Well it's only been a week so far...we have an idea for the date (11/28/08, the Friday after Thanksgiving) but nothing has been booked yet so it's not "official".
As for hoooow it happened? Well first I need to give a little backstory. For the past year or so, I've been working the night shift at my job, which I absolutely hate. Fortunately I'm mentally stable enough to arrive at work with a smile on my face and not burst into tears at random times in the day (though I was like that for a week last winter). But I'm not going to lie if people ask me how do I like my job. I'm very unhappy there and I can't find my next job fast enough.
Aaaaaah. Feels good to get that off my chest.
So anyway...it's "Friday" night. Technically it's very early Saturday morning but since I woke up and went to work on Friday, I still perceive it to be Friday when I leave. At about 1:45 am, I enter the house and there's a PS2 memory card standing on the railing leading up to the second floor. "Odd," I think to myself. I left the memory card at Pete's parents house. His bother and my sister go to the same college. Maybe it swapped hands there and she left it in an obvious location for me to find.
About a second after I picked up the card, the piano in the next room starts making noise (I didn't realize it at the time, but it was a Billy Joel song I liked). My first thought was to freak out over the fact that there was someone in the house who wasn't supposed to be there. My mind was begging for it to be Pete at the piano...but only because I REALLY didn't want to know who was playing if it wasn't.
Sure enough his head pops out from behind the music stand. *WHEW* But then the "OMG" started to set it. I figured right away what was going on when I saw him. He works NORMAL hours and likes his sleep. He had no ordinary reason to be here at this hour. Plus my family was obviously part of the conspiracy because they had to have let him in the house. So greetings are exchanged. I knew it was coming but I didn't say anything because I wanted to see it played out.
So...there's this origami scorpion resting on the piano. Had things gone according to plan, he would have spelled out a scenario similar to one described in "The Phantom of the Opera" novel (but without the threats to blow up the Opera House). If I were to accept his proposal and agree to be his wife, I'd turn the scorpion so that it would face the opposite direction.
However, I've never read the book. I jokingly make a comment about keeping busy while waiting for me to show up and before he can stop me, I pick up the scorpion for a better look.
*clink*
A ring falls out of the other side of the scorpion and lands on the carpet.
For me, that was when the magnitude of the moment hit me. I picked up the ring and Pete got down on one knee and kissed my hand, reminding me of our first date (to a Ren Faire). Well he was shaking and I was shaking. Thinking about it now, I was freaking petrified. I don't think I had ever been scared of commitment until that point and my mind was just going "OMG!OMG!OMG!OMG!" over and over again.
He looked like he was struggling to find the right words and I was struggling to think of what I really wanted. But then I realized I was being a total idiot and I really didn't have much to be afraid of at all. Yeah we're going to have disagreements. But based on past disagreements and how they were handled, I don't think we'd ever go to bed angry with each other. We're just not the types that bear grudges and get all passive-aggressive on each other. Yeah...I think we'll be a-ok.
But first I have to say "yes" don't I?
So I just said yes to the question I knew he was trying really hard to ask. He seemed pretty relieved that I understood what he was trying to say.
Ring meets finger. He calls my mom on her cell phone and the whole family came running down the stairs with balloons and blue champagne (champagne mixed with a smidgen of blue curacao for color). Aaaaand it's been crazy ever since. Between my mom and three sisters, this next year is going to be a lot of fun. We'll try not to make him dizzy.