Rats! Episode 118 – Get busy!

Rats!

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Once upon a time, a very looooooooong time ago, I was the scholastics sergeant for my company. I was also the scholastics corporal and the scholastics officer, which meant I spent 3 years straight doing study checks. Yay.

You would not believe how many engineering majors with ROTC scholarships switch to history majors midway through their freshman year. Or maybe you would, especially if you were either a scholastics officer or an engineering major. I could never figure out why kids who were so smart would suddenly think they could quit studying once they were in college.

ACW Episode 202 – Smile!

I am barely surviving cookie season. Our first weekend we had four booth sales out in the freezing cold. Princess couldn't feel her feet after four hours of selling cookies outside a Mexican restaurant. This past weekend I had to work on another three booth sales – two for Pixie's troop, one for Princess'. I write these posts a few days in advance so I'm just going to assume that I'm dead dog tired.

I apologize for not getting up the usual posts for “Rats!” on Wednesdays and for not having anything interesting to post on Fridays. I'm just too slammed with work for Girl Scouts to keep up with the usual schedule. That and the fact that I am still recovering from the ACL reconstruction have really taken a bite out of my productivity. I think next year I should just clear my calendar of everything except Girl Scouts and the webcomics.

We've got one more weekend of booth sales coming up. If I survive that, then I've got one more week to gather up all the paperwork and finish this cookie business off. Hopefully after that I'll get a couple days to recover and then I can get back to a more regular schedule.

We'll see.

 

ACW Ep 200 – That’s what I said!

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Yes, this was an actual conversation. While driving to Towson, MD, a couple weeks ago, I was having a discussion about the Hubster with NekoMich and was informed that I am not allowed to think about him being pantless while I'm driving on the beltway. Whatever. He's my man, I'll think about him however I dang well please.

I turned 44 on Saturday. Talk about a brutal weekend. I spent all of it working on Girl Scouts stuff. NekoMich and I spent all Friday evening into the wee hours of morning helping to unload and sort cookies for the service unit so troops could pick up their orders. Then on Saturday, I had to sort out my troop's orders so the girls could come get their cookies and deliver them. Then on Sunday I had to help sort out Princess' and Pixie's cookies so they could deliver their orders. Saturday evening, we were at a Girl Scout ice cream social, so I did get ice cream on m birthday, but I had to serve about 50 girls first, and handle permission slips, check-in fees, and clean up. And I'm still going through our troop's surplus boxes, trying to figure out why I have 21 extra boxes of thin mints. Before you ask, no I am not going to give them away! So don't even bug me about it!

It's Sunday night now and I'm dead on my feet. I have a feeling I am going to dream about Girl Scout cookies. I'd rather dream about the Hubster being pantless, but if I dream that, I'll probably also dream that I'm driving on the beltway at the same time, and NekoMich won't let me do that.

Nobody ever lets me have any fun 🙁

 

Rats! Episode 117 – Getting it right yet?

Rats! webcomic

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Oy! I missed last week’s post. I apologize. I’m in the midst of Girl Scout cookie season right now, and I’m also in the midst of my busiest season for work, so it gets a little hard to keep up with everything.

A quick explanation for the above. The upper classman character is named “Ratt” because at one time he was a rat. In fact, he was the original rat in “Rats!” But rats don’t always stay rats, and so he became an upper classman. So if you were confused about the name, there ya go!

I’m going to eat dinner now. Girl Scout cookie season is exhausting, so I need to keep my strength up.

ACW Episode 199 – Princess has a problem

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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.

 

ACW Episode 198 – They’re just like me

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Yes, the above conversation did happen, exactly like that.

I'm not 100% sure what sparked Princess' interest in becoming a goth. It may have been a recent re-reading of Edward Gorey's Gashley Crumb Tinies or possibly she saw a bit of NCIS one afternoon while I was watching it and noticed Abby. Or maybe it was a recent viewing of Beetlejuice or Night,are Before Christmas. Or maybe it was some very old photos of me in my teen years. Whatever sparked her interest, Princess has taken to being a goth big time. She bought herself a copy of Gothic Charm School by Jillian Vinters last week and ever since has been dressing up in whatever black clothing she can find in her closet (and mine) and then gone bopping along to The Cure and The Smiths and whatever other appropriate CDs the Hubster has been able to find.

Of course, Pixie cannot sit idly by, so she is doing exactly the same thing. On Friday, they had the day off from school and when I came down to breakfast I found both girls dressed head-to-toe in black. They had a friend come over and she was a little surprised by their outfits, but once the girls explained what was up, she laughed and played along.

So, there ya go. My teen years have come back to revisit me a bit sooner than I had expected, but I am hardly disappointed by this. They are, afterall, my kids. Now I just need to start sewing again and hope I can keep up with Princess' wardrobe demands. Or teach her to sew herself. Because no matter how goth she gets, she's still Princess, and she's going to dress like one no matter what!

I will be at FARPOINT this weekend in Maryland. I'm doing a couple panels and may have a table. If I have a table, it'll be loaded up with zombie cards and prints and creepy crocheted things, etc. So be sure to stop by and say hi!

 

ACW Episode 198 – They’re just like me

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

Yes, the above conversation did happen, exactly like that.

I'm not 100% sure what sparked Princess' interest in becoming a goth. It may have been a recent re-reading of Edward Gorey's Gashley Crumb Tinies or possibly she saw a bit of NCIS one afternoon while I was watching it and noticed Abby. Or maybe it was a recent viewing of Beetlejuice or Night,are Before Christmas. Or maybe it was some very old photos of me in my teen years. Whatever sparked her interest, Princess has taken to being a goth big time. She bought herself a copy of Gothic Charm School by Jillian Vinters last week and ever since has been dressing up in whatever black clothing she can find in her closet (and mine) and then gone bopping along to The Cure and The Smiths and whatever other appropriate CDs the Hubster has been able to find.

Of course, Pixie cannot sit idly by, so she is doing exactly the same thing. On Friday, they had the day off from school and when I came down to breakfast I found both girls dressed head-to-toe in black. They had a friend come over and she was a little surprised by their outfits, but once the girls explained what was up, she laughed and played along.

So, there ya go. My teen years have come back to revisit me a bit sooner than I had expected, but I am hardly disappointed by this. They are, afterall, my kids. Now I just need to start sewing again and hope I can keep up with Princess' wardrobe demands. Or teach her to sew herself. Because no matter how goth she gets, she's still Princess, and she's going to dress like one no matter what!

I will be at FARPOINT this weekend in Maryland. I'm doing a couple panels and may have a table. If I have a table, it'll be loaded up with zombie cards and prints and creepy crocheted things, etc. So be sure to stop by and say hi!

 

Rats! Episode 116 – Taking care of everyone but yourself

Rats! webcomic

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Alas, this happens all too often. You get put in charge of a bunch of other people and you forget to take care of yourself. It happens to me even now. I’ve got so much going on with my oldest daughter’s Girl Scout troop (for which I am the troop leader) that I sometimes forget the things I need to do for the youngest’s Girl Scout troop. Thankfully, her troop leaders know what I’m dealing with, and they take good care of the kiddo. Still, I could kick myself for having forgotten to send in Valentines for the last Daisy troop meeting. *Sigh*

I’m sick this week. Came down with a nasty case of the flu on Monday night. I spent all day yesterday on the couch or in bed, dealing with a skull-splitting headache, joint pains, and congestion. The headache was the worst of it, but that seems to have died down a bit now. I tried to call the physical therapist this morning to let them know I wasn’t coming in because I was sick, but they called me first to let me know they had to cancel because the physical therapist was sick. So that worked out.  Now I plan to take it easy today, get back on the couch to watch whatever is playing on USA or crawl back into bed to watch anime on my iPad. I must have watched 4 episodes of “Occult Academy” last night on Crunchy Roll. I say must have, because I can’t quite recall anything beyond a pounding headache.

In any event, have fun today and don’t catch the flu! Trust me, flu sucks.

ACW Episode 197 – It’s a matter of style

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Yes, this conversation actually happened. No I did not ground Princess. She went to school wearing my favorite t-shirt, my best striped socks, and a tiny lime green fez I made. Pixie wore another of my favorite t-shirts, a kitty cat skirt I had made her for Halloween two years ago, and a yellow bandana I knitted a while back. They both looked… Interesting.

And yes, when I am home all day, I do wear pink and black flannel pajama pants. They are COMFORTABLE.