The Proposal - His version

Oh where oh where to begin on this one?

I suppose I could start when we first started talking about possibly getting married, and looking at wedding rings. We had looked at a number of designs on the internet, and we'd been to a few local Brick & Mortar stores to look at rings in person. I won't say Tracy was indecisive -- she was very particular on what she wanted. The trick was for her to actually SEE in person what she wanted. On what turned out to be our last day at looking, we ended up at Tiffany's. Sean, a very friendly and knowledgeable salesman, had brought in several sapphire/diamond rings for Tracy to look at. She had 2 sapphire rings and 2 diamond rings adorning her fingers, and she was looking back and forth at them, and she finally made The Decision and told me Exactly the kind of ring she wanted.

I then said "Great! I can make this decision. I don't need you anymore!"

Sean's jaw hit the counter and his face went white. I was completely obvlivious. Such was sometimes the story of our courtship.

Well, I was *determined* this time to pull the wool over Tracy's eyes. I figured that the opportunities to do so with Tracy would be few and far between, and I definitely wanted to make this an event that she would remember.

I first started by picking out a ring. I worried and agonized over choices for a couple months, carefully managing my finances, trying to figure out exactly what I could afford. I wanted to get her a ring that she would be happy with 50 years from now, and not thinking it was too small, or not pretty enough or... well, you get the idea. I did hours of research on the 'net, and found several very reputable online jewelers, and eventually selected on one. He was very helpful, and he worked with me to create the ring. Now it was up to me to make it happen and NOT screw it up.

This whole time, I'd been asking her details now and then about what she preferred and would she prefer this or that, and each time I made it sound that the proposal would be some time far in the future. In the meantime, the ring showed up, I had it appraised, and I started getting Plans in motion.

A few weeks beforehand, I suggested to Tracy that it'd been awhile since we had gone out somewhere really nice for dinner, and that since it was her month to pick out a new restaurant for us to eat at, that she should come up with something. She ended up picking Pappa's Brothers Steak House, which neither of us had ever been to, but their reputation is stellar for good food, good drinks, and good atmosphere. I also did a little bit of research and discovered that there was an exhibit at the Kimball Museum that displayed "Art of the Floating World" from medieval Japan. I have always been intrigued by Japanese culture, and I knew how much Tracy enjoys museums, so I suggested that we do this as well; it would make for a very nice day together (culminated of course by the proposal).

Sooo... with the plans in motion, I had one other thing to do. I had to ask her father. I know how close she is to her dad, and I wanted to do right by her. However, I also knew that if I just called her parents up, word would get around immediately, and I really wanted Tracy to be the one to spill the beans to her brothers and sisters. So instead I called up Jim, and asked HIM to ask his dad to give me a call so I could ask him. I thought it was a foolproof plan. Really. Honestly. It turns out the entire family figured it out 5 minutes after her dad shouted "I need a pencil to write down Ken's phone number." Oh well, the best laid plans of mice and men....

So with the plans in place, I then went out to acquire new duds. I already had a charcoal grey pinstriped suit that Tracy had never seen me wear (I RARELY wear ties... I feel they can cut off the flow of blood to the brain too much), so I went out to the local clothes store and asked for anything in my size that wasn't blue (Tracy hates the fact that 2/3 of what I wear is blue). I picked out a new shirt (salmon-coloured), a new tie, and even picked up a new belt, socks, and suspenders. I'm all set and everything. I just have to wait till Saturday.

So as we're at the museum, I've got the ring in my pocket and I'm keeping my hand in my pocket with the ring in my hand the entire time. I'm NOT about to let it out of my sight. The exhibit at the museum was VERY cool, by the way. I really noticed how the artists' technique and skill progressed through the exhibit. However, I also noticed that a lot of the things that the audio tour guides mentioned pretty much implied that you had to have a very detailed art background to understand. Neither Tracy nor I have a strong background in art, but we enjoy going to museums to broaden our horizons. Many of the terms and references that the guides were making made very little sense to us. Oh, well. The exhibit was MUCH better than the last one we went to (for Tracy's birthday, we went to the Metisse exhibit -- I can't understand why someone would try to "abstract" something in the name of art).

Next we went to Pappa's Brothers Steakhouse. When we first got there, the place was still fairly empty, and we were the only ones in the room we were in. I thought to myself "If this room is still empty by the end of the night, I'll just ask her right here". I'm not one for embarrassing myself in public, but in an empty, dimly-lit restaurant... I could have done it there. However, that was not to be, as by the time our dinner was over, every other table in our room was full. Oh, well.

Dinner was excellent. I had a lobster bisque, which was very good, (although the bisque from Lefty's Lobster is better), and Tracy ended up with a turtle gumbo (she managed to get me to try it, by smiling at me that way. It was actually pretty good). My steak au poivre was good, but honestly there are a dozen restaurants in D/FW where you can get excellent steak. However, Tracy's lamb chops were absolutely INCREDIBLE -- the absolute best I've ever had. If I ever get back to Pappa's Brothers, THAT is what I'm ordering. We partnered the meal with a very nice Australian Shiraz, and given that I was a little nervous, I probably drank somewhat more than half of it. Although, it was a REALLY good wine. I then, as is often my wont, also had a nice glass of scotch with my dessert. Somewhere along the line, Tracy demanded that I hand over the keys, because I'd had too much to drink (and I knew it, I wasn't about to drive). Only thing is... I didn't have the keys; the valet did. Heh.

So, as we're on the way back to Tracy's house, I'm attempting to surreptuously get the ring into a location where I can easily and quickly present it to her, which means I had to somehow get it out of the OUTER box (there was a presentation box inside a gift-type box)... without Tracy noticing. Fortunately since she was driving, she was having to keep her eyes mostly on the road, and I was free to enjoy the wind in my hair. The alcohol somewhat loosened up my tongue, so I was having a great conversation and a great time enjoying the drive. I DO love driving topless, but with the way the obnoxious Texas heat often is, I don't get as much of a chance to do so. However, it turned out that that Saturday was an absolutely perfect evening for it.

It also just happened to be a full moon, which would prove beneficial when we got back to her place. When we got back, I quickly got out of the car, and started walking around to her side of the car. Now, completely oblivious to my plans, she starts attempting to put the top up. I gently told her, "Don't worry, I'll get it". She keeps trying, and I told her again, "I'll get it". I came around to her side of the car, closed the door and kissed her. I then turned her around with the ring box palmed in my hand. I whispered into her ear, asking her if she remembered the first night she kissed me, in this very spot. And mentioned how she left me speechless for the rest of the night.

I then asked her if there was anything I say to her to leave her speechless.

I just heard her whisper "yes". And I think at that point it clicked.

I asked her to close her eyes. And then I turned over my hand and opened the box. I asked her to open her eyes, and asked her if she would marry me.

She cried for a bit, and somewhere in there, I'm pretty sure she said "yes".

I then got down on one knee and put the ring on her finger... and promptly gave myself a charle horse.

We then went inside and she looked at the ring in the light. I gently suggested that if she wanted to call people and tell them, that she could... and I don't think I've ever seen her grab her phone that quickly and start dialing numbers. She called everyone she could think of and told them all the news -- and the smile on her face absolutely lit up the rest of the evening.

The Proposal

Ken proposed on April 28 2007. He made me get all dressed up to attend a Japanese art exhibit at the Kimbell Museum, followed by a phenomenal dinner at Papas Brothers steakhouse. Ken had been bugging me for some time that we hadn't gotten all dressed up to go out in quite some time. I picked the restaurant and he picked the event. Ken even promised to drive, even though he hates driving his 'vette in Dallas traffic.
We got all dressed up and, except for a side trip to WalMart for Kent to buy black socks we were on our way to Fort Worth. My sister Alice had called me earlier that weekend, and I decided while Ken was driving and stopping at WalMart, I would call her back to see what was going on in her world. I told her all about our planned festivities for the day, the fact that Ken was dressed up in a very nice suit (the color of his shirt even matched the color of the pinstripes!), and we chatted about our niece Michaela. Soon Ken was back from his sidetrip to WalMart and we were headed to the museum.
The exhibit at the museum was very nice. The pictures were part of the Floating World, a part of Japanese culture I knew next to nothing about. I enjoyed the art, but I had a hard time reconciling what I knew about Geishas (from reading Memoirs of a Geisha) to the information presented about the time period and the pieces of art. Ken and I discussed at dinner that what I read in Memoirs was from a much later time period.
Dinner at Papas Bros. was absolutely fantastic. We had a fantastic bottle of shiraz with our dinner. I ordered the lamb chops. They were, by far, the best lamb chops I have ever eaten. Even Ken, who ordered filet minon, was jealous! Throughout the meal, Ken was drinking quite a bit of the wine, he probably had 3 glasses to my 1 1/2. I told him to be careful because he was supposed to be driving home. When the dessert menu was passed around and Ken ordered scotch, I knew what that meant. I would be driving the dreaded corvette back home. I told Ken to hand over the valet tag and the keys (Oops! The valet has the keys idiot!) I also had to hit Ken up for a tip for the valet. He happily handed the ticket and the money over.
As they pulled the 'vette up to the curb, I had to move the seat up about 8 inches just to reach the pedals. I moved the car away from the valet parking area and stopped to put the top down, at Ken's request. I also had to move the seat again so I could look over the steering wheel instead of through it. As I was driving home, every car that changed lanes looked like it was going to hit us! I drive and SUV, and I am not used to sitting that low. I white-knuckeled the steering wheel the whole way home while Ken sat in the passenger seat and commented on how wonderful and relaxing it is to drive home with the top down. Needless to say, I wasn't in full agreement with him.
I did get us home in one piece, with only 1 close call of someone changing lanes nearly into us at a stop light. I pulled into the driveway and was going to put the top up. I asked Ken where the button was, and he told me he would get it. "No, no, I'm right here." Ken, not being a happy camper, told me "I will take care of it." At that, I decided that I would leave his car alone, and I would let him put the top up all by himself.
As you can tell, I still had no clue what the outcome of the evening would be!
Ken came around the car and kissed me. He turned me around so that my back was to his front and he put his arms around me. He asked if I remembered the first night I kissed him out in the driveway under the stars. I, being a romantic of course, said, yes I remember, and I remember that you got a speeding ticket on the way home. He told me that I had left him speechless, and asked if there anything that he could say to me that would make me speechless.
It finally clicked! My heart raced, and I was truely at a loss for words. He made me close my eyes, and when I opened them, the ring was in front of me. I started blubbering like a baby. I could barely get out the yes, before I started crying all over that pinstripe suit and the matching shirt. He got down on one knee in the driveway to put the ring on my finger, and then almost fell off the driveway because he got a cramp. Concrete isn't the softest thing to kneel on. We finally made it back into the house, and he told me that I could call and tell everyone.
I zipped off to call home and tell everyone. As I called my parents place, my sister Alice answered. I told her what happened, and she said she already knew! Ken was devestated to find out that his big surprise wasn't a surprise after all. Alice did a great job of hiding it from me, but everyone in my family knew because Ken had to talk to my Dad to get permission. Dad isn't very devious so everyone knew what was going on.
That's it! I spent the rest of the night on the phone talking to everyone at home and admiring my newfound piece of jewelry, and Ken was sad that his surprise hadn't turned out to be so surprising. It was certainly surprising for me!