Nugget will be seven weeks old tomorrow, and I can't believe how much she has already grown! She is starting to show her own little personality, too!
The one trait she seems to have inherited from her mama is being hangry. Anyone who knows and loves Molly will attest that this is a real thing. When Molly and Rocky first started their relationship and Molly was getting to know Rocky's family, his dad--who is nicknamed Farmer--scoffed at "hangry" being a real thing. Trust me on this one, he soon learned differently!
Nugget carries my middle name, and if you paid attention, you noticed that it wasn't the conventional spelling but, rather, had an "e" at the end of it. This is because Nugget's Gramma--that would be me--had delusions of grandeur and didn't realize it would follow me the rest of my life.
For all of you who have ever said that I spend way to much space in my blog mocking Captain, this one's for you.
My birth certificate issued by Olmsted County when my adoption was finalized reads Judith Kay Brehmer. First and foremost, you will now forget that my given name is Judith and will never, ever, ever call me that. Now that my mom has passed, there is only ONE PERSON allowed to call me that. Secondly, you will notice that there is no "e" in Kay.
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| Image courtesy of usercards |
The problem is that this young woman in all her gooey lovey-dovey state failed to recognize that the spelling used for her middle name on that marriage certificate would follow her FOREVER...just like the new last name would. She was young and stupid; don't judge. The first--and only--thing this new spelling showed up on was her new drivers license.
Let's fast forward some more years...as in maybe 30 years or so. Okay, I'm going to quit saying young woman because it's me, and we all know it. So, after 30 years of my drivers license not matching my birth certificate and me thinking this now made me a criminal and might impact my application for a passport, I requested the license bureau in Mantorville to change the spelling when I renewed my license.
The clerk informed me that I needed to bring in my birth certificate in order for that to happen. Fine, great, whatever.
Weeks go by since this wasn't a critical priority at the time. In the meantime, I did go ahead and apply for a passport and dutifully supplied the paperwork requested, including my birth certificate. The United States granted and issued a lovely passport book to Judith Kay Brogan.
Does anyone see where this is going?
Back to the drivers license thing, since I had my birth certificate in hand, I headed back to the license bureau in Mantorville. The clerk looked at the birth certificate and at the license and asked if I was married.
Yes ma'am, I am. Why?
"Mrs. Brogan, your marriage certificate supercedes your birth certificate because it legally changes your name. Whatever is on your marriage certificate is now your legal name."
Well just crap. Now my passport doesn't have the right name on it. 
Image courtesy of Pinterest
I had to go home and stew about this for a while. As in...months. Once I got done stewing about it, I found the link on the Department of State website and filled out an application to correct a passport, included copies of my drivers license and my marriage certificate along with the rather hefty fee and mailed it off.
Three months later, I get the entire package back with a REQUEST DENIED letter because--get this--I made the mistake in name spelling when I applied and it wasn't their fault. But they kept my fee, dang it.
In the interest of full disclosure, I have not applied for a brand new passport as yet but will do so soon given that I'm flying to France in less than a year.
So, even though the story is a big old joke on me, I am proud and honored to share this middle name with Nugget!
