so what exactly is a "poogie"?

When I first moved to Chicago in 2000, my experience of living and working there wasn't the greatest. In time, however, it became one of those wonderfully influential experiences that somehow loomed much larger than the mere two years I actually spent there. A big part of the turn around was the fact that after my first year alone in Illinois my then-girlfriend (who is now my wife, whom if you will recall I impregnated back in February) left her job in Dallas and moved next door to me.

In the year leading up to her arrival I was quite lonely and would correspond with my future wife throughout the day via email. At the time, a car dealership was running radio advertisements that I would hear multiple times throughout the day. "Pugi of Chicagoland", located in Downers Grove sold Volkswagen, Mazda and Hyundai automobiles and had a relatively simple ad where the owner would speak directly to the listener in a thick yet endearing Chicago accent. Whenever he would mention the name of the dealership, a slightly cartoonish voice would say, "Pugi,Pugi". You can listen to this by going to their web site and clicking on the little speaker icon in the lower left hand corner of the screen (I would recommend you then turn off the speaker lest the incessant Pugi-ing drive you insane).

The ad wasn't particularly memorable otherwise but I suppose it was successful in that it's the only dealership I can remember from my time in Chicago. Still, the "Pugi, Pugi" bit was entertaining enough and whenever I heard it I'd email my future wife with a message containing the text, "Poogie, Poogie" (I never bothered to do an online search to figure out how "Pugi" was actually spelled). Over time, "Poogie" became a androgynous pet name that we used to refer to one another ("Hey, Poogie", "I love you, Poogie", "Poogie, it's NOT cool for you to sleep with other people", etc.). As far as pet names go, I would like to think it is slightly less annoying than "Pumpkin" or "Cupcake". Then again, maybe not.

The name has more recently been used to refer to our unborn daughter and will in all likelihood continue to be used once she is born ("Hey, Poogie", "I love you, Poogie", "Poogie it is NOT cool for you to move to Chicago to be with your boyfriend", etc.). Anyway, that explains the name of the blog. Frequent visitors to the blog (if such a thing exists) might notice I've updated the look a bit. There's no particular reason for this, other than the black background was starting to be a bit depressing and from everything I've read, the depression shouldn't set in until after the baby is born.