All of yall know that your daddy, granddaddy, father-in-law was called Boots. Right? But do you know how he came by that name? Once, when I was dating him, we went to his house and his aunt and uncle called him Boots, but his mom and dad called him Claiborne. I had always called him Boots, but had wondered why he was called this particular name. So, I asked his dad. He looked at me with the most sincere look on his face and said, "Well, when he was born and I looked at him for the first time, he had the cutest little white feet.....just like lil boots, so I called him Boots and it stuck." He was so serious that I never knew if he was funning me or not! On the other hand, I know exactly where the Goodie I was called came from. My mama said that when I was born, I had colic for my first nine months and once when she took me to the store, I was fretting and she said something about me being so cross and cranky and the man that ran the store patted me on the back and said that I was the "goodest one" and one of my cousins heard him and started calling me Goodie. Now a days, the only ones who call me Goodie are Harry and Barbara, Faye Cox Knowles, and Nancy Lawson and sometimes Marie. You know, now I kinda like it!

Update on Church Cat 8/18/02

Well, it's been a while since I told you about the church cat. I've been going down there and feeding and watering him/her. I haven't seen it again, but the food is always gone and the water is always low. The first time I went down there the crickets were all over the wall.....thick as hops. Here lately, I only see 5/6. Here's my theory on that. I think the cat got out after it ate most of the crickets. But I didn't know so I kept on taking cat food down there. Well, one hardy cricket survived and has been eating the cat food and getting bigger and bigger. One day when I go in there to put the food down I'm going to hear a rustling overhead on those stacked chairs and junk. When I look up, a giant, bodacious cricket is gonna wrestle me to the floor and take my cat food. Then he's gonna go upstairs and try the organ and piano to see which he plays better with all those legs. Then he's gonna wait 'til Sunday and do the best cricket concert the world has ever known. Everybody is going to love his music so much that he'll be made an honory member of EWC and take over the musician's job.

Another Birthday 8/22/02

How come movie stars who used to be my age, way back when, are now lots of years younger than I? It seems like here lately the birthdays just seem to come and come and come......faster and faster and faster. I remember when I was a child, I always got a new pair of shoes for my birthday and usually some new socks. I got books and a few toys, but always new shoes. You know, it only dawned on me a little while ago, the reason why. Because school always started a week or so after my birthday and I already had new shoes!! It was sorta like killing two birds with one stone. Mama made my dresses and petticoats, so she didn't have to do a lot of back to school shopping for me! Just school supplies. Anyway, seems like I keep getting older and older. Unless you ask some of the grandkids. Depending on which one you ask, I'm anywhere from 35 to 48. Now they both seem like good ages! Oh well, compared to the alternative, I guess getting old isn't too bad. I just hope that by next year at this time when I write, I'll be writing about my dates with that handsome man!