Pet Peeve: Getting the name right

This post is not directed to anyone in particular and is not meant to offend anyone either. It's just something that is on my mind today and unfortunately happens to me on a regular basis. I'm talking about spelling people's names correctly. This goes for hand-written and electronic correspondence like invitations, emails, Facebook messages, etc. 
I can't even count how many times over the years my name has been misspelled in communication. Granted, I don't spell my name in the most traditional way, but when you're dealing with the name Kristie, there's about six common ways to spell it. That doesn't even count one of the most uncommon I've seen: Krysti.
Now don't get me wrong. If I receive an invitation in the mail from someone associated with my husband that may have had no way to find out the real spelling of my name, I don't get upset. It's when someone is sending me an email at work, for example, and when they type my name into the "To:" line it automatically pops up with the correct spelling. Then, when they address me in the body of the email they completely butcher my name. To me that's just careless. 
Maybe it's because I have a name that people commonly misspell that I pay special attention to making sure I spell names correctly, and I admit, I sometimes make mistakes too. As a teacher I really try to spell all of my students' names correctly when addressing them. Even if it's just writing their name on a pass to come see me. 
I had an instructor in college that emphasized the importance of students' names. He suggested that on the first day of school/class, the teacher have each student pronounce his or her name so the teacher would know exactly how to say it. I though this was a great idea. I can't say I've done this in my own classroom mainly because of the fact that I teach in such a small district, and I usually know how to pronounce my students' names because I've heard them already or I've had their siblings before. But I've taken the idea from my college instructor that our names are important to us, so it's worth taking the extra step to be sure they're spelled correctly. Two minutes of searching my student list, pulling up whitepages.com or finding someone on Facebook to make sure I've spelled their name correctly on a note, an invitation or a thank you is worth the time to me. Maybe you'll consider taking the time as well.

Where did June go?

I guess the end of school along with preparing for and going on vacation really got in the way of blogging during the month of June. Oops! 


In the month that has passed since my last blog we have gone from having a crawler in the house to having a toddler! Just today Landen took about seven steps on her own. She's still quite wobbly but walking(ish) nonetheless.


We've also just returned from a family vacation on Tybee Island (just east of Savannah, GA; south of Hilton Head). We had a wonderful time with all of the family that made the trip for part of or the entire time. Seven days of sun, seafood, sleep, and sand (ick!) was just what we needed. 


Landen got her first experience of the beach including the sand (yes, she did eat some) and the waves (thought they were hilarious). I can't say I'm much of  a beach person, so I observed from pinky-toe-deep water and tried tirelessly to keep her on the beach blanket as to not get sand everywhere! I like beaches in theory. I mean the warm sun, sand between your toes, sounds of the water rushing in....beautiful, right? In reality it's really hot and I don't like to sweat too much. The sand gets EVERYWHERE no matter what. And the water is just crawling with all types of creatures that you can't even see and don't know they're there until they nibble on you! Needless to say, we spent a lot of time at the condo pool in fresh, clean water with no sea creatures, and I could always see my feet. Hopefully Landen didn't fall too much in love with the beach because this mama will always be a pool-goer.

Shouldn't complain too much, though...since it was a beautiful setting for these fun pics! I can't decide which is my favorite.

Among one of my favorite parts of the vacation was the opportunity to visit Savannah, GA. What a beautiful city! It's a large city with such a small town feel. It's so cozy and quaint. I absolutely loved it. One afternoon we explored the River St. shops which were so fun. This is a shot of just part of River St.

One of my most favorite things about Savannah was the Spanish moss growing on the trees. It made me feel like I was walking onto a movie set. In reality I kind of was....since most of the movie Forrest Gump was filmed in and around the Savannah area.

Who wouldn't want to go back to these two beautiful places, Tybee and Savannah? Looking forward to returning someday.