My Name.

For whatever reason, no one ever really calls me by name. My parents, brother and husband generally call me by nicknames. I answer to Babe, Baby, Papa (Sara t9 style), Myrtle, Lulu, Lulubelle, Bella Boo, Chloe, S, Sugarface, and something that would offend too many people to type. (My brother has no filter) (My aunt has been using the word Bell in my nicknames since I was a teensy baby and signed my wedding card "See, knew you'd be a Bell." How awesome is that?!)

A few years ago someone recognized me through my dad and said "Oh, you're Chloe!" I almost died laughing. 

Anyone I see on a semi-regular basis--friends and clients/parents-- seems to either just start right in on a conversation or start with "Hey," but it's incredibly rare for me to hear "Sara, guess what?" or "Sara, how are you?"

Even typing it feels strange. 

The other day my brother was on Yahoo messenger and sent me a little IM that said "Hey Sara, what's up?"

I replied with "Hi. Who is this? Max?" (Max is my cousin who lives with my brother and my parents). 

"No," he said. "It's me, Christopher."

"Prove it," I said because I honestly did not believe it.

He did, and then I said "Well that was weird. You haven't called me Sara since you were like four."

A few nights ago Ryan said "Hey Sara, come here!" 

I felt like I was in trouble. I'm not even kidding, I felt all this bile rise up in my belly like when I was 12 and heard my dad call me by name. Sara is reserved for being in trouble, I think. 

I always loved that my dance teachers were a Miss. Miss Sarah, Miss Amanda, Miss Kristi. So when I started teaching dance I introduced myself as Miss Sara. Instead I was generally called "Miss Teacher" or "Umdoesthislookrighttoyou."
Any time someone asks for my name to look me up I say "Last name is Bell, B-E-L-L" (You'd be surprised how many spelling variations people come up with) and they usually reply "Okay, and what's the last name?"

Two weeks ago someone wrote me a check and made it out to Sarahbelle Bell. 

I have a prescription pill bottle that says it is for "Sara" Bell, in quotes and everything. 

This morning I got an e-mail addressed to Belle S. Bell. 

I give up.

In other news, you can buy a copy of my e-book for $2.00 here from now through Sunday using the coupon code EW47A

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