An Honest Woman

Dan proposed to me last night and I accepted! I am now officially engaged. This also means that I don't have to worry about turning into Dorothy Zbornak (now, granted, I know that she married Stan, but they divorced...and for you Golden Girls fanatics...yes, I know she got married in the season finale, but you know what I mean). How did it happen? Dan already told me that he had gotten his mother's engagement ring ready for me and that a proposal was due within the next 90 days. Last Friday, he called me from Phoenix telling me that he had made lunch reservations in Nashville on New Year's Eve. Of course, I inferred that he was going to propose then. So yesterday I drive to the Nashville airport (traffic was HORRIBLE) and pick up my DK. He had brought tamales from Arizona with him and he had planned a whole meal around them. So my mom, my dad, Dan and I worked on the meal in the kitchen. Mel and Ryland played Scrabble upstairs, but were going to join us for dinner. We decided to eat in our dining room; mom put out her nicest china and set the table so beautifully. It never crossed my mind that this was odd. After dinner, Dan, Mom and Dad were getting dessert ready while I joked around with Ryland and Mel. I wanted to see if Dad had brewed any coffee when my mom whisked me away to the front entrance to dance (if you know me, this is not as odd as it sounds...I always break into spontaneous dance...and song). We then sat down, except for Mom, and Dan, who was walking into the dining room with a paper bag in his hand. Mom brought out champagne flutes and set one by each of our plates. Dan took a bottle of champagne out of his bag and said, "We have some champagne, but before we open it, there should be a reason for us to celebrate." And then it hit me. He got on one knee and said, "I wanted to ask you this in front of the people you love the most. Will you marry me?" Now, granted the entire time I was BAWLING. Good thing this wasn't in a public establishment or else I would have felt embarrassed afterwards. Of course I said yes and Dan put the most beautiful ring on my finger. It was his mother's engagement ring. I would describe it to you but I really don't know how. I'll post a picture later. So now I'm just staring at my finger while I type and I'm feeling very, very happy.