What's in a name?

As you can see, it's been ages since I posted. I seem to be making a habit of that--bad Sharon (slapping myself on the hand here :-)).

But somehow this seems a good time to write. I'm planning a trip, which I thought was all set, but when I called the hotel to confirm, it turns out that somebody spelled my name incorrectly on the reservation they sent the hotel--which meant that no one could find my reservation when I called. Eventually they found it, after much searching. I have to say, as many times as Schulze has been misspelled, no one ever spelled it SCHJULZE! So I'm currently on hold with a well-known online travel company (where I booked my trip), trying to get my name spelled right. It looked like everything was all set, until the woman at the travel agency informed me that, according to the woman at the hotel (I spoke with her first), my name was spelled Schulz, not Schulze (despite the fact that the travel agent has my trip itinerary right there in front of her, where it says Schulze at least five times). So I'm on hold again, while these two ladies (both of whom are nice, fine people just doing their jobs, I know) hash out how to spell Schulze.

(oh, and did I mention my DH chose the precise moment when I wasn't on hold to chip ice out of the freezer, then pitched a couple of wet towels down the hall in the general direction of the laundry room, knocking a commemorative mug off the shelf and smashing it to bits on the tile floor? I was already having a difficult time understanding the travel agent without the extra noise)

According to the travel agent, everything should be all set now. I hope so! I'll be calling the hotel tomorrow, just to make sure . . .

All this is a minor bump in the road of life, but right now it's pretty aggravating! You'd think I'd be used to it by now; everyone always misspelled (and mispronounced) my maiden name, too. At least with Schulze, the mispronounciation is consistent--Shultz (like Sgt. Shultz on "Hogan's Heroes"). I swear, one of these days I'm going to get ID for every possible permutation of my last name. That ought to cover all the bases.

BTW, in case you're interested, Schulze rhymes with tools--but I'll answer to anything that's close.

I'm very glad we're going on vacation; we need it!