Christmas usually stresses me out. Being the first born, I have this innate need to please everyone, and I feel that during the holidays I inevitably dissapoint someone. This year was actually not that bad,though, maybe because I've already exceeded my stress quota this year. This year we spent Christmas Eve with my family and drove to Cheboygan on Christmas day to spend time with Ben's family.
We had a great time with my family complete with movie viewing, laughing until my stomach hurts, and a rousing game of Scrabble (which I did not lose!!!). It just isn't a holiday unless someone can make Dad cry from laughing at the ridiculousness of his children.
We also had an equally great time with Ben's family. Alas, though, I have some sad news to report. Jeanette is no longer the reigning Monopoly champ. The trophy has been given to another, namely Ben's dad.
It was a great holiday and I feel blessed to have such an amazing family!
Okay, (point of the post) so this is why they call me Jan (and by they, I mean Ben's family):
My whole life, people seem to have a hard time saying and remembering my name. I don't know if it's my unforgettable personality or my weird name (I'm crossing my fingers for the weird name). Whenever I call to order food (which is often) and they ask for a name I've started giving them my last name just so I don't have to hear "Jean?" "No, Jeanette" "Janet?" "NOOO,
JAAAEEENNEETTTTE" "Jennifer?" "Ummm...yeah, Jennifer." Even my uncle, when I was born, couldn't remember if my name was Jeanette or Jennifer and decided he would rename me Jennifer-Jeanette, because he knew one of them was right. My sister (8 years my junior) couldn't pronounce Jeanette when she was learning to talk so she called me "Net". I think she still stumbles over it today. For whatever reason, people just can't seem to pronounce my name. Okay, so fast forward to my adult life when I'm introduced to Ben's grandparents. Once again, my name poses a problem as his grandparents cannot pronounce my name, so they call me Jan. Not only do they call me Jan but so do his Aunt and Uncle.
So, these past two days we've spent with our beautiful niece who is learning to talk. She can say mamma, dadda, gamma, bumpa(for grandpa), Em (for my sister-in-law, Emily), Ben (for Ben), even Jake (for Emily's boyfriend, Jake). And what does she say for her charming Aunt Jeanette? Nothing...she laughs. That's right --people kept trying to get her to say Jeanette and she would look at me and laugh...like no really, what's really her name? I told her she could call me Jan, but to no avail.
((DISCLAIMER: Dear Mom and Dad, you did a great job naming me...this was meant to be a humorous story that no way attacks your naming abilities. Good job!))
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