe even a Camaro like this one 😉😎

Shake Down!

So I had this idea I wanted to try, and I wasn't sure how it'd turn out. I had drawn Zack "flying" his toy Skystriker as he was running around the house...what if I had his friend Steve "flying" a Rattler, and somehow tied the two drawings together?

Here is the result. A tribute to arguably one of the best issues of the Marvel Comics' run of G.I.Joe, issue #34, Shake Down! 😎

Rattler

The good guys may have had the Skystriker, but The Enemy had the Rattler!

Here, Zack's friend Steve is imagining he's flying the jet fighter while running around the house. 😎

Skystriker

One of my favorite toys growing up was the G.I.Joe Skystriker! You would often see me running around the house with the toy jet fighter, imagining I was flying! 😎

Morning Stare

Tough to concentrate on what the teacher is saying when you have that early morning stare. 😳 🥱 😴

Fall Soccer League

In the town I grew up in, soccer was so prevalent we had both a spring and fall soccer league. ⚽️ 👟

 

Where to Sit?

Pretty sure we all faced this nightmare at some point in their lives... 😅 🚌

 

Fall Drives

Fall is here!

A tradition of the family this time of year involved long drives through the countryside so we could see the leaves changing color. 🍂🍁

Attention

Okay, so maybe I didn't always pay attention in class! 😅📚