Learning to Spell

I'll start this off my saying I almost just had a heart attack when I thought that we'd spelling B's Dad's middle name (still with me?) wrong on the invitation. Seriously, a heart attack. I think it would've been easier (and more cost effective) to ask his dad to change the spelling of his middle name rather than reorder the invitations. Whew! Crisis averted.

On that note, B's last name is a little unusual. Not really. In fact, it's straightforward and phonetic. The problem is that people like to add letters to it, like there's a silent "h" we're not telling you about, or an accent mark over the second syllable. Even when you spell it, and the other person realizes how easy it is to spell and say, they still mess it up when, say, calling for a reservation.

It's been a long-running joke in both our families that the spelling of their last name is often messed up a little. With two sets of double letters, it's tough! You assume, well, I know there are two p's, but then certainly there wouldn't be two l's, right? And wrong you'd be. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Case in point, I know how to spell the name, but I just screwed it up. There aren't two sets of double letters. Only one! See, I could've just edited this out and acted like it never happened, but that wouldn't be any fun would for you guys, would it? Mock away!]

It reached a high point last weekend when Mom was typing up a mock label for the Save the Date before church. Bless her, Mom's computer is situated so that, in morning sun, you literally can't read the screen. The whole thing looks completely dark. So when she quickly wrote something out, I later caught her typo, which was so clearly unintentional as it totally changed the entire name. She made me throw it away anyway. I, for one, thought it would've been fun to send it to B and see if he had the nerve to tell me I'd messed up his name. Again. In bulk.

So it should be no surprise that, as I've been working on the wedding website over several months, I've had the opportunity to mess up his last name time and time again, which leads me to the email subject line I got this morning from B's Mom:

oops, M's name spelled wrong you really have to learn to spell your new name!!

I looked and, sure enough, there on the website (thank God it was the website... easy change!), on my very favorite page that lists the bridal party, on B's Dad's entry, was a misspelled last name. I changed it, so you'll never really be sure if it was wrong in the first place or if I just needed something to blog about, but I loved the little reminder about my new name.

When we first got engaged, I tried to write my name with B's last name, a task I'd shockingly avoided during the nearly six years we've been dating. I came to the double p's and commented that it was tough to get around for that second one. A slightly defensive B said, "I KNOW! Imagine being in third grade hand-writing class and having to make them both look exactly the same. You can't do it!" Picturing a little B, sitting in class with his fat pencil, definitely makes me happy.

Here's hoping (fingers crossed) that all my other spellings have gotten their acts together. Or, if they haven't, let them all be on the easily-fixed website, and not the programs...