Nicknames

I just think nicknames are random and funny.

In elementary school, my youth pastor called me Jeffiner, and a couple of the girls called me Jeff for years. They even came up with ridiculous spellings of it like "gPHPHPHfffyyyyyyyyiinNr" or something like that.

My uncle used to call me "Mean Girl" (before the movie). I never did find out the real story behind this one.

Nathan Allen (from housekeeping a few years ago) got the nickname Soysauce...he just answered to it one day, and it stuck.

That same summer, Nathaniel got the nickname Toilet Cleaning Man, which eventually got shortened to T.C. Man, from a couple of kids during family camp.

Not a big stretch, but I gave Kelsey the nickname of Kelsh last summer because I would yell it everytime I came into the trailer for no apparent reason.

The summer before that she gave me the nickname of Chinila. It was the same summer that "Hey There Delilah" was really popular.

The list goes on:
Sunshine--my dad
Bub--Robby
Hoostie--Justin Cloyd
"Mom"--Kelsey's name for my mom
Critter--Kristi
Uncle Monkey--my dad again
Nicoe--Stacie
Annie/Marie--Jess
Shelly--my aunt...her real name's Deborah Michelle
Captain--Morgan...I think you get it.
Bubbles--Stacie


Holiday Tradition #2: Thanksgiving Dinner
For as long as I can remember, we've celebrated Thanksgiving at our house. The guests varied from year to year, but we never went anywhere else. Shelly, Jess, Kristi, and Robby have almost always been in attendance. The dishes have varied as well, but we always always have dumplings. Actually, I take that back. I think there was one year we didn't, and a civil war almost broke out in the home.

My favorite Thanksgiving dinner memory: One of the years that my grandparents came, my mom made lemon pepper turkey. My grandpa is a very traditional sort of man. With his first bite, he gave a kind of scrunched up nose look, and my mom asked if he liked the turkey. "Tastes kind of sour," was his matter-of-fact reply. Then he proceeded to eat it without another word. Poor Mom...but I liked it...