Playing Catch-Up, the Sequel

FEBRUARY
After returning home from Matt and Felicia's wedding, we spend a couple of days at Portland. Mike wanted to go to the mall to pick up a pair of pants..

...or so he said.

When we got married, we only had the diamond ring.  We felt it stood on its own well enough and it didn't have a matching band, anyway. Besides, a lot of couples only have one diamond ring and forego the band, especially if the wedding ring is decorative enough. Apparently, not everyone got that memo. I got tired of correcting people when they asked when I was getting married, including one well-meaning busybody who sat next to me on our way home from Disneyworld a year ago and implied that we were living in sin for sharing a hotel room.

I expressed my desire to Mike to get a band at some point.  We had even stopped by the jeweler where we got the ring and found one that looked good but didn't order it. We just kept the information on file so that one day we could just call up and have the ring sent to us...like around our 5th wedding anniversary or something.

I didn't suspect anything when Mike said he heard there was a sale on pants at the Nordstroms in the mall with the jewelry store where we got the ring. I remained blissfully unaware that anything was going on when Mike suggested we go into the jewelry store to try on more bands. I didn't catch on that something was up even when I told Mike that I didn't want to try on more bands but he insisted we go in, anyway.  I didn't pay attention to the jeweler behind the counter who disappeared to the back when he saw us because I was too busy explaining to Mike that I wanted THE band I had tried on before and no other. It also escaped me that he came back and surreptitiously handed something to Mike just as I was preparing to leave.

I was explaining to Mike what I liked about the other band when he pulled our a ring and said, "You mean like this one?" and slipped it on my finger. It turns out he had called the jeweler back and ordered the ring, then set it up with them so that it would be a surprise when we picked it up.  And it was.

Now nobody asks me when the wedding is and I have reaffirmed what I already knew: I'm married to the most wonderful guy in the world!