January 08, 2007
Right.
So....how was your New Year?
Because mine? Mine kicked some clown ass, my friend. But you maybe already know that (and many thanks for your comments last week).
We left bright and early on the 27th, having dropped off Gorby at the kennel (I'm to pick him up in about an hour or so now) and dropped off the kids at another terminal for their flight back to Sweden. Heathrow was a zoo. Honestly. We were herded into massive tents outside with many others, and at some points the tents were so packed you couldn't even move. This was Heathrow's way of handling crowd control, and I can tell you-even with that many people in one plastic awning, the lack of heating was evident. When we finally got inside the terminal it was calm and easy-we checked in, went to the BA business lounge, and relaxed. The flight was great-we had used Angus' miles to upgrade to business class, and we quickly got stupid on champagne and crashed out on our poshy seats.
When we landed, we were met by my father and stepmother, who both bore huge grins and a luggage trolley. Our luggage came out first and we zoomed to their home across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, on an island called Gig Harbor. There we were met by a happy Nobu (my step-grandma, so to speak), and an awesome view of the harbor and Mt. Rainier.
We had our Christmas then-it was fantastic fun and I honestly enjoyed myself. My family took to Angus even more-they'd already met him when they were here, but they really took a shine to him after he re-built two of their broken PCs.
We toured Pike Market with my dad and stepmother, which is always a great place to me-the seafood, the vegetables, the hustle and bustle of the place. I couldn't believe it-I even found a copy of this book, which I had as a kid and which I loved.
And we had fish and chips and clam chowder at my beloved Ivar's.
Where my dad and I acted like 5 year olds feeding the seagulls.
We left for Whistler on the 30th-my dad loaned us his Toyota Highlander, and we were very grateful. My stepmother packed us a massive basket of food to eat on the way, and we set off for Whistler bright and early. We arrived just about 5 hours later, and unpacked wearily.
We hit the slopes the next day, having rented skis and purchased lift tickets. Neither of us are great skiers, but we do ok-I've only been skiing 4 times prior to this, and Angus-although having counted up at least 14 weeks of skiing-hadn't been to the slopes since 1998. So we took it nice and easy on the 31st, tackling only greens. The slopes weren't at all crowded though, and we even had some runs to ourselves.
We were very happy.
Especially after having "courage juice" at lunch (half a bottle of red wine).
You can even see me skiing here, as Angus took a video of me coming down Blackcomb's 7th Heaven (a fantastic run). I'm not a great skier, so don't have too much of a go!
That night we got dressed up and went to a Bavarian restaurant for a big fondue dinner and some oompah music.
We ate far too much fondue.
Then we drank bubbly, watched Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve (what's happened to Dick Clark? And who the fuck is this Ryan Seacrest asshole, and why has no one killed him yet?) and passed out around 1230.
On the 1st we woke up feeling fine-not so most of the other folks in the hotel, who all had "Do Not Disturb" signs on the doors. We went to the nearly empty slopes, but had a short day of it-the snow came down hard, and we got soaked in spite of the ski clothes. We got over 20cm of snow that day, so we called it an early day. We instead enjoyed the snowfall in the lit up village, which was picture postcard perfect.
The 2nd had very bad weather-it was actually raining, and only three lifts were open. People generally didn't even bother going up the mountains, and we saw people coming down who looked like they'd simply been in and out of the bathtub. With gale force winds, rain, and few open lifts, we decided not to ski.
And that day, everything changed.
We walked around the town, dodging the massive puddles. On our way to a lunch place, we saw a little jewelry shop to one side. We peeked in the windows, and we both saw a very unusual ring in the window-two bands linked by three diamonds. We decided to go in and look. We saw a few rings we liked in there-the place was unusual, not a chain, but a shop in which the owner bought pieces from local artists. Everything was unique, most of it extraordinary. Angus decided we needed to think and so we went and had a boozy lunch.
Suffice to say, we went back.
We nearly bought the unusual ring, but instead saw the one that I have today-a white gold band with two 2 carat diamonds, which are on either side of a 4 carat blue diamond. All of the stones are from Australia and are certified non-conflict diamonds, which is important to me. Angus made sure that we looked at every engagement ring in there-he's a traditional guy and likes rings to look simple and traditional. After trying to narrow it down between the two choices, we decided the blue diamond was so unusual it had to come home with us.
He bought it, and outside of the store, he proposed.
I think it's fair to say the proposal was a surprise to both of us, although I think we both knew it was in the cards for us at some point.
We giggled a lot, bought champagne, and I texted Statia, whom I later spoke to on the phone in tones only dogs can hear. Then my dad and I talked, and his and my family's explosion of screaming and congratulations could be heard all the way to Alberta. We drank champagne, had a burger (mine made of mushrooms) and snuggled up in bed.
The next day we skied-it was cold but brilliant. At one point, we even went through a massive cloud, which was scary but also pretty cool.
I couldn't stop staring at my ring.
As you do when you have a new sparkly rock, I think.
The last day of skiing was excellent-we had a great day and a full run from 9 am to 4 pm. We were so sore that packing consisted of chucking clothes in the direction of the suitcase and hoping it made it. We were actually extremely sad to leave-we had a fantastic time and loved our time in Whistler.
When we finally got to my Dad's (high winds and bad rains meant we spent three hours on I-5 just trying to get through Seattle) we found they'd decked the place out for an engagement party. I couldn't believe it-streamers, stars, a cake, fake crowns for us to wear, and some of Dad's friends came over for a massive feast (my stepmother is a stellar chef, so this was a great banquet).
Here's me smiling so big I think my teeth are eating my face.
When we left on Saturday, my dad and stepmother used their airline passes to walk us to our gate. We'd said goodbye to Nobu at the house, and she told me she thinks of me as her granddaughter, which I find incredible and humbling. Saying goodbye to my family was hard-I love them very much and value our burgeoning relationship more than I thought possible. We did travel in style as we used Angus' miles to fly first class home. I know it was a one-time deal, and we acted like real Clampett's-they gave us pajamas to sleep in (the seats are a bed. A bed!) which have come home with us. As have one of the posh blankets. And a bottle of Kiehl's from the bathroom (what? It wasn't nailed down, of course I was nicking it). First class is a whole new world-you really do get a different service, but I am under no illusions that we'll ever be able to fly first again (although I will be playing the lottery from now on, just in case.)
And that's that. We're home. The house is a mess and the unpacking is mighty. We're both depressed about the full on week of work we both have in store for us.
But we're engaged.
And happy.
More later and I apologize for the disjointed tone of this blog post (which was so elegantly written it could've been done by an 8th grader), but man am I knackered.
-H.
PS-you can see some of the holiday photos here.
Posted by: Everydaystranger at
07:38 AM
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Posted by: Z. Hendirez at January 08, 2007 09:48 AM (otB//)
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Posted by: ZTZCheese at January 09, 2007 12:32 AM (+3GN9)
So glad that life is going so well for you.Posted by: butterflies at January 09, 2007 04:33 AM (uSoKK)
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