Practicing my signature.

In seven weeks from tomorrow I will be a Mrs.

Oh my God.

I almost want to say "gross," but I know that's not the word I'm looking for. A Mrs.! I suddenly feel like I'm going to age 13 years and get a husband all in the same day.

But more importantly, I get a new last name. I am so excited about that. I enjoy new things. New purses, new running shoes, new books. But a new name? A shorter name? A name that's easier to spell and doesn't require me to explain, "D as in dog, B as in boy" every time? A new social security card, drivers license and signature?

FUN!

I wonder how many times I'll screw up and sign my maiden (my maiden name!) name on checks and documents. Or how many times I'll unnecessarily introduce myself, both first and last name, because I think people will notice that, "Hey, she has a new name."

I could just spit, I'm so excited. Except I won't have the same last name as my parents. Or my sister. And that's bizarre to me. And 26 years from now, I will have had my new name longer than my old name, and that's bizarre, too. Like, will I forget what it was like to have a maiden name?

All of these things are so strange to me! I never considered hyphenating my name. Not once. That is far too many names to throw around, and I want to share a name with my husband. Besides, explaining, "Brown, like the color," is much simpler than spelling it out, and including, "D as in dog, B as in boy."

And whoever doesn't know how to spell Brown? Well, idiot.