I'm Getting Used To It...

...but so is everyone else.

I've had my new last name officially for four months, as of today.  I got my name changed on important documents like driver's license and my passport in November, after we got back from our honeymoon. Credit cards, I didn't switch over until after the holidays because I didn't want to run into the risk of running into problems activating them during holiday shopping.

I butted heads with my company's HR and IT departments, and was able to gradually switch over to my new last name, with the final change occurring last week. So I think the new last name has finally arrived, and I'm actually starting to introduce myself using it, without saying my maiden name first.  Another biggie is actually remembering to sign credit card receipts with my new signature, although it looks like crap (practice makes perfect?)

But it made Andrew and I both laugh to see this package arrive from my dad today. I'm not sure if you can get the full effect with all the blackouts, but as you may see below, he started writing my maiden name and scratched it out with my married name.

To cut the poor guy some slack, he's been writing my married name on most things without a hitch. And to tell you the truth, people all around me have a hard time remembering my new last name (even today, my manager called me by my maiden name on a conference call and immediately corrected himself).

So you're probably thinking, wamp, wamp.  What's so exciting about a post that just states I have a new last name? It's all about the acclimation process for me. The true sign that I've gotten used to my last name? I've inherited the burden of explaining how to spell it to everyone. It's funny, it's a very simple name to spell and is very common in one of Andrew's heritage cultures.  But for that exact reason, everyone thinks it's spelled as another common variation (dropping an "i") which means I'm constantly getting misspelled named tags. And I honestly think I've corrected more people on the spelling in the past four months than I ever did with my Sicilian maiden name. I'm feeling like a true [insert last name] these days although with my maiden name as my "new" middle name, I'll always have a connection to both.