The Name Game

Now that I am a Mrs., I have thought a lot about how I want to change my name. Don't worry, I am not one of those hyphenating types. Hyphenated names just leave too many questions...alphabetize by the first last name or the second last name? what name do the kids get? how many letters are there in her name, it's so long!?
You get my point. So you ask, why don't I just adopt Mike's last name & be done with it? Why make it complicated?

And here is where the story begins...
My grandma's name is Mary Louise.
My mom's name is Mary Lee.
My name is Mary Ann.

I also have a great Aunt Mary Margaret, a cousin Mary Elizabeth, & a second cousin named Mary Dale.

The really funny fact about it all is that none of us go by 'Mary'. We all use our middle names instead of or with the 'Mary'. In fact, you only call us Mary if you want to receive the Look of Death.

My mom & I are continually getting confused - mailings, medical records, credit history, etc. I know that if I take Mike's name a lot of that will clear up. But, that doesn't solve the problem of people wanting to call me 'Mary' all the time. This is especially an issue for me with my work b/c all of the corporate people just see my first name. Even when I refer to myself as Mary Ann in writing or even in answering the phone, they just don't get it.

Therefore, I came up with a brilliant plan. I would change my name to be:
First Name = MaryAnn
Middle Name = my maiden name
Last Name = Mike's last name

Voila! All problems solved!

Except for one tiny little thing - THE COST!

I went to the county clerk's office to request my name change fully prepared for it to have a price tag attached. What I was not prepared for was the size of the said price tag. The county charges $136 in court fees. I would have to appear before the Circuit Court (kinda scary, huh?). Then I would also have to pay the local newspaper $123 to run the name change announcement in the paper for three consecutive weeks.

grand total = $259! = TOO MUCH!

Yesterday I went to the Social Security Administration's Office to request a regular old I just got married and I need to change my name kind of name change (you know, the FREE kind!). I told the clerk my story as she was working on things just as chit chat & she told me about another free option. I can make my maiden name part of my middle name. So, now you can call me:

First Name = Mary
Middle Name = Ann + maiden name
Last Name = Mike's last name

I think that sometime in the future I will still do the legal name change. Just not right now when we are still recovering from the wedding expenses, the honeymoon expenses, & so on. Also, Mike is hearing lots of rumbles at his work regarding another layoff. If you feel so led, please pray that his company gets many orders & that his job will be protected by the Lord Himself.

***I promise that wedding pics are on their way!