i've got something to tell you

I've been a bad blogger. I'm hoping there are still some of you out there reading, because I've been following along with your lives even if I haven't been commenting. As for me... my life exploded with activity after I finished classes, what with the cruise and my family trip to Myrtle Beach and summer classes starting up and ... well... there was this one thing...

It happened just about three weeks ago, on Wednesday, May 18th. A little bit of backstory: Matt and I booked a seven-night cruise to the Bahamas a couple of months ago. One of the ports of call? Port Canaveral. An hour away from Port Canaveral? Disney World, aka my favorite place in the world. I was reluctant to commit to a day trip at first, but Matt insisted we go to Magic Kingdom just for the day. And there's no way I'm saying "no" if someone says, "do you want to go to Disney?"

I had suspicions, but no real evidence, that Matt was planning to propose. I was, I'd say, about 90% sure. And that's a dangerous place to be. What if he hadn't proposed? I would have been incredibly confused -- and devastated, for sure.

When we got to the park, Matt said he had to go to the bathroom, and I took the bait. I knew something was up because he knew exactly where the bathrooms were despite the fact that he hadn't been to Disney World since he was 13. I went to the bathroom too, taking my time, assuming that he was probably taking care of some logistics -- moving the ring from his backpack to his pocket, taking it out of the box, maybe. I came out to discover that Matt had disappeared. This is hadn't expected. I waited for about a minute and a half, and then my phone started ringing. This was it.

"Hey, I found Mickey! And I found someone to take our picture with him! Walk towards the flagpole and make a left, I'm right here!"
"Matt, there are literally hundreds of people all around me right now. I can't find you."

"Just do it!"

And then he hung up on me. I was really nervous now. My heart was pounding, my pulse whooshing in my ears. I scanned the crowds, caught his eye, waved. 

Before I even had time to think, he was down on one knee, presenting me with this sparkly little disco ball set in platinum, and a park photographer was snapping pictures, and people all around us were clapping and saying "congratulations!" And at some point, I started bawling. Just all-out bawling, like a child.

Eventually I managed to gurgle out, "OF COURSE," and the crowd prompted us to hug, kiss, and put the ring on my finger. 

Later on, after I called my parents and my sister and my best friends, I got the whole story out of Matt. After I'd entered the bathroom, he sprinted out into Main Street, USA and started searching for someone to be his accomplice. He chose well -- the two older women who he begged to help him turned out to be park workers in plain clothes! They hooked him up with a park photographer and grabbed his camera, too. By the time I got out of the bathroom, they'd set up an ambush. 

May 18th, 2011 was probably the best day of my life. I was in Disney World, I was in the middle of an amazing cruise to the Bahamas, I had just come out of a tough semester of grad school with a 3.8 GPA, and I was engaged to my funny, generous, smart, and kind boyfriend. Though I guess he's my fiance now. WEIRD.

I wish I could bottle up that day and keep it on a shelf, and take a shot of it when I'm feeling low, in the future. For now, I'm trying to keep the feeling going for as long as I can. 

stave it off, 1-2-3

It's been a sort of gross three days or so (we're neck-deep in hurricane season here so it's been rainy and windy since Sunday) and although I wouldn't say I have Seasonal Affective Disorder or anything, four straight days without sunshine can get a girl down. While I did my fair share of wallowing yesterday (with Matt over a couple of beers) and it does have its merits, I'm trying to refrain from excessive self-pitying as much as possible. So in order to stave off the cloudy-weather blues, I'm focusing on exciting things that are coming up. I think you know what that means.

IT'S BULLETED LIST TIME

• My co-worker Alice (not her real name, but she'd approve) and I just got the go-ahead to plan and run a Harry Potter Palooza Party in November and we are SO EXCITED. And we JUST CAN'T HIDE IT. Children of the library, prepare yourselves for butterbeer (non-alcoholic, of course), pretzel stick wands, Quidditch relay races, and a library-wide dragon egg hunt! (Like I said, SO EXCITED.)
• I'm in the process of re-arranging, re-organizing, and re-decorating my bedroom in my parent's house. I'm talking new bedspread and linens, new headboard, new desk, extra storage, the whole shebang. Because unless someone steps up as an anonymous benefactor and decides to deposit several thousand dollars in my bank account on a monthly basis, I'm gonna be living in that room until I finish graduate school. And while the World of Van Gogh theme that I chose 9 years ago worked for me when I was 15, I'm kind of over it now. Dammit. I hate it when my parents are right.
• AWESOME NEWS ALERT: Matt gets a whole week of paid vacation time starting in March, and to celebrate the first vacation he's had in two years, he and I are stealing away on a 7-night cruise to the Bahamas. Yeah. It's like. I don't even. I've never been to the Bahamas and I've never been on a cruise and I'm beyond myself with excitement. It's not until May, but that won't stop me from obsessively researching every aspect of cruising, or imagining myself lying out on some white sand beach, or fantasizing about eating steak and cheesecake at midnight before going bowling and nightswimming and then ordering BLTs via room service. 

Ahhhh. That's much better. Now if this stupid weather doesn't let up, I think I'll be able to handle it.

But seriously, Weather Fairies. Make it stop or I'll smush you.