Which brings me to the aforementioned “news” portion of this post. Two weeks ago, May 26, I proposed to Trish… She said yes, we’re now engaged! :D We went to the Desert Botanical Gardens–where I was really hoping the Wildflower trail would have more wildflowers–and I began to tell her how I wish I could give her a huge garden with flowers as far as the eye could see (there *really* should’ve been more flowers there!), that I would give her a kingdom if I could…

“…and speaking of which… I have something for you. Now, it’s not a shoe, but…” I suppose I should explain here that one of her favorite movies is Ever After, and that months ago she mentioned that she loved the proposal therein. So, I shamelessly borrowed from it. After telling her how much she’s meant to me in these past months, I continued: “I kneel before you… as a man in love. And I would feel like a king, if you, Patricia, would be my wife.”

And I presented her with this:

The pictures really don’t do it justice. I feel silly, but I’m so proud of the ring I chose for her. It’s a tulip setting, which was popular a century or two ago, and since we both often feel we were born a couple of centuries late, I thought it was appropriate. It’s elegant and yet different. It was one of the first rings I looked at, and it just stood out against all the rest. It stood out among all others just as Trish stands out in my heart and mind. So of course, I think it was a perfect choice. :)

We went and celebrated that night at Naples Ristorante in Chandler… a nice, cozy little Italian restaurant with a great accordion player. It was a great day, and I hope Trish loved it as much as I did. I think she did. :)

By the way, I’m sorry I didn’t break the news sooner. We were waiting to tell my parents in person before we told anyone else, and our usual weekly dinner with them kept getting pre-empted. So we got tired of waiting, and finally broke down and crashed their house yesterday at lunch to tell them. So now, everyone can be in the loop!

If anyone is curious as to wedding details in the works, we don’t have any yet save for the date we’re aiming for: November 10th, the one-year anniversary that we began dating. Other details are coming slowly because we want to get married in a church, but small cozy churches are hard to come by out here, pretty dresses are intimidatingly expensive, we’re hard-pressed for bridesmaids and ring-bearers and the like, etc. But plans will come together, and rest assured we’ll keep everyone in the loop.

Oh yeah, I was going to talk about the things Trish and I do day-to-day. We keep it pretty fun… We play a lot of games. One of my favorites is this PS2 game called Culdcept, the concept of which is similar to one of those RPG trading card games (think Magic: The Gathering). It’s a blast to beat up on the computer character on there. ;) We’re also getting started playing a pen-and-paper game called Hackmaster. I don’t do a lot on Second Life these days, as there’s not much to do on there that we can’t do in person, but I have been working on a site called SLMatrix.com, which will hopefully be a good resource for Second Life store owners. Trish is totally my muse… Aside from SLMatrix, she’s inspired me to work on a kitchen/cooking website that’ll cross-ref recipes, inventories, grocery lists, etc. It’s a pretty good idea if I can flesh it out. We’re also watching the complete series of Gilmore Girls… hey don’t tease, it’s a good show. And sooner or later, Trish will probably be sitting through all of Firefly. :) I’m not sure how exciting all of this sounds to other people, but what we do every day is a blast… Life is fun, and laid back, and I love it.

Ooh, I forgot to brag about Trish’s cooking! Argh, this post could go on forever. Well, I’ll keep it short for now and I’ll have to remember to snap some pics of her delicious dishes as she makes them. Suffice to say, I’ve been blessed to fall in love with someone so gifted with food. She’s especially good at baking… breads, cookies, cakes, you name it. Last week she managed to balance making from scratch brownies and a banana cream pie–at the same time. And while she doesn’t give herself much credit with other types of cooking, I think she’s great. :)

But the big news, of course, is that Trish and I will be spending the rest of our lives together, and now it’s just that much more official! :)

I’m sorry I haven’t been more verbose as of late… I really should have been, for the few loyal readers (and friends) this thing still attracts. Part of it is just that writing in it feels so cumbersome, maybe because I feel like I need to write so much if I write anything at all. I’d rather post my life in little snippets, if I could; it’d be easier and I’m sure I’d have far less chance of boring anyone. :P But the other part of it is, I guess I just don’t feel the need to pour my heart out. I could gush and gush and gush, but selfishly, I feel pretty content, and I’d rather focus on the things I have to gush about than any actual gushing. :P

But since I’ve got this going, allow my to gush: I am so head-over-heels in love with Trish. Not just in a primal, mmm, looking-into-her-eyes-sparks-fiery-passion-in-my-heart way, although I certainly feel that. But like, I can see my whole future with her, and it’s beautiful. And even the slightly frightening parts of the future (like why did I have to rack up such an expensive car payment? We could live so much more comfortably without it) aren’t that worrisome. I know there’s a million things I can do to make life great, and I’ll do anything I have to. She’s my best friend, my lover, my soulmate, my family, my everything.

My mind is not quite capable of stringing together words in an intelligible manner right now, and in my head I keep on going from tangent to tangent so often that I forget what I want to write. But long story short, Trish is flying in tomorrow–today–shortly after 1PM. Her belongings are currently making the trip via moving truck and will arrive in about ten days. We will be spending the rest of our lives together! :) It feels so weird, I’ve felt like the eternal stay-at-home kid, and it’s hard to believe that this is happening, that I’m living my own life… Maybe I’d started to think it would never happen. But then I think about it, and realize, it was supposed to happen now, and only now, because Trish is just so right for me.

Okay, head in clouds, wrist in splint (ugh… moving + carpal tunnel != good times), body needing sleep… I’m just useless here at this point. :P I’m gonna catch some sleep, finish moving my stuff, and the next time I write it’ll be from our apartment. :D

So, where to begin… Have I mentioned how amazing Trish is? Ah, she’s just amazing. We’re just so connected. Not only can we talk so freely & intimately about anything, but even more unusual, we can sit around and not talk at all and still feel perfectly comfortable. Bah, why am I trying to explain it? We’re soulmates, simple as that. I’m so crazy in love with her. :)

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One of the foremost of those values is honesty–one of the most important factors in relationships.  More to the point, DIShonesty is especially important, namely, to failed relationships.  I never thought I’d have a problem with being honest, always thought that was one of my best qualities.  And really, it’s not like I lie through my teeth every chance I get.  But…  I’m not particularly honest about my feelings.  Often, not even with myself.  This is probably either one of the causes, or a direct result, of my rather underwhelming dating history–or perhaps a combination of the two.

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I must admit, regarding the whole quagmire that is our current political landscape, I’ve just felt resigned about it all lately. It feels like the whole system, the one party with the chimp in the office, and the other party who can’t seem to organize well enough to beat the chimp, it’s all just one big self-sustaining loop that we, the American people, are left out of entirely. Maybe in dire times, it takes someone like Keith Olbermann to be a beacon.

You can’t exactly credit the guy with originality… Olbermann clearly patterns himself after Edward R. Murrow, but then, why not? The man is regarded as one of the best journalists of all time, so perhaps patterning one’s career after him as opposed to that of modern “journalists”–O’Reilly, Limbaugh, even Franken–isn’t a bad idea. Watching his stuff, I wonder if maybe the American people are capable of sitting in one spot long enough to listen, not to soundbytes, but to ten minutes of well-reasoned, empassioned, enlightening crticism. They just haven’t known where to find it.

I think I’m gonna have to start watching MSNBC.

Edit: Just ran across an article mentioning that, apparently, Olbermann received a suspicious envelope yesterday containing a powdery substance.  The substance was harmless, but obviously meant to scare, with an included note reading the package was “payback” for some of his commentaries.  Because, y’know, the threat of lethal substances is fair payback for truth-telling.  :P  But if you can measure the mark of a journalist by the amount of feathers he ruffles, I guess I’m not the only one who thinks Olbermann’s doing a good job!

For the past few months, I’ve been working on the new version of my department’s web site at work.  Last week, I finally rolled it out–with one considerable oversight.  Early on, I entered in some placeholder text in the footer.  “Copyright notice goes here.  Maintained by Thom Stricklin.  Bla blabbity bla.”  I never bothered to fill in the real copyright notice!

Apparently, “blabbity blah” is some sort of catchphrase for me.  :P

- Genelle Gregorio