My inner clock is that of a stubborn work mule.
I went to bed at 3.
I got up at 8.
Lauren continued to sleep.
I tiptoed around the house, packing, showering.
Lauren had to remain asleep until the jeweler opened.
Luckily, her inner clock is that of a gentle understanding kitten.
So when 10 rolled around, I was ready to jump out the door.
"I'm going to run some errands!"
I probably showed too much enthusiasm for running vague errands.
But Lauren was a bit foggy still, and surveyed the bedroom like a groggy owl.
"..okay come back.."
I put some gas in the van and filled the slow leak tire with air.
Then I went to the jeweler.
The ring looked great.
"Nice choice," said the golden voiced jeweler man.
"You did a good job," reinforced the nice jeweler lady.
So now it was time to settle up.
Only I didn't know that it was time to do that right now.
"Oh," I said very, very smoothly. "Um," very smoothly, "were we going to do a layaway on this?"
The nice jeweler lady had to explain the concept of layaway to me.
It turns out that layaway is not credit.
With layaway, you make little payments on the thing you want, and when you pay for all of it, then you can take it home.
Just like they did in 1987.
"Oh," I said less smoothly, and gave her my debit card.
My smirk of shame and I waited while the card was swiped.
The bank wouldn't authorize such a large purchase.
So I walked to the bank and made a few cash withdrawals.
I thanked God, Jesus and Moses (not Holli, Joanie and Sven) who had hired me as a PA in August and September.
If I were still messengering I would not have had the funds to pay for the ring.
And I don't want to think anymore about that.
It was our long awaited vacation.
Four days in Wisconsin.
A tour of Door County.
First stop: Fish Creek
We had reservations at the White Gull Inn, a B&B where we enjoyed a fish boil back in June.
B&B's are funny.
They look like your grandmother's dream doll house.
Frilly wallpaper, flouncy doilies.
Froofy potpourri.
Even the fireplace was a bit castrated, but it worked.
And so did the balcony.
We excitedly relaxed.
Vacation!
It was happening!
I didn't know how or when I was going to propose.
But it wouldn't be here or now.
We had just gotten here.
Besides, the environs were making it difficult for me to get it up.
Verdict: Win
No comments:
Post a Comment