It's Not Easy....Being a van Veen

      As you probably know, becoming a van Veen is a prestigious honor. Not every can claim to be one, and those that do have proved themselves worthy of the name. I changed my last name when I married, not realizing how long the name "Christiansen" actually is. Spell it out loud. Now, re-spell it, placing emphasis on the i-a and e. Now, write it out. Again. Add your first name this time. After 7 years of writing it, spelling it, and respelling it, I've decided to have a bit of fun with it. Sometimes (after spelling it out) I'll say, "and there's an invisible 'z' and 'q' on the end". Most people get stuck at this point, having taken their sense of humor out to lunch.
      Now that I've brought this up, you're probably wondering about the hassle of spelling and writing your own last name. These two reasons are why I've been thinking about changing my last name back to van Veen. Sure, it's a bit harder to pronounce, but less letters = less hassle.
      Recently, it was brought to my attention that changing my last name should be for the right reasons, not a matter of laziness. This includes making sure that my last name *fits*. Hubby so graciously brought this up when he decided that he too wanted to be included into the van Veen family. The day he took my Mom back to the airport after her awesome trip out here, they stopped for breakfast....where he dumped most of his chocolate milk all over my Mom. It was then that he was granted honorary van Veen status. However, this honor was not entirely thought through....
      I continue to inadvertently maintain my van Veen status on a day to day basis. Little things like spilling tomato soup all over the stove top whenever I cook it, forgetting to open screen doors before I walk through, or shaking my protein drink all over my friend's living room ensure my standing. However, hubby's honorary status was revoked the other day when we discovered that he is incapable of quickly wolfing down large amounts of ice cream in one sitting. This is a van Veen trait that is crucial to maintain. The children and I fought over sharing his frozen remnants. (One easy way to tell if someone is a van Veen is by looking at the ice cream sitting next to them. What ice cream? Exactly....)
      Since hubby inadvertently terminated his van Veen status, he tried super-hard to regain it by spilling his deodorant all over the carpet. For his unprecedented efforts, I reinstated his van Veen honor...for now.... pretty happy hubby! ;)