Gasoline

 It's no secret that I like cars, so once in a while, I feel the urge to draw a cartoon with a car or two in it, just to scratch that "car guy" itch. 😎🚗

A little fun fact...one of the cars in this cartoon is modeled after a car my mother once owned 😉

Train

 A small detail I value where I live now - the sound of trains moving through town!

Where we grew up there was a train station on the other side of town, and on a clear night, you could hear train horns as they passed through. Little did I know that our current home was near a small junction, so trains pass through regularly. When I hear their horn, it instantly takes me back to our home in Virginia, hearing the horns out my open bedroom window. 😊🚂

Comics!

Comic books were very easy to sneak into school...I just stuck one or two in between two textbooks in my book bag.

I admit, there were quite a few times I was reading a comic instead of reading an assignment. 😉

Hair Spray

Yes, it's true...you can use hair spray to "take care" of a cricket.

As a kid, I thought squishing a cricket was disgusting. When I spotted one in our bathroom, I panicked and reached for the nearest thing I could find...an aerosol can of hair spray! It definitely took care of the cricket, but it also glued it to the floor! 😖

And yes, I just left it there for someone else to take care of. My mother was pretty mad when she found it later and struggled to pick up. 😅

Clothes Shopping

Having to tag along with my mother while she went clothes shopping was brutal! It seemed like she had to look at EVERY rack in the department store! It didn't take very long for me to try and find some entertainment by deciding to be a bit mischievous! 😅

Chin Ups

Chin ups! Why did they make us do them in Physical Ed? I mean, I remember like only one or two kids in class that were able to make even one chin up.

I definitely couldn't...I had no upper arm strength!

I don't know why I thought trying a bicycle kick would be any help! 😅

Siblings

That feeling when your sibling stayed home from school, YOU still had to go, AND on top of your regular school responsibilities, you now had to take home any assignments your brother or sister missed! 🤒📚

TV

It was always an added bonus when your sister enjoyed watching the same TV shows as you! 😎📺 

Candy

 Once a month the family would drive up to our grandparents' house for the day. On our way, we'd stop by a local newsstand, and our parents would let us pick up a a candy bar.

We'd get so excited over the chance to have some candy! 😁🍫

Our choices varied, but my sister frequently picked up a Whatchamacallit bar and I usually gravitated to a 3 Musketeers. 😊 

Sis 2

My sister is a few years older, so while growing up, she always had an advantage over me. Whether it was playing cards, board games, or simple acts of athleticism, she was always better. 😮‍💨

Sis

My sister and I were close, often participating in the same activities, like the drum and majorette corps we were both members of. Sometimes it might have gotten a little TOO close...but in the end, she's still my sis! 🥰♥️

Homework

In high school, it was a little understandable when the teachers assigned us a decent chunk of homework on the same night - they didn't necessarily collaborate to make sure they weren't overburdening the students, but in elementary school, we had only one teacher! It was a bit overwhelming when we went home with assignments on multiple subjects! 🤯📚🎒

Oversleep

 I feel like we've all experienced this at one point in our lives...

...you overslept!

It's a terrible moment for me when it happens...my entire day just feels "off"! 😴🤯😮‍💨

Sunday Drive

Family drives through the countryside. ♥️

On the weekends, our parents would pile us into the family station wagon, and we'd take a long drive through the countryside. We had no real destination...we just wanted to drive down some new roads, take in the scenery, and maybe find some new ways to travel around the area. 😎🚗

That's a Wrap

 That last cartoon officially wraps up sketchbook #8!

It absolutely baffles me when I look back at how many cartoons I've drawn since I started this back in 2018. 🤯

So thankful I've been able to keep up this pace, and I hope to continue for years to come!

Time to set up a fresh new sketchbook...Book #9! 😁📚

Eight

The NFL season has officially begun! Time for fans to support their favorite teams by wearing their team colors! 🏈

Zack's wearing this jersey for another meaning...

(See my next post)

Playing Hooky

On the morning walk to school, particularly when the weather was absolutely GORGEOUS, I MAY have had a thought or two about skipping school...but I never did. I wasn't as crafty as my sister. She may have been an expert at playing hooky, I was no where near crafty enough to pull it off.

So...off to school! 😉🎒🏫

The Weekend

The weekends were MEANT to unwind after a stressful week at school, and hopefully get recharged enough to face a NEW week! 😮‍💨

Running around with the other kids in the neighborhood was a GREAT way to deal with any stress from school. 😅

Mall

A Saturday at the mall was definitely a treat for the family! 😁

Time

It never failed...when the teacher gave us a reading assignment during class, the clock seemed to slow down to a crawl! 😮‍💨

Around the Block

It happens to everyone at one point...

...writer's block! 😮‍💨

When it hits me, I try to push through by sketching random scenes with my characters. More often than not, a story about my childhood begins to unfold before my very eyes! 🤯✏️ 

Football

Another sign Fall is right around the corner...football is back on television! 😁🏈

The neighborhood kids would get excited about the new season, so we'd all be out front tossing a football around. I wasn't very athletic, and it showed pretty quickly. 🤕😅

Homework

This is a moment I felt at the start of the school year...

...that moment after school while I'm home working on an assignment, I suddenly realize just a few days ago this time of day, I was hanging out with my friends in the neighborhood. Now, I'm stuck inside with schoolwork! 😮‍💨📚

Seasons Change

A telltale sign Fall is right around the corner...hearing the sound of crickets as the sun goes down! 🍃😁

Drawing

There's something magical about drawing while around onlookers. When you start out, to them, it's just a bunch of lines, but the more you draw, they begin to see a scene form right in front of them! 🤯

That's Using Your Head!

I enjoyed soccer, but I was never what you would call a "skilled player".

I always thought a player head butting the soccer ball looked so cool, but no matter how much the coaches and teammates tried to teach me the move, I always managed to hit the soccer ball with my FACE instead! 😅⚽️