Meet Kathy and Kim

This is me with my friend Kelly ... I mean Kathy ... I mean Kelly. Kelly and I worked together in the southeast regional office of Operation Christmas Child. In the above photo, which was taken in December of 2005, we are at the Atlanta-area shoe box warehouse (also known as the OCC Processing Center). Kelly and I share a similar name "situation," if you will. (And I think you will.)

Let me explain ...

After Tanna and I got married, a funny thing started happening to me--and it continues to happen. People started calling me "Kim." It's easy to see how this might be a common mistake--just take my first initial and my married last name ... and it's pretty close to "Kim." Sometimes I'll correct people; sometimes I don't even bother. Sometimes, people realize that they are calling me the wrong name a few seconds or minutes into a conversation, and they'll apologize. It really doesn't bother me--I think it's funny. I also find it kind of interesting that "Kim" is a very common Korean surname--like "Smith" or "Johnson." In fact, that's Tanna's sister's family's name. (I just used four apostrophe words in a row!)

Getting back to the story ... I have wondered if this error could be attributed to the Internet age and all the e-mailing and such that goes on--especially when an e-mail address begins with a first initial and last name (as work ones often do). But I've found that even when I am dealing with someone over the phone or in person and have to give my full name, I still get called "Kim" sometimes. I wonder if Kate will face this situation one day ...

Well, Kelly has the same problem with her first initial and last name. People call her "Kathy" all the time. We used to laugh about it around the office before I got married. Then it started happening to me! So we just went with it--and we still do. I call her Kathy, and she calls me Kim.

Last week, Kate and I met Kathy for lunch to celebrate her recent birthday. It was great to see her and to catch up--we don't really live all that close, so we only see each other a few times a year. Here are a few photos from our visit:

Kathy has long, beautiful hair. Kate loved pulling it--and Kelly was a great sport about it!

That little girl still has a grip on Kathy's locks! She even pulled some out at one point. (Sorry, Kelly!) Kelly got Kate the cute bodysuit she's sporting here. :o)