So Overdue You'd Think It Was A Library Book

Yeah, I've been engaged for 10 days and probably should have already written this, but I've been busy, so I'm just now getting to it. Here's the long-winded version (you've been warned) of how I proposed to Teri.

On Saturday, October 18th Teri and I were meeting our Bible study group at the church to head out for Circle S Farm. I showed up around 9:20 that morning because I knew we'd have some phone calls to make before heading out. I put the ring (in the box) and my camera in my jacket pocket to camouflage the fact that the ring was there. When I got to Teri's she was predictably not ready yet. I knew that would be the case, as I was getting there early. She headed into her bathroom to finish curling her hair, and I set about clipping my fingernails.

I then put Sparky in his cage so he wouldn't be jumping all over me and I got the ring out of my jacket pocket. As I walked over to the bathroom where Teri was, I said "I have a question". It was at this point that I, for whatever reason, assumed that she'd pause with what she was doing and stick her head out of the bathroom inquisitively. Of course, that's not how it worked, and Teri kept curling away. At that point I said "Maybe you should turn around". She did.

When she turned around, I was on my knee with the ring out and I asked her if she would marry me. She was very happy and said "yes", which was followed up shortly by her asking if it all was real. I assured her it was. After she quickly wrapped up getting her hair ready, we called her parents to let them know that we were engaged. Then we called my parents, who were out of town riding horses. I left a voicemail message, and my parents didn't actually find out that we were engaged for a little over 24 hours. Oh well, I did what I could. I then called my siblings to let them know, and we headed off to the church to meet everyone.

I'm glad that I proposed when I did because Teri got to show off the ring to a bunch of people right away, she wasn't going to sleep well that night with running her first marathon the next day anyway and it gave her something to think about during the marathon to distract her from the task at hand.

We've already started some of the wedding planning, and if you check out the links on the right side of my blog, you'll see the link for our wedding blog that will have updates and whatnot on it.

I love you Teri.

Busy, Busy, Busy
I've got quite the busy Saturday planned.

1. Get up
2. Eat breakfast/get ready
3. Write this blog post
4. Head over to Teri's
5. Propose
6. Go to Circle S Farm
7. Watch OSU game with Teri and her family
8. Have spaghetti dinner
9.
10. Profit

Unless something goes terribly wrong, I'll be engaged in less than an hour. :)

Whenever...

I got back to work a couple of hours ago after Charlie picked me up from dropping my car off at Motorkars to get all fixed up. "But Matt", you'd say, "it doesn't take 45 minutes to drive from Motorkars back to work." I'd agree with that. The delay came from our little jaunt to Caribou (not "The 'Bou") for me to get permission to propose to Teri. Permission granted/blessing given. If you're reading this now, it means that the ring has also been given and that Teri said 'yes'.

So when will I do it?

I'm Waffling So Much You Could Eat Me For Breakfast

The original plan to propose was to do it at the outset of our next fancy date, which was originally going to be October 24th. With the trip to Michigan for Callie's birthday that weekend, the plan changed to November 1. That was all fine and dandy originally. The problem is, though, that I have Teri's engagement ring hiding in my bedroom right now, mere tens of feet from where I am now, and I really just want to give it to her and make our engagement official. I haven't talked to Charlie yet, but I'm hoping to do that this weekend. If I had already talked to him, that still wouldn't solve the problem of me not being settled on when and how I'm going to actually propose.

The upside to waiting for November 1 is that I could do it in such a way that Teri will have a nice story to tell. The upside of doing it before then is that I won't have to keep waiting, worrying about whether I'll say or do something to tip my hand and ruin the surprise. Plus, the earlier we get engaged, the longer (albeit only by a few weeks) we'll have to find a place to have the wedding and reception. I guess I've got some more thinking to do. Bah!

The Hills Are Alive With The Sound Of Tourists

On Saturday, I went to Hocking Hills for the first time with Teri. As it was my first time there, we did the obligatory Old Man's Cave hike. It was quite picturesque. Don't believe me? Here are some pics, rubberneck.





We got a bit lost on our hike, and I think our total hiking mileage ended up being around 6 miles. I'll feel really bad if that in any way negatively affects Teri's marathon performance next Sunday.

On top of the natural beauty, and Teri's beauty, the Hocking Hills area boasts copious roadway beauty as well. Very fun, twisty roads were everywhere. It was like a playground for cars. We're definitely going to have to make a return trip to the area next Fall, if not before then.

This Isn't About Things Of or Related To Poland

Yesterday I had some issues with the garbage disposal and noticed that there was a hole in the side of it. Teri's ring also needed a good polish (nothing to do with Poland at all), so I decided to swing by the jewelry store on my way to Lowe's since they are next to each other and I could consolidate the trip. I stopped at the jewelry store first because I expected that I'd have to drop the ring off and pick it up some other time, which I didn't have to do.

Anyhow, one of the fine gents who has his employ at the jewelry store used to work in construction and I was making small talk with him while I waited on the polish (again, no Poland here) to happen. He suggested I pick up some JB Weld and put some on some duct tape (what can't it fix?) and use that combination to repair the small hole. That's precisely what I did. I'll find out tonight if it worked. Also, Teri's ring is now ready to give to her when the time is right. That's a pretty productive trip in anyone's book, even if there weren't any submarines with screen doors involved.

The Canary Is In The Cage!

Or some old-timey spy-code lingo. I picked up Teri's engagement ring tonight, and here is a pic of it. As you can tell, I'm not in any way a jewelry photographer. They got it done really fast. I didn't notice until I got it home that there's a small spot on the band that needs to be polished a bit, but that shouldn't be any big deal to have done. I could probably drop it off before I work out on Saturday and pick it up when I'm done. I'm really looking forward to giving it to Teri!

This Is Killing Me

So the plan is to wait until November 1st to actually propose. (Okay, so the original plan was to propose on the 24th, but a birthday party got in the way of that.) The thing is that ever since I bought the ring on Saturday, all I want is for the work on it to be finished (they're doing some custom work and have to actually mount the diamond) and to propose. The ring isn't even supposed to be done until next Tuesday, but I'm already getting impatient.

I keep going back and forth on when the best time would be to talk to Teri's dad too. I guess that depends on when I decide to propose. I want to have as little time as possible between when I talk to him and when I propose to decrease the chance of Teri finding out about it.

What makes it even worse is that I can't tell anyone anything about it. I suppose I could, but I decided a while ago that I won't because I don't want anyone knowing about it until Teri knows. Can I just go to sleep tonight and wake up 3 weeks from now? That would make all of this a whole lot easier.

Maybe to keep things in perspective I should just remember that if you had told me at this time last year that I would be getting ready to propose, I would have had a hard time believing it. That's probably a better focus than thinking about how I've waited long enough already.

Bought the Ring

Yesterday I bought Teri's engagement ring. Since I can't tell anyone about it, I decided to write about it (and not actually publish the blog until I give it to her). I'm having them do a little bit of custom work on it and they'd have to resize it and set the diamond in it anyway, so it won't be ready for 10 days.

If Teri knew this, she'd be super excited. However, if she knew that the time I plan to propose to her has already been pushed back a week because of scheduling she might be less excited about Callie's birthday party. :)

I'm sure this won't be the only delayed-publish blog post I write in October.

Well That's Nice

I had my follow-up doctor's appointment for my surgery yesterday, and I got the all-clear to resume normal activities. Well, what were normal for me anyway. I still have to wear an earplug in the shower and keep the ear dry, but I was doing that before surgery anyhow. I can work out again though, which is good because after 3 weeks I'm feeling pretty soft and doughy.

After the surgery, the doctor had put some dissolvable packing in my ear canal to hold the graft in place so it could heal. There was still some packing left on the eardrum, so he put some fluid in my ear to soften things up and then removed the packing. Between the packing removal and the suction to remove the fluid, there were some hurty moments and I had to stop watching what he was doing on the monitor on the wall, but in the scheme of things it was no big deal. Part of it might have been that the suction thingy (technical term) is super loud when it's all up in your eardrum's business.

Now I just have to keep the ear dry for 6 months or so and be diligent in my application of sunblock on my graft donor site on my arm next summer and hopefully I'll be done worrying about my ear problems. That's what I thought a couple years ago when I had the tube removed though, so I'm staying cautiously optimistic...with emphasis on the 'cautiously'.

I just want to be able to shower and swim and not constantly worry about ear infections like a normal person. Is that so much to ask? So far, the answer has been 'yes'.

Creepier Than A Crazy Cat Lady

So everyone knows how creepy crazy cat ladies are. You'd have to be crazy to be the only person in a house full of cats after all. The big reason is that they treat their animals like they were actually people when they clearly aren't. However, I discovered something this morning far more disturbing. Crazy doll ladies. They have very life-like baby dolls they play with.

In the segment I saw on the Today show, the guests downplayed taking the dolls out in public and using them to fill the void in their lives left by not having children of their own. Even if that's true, and I highly doubt it is, it's still creepy as hell that a grown woman would still play with dolls as though it's a completely normal thing to do.

It's like one big pile of crazy.