Hi, I’m Genie Alisa. I live in Norfolk, Virginia with my husband Rich our three cats (Isis, Emily and Tobias) and two dogs (Sarah and Mollie). Rich and I are newlyweds as of June 9, 2007, so forgive our constant and flagrant displays of affection. We’re quite fond of each other.

I’ve recently fallen pregnant with our first child and the baby is due October 13, 2009. We’re all very excited (with some sprinklings of terrified) and I’m trying to not be a walking pregnancy stereotype despite my boobs being huge and constantly having to pee.

We live one block from my parents and only a few miles from one of my two brothers. For the most part, this is a fantastic arrangement. My parents always call before coming over but still occasionally mow our lawn for us while watching our pets if we’re out of town. Really, I can’t complain.

I was born in Norfolk and moved to Blacksburg to go to Virginia Tech and get a degree in Communication Studies as opposed to a practical degree like Engineering (much to my father’s dismay). After a few years, I moved back to the Tidewater area and now have a better job than I probably would have were I an engineer.

I work for a relatively small company (19 employees) that designs and supports software for libraries. This means I do technical things for non-technical people and talk to librarians every day without actually having to be a librarian. This is what they call “the best of all possible worlds” in professional circles.

In May of 1985, I was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes, just before my 8th birthday. In January of 2000, I started using a Minimed 508 insulin pump and wouldn’t trade it for anything. I now use a Minimed 522 with all of its new-fangled features, including a continuous glucose monitor sensor.

I am an occasional participant in the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) and some may know me as Baroness Isabel d’Avignon. We’re good people, so please don’t make fun of our toy swords.

I started writing online in 2001 shortly after my first husband and I moved back “home” and I missed all my friends. I moved from Diaryland to LiveJournal around 2002 and updated sporadically during my divorce. Because, really, divorce makes you temporarily crazy and who wants to read that? As of April 2008, I’ve moved from LiveJournal to a self-hosted WordPress blog that allows me to do some more creative things with my site (although I’m still learning). You can also read more about this web site and how it was designed under About “in a Bottle”. All my posts cross-post to LiveJournal (as friends only entries), though, because I have a permanent account and I’m still a big fan of LJ and their commenting system.

I sing and hum constantly.