So…here I am. One of my girlfriends at work insists that I desperately need a blog. (This is probably so I’ll have an alternate method of jettisoning my unique mind diahrrea out into the universe without skipping down the hall and interrupting conference calls to ask her if the song “Killing Me Softly” is about Jesus Christ or Don McLean…) At any rate, Cherie, I have taken your advice and set up a blog. For everyone else, here is a little about me:

I was born on Christmas Day, 1981, in beautiful Southern Illinois where I live today. I am currently 21 weeks pregnant with my first child, who is also due on Christmas Day. (How did this happen???) (OK, so I know how this happened, and I am never drinking Guinness Extra Stout on St. Patrick’s Day again…)

I work for Southern Illinois University as a conference coordinator’s assistant. Basically what I do is this: Think of every conference, convention or seminar you have ever been to. You know that one weird lady that is always there, wearing a nice business skirt, pantyhose and big Nike cross-trainers, running around, climbing underneath tables, hooking up speaker wires and arguing with caterers? Well, chances are that is me. Or my boss, Lana. It’s nice to meet you. Please remember to recycle your name badge at the end of the day. Thank you.

I live near Carbondale with Honey (my fiance), who is a newspaper journalist, and two very ornery but charming pooches. Cleremont (my darling) is a five-year-old Maltese who has been with me since he was eight weeks old. Desmond, our crazy, cow-busting Pembroke Welsh Corgi with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), is also five years old, but came to live with us a little over two years ago from a neglect-rescue organization in Missouri. Until this pregnancy, those two were our babies. Now, they have decided they are the supreme guardian protectors of my belly. I guess they can hear the heartbeat or something. All Cleremont wants to do day and night is wrap his body around my belly and stand watch. Cute little bug. Hope the baby prenatally gets used to all their barking, though, or I may never sleep again.

Other than all that, I love coffee, Sudoku, quilting, cooking, watching Cubs baseball and sci-fi gems like Star Trek, Buckaroo Bonzai and the original Doctor Who series. I am currently planning my wedding (October 7) which is eating all of my money, time, energy and brain cells. In the meantime, I am hoping this blog will keep me sane. Or at least it will keep me from driving all of my loved ones INSANE.

Meanwhile, I’ll try to come up with something interesting to post from time to time, and maybe somebody else will read it. That would be super.

–G.