AUNT BUBBA??? WHAT?!?!?!?!?

Now that you have an understanding of WHERE I am these days, let's talk about WHO I am here to check on.

An Aunt called "Bubba?" Yep. That's the deal. I know. I know. The funny thing about it is I thought "Bubba" was a girl nickname my whole life until I moved to Texas!! You can imagine my surprise (and silent chuckling) when I first heard a BOY referred to as "Bubba." My goodness. How embarrassing for him!!

So... how did this happen? How is it this very sweet, Southern-Belle, little lady got tagged with "Bubba?" Well, after my move to Texas and my discovery that my aunt's nickname was quite the oddity, I asked the question. Turns out my mother knew that "Bubba" was a boy nickname all along!!! She was five years old when my grandmother announced she was to have a little sibling. My mother was very excited and definitely had it in mind that she was going to have a little brother. She was VERY disappointed when my grandmother arrived home with a baby girl. My mother's solution to this disappointing turn-of-events? Call the new baby "Bubba"... with no regard toward the femininity of the little one. Well, as these things go... it stuck. Not only did my mother call her little sister "Bubba", even my grandmother and pretty much everyone in town called her "Bubba." The interesting thing about this is I can judge how long someone has known my aunt by whether they refer to her as "Bubba" (they grew up together) or by her real name, Frances (they met after my aunt graduated from college).

It has also made for some very interesting travels. It seems as though calling girls by boys' names was not terribly odd during that time. My aunt has a very good friend, Billie (who sometimes actually goes by her first and second name, Billie Rhea), and another friend, Jo (who goes by Jo but is actually named Jo Ella). A friend of mine from Austin and I went to Las Vegas to meet "Bubba and Billie" one week. I'm fairly certain someone overhearing us thought we were heading out to rendezvous with two men!! When I discussed going on a cruise with "Bubba and Jo", I'm pretty sure those who did not know me thought there was definitely something less-than-genteel about my choice of traveling partners. I stumbled more than once over calling my aunt "Frances" in front of others and sometimes let "Bubba" slip. I tried... but when you have called someone one name your whole life, it's hard to switch-hit!!

So there you have it. There is always a reason for the things that may seem the most odd. Sometimes you just have to ask!

Until the next ramble...