Three Years Ago Today . . .

It was a Saturday. I was sitting at my apartment near the LSU campus pretty much twiddling my thumbs. After lunch, when I was sick of flipping the channels, I decided to get online and lo and behold � I was instant messaged.

Sad, but I can�t remember his aol handle. Anyway � he told me that he�d been trying to call me but that my sister kept saying that I was out of town or at some guy�s house. Did I still want to talk?

Sure I wanted to talk.

Should he call me?

Okay � I im�ed him my number and quickly got offline � still using dialup.

And so the phone rang and I answered, trying to say �hello� in the sexiest way a girl could � you know � make the voice sound a bit deep and yet � kittenish, like you�re unsure.

Heeeey.

That was the first thing he ever said to me.

I liked his voice. After a few minutes, I felt like I knew him. Our conversation jumped from one thing to another with no awkward pauses or silences. �This guy is cool� I thought.

�So you have any plans tonight?� � he asked with confidence.

�Well . . .� I paused, trying to sound as if I had a calendar to check or something.

�Well, you�ve got plans now.� he said, smugly.

�Oh really??� I said � flirtatiously. (Are you gagging yet???)

And so we agreed to meet at the Macaroni Grill.

I got into the shower and began singing (as I usually did when I was preparing for a date with someone I met online) �Sixteen Going on Seventeen� during the shampooing and �Someone to Watch Over Me� during the shaving.

I put on a black sweater, jeans and black boots with heels (kinda sexy). My hair was curly then. I threw on my long duster sweater before heading out. So off I went to the Macaroni Grill � unusually calm on the way over. I remember that as I parked my car, �Girl on Aisle Ten� by Scapegoat Wax was playing on the college radio station. I scanned the lot for him, but didn�t see anyone.

As I approached the front entrance, I saw him. He was wearing a navy blue long sleeved rugby style shirt with and a pair of brown corduroy pants. As soon as our eyes met, I remember thinking, �Now this is more like it.� He was a big guy � football player-ish and cute- quite unlike the duds I�d been hooking up with that I had already met through matchmaker.

I can only describe the look on his face as �stunned.� He now says that it�s because he couldn�t believe how beautiful I was (awwww.) I thought it was because I was fatter than he�d imagined. Guess I�ll choose to believe him.

�Hi, I�m Chad.�

�Hey � I�m Ginger.�

We shook hands and smiled.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

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Our First Baby is Due on November 23!!!