the nickname

i've always been a klutz.

and prone not only to accidents, but also, to being the one person caught while surrounded by others engaging in the same activity.

bad luck?

clumsy?

who knows.

definitely awkward.

first appearance of nickname

the just weeks before my first christmas at my [now husband's] family's house, i was talking to his mom when my shoulder somehow knocked a ceramic santa off the shelf.

i tried to catch it several times on its way down... 

as it banged against the wall and my ribs, hips, knees

until

somehow with my stocking feet, i managed to catch it

...inches from meeting its doom - the floor.

my future mother-in-law was terrified (the santa was a keepsake from her long since passed grandmother) and amused at how it all went down.

she said i was calamity prone.

my future husband told her she hadn't seen anything yet.

sealing the deal

that same christmas, my first with his family, i knew i loved not only him, but his family, and i let my guard down.

i sat in the chair designated for me next to the tree.

this was about 10 minutes after knocking all the stockings off the shelf.

i was asked to grab a specific gift and pass it.

i leaned over from the chair i was in, 

grabbed the gift,

the chair started to fall over,

i caught it and righted it...

and i fell against the christmas tree

and it started to go down.

i reached, as did my future father-in-law and a future brother-in-law, for the tree while my future husband sat amused and mother-in-law looked on in both amazement and horror.

the tree only lost a few ornaments

the whole family (both parents, all three brothers and their lady-friends, and my future husband) just stared at me.

"that was close."

it was all i could say.

"from now on, i am just going to call you calamity jane. i mean, i honestly don't know how you do it!"

my mother-in-law's nickname has lasted over 10 years now.

and honestly, it is so much nicer sounding than my own mother's nickname for me growing up:

"moosehands"

"you ruin everything you touch. do you even realize you're doing it?!"

-cj