Mel's Inktober 5 - Linus's 3 Things

All extremely touchy subjects that are guaranteed to get a rise out of people. Same can be said for the COVID-19 vaccine, the increasing usage of AI, inflation, movie remakes, and so many other things.

I've already seen It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown twice these last few weeks. Its charm and applicability are both going as strong as ever.

Happy Thanksgiving!

As far as holidays go, mine are pretty low-key. Mostly I just take it easy at home with my family and some good food; the fact that I have the day off from work is really nice, too. 

This week alone has been pretty brutal. I've often had to get up at the crack of dawn, and it continues to blow my mind how some people wait until the very, very last minute to place an order for pies, rolls, cookies, or whatever. This is my fifth year at Kneaders, and this happens every single year, for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, without fail. At least some of the last-minute customers were nice and even apologetic, while others were...less polite. I'm dreading the Christmas rush already. 

Yesterday was the worst. The best I can say is I got some great tips, I've recently been approved for a raise, and I went to bed a little early and got a well-deserved sleep; I was even able to sleep in for a change. So, as much as I love my job, getting a breather is a gift in and of itself. 

Today, Corie had to work because she's a cafeteria worker in a retirement home. So, we had Thanksgiving dinner a little early. At least she got to join us for that, as well as the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade this morning, and there was even enough time to watch A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving; we always watch the Peanuts special on Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. 

Then I just fooled around with my laptop, Christine came by with some of her kids, and since we don't care that much for pumpkin pie, we got a chocolate cream pie at Mom's insistence, as well as some gingerbread men. Of course, I did the right thing and ordered this stuff well ahead of time, and since I'm an employee, I got this stuff for half-price. 

The only downside is that both Mom and Michael threw up. It was nothing too serious; it must have been something they ate. Michael ate a little too much food too quickly, and Mom felt better almost immediately when she was done and rested a bit. Still, it stinks to throw up on a holiday, although you do feel kind of relieved afterward. It's a weird way of your body purging itself of something unpleasant. 

So, tomorrow, it's back to work, but at least I feel a bit more refreshed. Even the best workers need to take a break sooner or later.

And, as always, I give thanks to the good Lord for everything I have. He deserves the biggest thanks of all. This is how the whole Thanksgiving holiday came about in the first place. 

We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing;
He chastens, and hastens His will to make known;
The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing.
Sing praises to His name; He forgets not His own. 

Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining,
Ordaining, maintaining His kingdom divine;
So from the beginning, the fight we were winning;
Thou, Lord, wast at our side; all glory be thine!

We all do extol thee, thou leader triumphant,
And pray that thou still our defender wilt be.
Let thy congregation escape tribulation;
Thy name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!

2023 Inktober 30 - Roald Dahl Trick-or-Treating

Drawn with my best friend and critic Jillian in mind. She adores Roald Dahl, so she proposed some of the famous Dahl characters in a Halloween setting.

Here, we have Matilda, James from The Giant Peach, and Charlie from The Chocolate Factory all dressed up and having a good time together. You can make up your own minds who's hiding underneath that Swiss cheese bedsheet, but yes, it's a little homage to Charlie Brown.

Since Matilda is known for her magic powers, making her a witch was perfectly logical. And Charlie's looking mighty sweet in his chocolate bar outfit, and I dunno; I just put James in a random, cute costume.

That's the great thing about some of Dahl's young protagonists. They go through a lot of hardship, but they actively choose not to let those hardships harden them. They choose to remain gentle and kind even when others are nasty to them for no good reason, and every time they end up in the dirt, they just pick themselves back up. But sometimes they're not above a little petty revenge, like in Matilda's case.

Like Roald Dahl himself said, the nastiness of a character made their just desserts that much more satisfying.

And in the end, the kids end up with what they rightfully deserve, and then some. Some of their families may be considered unusual, even unconventional, but a true family is a true family, oddities and all. I believe James and Matilda would make a cute couple when they're grown.

And now we've only got one entry to go. I think I got something real good for Halloween's official entry.

Happy Thanksgiving!

My little sister has to work today (she’s a cafeteria worker in a retirement home) so we had Thanksgiving dinner a little early. The food was delicious, and I provided the rolls, one of the many perks of working in a bakery/cafe.

And when Corie gets home tonight, that’s when we’re gonna have dessert (which I also provided) and watch “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.” The Peanuts specials are one of our sacred traditions. 

For now, I plan to take it easy with a little art, a little writing, a little music, and maybe a little reading. 

The best part is getting a breather from work. As much as I love my job, it has been absolutely insane this past week alone. Amazing how many customers bite our heads off because they put off their shopping until the very last minute, we actually need time to put all those orders together, and we only have so much left in stock. 

Oh, well, at least the majority of the customers are perfectly pleasant and I still get paid well; my salary got bumped up another dollar this month, and I got a $50 gift card as an early Christmas present. Besides, I used to work at WinCo Foods and Deseret Industries; I can handle just about anything.

Happy Thanksgiving!

My Inktober 2021 #31 - It's the Great Pumpkin

And there we have it, folks! Another "Inktober" success! 

Be careful out there, keep a sharp eye out for spooks, don't eat too much candy, and avoid insincere pumpkin patches at all costs!

(All images property of their respective owners.)

My Inktober 2021 #22 - Halloween Horse

Holy smokes, less than 10 days left! Time does indeed fly when you're having fun, no? 

So, we've done a Halloween feline and canine, therefore it's only fitting we do a Halloween equine as well. 

A plain bedsheet ghost sounded boring, so I gave this horse a "Charlie Brown ghost" costume. Simple, yet charming. 

My Inktober 2021 #4 - Terence at Halloween

Well, this is one way a unicorn's horn comes in handy! Just don't let Linus van Pelt see!

My Inktober 2 - Pumpkin Patch

Day 2! I prefer the nice, wholesome, kid-friendly Halloween, like Disney and Garfield and Hotel Transylvania...and, of course, good ol' Charlie Brown!

It ain't an official holiday until I've watched the Peanuts special at least once or twice.

Will this year be the year that the Great Pumpkin will finally appear?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hard to believe another Thanksgiving has already come and gone. It seems that holidays take forever to get here, and then just like that, they're over. Well, they are good while they last, and who says family, friends, good food, nice gifts, giving thanks, and overall love should be limited to just a few days in the year?

My Thanksgiving this year was pretty low-key, but I kind of prefer it that way. Fancy parties are nice, but it's also nice to take it easy at home, surrounded by family and good food. I got the day off from work (my hours have been bumped up this week, so things are starting to look up for me...I hope), and my older sister did join us for dessert, bringing some of her kids with her; my niece is spending the night with us. (Lizzie is always looking for an opportunity for a sleepover.)

We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on my laptop, and of course I helped Mom out with the preparations for dinner. I'm usually in charge of cutting the vegetables, and yesterday, I took part in cutting the grapes for our famous cranberry salad; Mom had bought grapes with seeds by mistake, so I spent at least an hour cutting the grapes and gently scraping out the seeds, one grape half at a time. It was actually kind of relaxing (and oddly fun, like that gross fascination you get from picking a scab or popping a pimple or pulling a blackhead), and I played music on my phone for entertainment, although I had to give my hands a good wash afterwards.

Fun fact: I only learned to like my family's cranberry salad when I was a teenager. As a little kid, the fluffy pink stuff didn't appeal to me at all, but when I finally tried it, I realized it wasn't half-bad.

When the meal was ready, I was more than ready to tuck in. The food was excellent and I reached that perfect level of fullness. I even supplied the beverage; my work had a pre-Thanksgiving potluck, and one of my contributions was a liter of soda, but since nobody touched it, I decided to take it home.

We're not big fans of pumpkin pie; I tried it a few times but never developed a taste for it. So for Thanksgiving dessert, we usually have Jello or cake. This year, we decided: let them eat cake! I decorated it myself, and it tasted every bit as good as it looked.

The rest of the day was low-key. As I said, my sister and some of her kids joined us for the dessert, and we watched A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. For me, it's not Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas until I've seen the "Peanuts" special at least once.

That's about all I have to say for this blog. So, one last time for the road: Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!