The Great Proposal

I think perhaps on the most important things I could possible elaborate on is the proposal. I have to say this is something I was thinking about for months, and how to get it just right was a mystery to me. The whole thing didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped, but in the end I think I got it just right.

I started with the ring. Dean (my best friend and also my best man) spent a full day of ring shopping. Finally, I settled on the one I wanted (thank goodness for the tax return). As I went to pay for it, my card was declined. I thought this was odd, as I knew I had money there, and had them try again. Still, declined. A short time later, and some ridiculous time spent on hold with my bank, I learned that most bank cards have a spending limit on them. This, I felt the need to point out to the customer service rep who had to put up with me, was insane. Still, there was not hope for it, and no easy solution for me. Dean, being a good friend that he is, ended up paying for the ring on his credit card, and I paid him back the next day. So, hurdle #1 overcome, could have been smoother, but still out of the way.

The next was where to go for the big event. The north coast of California if is ripe with romantic settings, and I think I was looking for something that would stand out for the intended purpose. Eventually I settled on the Plaza Grill. This is a fairly fancy restaurant, and also happens to be one of our favorites. So I made the reservation, and simply told Delia she needed to be free that night, as I had planned a date night (something we love to have but rarely seem to find the time to do). Hurdle #2, an easy one.

Next on my list of things to do was how to deliver. There are a thousand ways a person can propose marriage, and I think if you look around on the Internet and ask those around you, every one seems to know the "best way" to do it. I wanted to involve Ben, so I put a lot of thought into the process. In the end, I decided it would be best if Ben was on the phone, and helping me. My master plan was falling into place nicely.

So the big night arrived. Dinner reservations were made, the ring was in my possession and sparkling nicely, and I had arranged with Ben to have him call at a specific time in order to make sure we go this done right. Delia and I both worked that day, and when we got home, I decided to cal Amy and make sure Ben was ready to do his part. I went outside, to get the mail, and used my cell phone to call Amy. I was so nervous that I called Delia by mistake. She answered the phone and I said, "So, is everything ready?" She asked me if I was crazy and I immediately hung up, thinking I had screwed up. Fortunately, she was busy inside doing something, and barely gave a second thought to me being an idiot from time to time.

So off we went to Arcata. They had nice little table reserved for us, situated in the corner and fairly private. We sat down, ordered something to drink, and I waited for what seemed like an eternity, for Ben to call. The phone rang, well, actually it vibrated (because even under the circumstances I felt good cell phone etiquette was important). I started talking to Ben, and Delia gave me a look like I was crazy, talking on the phone in the middle of a restaurant. Once she realized I was talking to Ben she relaxed, and then became surprised when I said he wanted to talk to her. One on the phone, Ben told Delia that I had a really important question for her. At this point I threw all my inhibitions to the wind, got down on my knee and proposed to her. I'm pretty grateful she said yes, because I think I would not have known what to do if she hadn't. I didn't really make a back up plan. So good for me. Now look at us, happily married.

So Mom should be pretty happy with this entry, she has been bugging me for it for a while now. If anyone is interested, and has Google Earth, or a similar program, the coordinates for the Plaza Grill are: 40 52'03.74" N
124 05'13.73" W

And the food there is excellent.