change my name

I won’t go into the awful experience at the DMV, but I should be receiving my new license in 2-3 weeks. Yay.

The last step is to change the name on my passport, which will cost money. I thought I could do it for free, since I just got the damn thing, but apparently having it for over a year means cough up the dinero.

I won’t be doing that for a while, so, for now, I won’t be known internationally as MHJ. Besides, I just got my first stamps and now I have to start anew!

P and I plan on visiting Canada for my g-ma’s birthday in February, so it will be interesting to see how a passport with a different name than my ID will go over with the guard. I’ll probably just say I don’t drive so I don’t have an ID like that, but hey, lookie here! A passport!

Last time we drove across the border, the guard said to say hello to In-N-Out. YEAH BABY, THAT’S RIGHT. Long live California and our infamous hamburgers.

Received my new social security card in the mail today – my first piece of anything that has my new name. Somewhat exciting…

I can’t understand why such an important card is on such cheap material. Credit cards are made of plastic for heaven’s sake. Perhaps that says something about who has more money to spend on such things? I wonder if I’ll even be able to rely on SS when I retire. Uh-oh.

My next step is with the DMV. After that, all the bills and cards and notifications. Thanks to the internet though, most of my accounts allow me to change my name very easily on their system. No letter writing for me!

I think because my name has been such a huge part of my life and has probably shaped who I am today, I’m having difficulty letting it go. I don’t really want to hear “Mrs. P”, I want to hear Muriel…

I purposefully wanted our band to announce us at the wedding reception as P and Muriel Jordan, not Mr. and Mrs. Jordan. That didn’t happen, and it struck my heart like a knife. I try to tell myself that it’s not a big deal, why get upset, who cares, it’s easier on kids, hyphening is silly, etc.

But, I’m going to miss my name.

Today, I’m going to the Social Security office and submitting my application. I’m changing my middle name to my last, and I’m taking P’s last as my own. I never liked my middle name, but even getting rid of that feels awful…