Just Call Me....

Day Nineteen-Nicknames you have and why you have them

In my life, most people have just called me by my name. I don't adore my name, but that is what I prefer to be called. I don't like to be called Mrs. Johnson, too formal. I don't even like to be Sister Johnson at church. If it were up to me, even the Primary kids would call me Julie.

While I don't love the name Julie, I do love the name Julie King. Before I was married, even my closest friends often called me Julie King. I don't know why, maybe because my name is so short, but I loved it. I really loved my maiden name and waited until almost a year after I got married to change it. I love sharing a name with Seth, but I think Julie King looks better on paper and sounds better. No offense Johnsons, I love you, and the wonderful thing about the name Johnson is that it sounds good with everything, so naming babies is a piece of cake. I don't think King sounds good with very many names, but it sounded good with Julie.

Then of course I have been called Jules, which is automatic if your name is Julie. I have had strangers call me Jules even. When I worked it was not uncommon to have someone I just met, usually over the phone, say "thanks Jules". Kind of odd, but if your name is Julie people will call you Jules. I don't love it, or hate it. It just comes with the territory.

Let's see, what else have I been called? My mom called me Poodgie Bear when I was little. I had a friend in college who always called me Bonquisha, because he insisted that Julie was not a memorable enough name for me. My siblings call me Poindexter, from Revenge of the Nerds because I am blind and socially awkward. We all have Revenge of the Nerds nicknames though. I just happened to get the dorkiest assignment.

And I think my only other nicknames come from Valerie. She is the queen of nicknames, and they don't usually have any rhyme or reason either. For instance, she calls her son Luke, Gee and her daughter Audrey, Bonchi. Who Knows? Growing up, Valerie called me Shaq, way before we had ever even heard of Shaquille O'Neal. It started as Shaquelle and became just Shaq. No reason. It is just what she picked. When I moved to college and she missed me she would say she was having a "Shaq Attack". One time I even came home to this message on my answering machine: Tic Tac Shaq Attack, Give the Dog a Bone, Pick up the phone. Click. That has probably been my most constant nickname, although lately Val has reverted back to another old fave from childhood. Sir. This one came from Charlie Brown. Remember Peppermint Patty would call Marcie Sir? Or was it the other way around? Anyway, one of them said it and one of them had a raspy little boy voice like me, so Valerie thought I should also be Sir.

Those are all the nicknames I can think of, but I will mention that I HATE pet names. Not for you...if you like honey, baby, sweetie, dear, or whatever, that doesn't bother me a bit, but if Seth ever called me any of that, I'd puke. I guess it sounds cliche to me. Not everyone in love should have to be Honey. I love that Seth has always just called me by my name. Yes, he sometimes assigns me names like Dorkopotamus or Bratticus Finch, based on my behavior, but he usually just calls me Julie and I just call him Seth. Maybe Seth Micah, but that's it.

Now the kids, they are a whole other story. They have pet names and nicknames for days, but we will save those for another time.

P.S. Just for fun, if I could have picked my own name, do you know what I would have picked? What would you have picked, if you'd been able to name yourself?