Thursday Thirteen (Thanks, Imaginary Friend!)

Thanks to Joy Eliz for finding this Thursday thing.

Thirteen Things about MY NAME 1. My name is Johanna 2. The "h" in my name is silent. I'm always amazed when people ask me why this is so. As if I named myself, rather than having my parents name me. 3. My parents did not give me a middle name. This caused a lot of problems filling out government forms until I got married a few years ago, and then kept my maiden name as my middle name. 4. My last name is Norwegian, not German. And it is my husband's last name, not my parents' last name. So I'm not Norwegian (heritage). I'm German (heritage). Despite the Norwegian last name. 5. I used my first name to name my business. But it was accidental, I'm not really an egomaniac. About a year ago, I was selling greeting cards to some local stores and one owner insisted that she needed a name to market the cards. So I told her I didn't have brand name, it was "just Johanna" and she heard "justjohanna" - and voila. I'm branded. 6. When I went to Germany for the first time, I was checking into a hotel and gave the clerk my name, started to spell it, and he interrupted me, sounding very insulted, "I know how to spell that." Weird experience. 7. My maiden/middle name is Laubach. On that same Germany trip (with my dad and brother), we went to a town called Laubach. That was so fun. Laubach Castle. Count of Laubach. Laubach street signs. We even ordered Laubach pizza. 8. I am not named after anyone. My parents just liked the name Johanna. I believe they got it from a milk carton from Johanna farms. 9. People often mis-remember my name as Laura. I must look like a Laura. 10. For a while, when I was a teenager, I spelled my name "Joanna" because I was tired of explaining. 11. Sometimes, when I'm feeling exotic, I tell people my name is pronounced "YoHanna" (which is the German pronunciation) 12. When I was a kid, my dad nicknamed me "Jandoon" - I don't know where that came from. 13. My very close friends and my husband call me "Joey" - I don't usually tell people that. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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