Code names - the mask is removed

Being private is nice in that I no longer feel the need to hide behind code names.
Once I go back public, what difference does it make anyway?  It's not like anyone can't find you anyway when they want to. 

Me - M-Cat.   It's really a nickname that a coworker gave me a gazillion years ago and it has stuck.  Simple, easy, and used in real life - but my mother named me Melissa.  After a  "Day's of our Lives" character.  Remember Maggie the drunk?  She was prego and gave birth the same time as me.  I love that story.  I also love my name.  Really love it.  Good job Ma!

My Spouse - Splenda Daddy - A nickname that my SIL came up with years ago.  He USED to be extremely frugal.  Like bug me to no end frugal.  I now appreciate his wisdom and self-control more than anything else about him!  We all call him this.  Even in real life.  He always takes care of me in the way that a Sugar Daddy would, but in light of his self-restraint in spending, he's not QUITE a full on Sugar Daddy, but he's the next best thing, which is Splenda.  Thus, the nickname.  His mother named him David.  We call him Dave. 

My eldest - Bulldawg.  A baseball coach gave him this nickname YEARS ago when he played ball for him.  The meaning behind it?  This kid, now man - was full of piss and vinegar.  He was good, played hard and took no prisoners.  He really fit the tag name.  Now?  He still is good, approaches everything he does with full passion and kicks butt while taking names.  He's a determined, hard working Marine who fulfills his responsibilities with strength and honor.  The nickname still fits him, don't cross him.  He will defend his family and his friends.  He is loyal.   Almost 24 years ago, I named him Corbin.  Everyone thought it was because of Corbin Berentson who starred in LA Law (big hit at the time), but I had the name long before he came along.  I grew up in a ward with an older boy whose name was Corbin.  He had red hair and always seemed nice.  I liked the name.  My Corbin was born with the most beautiful shade of auburn hair that you ever saw.  Funny coincidence.

My middle - Luka.  He gave himself his own moniker after he came home from his mission and I asked him what he wanted his 'code name' to be.  He gave this one because I believe in Spanish it means money.  This is my TRUE middle child.  My peace maker.  My easygoing, loves everyone, hates contention kid.  He was the most beautiful baby you ever saw.  Now all my babies were cute - of course, but he had the BIGGEST BROWN eyes you ever saw.  He was so pretty he could have been a girl.  He was sick the first 6 months of his life and cried virtually non-stop, even spending a week at PCMC, but strangely he hit the 6 month mark, stopped crying, was well, and never stopped smiling.  As a little kid, we sometimes called him Guy Smiley (Sesame Street) because he was so cheerful.  Now as a 22 year old, he is still the happy, friendly, engaging person he has always been.  Loving, accepting and a definite calming force in our family.  He is like his dad in so many ways it's kinda scary.  Smart with his money.  Smart with the girls he dates.  Smart in his personal choices.  And I love Sunday's when he comes home and we swap back scratches and arm tickles. 

My youngest - Tuffy.  It really is what we call him in real life.  The story behind his nickname...... he was just learning to walk and was toddling about one day in my living room.  A grandma from another part of the family was over visiting, and we were watching him wobble about.  He fell and cracked his head on the wood bottom of my couch.  And CRACK it was.  You literally could hear his skull crack!
Of course, we expected serious crying, but the kid pulled himself up and never uttered a sound but kept toddling about.  The cute little Grandma said, "Well, he's just a little tuffy!".  It stuck.  All his life, he has rarely cried at physical pain.  I think once with his broken fingers he shed a few tears, but in general, the kid has a HIGH tolerance for pain.  I like to think he got that from me  : )  What's funny is that in grade school, he would sign his papers Tuffy.  He has used it, we have used it and some people STILL to this day don't know what his real name is because they only know him as Tuffy.
He is my quiet, shy, don't draw any attention to me kid.  A great young man who works hard, helps me around the house, and makes sure that his niece is happy.  He is my only one with blue eyes, and years ago, I saw a picture of my Mom when she was a young girl, and I noticed the family resemblance between him and her.  He is the only one that tends to take after my Grandpa's family.  I love that.  19 years ago, I named him Preston.

Our grandbaby - Sissy.   This nickname is one we sometimes use in real life.  Not as often, but on occasion and then it's usually just Sis.   Her Daddy gave it to her when she was just a young baby.  She turns 4 in a few days.  She has been through a lot in her young life, and is showing s strength and resilience that I wish I had even an ounce of.  She's a tough cookie, that girl.  I like to think she got that from her Daddy.  Let me re-phrase that, I KNOW she got that from her Daddy.  She got her sense of fun and playfulness from her Mommy and I love the mixture.  I love that sometimes she shows an expression that is EXACTLY her Mommy, and then in another  minute, she will have a look that is PURELY her Daddy.  It took her parents a little bit to agree on a name.  Once they settled on her first name, then it was trying to come up with the middle name.  I happened to take a trip to St George and my aunt rode along.  We had 4 hours to chat and talk.  She shared a lot of family history with me and there is a name that I only thought my Mom had, but in fact had been used many times throughout my Mother's family line.  My niece gave it to her oldest. I said it out loud with Sis' first name and it rolled off the tongue so beautifully.  I came home, told her Mommy and Daddy and watched both of their faces immediately recognize it as the name they were looking for.  On March 16th, they named her Chloee Belle.  Yes there are two ee's - I love that it's unique that way.

So that's us!  I am getting rid of the code names.  I really don't think it makes much of a difference in privacy or protection anyway, since with the WWW - anyone can find anything they want to, if they dig hard enough.  I love the REAL names my family has, and we are going to use them.