Category: Parenting

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ACW 243 – Letters from the Doctor, part 3

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Cynical Woman!

Click on the image to see it full-size!

I have no idea where that letter went. It was on Pixie’s window sill that night and gone the next morning.

I’ve been having fun working on the webcomic the last couple of weeks. I’ve been putting a little more time into the characters’ poses and expressions, as well as working on the coloring and effects. I’ve switched to doing the pencils on the iPad using Sketchclub, then importing the pencils into Manga Studio 5 to do the inking, coloring, dialog, etc. It’s just so much easier for me to do the pencils on the iPad. But Manga Studio is the best for inking and coloring these comics!

Today is Hubster’s birthday. That babyface is just 44 years old. What a youngster!

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ACW Episode 241 – Letters to the Doctor, part 1

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Webcomics!

Click on the thumbnail to see the full-sized version!

A few months ago, the kids started writing letters to the Doctor, as in Doctor Who. I know how to handle letters to Santa, but letters to the Doctor? Especially when one of the kids goes to sleep clutching the letter in her hands?! What would you do?

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ACW Episode 136! Finally!

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Webcomic!

Click on the pic to see it full-sized!

Finally! I have finished this webcomic! This is what I get for drawing a whole slew of new characters in the webcomic. Thankfully, this is the last of this series, so for now I can go back to drawing the more familiar for a while.

And now I’m going to be lazy for the rest of the day. So enjoy! I should have a new Bitchcraft cartoon up on Friday 🙂

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ACW Episode 135! The Witching Hour

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The Adventures of Cynical Woman!

Click on the image above to see it full-size!

This conversation actually happened, and I had to leave the table afterward because I had to laugh so badly. Princess is nearly 11 and Pixie is 7. There’s at least 10 years between my oldest daughter and my young nephews. (Incidentally, my oldest nephew, Jaleo, is graduating from college this year. Apparently Maddens only breed about every 10 years.) So for years, when the Hubster and I would come to visit the family, all the younger, child-free couples would head out to the bar in the evenings while we stayed in with two screaming kids. It was like clockwork. Five minutes after all the aunts and uncles headed out the door, my kids started howling and shrieking. I honestly think if my brothers- and sisters-in-law had ever stayed in with us during one of those evenings, the next round of Madden babies would NEVER have happened.

In all seriousness though, I understand and identify with what my sisters-in-law are going through. I’ve been there. It’s exhausting traveling with very young kids, trying to get them to sleep, getting through family gatherings and holidays with them. Hell, parenting little ones is exhausting under any circumstances. The only other time I can recall being so tired was when I was stationed at Fort Bragg for Camp All-American. For 6 weeks, I got less than 4 hours of sleep a night, spent all day on my feet marching, running, fighting, performing tactical maneuvers, carrying a 60+ pound ruck sack wherever I went…

Actually, Fort Bragg was a lot like being a new parent!

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ACW Episode 234 – Whatsa Matta With You?!

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Webcomic!

Click on the pic to see it in all its full-sized glory!

I’m late with this one. This is what happens when the kids are home 3 days straight due to snow, and then the next week one kid is home 3 days straight due to strep throat, and then I have a weekend of all Girl Scouts work right after that. I’m lucky I got anything done in the last 2 weeks.

And yes, Bitchcraft is late too. I’ll have a strip for that ready by Friday.

Girl Scout cookie booth sales start in a couple weeks for us, and I may switch to single panel comics for a few weeks while we get through that. This is usually the busiest time of year for me, so to make sure I meet the my deadlines for both comics, it may behoove me to simplify things a bit by going single panel until we get through March. We’ll see how that goes.

Anyhoo, about the comic above… Pat and Chris are new dads, and they’re both enjoying their status as suck. Their sons are wonderful. I love them both. But I also love finally seeing someone else in our family learning how to deal with having kids, because for a looooooooooong time, the Hubster and I were the only ones who had small children. Jaleo, my nephew getting ready to graduate from college, was the only kid in the family for 10 years, until we had Princess and Pixie, and I’m sure his parents, Elena and Paco, had their hands full as well, and Hubster and I didn’t fully appreciate all they had to deal with.

So it’s sort of like the circle of life. One couple suffers with small gets, then gets to sit back and laugh and point while someone else goes through the same agony. That’s how the world works 🙂

But I love my family, all of them. And they are wonderful, WONDERFUL people.

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ACW Episode 242 – Gabe!

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Webcomic!

Click on the pic to see it full-size!

Soooooo, this is Gabe. He’s two. I love him dearly. He has very healthy lungs.

Seriously, though, Gabe is fantastic! He’s just like Princess and Pixie were at that age – very energetic, very bright, very determined to exert his will regardless of how many times you say, “No!” And I really do love him dearly. I’m also pretty fond of his mom, my sister-in-law Julie. She’s married to the Hubster’s middle brother, Pat, number 3 of 5. Pat’s very lucky Julie loves him.

Anyway, this week’s episode was late becaaaaaaaaaaauuuuuussssseeee…

We are shopping for a new car. And apparently that takes a lot of time to do. So much time that I lost of few hours of comics drawing time and so that’s why this is late. For once, it’s not because I’ve been ill.

But we’re getting a new car, or rather a used car, but it will be new to us, and the car we’re looking at is very nice. I’ll have to post pics when we get it. In the meantime, enjoy the webcomic!

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ACW Episode 230 – It’s in the blood

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Webcomic!

Click on the gorgeous comic to see it full sized!

This is an actual conversation I had with the kids this weekend as we worked on Halloween decorations. We bought a bunch of Dollar Store dolls and are converting them into zombies, in case it’s not clear what Pixie and I are working on.

By the way, have I mentioned how much I love Manga Studio 5? Between the pen tools, the ease of coloring my artwork, and the effects I can use, Manga Studio has made drawing webcomics so much more fun!

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ACW Episode 199 – Princess has a problem

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Click on the thumbnail above to view the full-sized webcomic!

Right after Princess decided to be a goth, she raided her closet and mine for outfits. Kiddo actually managed to come up with two complete outfits, enough to get her through the weekend. Then the trouble started.

First off, I am considerably bigger than Princess, so a lot of my clothes don't fit her. Second, I've been playing the stay-at-home mom role so long, my wardrobe has been reduced almost entirely to t-shirts and jeans. Now, I do have a fabulous t-shirt collection, but there are only so many shirts I'm willing to part with.

So, we are now working on Princess' wardrobe. I was able to buy some plain pink, gray, and black t-shirts at a local craft store. I found some small pieces of creepy, Halloween theme fabric. I've got a roll of lace, thread, and Heat-and-Bond. The plan is to make appliques for the t-shirts so Princess has something to wear when she plays. Fancier outfits will come later, when I have more time to shop for patterns and fabric and hit the thrift stores with her.

But now I'm also thinking I need to seriously upgrade my wardrobe too. Honestly, I love my jeans and t-shirts, but it does get a little old after a while.