Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Acclimating to the South

Coming to the South from California was sure to bring many changes to our family, especially when it came to the kids. We wondered how long it would take for the kids to shed their cool Southern California persona for one of redneck simplicity. Well, not long apparently.

When we first moved into our new 10-OC home, the builder had commissioned a local artist to paint a picture of our home as it looked the day we moved in. Then he had note cards printed up that we could send out as change of address cards or general note cards. On the back he even had them personalized with our last name. What a nice touch! Now, most everyone who spells our last name adds an "e" between the L and the Y, changing our name to Hambley. We're pretty used to that. So the first thing we did was check the spelling on the back of our notecards. Amazingly there was no "e" added! How lucky was that? But wait, what was that? No "e" was added, but somewhere in there an "i" got added. So on the back of our notecards, if you ever get one from us, is personalized as "From the Hambily's". Yes, that's HamBily's. Oh did the kids have fun with that one! So in keeping with the southern tradition of going by nicknames instead of given names, the kids have taken on southern monikers.

Meet this guy. Growing up in Southern California this boy was known as Austin, or aka Bubby.
He is now a Bubba. Bubba Hambily.





This strong young man here already had the nickname Derick, but at school he went by Frederick. His southern name, however, is Fredneck Hambily.




Timothy has a nice strong name. But not quite twangy enough for the southern culture. He is now Tim-Bob. Tim-Bob Hambily.





This little guy is Jonathan. But he is yet a boy. So he is known as Jon-Boy. Jon-Boy Hambily.


Now with Amanda you would think she was born in the south. She has a very southern name already if we go by her traditional Amanda May. But we've shortened it to May-May. Everyone can pronounce that. May-May Hambily.


Rick's southern name is Yes Sir.


Mine is No Ma'am.


We're fitting in just fine here!

2 comments:

Juli said...

Bet you'd fit in a little further south (and west) just fine, too!! ;)

Regi S. said...

FREDNECK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!