We're Engaged!

A while back, I explained to Starman -- in as loving & supportive way as I could -- that every engagement I know of has resulted in a story. Maybe it's a story about the ring, or the wedding preparations, or the proposal itself. Stobex and I have a story about the ring and one about the proposal, which took place during a transatlantic phone call at 5:45 a.m. my time. I didn't want Starman to be intimidated, but I wanted him to have a chance to think about how he wanted it to go. I swear to you I didn't have a trap set for him, so that if he didn't outdo himself I'd find fault. But I could tell he felt the pressure.

Well, dear readers, he needn't have worried: he outdid himself. We've had a hectic few weeks, what with moving stuff from one place to another, thinking about this now on-now off election stuff, and some lingering legal issues that won't be going away for a while. I really would have been happy if we'd negotiated some buffer zone so that he didn't have to sweat all this right now. But he put that negotiation off, suggesting he had it worked out.

In case the date has escaped you, Valentine's Day is coming up. As it happens, my birthday is the day after that. But we've got so much going on this week, I certainly didn't expect him to do anything on either of those days. And, on top of all that, we had a fight last night. (80% my fault, by the way.) So when I got up this morning and saw that he'd created a crossword puzzle for me, I was thrilled just that he'd done it. Such a loving and creative gesture, I think.

After breakfast, I settled down to solve it. He'd kept the clues pretty easy; well within my level of ability at cryptic crosswords. I'd actually solved the first two before I read the rubric, which told me to solve the puzzle, including an unclued question at two lights, then answer the question by highlighting my choice of three answers imbedded in the puzzle. Yup, you got it: the question was Will You Marry Me, and the three choices were Yes I Will; No I Won't; and Don't Know. I highlighted Yes I Will -- in green for go.

He managed to hide not one but two diamond rings nearby (how did he know which chair I'd be sitting in???), in case one didn't fit. The first one was huge: a "diamond" keyring! The second one was huger: a "diamond ring" paperweight. I'll treasure both of them as it they were real.

I know he'll read this, so here it is again: Yes, I'll marry you, Starman. You make me happy, you work hard at being a great boyfriend, and you love me as much as I love you. And I am very happy with the story you created of how we got engaged.