ToT: What's in a (nick)name?

TOPIC:
Nicknames. Did you have one growing up? How did you get it? Do people still call you that? If you have kids, have you given them nicknames?

This week is stupid. 

I'm telling you that because that is my SOLE reason for posting late. 

I'm fighting the urge to go into detail. 

Okay.  I won't fight it anymore.

On Monday, I came off of a VERY busy weekend that would've been better suited for a person 10 years my junior.  I was very much looking forward to falling asleep on the couch at 8:15pm on Monday evening.  BUT...while we were playing outside with Jayna, we noticed that a giant limb had broken on one of our smaller-but-still-giant tree and was just lying in the tree. 

One phone call to the father-in-law later, I was sitting on the patio drinking wine and assessing the health of a tree.  That evening turned into a late night. 

We had lots to discuss that had absolutely nothing to do with trees.

Tuesday was harder.  And more stupid.  I was even MORE tired and sort of weak feeling like I was getting sick.  But I trudged on and went to work all day, came home to prepare some things for dinner, went to get Jayna, stopped by a cousin's house, and came home to a tree being cut down.

Who knew they were going to start THENEXTDAY?!?

So last night turned into a late night also.  A late night of trying on a very cool hard hat.

It had a face shield and ear muffs.  Seriously.  I want one of my own.

It also may have turned into a beer drinking night.  Not too much...just enough to make me not sleep as well as I needed to.

Dudes...I'm worn out.  I'm too old for this shit.  I.  Need.  Rest.

And that whole damn tree still has to be cut into firewood.  During a burn ban.  The irony.

Where was I?  Oh, right.  Nicknames.

I've had LOTS of nicknames over the years.  Some meaner than others.  Some I don't even want to write about because I know some of you (read:  Quags) who read will use this to your advantage. 

It's all in good fun, right?  RIGHT?!?

The very first nickname I received as a kid was Dani.  Just a shortened version of my name.  Shortened?  Yes.  But the formation of a boy's name?  Yep.  And I sure did HATE it until I was in late middle school.  People still call me Dani and it's almost what I prefer.  When I hear someone say my real name, it definitely gets my attention a little more because I'm not used to it.  Most of my family calls me Dani.  A few friends and their parents call me Dani.  It just stuck and I'm pretty sure it isn't going away.

The second nickname I received was Charlie.  My mom started calling me Charlie when I was...hell, I think it was out of the womb.  I've always been Charlie to her.  Charlie Goose.  I don't know how the goose part got in there, but that's a popular one too.  And now that I'm older, others caught on too and call me Charlie.  My stepdad calls me Chuck a lot of the time.  Even my dad calls me Charlie.  And I'll pretty much take this one to the grave.

When I was around 6 or 7, my neighbor Chad and his friend Jason nicknamed me Smelly Danielley.  And I wanted to KILL them.  They were much older than me, by about 8-10 years, and they just did it because I was Spacey Tracy's friend (Tracy is Chad's younger sister).  Tracy and I are still friends.  Little did I know, but Chad would become a very dear friend to me also.  I still love that guy and I am really happy that he has such an awesome family and life in general.  I'm not mad at him anymore...25 years later...but I'll still cut you if you call me...THAT nickname.  I'm pretty sure his immediate family are the only ones who have the rights to that one.

Fellow ToT blogger Michelle and I had interesting nicknames for one another.  Jiggler and Mathass.  She was NEVER addressed in writing as Michelle.  It was sort of like we  had code names for one another in case we got caught passing  notes...because we did it ALL.  THE.  TIME.  She is the only person who has ever called me that.  And she's the only person I'll allow to call me that.  Some things are just special. :)

In college, I became Dee.  I would even introduce myself as Dee.  All of my fellow Philo students called me Dee.  Teachers called me Dee.  Friends called me Dee.  I think the credit for this one goes to either my crazy Indian friend Mitesh or my crazy weird ass roommate Seth.  (Boy do I miss both of those guys, as well as that other pesky Chris Kohler).  The only people who did NOT know me as Dee were my family and the people I worked with.  Some of my coworkers called me Dee, but not very many.  I am still known as Dee to lots of people.

And then P.Diddy came along and we all had the "initial nicknames."  I became known as DeeDub by my School Age Care kids (a fourth grader named Lucas to be exact).  I was married by then, so my initials were DW.  The kids quickly made that into a hiphop name because I am so fly.  Or something.  This one has stuck to this day.  I got a message on FB a couple of days ago from a School Age Care coworker who didn't know my full name...only knew me as DeeDub.  So it took her EXTRA long to find me on FB. :)

Who knows who this is?

It had been noticed throughout my married life that my initials are DW.  "When you're in trouble, just call DW!!  Darkwing Duck!!"  And while it had been noticed, no one ever really gave me that nickname. 

That is, until RJQ came along.  RJQ is Jiggler's husband.  He is a dear friend to me.  Hell, their whole family is dear to me.  I love them all!!  One day he realized my initials were DW (probably at a bar with lots of alcohol involved) and said, "Hey!!  You're Darkwing Duck!"

And now, on occasion, he refers to me as just "Darkwing."  And everytime he does it, I laugh because he was pretty sure he was the first person to ever think of it.  And he thought it was the most hilarious thing EVER.  So, by default, it is now hilarious to me. 

Nicknames for my kid?  Oh dear.

Kids are so easy to give nicknames to.  Jayna's most popular nickname is just Jaynie.  I do call her J sometimes.  I call her JBird a LOT.  My dad calls her JayMad from her singing career days (read: when JLo was popular).  We also still call her Jayniac from her professional wrestling days. :)  Who knows if they will stick.  JBird will.  I'm pretty sure I'll never stop calling her that.  I'm sure her school friends will come up with something.  Those crafty little punks.

Do you have a nickname?  What is it?  How'd ya get it?

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