Introductions all around

I know I'm a little late, jumping on the blogging bandwagon and all, but hey. I was late in jumping on the pregnancy bandwagon as well, so sue me. So, let's get started.

My name is really Leia-Ann. It's not some freaky RPG-character-type name I made up because I was obsessed with Star Wars and the Galaxy Far Far Away. That was my mother. Seriously. She even looked up (way back then, in 1981, before the days of the Internet, Google and Yahoo) the correct spelling of the name. So yes, I was named after Princess Leia. And my name is pronounced LEE-ah, rhyming with "Mia", ANNE. I have a middle name as well, it starts with a Q (an no, ironicaly enough, it's not Quinne or Queen).

I actually like my names. I didn't always, you understand. I remember in pre-primary school, and through most of my school years after that, I longed to change my name to something innocuous. I was especially fond of the name "Linda", as I recall. Now, I can fully appreciate the uniqueness and strangeness of my name, and I must say, I think it's pretty cool. Even having to spell it to people all the time.

Another important piece of information that you should know about me is that I live in South Africa. Yes, that's the country where Apartheid reigned until about a decade ago. I was 13 when the first elections took place, and can still remember the paranoid fear that most white people harboured about being all killed. It was quite funny, actually, though even at the time, I found it highly irritating. Most people I knew stocked up on stuff like water, matches, etc. Survival gear. They seriously thought the world as they knew it would grind to a slow and shocking (and for them, final) halt.

Now, at least most of them are both older and wiser, and on the whole pretty enthusiastic about living in South Africa.

Okay, so we've established a name, as well as a country of origin. What else do you tell people when you first meet them? No, seriously. I've never really paid attention to any schooling in the niceties of society and so on, if such schooling would have happened.

I am married to a wonderful man. We've been married since January of this year, but we've been together for 4 years and some odd days now. (I can't really tell you *how* odd, sometimes :)). We are expecting our first child in August (round about mid-Aigust, though little ones tend to have a diary all of their own), and it's going to be a girl. We also have 2 cats (one Siamese male who'll be one year old in August and one Moggie female, 5 months) and a Boerboel puppy of about 4 months.

For those of you wondering what in blazes a Boerboel is, it's a cross-breeding between a bull Mastiff and, I think, a Boxer. It's a recognized breed here, very popular with farmers.

Phew, I think that's enough for now, don't you?

I'll talk to you again tomorrow or so.

L