The Proposal

Ok, ok, I couldn’t leave it at that. Seriously though, I am afraid people will grow sick of hearing my obnoxiously-bubbly-excited-happy-ranting. It sounds like I am bragging, but I really don’t mean to be. I am overwhelmed by how happy and fortunate I am and truly had no idea life could be this good, or have this much magic until I met Buster. So, while I am trying NOT to boast(much) about how lucky I am to have him, I simply cannot help but share the wonderful experience he helped orchestrate.

This weekend was like the Perfect Storm. Sunday was my birthday, Monday was Valentine’s Day, and Universal Studios was kicking off their Mardi-Gras celebration all at the same time. Buster had always been adamant that he would not propose in conjunction with a birthday or holiday, so although I was anticipating a ring in the near future, I was NOT expecting it this weekend. Furthermore, you have to know a little about me, in that I am not the typical girl who has been fantasizing about a wedding my entire life. I really never thought I would WANT to be married at all, until recently, and even then I was in no hurry about it.

As I mentioned previously, our plan to celebrate my birthday involved a trip to the Lowe’s Royal Pacific, one of Universal’s onsite hotels, and a trip to both theme parks. Buster had class Saturday afternoon until nearly 1pm, so I did not see him much that day until we were in the car. He was acting a little strange: quiet, reserved, almost irritable. I decided that his recent school projects and heavy work load had taken it out of him, so I wrote it off that he was just tired. As it turns out, he told me he was rehearsing his speech the entire trip and was so nervous he had trouble choking down the Arby’s we stopped to have for lunch. He did manage to choke down most of the fries though.

We arrived in Orlando to heavy afternoon traffic, and I feared that he might actually run someone off the road in his eagerness to get to the hotel. However, we arrived shortly after check-in time at 4pm and had our car valet parked so we didn’t have to trudge 20 miles from the self parking lot to the hotel lobby. The staff of the hotel was extremely friendly and helpful, and we quickly made it up to our 7^th floor room overlooking the pool/lagoon area. Simply breathtaking. Buster insisted that we bring the camera so that we could have our pictures taken in front of the “iconic” Universal Studios globe outside the park. I chuckled and said “ok, sure.”

The water taxi which runs from the hotel to the entrance of the parks delivered us romantically to our destination. Soon after, we were standing in front of the Universal Globe that rotates in the fountain just outside of Universal Studios. Buster posed first while I snapped his picture. Looking at it afterwards, you can see how stiff and nervous he looked. I was up next, and posed as Buster snapped my photo from about 20 feet away. Afterwards, we began looking for a volunteer to take our picture together. The only people nearby was a large group of Europeans. Buster searched furtively for someone who would speak English until one of the friendly women from that group came over and gestured that she would help us. Buster turned his back to me and tried to explain what he was planning to do. She didn’t understand. I could see him pull something out of his pocket to show her, and she made such a surprised, taken-aback face that I wondered what on earth he was telling her to do. Then, as I began to realize what was happening, he walked over and gave the speech he had so carefully rehearsed. It was perfect. On went the gorgeous ring that he had picked out without knowing for sure what size I was. (I did catch him massaging my hands and fingers one morning several weeks prior. I had accused him of “sizing up” my ring finger then, but of course he denied it). It fit perfectly.

In the large crowd, my instinct was to be reserved, so I kissed him daintily on the cheek while our overseas friend snapped a picture. That was apparently not acceptable as she yelled “No! The other one, the other one!” I shrugged, and then laid one on him. That was apparently what the crowd was aiming for, as they broke out in cheers and applause. It was all background noise to me.

The rest of the evening was spent riding roller coasters, admiring my ring, celebrating Mardi Gras with great live music, incredible costumes, fantastic parades, thirty pounds of beads, and admiring my ring. Frankie Vallie and the Four Seasons played and we stayed long enough to hear the opening act before returning to the hotel.

After that, we headed to the City Walk to eat and drink at Margarittaville and to dance and drink at the various clubs along the walk. We were entertained on our walk back to the hotel by a group of drunken party-goers who were stumbling through the bushes and mooning the passing boats. And I admired my ring.

The next morning, I was awake early and we were out of the room by 7am. The morning consisted of a trip to Harry Potter’s Hogsmeade Village, an overpriced and underwhelming breakfast, and a much needed cup of Starbucks coffee. There was more roller coaster riding, ring admiring, and drinking of Butterbeer. We were exhausted by 2pm and headed home.

The corgis greeted us enthusiastically after having been walked by our friends and neighbors, Mike and Ashley, and I hopped back in the car to pick up Xander who had stayed with my friend Lara and her dogs. Wiped out from wrestling with his buddies Sting and Louie all weekend, he was thankfully asleep as early as we were that night, which was about 8:30pm.

My students last night were amazing as always, and no one minded that it was Valentine’s Day and we were out having class. Buster encouraged me to go teach, as obviously we had celebrated enough over the weekend to cover the holiday. When the group asked me if we’d set a date, I said “Whoa! One thing at a time!” I guess I have some work to do.

So here I am, engaged to my best friend. Who knew the little boy I first met 23 years ago would grow into the only man I would ever want to marry? AND he can keep a secret! As it turns out, he's had the ring for a little while and somehow managed to hide his excitement and anticipation from me. I thought he was just tired and stressed out, but really he was just going nuts trying to be patient!

Well, you'll have to excuse me, I have more ring admiring to do. Cheers!