It's official...
I am officially, 100% engaged! In other words, Missy has her ring now. I made the last payment a couple of weeks ago but of course they waited until it was completely paid for before they sent it to get set.
I had been working on a computer slide show of pictures throughout Missy's life and a few of us together at the end for several months. I did the original version in PowerPoint (Julie would be so proud!) and was planning on using that version for the proposal. My original plans fell through so I had to come up with some alternatives. My brilliant and talented and honor roll graduate nephew Justin helped me convert the slide show to a format that could be played on DVD, which I could copy to VHS if needed. By "helped me", I mean he did all of the work while I offered my critique of his work. After many hours of work by Justin and some minor adjustments to the timing that I required him to make -- I had an awesome version that could be seen on a DVD player. As reward for all of his hard work, I took Justin out to dinner and the U of L NIT game against Missouri State. So, his hourly wage was still pretty crappy but at least he got something for all of his hard work besides my praise in this email. He really did an amazing job on it.
Next, I had to find a portable DVD player that I could borrow or rent. After many calls and google searches, I finally called the videographer who is doing our wedding and he graciously rented me his portable DVD player for a small fee. I then bought a giftbag from Walgreens and placed the DVD player in the bag.
Last Thursday night we ate dinner at Tony Romas, which is where we went on our first date. When we were finished eating, I went out to the car and got the ring and the gift bag. I gave the gift bag to the hostess and said "In 30 seconds, give this to the young lady sitting at my table." I returned to the table as if nothing special was about to happen. Missy went to the bathroom and the hostess came by and quickly hurried away still holding the bag. When Missy came back to the table, the hostess returned and said "This is for you" and handed the bag to Missy.
The confused look on Missy's face was priceless. She had no clue what the bag was for. I helped out by saying, "What's that?" She pulled the DVD player out of the bag and was still totally confused. She is a huge electronics geek but she couldn't figure out how to turn this thing on! I kind of blew my cover at this point by saying "NO NO you turn it on like this!" Oh well, up to that point I was pretty smooth. She turns it on and the first slide says "She's Got a Way About Her" as the Billy Joel song by the same name begins to play. The second slide is a picture of Missy as a little girl followed by many more pictures timed about 6 or 7 seconds apart. (Right Justin?) I believe Missy was in tears by the 2nd picture. I was in tears not too long after that.
So, the video ends and she hugs me before I can even get the ring out of my pocket. Then I got on one knee and proposed and she said yes. And then the restaurant gave us free dessert! The hostess came back and said "Since I delivered it -- I get to see it!" Missy started to show her the DVD player and I said "Wait a minute, what do you want to see?" The hostess said "The ring!" Of course, she wanted to see the ring!
All in all, it was a perfect evening and a huge surprise and Missy said it made her feel very special, which was the whole point. Well, I also had to make up for the first proposal, which was something like "I want to get married."
I'm a lucky man!
Rich
I had been working on a computer slide show of pictures throughout Missy's life and a few of us together at the end for several months. I did the original version in PowerPoint (Julie would be so proud!) and was planning on using that version for the proposal. My original plans fell through so I had to come up with some alternatives. My brilliant and talented and honor roll graduate nephew Justin helped me convert the slide show to a format that could be played on DVD, which I could copy to VHS if needed. By "helped me", I mean he did all of the work while I offered my critique of his work. After many hours of work by Justin and some minor adjustments to the timing that I required him to make -- I had an awesome version that could be seen on a DVD player. As reward for all of his hard work, I took Justin out to dinner and the U of L NIT game against Missouri State. So, his hourly wage was still pretty crappy but at least he got something for all of his hard work besides my praise in this email. He really did an amazing job on it.
Next, I had to find a portable DVD player that I could borrow or rent. After many calls and google searches, I finally called the videographer who is doing our wedding and he graciously rented me his portable DVD player for a small fee. I then bought a giftbag from Walgreens and placed the DVD player in the bag.
Last Thursday night we ate dinner at Tony Romas, which is where we went on our first date. When we were finished eating, I went out to the car and got the ring and the gift bag. I gave the gift bag to the hostess and said "In 30 seconds, give this to the young lady sitting at my table." I returned to the table as if nothing special was about to happen. Missy went to the bathroom and the hostess came by and quickly hurried away still holding the bag. When Missy came back to the table, the hostess returned and said "This is for you" and handed the bag to Missy.
The confused look on Missy's face was priceless. She had no clue what the bag was for. I helped out by saying, "What's that?" She pulled the DVD player out of the bag and was still totally confused. She is a huge electronics geek but she couldn't figure out how to turn this thing on! I kind of blew my cover at this point by saying "NO NO you turn it on like this!" Oh well, up to that point I was pretty smooth. She turns it on and the first slide says "She's Got a Way About Her" as the Billy Joel song by the same name begins to play. The second slide is a picture of Missy as a little girl followed by many more pictures timed about 6 or 7 seconds apart. (Right Justin?) I believe Missy was in tears by the 2nd picture. I was in tears not too long after that.
So, the video ends and she hugs me before I can even get the ring out of my pocket. Then I got on one knee and proposed and she said yes. And then the restaurant gave us free dessert! The hostess came back and said "Since I delivered it -- I get to see it!" Missy started to show her the DVD player and I said "Wait a minute, what do you want to see?" The hostess said "The ring!" Of course, she wanted to see the ring!
All in all, it was a perfect evening and a huge surprise and Missy said it made her feel very special, which was the whole point. Well, I also had to make up for the first proposal, which was something like "I want to get married."
I'm a lucky man!
Rich