Sunday Funnies ~ Presenting The Middletons

It's December!  Get out your Advent calendars!  (I may be Jewish but I'm not ignorant.)

I have never featured The Middletons here.  I had one strip a few months ago, but I have a few stored away, ready to share.

The Middletons comprises a married couple, their son, his very mean and tough mother, and a very mean and tough bulldog.  If there was a fight between the latter two, I'd bet on the mom.  She reminds me of Dennis Day's mother on the old Jack Benny show.  Typical exchange:
Dennis: I'm looking for a gift for my mother.  What size is that? [remember, this is radio]
Clerk: That's a thirty-eight.
Dennis: That's too small.  How about that?
Clerk: That's a forty-five.
Dennis: Perfect!  Can you put some bullets in it and wrap it up?

I put a note on the final cartoon "why I don't wear ties."  I had a one-panel hanging in my office for many years of a guy who's straining to get his necktie out of one of those old tape drives like you seen in 60's and 70's movies when they want you to know the big props are a computer.  And when people would request that I wear a tie, I'd point at the cartoon.

Without further blather, here are Morris and Midge Middleton

LOVE this one!

This one too.

his grimy neighbor

Wilson's the son.

Why I Don't Do Neckties

He's a Man's Man!

But unlike Arlo, I know enough to keep my shirt from getting greasy whilst making latkes.

Yes.  Me

Oops

I made dinner reservations for Thanksgiving for myself, my sons, my sister and her husband.

I used opentable.  Opentable has an account under my "Meg" name.  I didn't really think anything about it until Monday when I got a call from an unknown number.
"Hello?"
"May I speak to Meg Winters?"

I was at work, and more than a bit confused.  Sometimes, t-friends call and say "hi Meg," but this wasn't one of them.

"She's not here; can I take a message?"
"I'd like to confirm..." 

She was from the restaurant and wanted to make sure we were coming.

"I can do that" and I confirmed.

It's a good thing I was reminded the reservation was under Meg's name!  I called back the next day and said Meg won't be there, could they place it under my male name instead.  They did so.

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Well....

It's Thanksgiving, the kickoff to the Winter Shopping Season!  Yes, I can be cynical.

(It's also Chanukah.  That's pretty unusual, but I'm not sure how unusual.  Most sources say it happened in 1861 (before Lincoln declared it a holiday) and won't happen again for 75,000 years.  But a well-researched site says otherwise.  Unless they move Thanksgiving again).

It means nothing to readers outside of North America, and even then I'm late for Canada and any American Indians might not appreciate the sentiment, but

Happy Givethanksing Day!  Click to enjoy.

And, from The West Wing (a great show, worth a marathon view, if that's your idea of a good time):

C.J. Cregg (press secretary): They sent me two turkeys. The more photo-friendly of the two gets a Presidential pardon and a full life at a children's zoo. The runner-up gets eaten.
President Josiah Bartlet: If the Oscars were like that, I'd watch.

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BIG Jon Stewart Fan Here

And a couple of weeks ago, he was ranting about how fox "news" has doctors on staff.  They come on various shows but don't actually do anything that would be considered medicine or science, but they try to give credence to the station's talking points.

One doctor was talking about what Stewart called "important medical issues" which were in three-foot-high letters standing next to him.  Things like "hemorrhoids."

One was "man boobs."

The doc started "whether you call them 'man boobs' or 'moobs'..."

This was stupid enough all by itself, but then Jon started to come up with his own synonyms:

• broasts
• chest nuts
• mannaries
• boybies

Personally, I always counterpointed "mammaries" with "daddaries,"

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Aaannnnd Again

Friday was game night, at a new location.  I pushed up my workweek because there was a lawyer meeting scheduled for Friday at 1.  I expected to be out of there by 3, home by 3:30, and I'd have time to eat and start getting dressed by 5.  Games start at 7:30.

Plenty of time.  Even if the meeting ran until 4, I could skip dinner and still get ready with time to spare.

The meeting lasted until around 6:30.  NO game night.

I'll skip the post-Turkey day games, although they're having a "girls game night" and I'm tempted.  But I'm also conflicted.  I think I'd have to talk to the hostess first.

I'll get to a game night soon though.

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Major Meg Weekend

Last weekend was scheduled as a multi-Meg weekend.

I took off Friday because I had used my hours for the week and the company doesn't approve of working over 40 hours per week when on contract.  Weird, I know, but that's the rule.

This also meant I could sleep a little late and be awake and alert for (civilian) game night Friday night.  I considered going out (window) shopping before the games, since they started late that week.  There was a political event right before the games, and I considered that as well, but I was wavering because quite a few people there know me (including elected officials).  I didn't think I was ready for that.

Saturday was a clothing swap in the afternoon and a transdinner that evening.

That meant three, maybe four events over two days.

I've written about planning before.

Here's how it actually played out:

I had homework from a long meeting with lawyers earlier in the week.  I planned to use Friday to do that homework, and by the time I noticed the time both the political event (hard decision made moot) and game night were off the schedule, at least as Meg events.

However, I had finished my work, and I still had Saturday.

Saturday, my son called ~ he needed to be picked up from his volunteer job "around 3."  That would make it difficult to get to the swap, but when my kids call, I respond.  I do my best, anyway.

Then a client called.  The client was a couple of blocks from where I needed to pick up my son so I agreed to drop by around 3, since by that time my son had decided pick up at 4 would be better.

I'd still have time for dinner.  This was going to work out well.

Then a client called.  He was a couple of blocks from my house so I could see him after I dropped off my son.

As I was driving to the first client, my oldest son called and said he'd like to pick up his brother and bring him home.  OK, that was a bit disappointing but they wanted to spend time together so I was willing to step aside.

My client ran late, the second client went smoothly, but by the time I got home it was later than I wanted so I skipped the dinner and figured I'd at least go to the Transgender Day of Remembrance service on Wednesday and I signed up for game night next Friday.

It's all good.

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