Waiting for Wedding Day; or, I'm Sorry You Had to Find Out from the Blog

We interrupt Alex's regularly scheduled Waiting for Wednesday to bring you an announcement from Friday that wouldn't work for Saturday through Tuesday, but couldn't wait for Thursday.

With me so far?

Right. Thought so. I'm engaged.

It's been just over four years since my gal and I got together, and I had somewhat managed to convince her that I would finally propose around Valentine's Day. I say finally with italic emphasis for a good reason. We've been mistaken for a married couple by every stranger we've met since we started dating. I've even mistaken her for my wife when I've asked her on occasion to do my dishes while I'm playing video games, but that's another matter entirely.

We figured out very early on that we tend to balance each other in the ways that we're different, and we usually compliment each other in the ways we're alike. This alone is enough to provide stability in a dating relationship, and it's how we managed to stay a state of relationship limbo for so long. For months--even as much as a year or two--we've both had enough relationship XP to level up...but I lacked the self-imposed prerequisites to do so. Also, the magical ring.

My path to husbandhood was simple and logical: Get a girlfriend. Get to know her. Determine she's the one I want to be with for the rest of my life, except for a few deal-breakers that need to change (read: vegetarian). Realize that a lifetime of playing excessive amounts of Mega Man without being nagged to stop is worth a few extra vegetables, and deal with the deal-breakers.

Here's where it got tricky: Secure a steady job and move out from my parents' house--I wanted to establish that I could be a functional human being on my own before bringing anyone else into my mess. The idea of getting married wasn't driving me to get a job and a place of my own, but the lack of a job and a place of my own was a barrier to progress.

I was unemployed for a year, and it was a few months until I started looking at apartments, but my lady friend waited patiently for me. After I got the apartment, however, it started to look like I was stalling. How long would it take before I proved I could be a functional human being on my own? Especially when that ever-growing pile of laundry implied the urgent need for a certain feminine touch?

Evidently, the answer is, "However long it takes for me to put a ring on her finger." I've got all sorts of perfectly valid excuses as to why that didn't happen weeks or months ago, but the important part is that we're now engaged.

The more important part is that we're now engaged thanks to Mega Man.

Consider yourself teased.


[Continued in Part 2.]