The name game...

Today's blog challenge is to, in a nutshell, tell about my name. So here goes...

The name I was given at birth was Janice Lynn. My parents really liked Lynn, but couldn't think of anything that would sound good as a middle name, so they decided to make Lynn my middle name. I have no idea why they picked Janice for the first name. That's the "oh, so exciting" version of how I got my name.

Now for the "not so sure it's true, but sounds way better" version that my dad and mom used to argue about. My dad said I was named Lynn because I was almost born on the linoleum. Apparently for one of my mom's three deliveries, she progressed pretty fast, and they had to tell her not to push until they got her to the delivery room. The only problem with the way this story relates to my name is... my dad firmly believed it was my birth, and my mom swore it was my brother's. I tend to believe her version, because I don't think I'll ever forget many details of the birth of my own children, so how could she. However, I know they used to give some pretty good pain meds back then, so who really knows? And since both of them are no longer alive, I guess I'll never really know the truth. Oh well... it makes for a good story, nonetheless.

I'm sure anyone who has read this feels way more enriched knowing all of this. Happy day for you.

I will tell you, though, that I actually went to court and legally had my name changed. Bet you haven't! I had Janice removed from my name. I wanted to keep my maiden name, but didn't want to have four names. And the name police won't let you just drop your first name like you can your middle name. My husband apologized to me the day we got married for giving me such a "jacked-up" name. So not only did I have to go through my entire childhood telling people that I went by Lynn, not Janice... all to puzzled looks and pondering questions like "how do you get Lynn from Janice?" Now I have the last name that... even when I spell it... which I always do... I always have to start again after the first two letters. People always assume there is a vowel where there's not. And no one EVER pronounces it right.

Wake up people... blog over.