The Proposal

It was on December 23, 2007.

Joe's family invited us to go see Jersey Boys with them. His sister and her husband were there as well. We packed up puppy to bring him with us and headed out. It was a very windy day. We stopped at Caribou so I could get a tea, as my throat had been bothering me that morning. The barista was so sweet. She gave puppy a dog treat and gave me a free tin of hoof mints to go with my tea. Yum.
As we drove down the highway, the wind seemed it would blow us right off the road. We made it to his parents' subdivision to see a limousine sitting near the entrance. Hmmm. When we got to the house, puppy ran around out back for a little while. When Joe's sister got there with her husband and their puppy, they changed and we locked up the dogs. Suddenly, there was a limo out front!
We rode the limo into the city to see the show. The music was great! I couldn't believe how well those boys sang. Afterwards, Joe bought me a program and we piled back into the limo to head back to the 'burbs.
Dinner that night was at Venuti's. I had ravioli as I always do and it was delicious. The gin & tonic was mighty good too. After dinner, we went out into the cold again to head back to his parents' house for presents and dessert. And puppytime. Did I mention how cold it was? So, so cold.
The puppies romped around in the snowy backyard. We exchanged grab bag presents and ate cookies. Finally, it was time to head home. We wrapped up puppy and put him in the car then drove off towards home. On the way home, Joe asked if we could open presents that night.
"It's not even Christmas Eve," I argued.
I'm a jerk.
Anyway, we got home and I promptly changed out of my nice Christmas skirt and into my comfy pajama pants and my pink Alaska sweatshirt.
Joe told me to go sit by the tree, so I did, gifts in hand. We took turns opening presents. A Gordon Ramsay cookbook and Bourne Ultimatum DVD for him and a Kathy Reichs book and a device for my iPhone for me.
Then he told me to close my eyes.
Uh-oh, I thought. Could this be it?
I did as I was told and waited while he got up and came back. He told me to open my eyes and he started talking.
"This is something for the house," he said.
WHAT? I'm thinking. What could he have gotten for the house that he's hiding behind his back? A picture? A new remote control?? What?
The rest is a blur of Christmas past, present and future. He showed me the ring and asked if I'd marry him. I hugged him. I cried, but I didn't sob. I maintained my dignity (I think). "You didn't even look at the ring," he objected, while I hugged him.
I made him put it on me. He was on one knee while he did. It's beautiful. He picked it out.
It's been described as stunning, beautiful, gorgeous, so me, perfect and so sparkly. I'll tell you what, the day I got it, it hurt my eyes to look at it. The sparklies were just bouncing off the ring like crazy. Of course, I've trained my eyes to deal with it. There's no way you can keep me from staring at my left hand now. Joey did a fantastic job. He's the love of my life. XOXO