Part II: We're Officially Married...Again!

And we're back!

Part I was a pretty funny story, right?  I forgot to tell you that after that conversation, there was plenty of friendly banter about why  I didn't want him to read the blog--"Oh, is it because you're trying to communicate with your boyfriend?", "Do you NOT want me to read the blog?", "Am I not part of this family?", and the like.  Lee was playing a martyr. 

Anyway, here's Story Number Two:  The Fun One

As you read in Part I, my plans were officially spoiled.

So I laid low with that ring...for months--since October of last year!  I was trying to bide my time so that Lee would forget that I was going to propose to him and actually be surprised when I did pull it off.

Months of waiting and plotting and scheming...

I couldn't do it on our anniversary--too obvious.

I couldn't do it on Valentine's Day--too cliche.

I couldn't do it on vacation--too cheesy.

I finally formulated the perfect plan from a combination of ideas from my coworker (we'll call him Alberto) and my sister-in-law, the Ballerina.  Alberto suggested using a fish somehow since Lee lost his ring in the river--clever!  The Ballerina suggested I should propose to him at the Smith's Marketplace, because it's pretty much our favorite place to hangout--awesome!

Hmm...I am really liking this fish in Smith's idea.  It's unexpected!

On Saturday, when I awoke, I knew it was the day!  The conditions were perfect.  Lee had class in the morning from 8:30 to 12:30.  I could sneak to Smith's and plant the ring, then ask Lee if we could go to the store to pick up some groceries before the next session of General Conference.

After I scooted Lee off to school, I headed to Smith's.  I had the ring in hand and headed straightway to talk to the fishmonger.

This is Daron, our fishmonger.   

Daron, our fishmonger

I explained the story to him and asked if I could purchase a couple of whole fish (all he had whole was tilapia) and slip the ring into the mouth of one of the fish.  I would come back later in the afternoon and "pick up some tilapia for dinner" with my husband.   It was going to be perfect.  Isn't the tilapia such a pretty fish?

Such a fine looking tilapia!

Daron chose a couple of fish and stuck his finger in the mouth of one of them to widen it so the ring would fit.  He pulled his finger out and it was covered with a pink snotty-looking slime!  Gross!  It was a good thing we were lodging the ring in it's mouth and not too deep into the pink slime.  He then put the fish on a blue styrofoam tray, wrapped it with plastic and set it aside in their walk-in fridge.

Check out Lee's ring nestled in that pink slime!

I had only one problem: Daron was off at noon and he'd have to pass on the story to his boss about the arrangement and hope that she could help me pull this crazy stunt off.  I asked Daron to tell her to look out for an Asian girl and a guy with a beard who asked for whole tilapia.

Crossing my fingers!

I headed home to watch GC and waited for Lee. He finally arrived home and we were off to Smith's with coupons in hand as if we're going on one of our regular shopping trips.

As we're getting out of the car, I started my little act and said innocently, "Lee, I've been craving fish ever since I saw that Arctic Circle ad for fish and chips yesterday.  Can we get some fish and make some fish and chips or fish tacos or something?"

Sure, sweetie, he says.

We shopped a little, then headed to the fish stand.  Teresa, the other fishmonger, showed us some nice fish, and I suggested getting whole tilapia since it was kind of cheap.

Teresa just smiled at us as if we were regular customers...ummm... 

We are NOT regular customers!  Doesn't she know I've got a fish in the back fridge with a ring in its mouth with my husband's name and our wedding date inscribed on it???

Nope--she didn't know us from Adam.  For all she could care, we were regular customers asking about fish.

Oh stink!  Panic set in and I said we'd think about it and come back.

I sent Lee to grab bread while I headed to a different aisle to "get some salad dressing" that I had some random coupon for.  I ran back to Teresa and told her who we were.  Aha! A light went on and I told her we'd be back.  Then I ran back to the condiments aisle where I was supposed to be just as Lee rounded the corner to find me!  Phew! 

Lee luckily suggested that we go back to the fishmonger.  There we were again, and even though I was SURE Lee was wondering why in the heck we were buying a bland fish like tilapia versus something more along the lines of what we would buy--scallops or octopus or swordfish or something weird--he went along with my odd request.

I asked her if we could get a couple and if she happened to have any already wrapped up since we were in a hurry.  She did!  What a coincidence!

She handed the package to us and Lee looked at our fish, kind of disgustingly--then he saw the ring!

The look on his face was golden!  He was truly surprised!  Yay!  I pulled it off!

We brought the fish home and Lee extracted his ring. 

He was so excited to have his ring back--he had to model it off for all of you!


The Thinker




The fish and the ring



A classic "check-out-my-bling" ring shot

So there you are--we are married again officially!  Finally!

Yay!  We should have a party, don't you think?