What's in a name?

What's in a name? When I was quite little I couldn't pronounce the "k" sound of my name, so often times people thought I was saying "Terry" and not Kari. So when they'd say, "Oh, hi Terry." I would become indignant and say, "No, my name is Kari." And yet it sounded like "Terry." I don't really remember these moments, but I've heard the stories many times. I also couldn't pronounce "quack", but that's another story for another time.

As I became an adolescent, I struggled with my last name for a time because my dad was my high school principal. Overall I didn't mind dad being at school and people eventually let go of pre-conceived notions that I'd get out of trouble or tardies after I quickly explained that'd really I'd be in double-trouble and I'd have to pay double the tardy fine if I ever earned that many (which I never did).

Eventually I also grew accustomed to people asking me if I was related to David Waterman, and became quite proud of being related to my dad. :) He is practically perfect in the eyes of this Daddy's girl. ;) However, when feeling particularly sassy, I'd also say that I'm Sherry Waterman's daughter as well. With this pride also came the responsibility to represent the name well. Dad's had a pretty outstanding 35+ years in ministry and I certainly wouldn't want to tarnish the name. Mom and Dad never placed any sort of pressure on me to "uphold" the name, it was just something I took upon myself as my ministry began and I began networking. (I also took great glee when people started asking Dad if he was related to me at conferences.)

As I began planning for the wedding, I thought about what I would want to be called afterwards. Would I want to hyphenate? Truthfully, I liked the sound of "Waterman" and it's much more interesting than "Johnson." Plus there are a number of people who used both my first and last time to refer to me because there were two or more Kari/Carrie's in the group. Using my maiden name as a middle name also occurred to me. But after typing it all out once, it just seemed far to long to type or write, "Kari Waterman Johnson" on a regular basis.

After the wedding my students were in a bit of an uproar about having to call me "Mrs. Johnson", but while it sounded odd to be called so, it sounded wrong to be "Miss Waterman" anymore too. So a bit of an identity crisis ensued. The students worked through it...some preferring "The teacher formally known as Miss Waterman" to anything else. I answered to just about whatever came out at the time. I slipped up once at graduation by introducing myself using my maiden name. But other than that one time, I became more and more accustomed to using "Johnson." Until this last weekend.

This last weekend I attended an NYG '10 meeting. Mark had asked me what I wanted on my name tag and it was decided that using my maiden name along with my new name would help others transition. When I checked in I began by accidentally using my maiden name, but when I told them, "No, it's Johnson, " it didn't matter because my room was in fact under "Waterman." I hadn't dropped my maiden name in quite awhile and then actually having the reservation under it was quite amusing.

Then there was the catch-up time with all the other planners. The conversation that struck me the most surrounded around how "Johnson" is actually a boring name--particularly put against "Waterman." It's sad! It just doesn't have the same ring to it. I liked seeing "Waterman" back in my name for a time. When it's stacked on top of each other, as it was on the tame tag, it really didn't seem as long. But if it was any longer the font size would have to be reduced.

So what is it going to be like to be "Kari Johnson"? I don't really know yet. I'm not teaching right now and I haven't started subbing. So I just don't know yet. Right now Kari Johnson is busy getting the house in order, getting her Creative Memories business up and going as quickly as possible, and enjoying cooking and baking on a regular basis. She's going have to wait to see what kind of professional life she will have over time.

July/August Wrap-Up

The last week in July was our last week with the boys. Despite the apartment being in orderly boxes and disarray all at the same time, I decided I didn't want to spend the week unpacking with the boys here. So we did things like go to art museums, fish, go to the pool, and the beach!

The Biloxi beaches are not as pretty as Florida or California beaches, but they have cool things like crabs and jellyfish on them, so the boys had a blast. I even got brave and held a crab myself! :)

The boys left and Jason and I soothed ourselves by having a scrumptious stuffed red snapper dinner that night. Certainly doesn't replace the boys, but it did feed our souls a little bit that night. Jason really took care of the cooking that night--he loves to play it up!


The weekend after the boys left we drove to Pensacola, FL to visit my friend Shawn. Shawn was a coach for one of my TNT teams and he's in the Air Force. He's been training to call in air support for the Army. I'm a little scared for him, but someone has to do it. We're actually going to go back for his graduation this week. Anyways, we spent a day at the beach in Gulf Shores, AL. It was gorgeous!!

San Diego!

Our trip to San Diego was short and jam-packed, as the rest of the trip was also. Sara Jane's wedding was the primary reason we went, but we did enjoy the Zoo, which was a first for me.

Sara Jane has ALWAYS talked about getting married on a beach. Always. We've been friends since we were 11 and I've always known I'd watch her walk down a beach for her wedding. So, thankfully, she married a Navy man and they were able to get onto a beach off Coronado Island that is for Navy men and their families. It was incredible. I've never seen Sara so happy and James is a great guy. As Michelle said in her toast, the girls have given their approval. :)

The boys were more interested in finding seashells then the service, but what boy that age wouldn't be. :) They were great at both the rehearsal dinner and wedding reception. We received LOTS of compliments about how well behaved they were, which made my heart proud. The reception site had a special buffet for boys, so that helped tremendously. Ian enjoyed taking LOTS of pictures with his dad's camera, so many of my pics are from his vantage point. Sara, they're going to get posted to a Picasa site soon! I had to weed some out. :)

There was a cruise the next day around the Harbour--that's where the first picture was taken. It's become a fav of mine already!

St. Louis Art Museum

Going to the St. Louis Art Museum is like visiting an old friend for me. So obviously I was thrilled the boys wanted to go--they're both very artistic and loved going from room to room. Below are some of my favorite pics. I was admittedly disappointed they weren't more impressed with the Monet. Ian's response, "Yeah, I saw this in a book at school." Um, yes, and now you're seeing one of the most famous paintings in the world LIVE! Ugh, 9 and unimpressed...seeing the painting brings me back to '99 went I visited Monet's Gardens with Soloway and Creed. Good times! The boys were pretty into the area where the armor and swords are on display. Go figure!

The Magic House

Donovan works on his bubble-making skills.
Racing to the top!
Weeee!!!!!!!!!!!The classic Magic House picture we all have!

Grant's Farm

Ian, Ella, and Donovan enjoying the train ride.
Donovan tries to appease the goats.

Ian grooms them.
Sour!


Lamas and a bald eagle end the visit on a high note.
As promised, an update. We took the boys to Grant's Farm on our second day. My friend Mandi and her daughter, Ella, joined us for the fun. Ella's my little buddy since we bonded last summer, so it was especially fun for her to meet the boys. The boys loved entertaining her and she loved the attention. The goat feeding was hilarious. Poor Ella had gone in before her mom and the goats attacked her immediately and when they got on their hind legs they were her height. Consequently she wasn't keen on being inside the gates, but enjoyed feeding them from outside. The elephants were also very exciting for the kids...and me. I love the animals at Grant's Farm, almost more than going to the zoo.

Nothing more exciting happened that day. We were exhausted by the end and enjoyed a quiet night at home.