Two Names

Caffeine has a tendency to make me feel like I can accomplish anything. I have cut out all sodas from my diet, but I will still have the occasional coffee drink. After said coffee drink consumption, I feel jittery and hyper. Aarao has trouble tolerating me when I am on a coffee high. He has actually told me that he has the right to be mean to me when I am on coffee.
Well, I had a cup of coffee on Friday. After the consumption of my cup of jittery goodness, I decided to do some things that had been on my to-do list for a while. One of these tasks was to go to the assessor's office and check on the lot that we bought behind our house. This is when my story really starts. I thought that it would be a short trip, but it wasn't. While I was there I got to chatting with the lady behind the desk. My conversations with these lovely southern sweethearts made me smile or cringe. Which one was it? Oh, what's the difference?

Conversation 1:
Lady: What is your last name.
Me: G-O-U-V-E-I-A
Lady: (please read with a southern accent) Well, that doesn't spell anything!
Me: It spells my last name, Gouveia.
Lady: Well, where is that from?
Me: My husband is from Brazil.
Lady: Oh, that makes sense! Oh! (noticing his first name on the computer) Well, his first name doesn't spell anything either!

Conversation 2:
Me: Will you check on my husband's last name? He legally has two last names, and I just want to make sure that it is in the system correctly.
Lady: Oh, well we have been having problems with that. We used to not have this problem, but now that all those people from Latin countries are coming over here. Now we have been having a problem. Our system just doesn't allow for two names. I don't know what they decided to do about it. You'll have to ask another lady. Now, why do they do that?
Me: Well, they keep their mother's and their father's last name.
Lady: But why?
Me: It is  a part of their culture.
Lady: (starring at me like I am ridiculous.)

Conversation 3: (with "other lady")
Me: I need to check on my husband's last name. He has two of them.
Other Lady: Yes, well we only put the last of his two last names. You see, we speak English here! So, that is why we only take one last name.

Now, these ladies were super sweet, and they were helping me with my business. However, oh my! This is the kind of thing that is so frustrating to deal with. What does having two last names have to do with speaking English? My husband speaks English! He will graduate from an American, English-speaking university this year. This doesn't change the fact that he has two last names. Also, why is it so hard to believe that he has two last names? Why is that so odd? Do we really think that every other culture is going to have the same traditions that we do? Why do we only keep our father's last name? Ugh! I believe that it is so important to look outside of our small box. Let's learn about other places, and value our differences. How wonderful it is to learn and experience the way others live! We are better people when we do this.

Added Pages

I have added pages to my blog. I thought that I would share the projects that I am working on. I hope that you will enjoy the decor page and the craft page. I spent my weekend working on some new craft projects. I gave the tie dye crayon art to my little cousin, and I made a mod podge letter for my sister-in-law. 

Check out my craft page for step-by-step instructions.

The Holidays: A season of no surprises

The holiday season has come and gone. It seems like it happened in a blink of an eye. This year I decided to get Aarao a violin for Christmas. He has mentioned on numerous occasions that he wanted to learn how to play. So, I surprised him with a violin on Christmas Eve morning! Okay, so maybe that isn't how it happened. About a month before Christmas, Aarao and I had the following conversation:

Anna: Wouldn't it be cool if I started learning the piano again and you learned the violin.
Anna's Thoughts: I really think that a violin will be a good gift, but I don't want to get it for him if he has lost interest in it. I will be discrete just to know if he is still interested. 
Aarao: Sure.
Aarao's Thoughts: She's getting me a violin for Christmas. 


I, of course, thought that I had gotten away with it. I had determined that he still wanted to learn, and I had decided to get one for him. Two weeks passed by and we decide not to exchange gifts and save our money. So, I told him what I was going to get him. He responded by saying that he knew what I was planning. I couldn't believe that he had figured it out. We had this conversation:

Anna: I was going to get you the best gift!
Aarao: Really? What?
Anna: A violin!
Aarao: Oh, I knew that!
Anna: Ugh! How?
Aarao: You asked a question about it a couple of weeks ago.
Anna: Aarao, that was supposed to be a surprise!  Stop thinking!

A week passed by and we end up deciding to buy gifts for one another. So, I went to the music store after work and picked up the lovely instrument. I tried to sneak it into the house without him noticing. I was hugely unsuccessful. He noticed and ignored my constant pleas to not open his gift before Christmas. I was once again unsuccessful. He not only opened his gift, but he started playing his gift way before Christmas.

So, what have I learned about my husband? He is hugely impatient, but oh so cute too! He is a big kid at heart, and this made me happy.

It's a good thing to see your loved ones happy even if it does mean no surprises for Christmas.