After all the trouble I've been through in the last week, I feel like I birthed this thing too. So I guess it's official. I walked into the BMV yesterday and all 10-15 of the clerks started smiling. "It's Mary Katherine," they said. Then one added, "Paris-Kerrigan." The lady taking my picture had the nerve to say, "That's a long name," as I placed my signature on my license. I tried hard not to give her a dirty look. But she is right. It is a long name. I've decided to simply add an "M" to the signature I'm used to: "M. Kate P. Kerrigan." The full name is long enough that by the time I get to the end of Katherine, it starts to look like a long squiggly line. The perfectionist in me hates that. I want to clearly see each letter or I'm not satisfied.
Thanks for your support in the midst of my crusade.
On to Italy...Several of you have inquired about our trip. I'll tell you what I know. My brother-in-law, Randy, is currently in Prado, Italy (oops, PraTo) with the AIM program (Adventures in Missions). He completed a semester of classes in Texas related to missions and bible, and at the end of the "semester" he was sent with a team to Italy to, as far as I can understand, be an apprentice to a missionary there. He's been there since May.
Gilbert's mom, dad, and grandmother decided to plan a trip to visit, and his mom very graciously offered to purchase us tickets as well! We are very excited. We thought we might need to go seperately, as Gilbert's mom was planning to go during her spring break, but mine was not on the same week. However, when Gilbert accepted the job here, it freed up my schedule considerably. If I have the opportunity to interview for any jobs that will begin before then, I plan to be up-front about our trip and make sure that potential employers would be willing to give me this week off.
We were concerned about taking Cole. My way of looking at things has been this: this is a once in a lifetime trip for me, but hopefully not for him. On top of that, he won't appreciate it and traveling with a 19-month-old may be a little difficult, especially when the travel itself will take almost 24 hours and being there will mean a time change to adjust to (I don't know what the time change is, exactly, but I'm sure it's enough to shake up a baby's schedule). Because of all these concerns, and because my mom's spring break is the exact same week, my mom (and maybe Auntie Em) will come to Indiana and spend the week at our place with Cole.
As far as what we're doing while we're there, I'm not totally sure. I think Randy is planning some things for us to do. We are flying into Florence, and I'm pretty sure we'll do some sight-seeing in the bigger cities. I think my biggest interest is having the chance to see some of the country-side. That's all I know, for now. I can keep filling in more details as I learn them! Thanks for your interest!
(Am I driving you guys crazy with these novel-length posts? I'll try to work on this, but I told you, I can't give the simplified version of any story.)
6 comments:
To begin with, it's Prato, Italy. The time change is 7 hours. So, noon there is 7:00 pm here. I'm looking forward to seeing you guys. We'll do some touring of Florence and we may go to one more place. Either Venice or Rome. I haven't been to either one but I hear that both places are very beautiful. There you go... a few more details for ya.
Congratulations on the license and the trip to Italy. WOW, what an exciting trip to look forward to.
I have been to Italy, and I am very jealous of your trip! It is just breathtaking! I know you all will have a blast!
Congratulations on the birth of your second...identity, I guess. I'm excited that you get to go to Italy. I think leaving Cole at home is a greeat decision. After recently flying flying for 12 hours and enduring a 5-hour time difference, I can say that I think it would be incredibly difficult for him. Even though you'll miss him, I think you'll enjoy the little break.
When I changed the name on my drivers license, my name 'wouldn't fit' so it has B.L. plus my hyphenated last name.
Social Security had the same problem so it reads that way too. I didn't think about them NEEDING to be the same. However, my checking accounts and Credit Cards read B.L. too.
It is great for identifying telemarketers. When they ask for "BL" Rick will ask "What does BL stand for?" If they don't know he says "Well I guess you aren't friend or family then."
Junk mail is a hoot!
Hope you have better luck with everything else in Indiana.
I love the your M. Kate P. Kerrigan moniker (how's that for an English-major word?). M. Kate sounds rather author-ish. BTW,Lee and I got "unofficially" engaged on an Italian mission trip; it was an amazing experience - the mission trip, I mean. Getting engaged wasn't half bad either.
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