My Fam Damily: The Clan in TN

One of my favorite blogs is hosting a perfect link up for me.

My family is always very entertaining. I don’t see that much of them because we’re in DC and they are in TN (and CA). My mom’s parents are from Croatia and Austria, and are ESL. They speak & write very well, but do have accents and sometimes mispronounce words.
I am usually terrible and laugh. The hubs was horrified that I laugh at my poor, hardworking immigrant grandparents, until one day at my grandparents house, my grandfather (Opa) pops halfway out of his recliner pointing at the TV saying "I don’t like him, he’s a gypsy”! I tried to tell him Emeril Lagasse was not a gypsy from Europe, but a famous Creole chef. We still had to change the channel and E still laughs about that to this day.  Told you, it’s funny.

Here are some classic Oma & Opa moments:

  

They see me rollin' (in my PT Cruiser)

 

One year, sitting around the table for a nice Christmas Day dinner, my uncle asked my grandmother (Oma) what Opa got her for Christmas and she replied “Channel 5”. We’re all like, "what- you should already have that with your cable provider." It went on for a while before someone figured out she meant Channel #5, the perfume.

On a nice Spring day, Oma called my mom and invited her over to have lunch and come see her panties. My mom’s all “I don’t want to see you underwear” Ha-ha, Oma meant her pansies that she had just planted.
Speaking of plants, my Oma always compliments my mom on her dafodillys. 

When my grandparents first moved to Tennessee from California, they got a new car, a Grand Pricks. My super hilarious uncle told them what that meant and they were pretty mortified. (it was a Grand Prix and in all fairness to them, it really looks like it should be pronounced Pricks).
Whenever anyone asks my Oma where she's from (because of her accent), she says California (she doesn't think she has an accent- she does). 

My grandparents say they don’t really like Tennessee that much (compared to California, their native land), but they LOVE Dollywood. Funnel cakes and a show, yes.  I mean you can’t get that shit in CA. I love when they loudly point out the most obese person at the park and say “there’s a REAL Tennessean there”.

Moving onto the next generation, my mom has some classic sayings as well (so I’m sure I’m next). If she says something incorrectly (like when she pronounced Destin Dezdin) she says we can't make fun of her because she's not from this country. Um, my mom was born in Austria; however, from the age of 5 on, she was English speaking and she has no accent!
My also mom prides herself on her street lingo.

 

 Shakin' a Tail Feather with my dad.

My mom started saying "G" for a while or "that's a G-Thang".  My little brother was so annoyed with her, so she started calling him Thomas-G-dog. We still call him that 10 years later and his fiancé is thoroughly confused.  

Her latest is my husband is now EZBZ, because I call him E-Beasy sometimes. That's her street name for him. It goes in emails and cards to him. 

Anyhoo, hope you enjoyed meeting a few members of my fam damily.