What's In a Name? A Winner!

My friends, you've all shared some very sweet, cute, and occasionally hilarious 'terms of endearment' with me in your comments, and I so appreciate you taking time to do that! I've really had fun reading them...

A few were really interesting: I think Jenny's is definitely the most original/unusual - and I am not ever going to ask Aaron where it came from! ;0) Linda? Girl, I CRIED I laughed so hard when I read yours! It FITS you!!! Pammy, I cried when I read yours, too, but for a different reason...

My grandpa used to call me 'His little punkin' eater'. I guess it was because of my coppery red hair - I never thought to ask him about the origin of it, until it was too late to do so.

OK, so, to announce a WINNER for the Giveaway:

I'm doing this my way, and I really hope it doesn't look 'rigged'
('cause it's not), but I chose my favorite term of endearment from your comments...

Congrats to

Pammy Johnson

for sharing 'Punkin'

and bringing back such sweet memories for me...

"Tell her what she's WON, Bob!"
"Pammy, you'll receive this lavish collection of vintage papers & music!"

{I TOLD you I had a lot of stuff in boxes!}

Pam, dear, if you will please email me at debi.wardkennedy@gmail.com

with your mailing address, I will get this beautiful package of Valentine Sweetness

ready & sent off to you!

Thank you all for playing!

{PS: I have a stash of stuff already building up

for a March/St. Patricks' Day giveaway later in February!}

Some of the other terms of endearment that are special to me:
My grandma called me 'Debs' my whole life, never Debbie or Debra. Just 'Debs'. I miss hearing her say it...

My daughter Bethany, whom I call Bethy, calls me 'Marmee'. From Little Women, my very favorite book. It's the reason she's Bethy, too. ;0) I was kinda' hopin' that my 'gramma name' would be Marmee, but I've decided to just let these darling little boys call me whatever their hearts desire!!!

Bob calls me 'Gorgeous'. As in, 'Good morning, Gorgeous!'. He also calls all of our daughters that, and it is always said with a smile on his face. We all love it!

My hubs also calls me 'DebiSue'. 

Now..... I hesitate to share that because, truth be told, I have never liked my name.
I was a pudgy little redheaded girl with a freckle-covered face, and a boring name.There were always at least three or four OTHER Debbie's in my class at Rother Elementary School in Redding, so we all had to go by 'Debbie + our last name or initial'. Well, there were TWO Debbie S's - me and Debbie Smith - and so I got the dubious distinction of having my middle name used. I was Debbie Sue for YEARS. I hated it. In junior high, I got creative and spelled it Debbi. Then in high school, it was Debi. Now I'm Deb to most people - my mom says that by the time I am 65, I'll just go by 'D'. She could be right! ;0) When I began my design career, I legally added 'Ward', my family name, as my middle name, and use it professionally. {People always see that and ask if I've been married twice! Good Lord, NO.}

I really honestly do not remember how it came to be that the love of my life started referring to me by a name that I despised... but over the years, I've become used to him doing it. I can tolerate it pretty well now - except when he calls me that in front of other people! He said it in front of Joe & Jermonne at the last BarnHouse show, and Joe's eyebrows went up and Jermonne's eyes got big and they both said 'Debbie SUE?' in unison whilst staring incredulously at me, and I nearly DIED. I gave Bob 'THE LOOK', which of course just made him laugh, and so did The Boys. I may never live this down, and much prefer to be the 'De' of 'DeBob' in their minds, thankyouverymuch.

{BTW, if any of you ever come up to me at a show and say 'Hi, DebiSue!', know that you will likely get smacked down. Or at least a dirty look. I'm just sayin'.... ;0) }

{images by me}