WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 1929 | HI: 47° LOW: 27°

Mother went out to Aunt Lizzie’s & I went out from work & had dinner there. We staid until about 8 P.M. & then went to Laura’s to see her tree. Will & Uncle Boydie brought us home. When we got home Elmer was there with Harry. He is getting to be an awful pest.
[Note: Another interesting spelling and word: staid (origin: mid 16th cent.: archaic past participle of stay).]

A lot of new names in such a short entry: Mother, Aunt Lizzie, Laura, Will, Uncle Boydie, Elmer, and Harry. Of course for me, Elmer stands out the most as he is “an awful pest.”

In other words: So mom went to Aunt Lizzie’s, and then after work Ethel went there too. After dinner, at 8 P.M., Ethel and her mom (and Aunt Lizzie?) went to Laura’s house to see her tree. Perhaps Will and Uncle Boydie live with Laura and that’s why they drove them home? Or they were part of the collective “we” and were with them at Aunt Lizzie’s? Is “home” Ethel’s house, or her mom’s house, or Aunt Lizzie’s? Wherever home is, Elmer and Harry were there. And of course, Elmer is a pest.

Usually a boy pest, from a girl’s perspective, means he likes Ethel but he’s not taking the hint. Thank goodness Ethel brought up Elmer, more characters means more potential stories to unfold. And I love a good story.