Alice hates ...

... other than I got engaged! OMGWTFBBQ!

Yeah, totes. Happened Tuesday at the zoo. Very cute, very romantic and especially just a perfect and fun day. I wasn't expecting it at all, I just thought we were hanging out before we had to work on election night! But it turns out everyone knew- he told Marcia as soon as he'd decided, asked Francesca to take me out Monday night so he can ask my Dad's permission, and met with my mom to obtain my lovely shiny grandmother Marie's ring.

We spent a normal day walking happily around the zoo, seeing all the parts that we'd missed during our last visit. And then we finished the trip off at the aviary, my favorite part, which was where he asked. (I have some pictures of these silly gray birds with yellow faces that watched Matt propose. I want to invite them to the wedding.)

Then afterward, and this was pretty cool, the new Sting Ray Bay exhibit is open, so I got to pet some rays! That was awesome!! You stick your hand in the water and the rays swim around and pet themselves with your hand. It's like what cats do, only underwater and slimey. It's a whole lot of fun.

After that, we got lunch (hamburgers, my pick, with a chocolate shake) and went to the ASU bookstore to pick up a media law guide for class, then a quick stop off at home, then we went to work. Where I saw this:



Chillin' on my monitor. Marcia wanted to let the ENTIRE newsroom know, just in case I had hoped to play it down. Beth was the first person to find out, though. I was so happy and out of it that I didn't really want to say anything, but when she came over to tell me about her weekend, she stopped and did the usual girl squeal thing. "Ohmygod WHAT is that on your hand????"

So plenty of people have found out by now, and everyone's happy for us. I've been trying to let everyone know in person or on the phone and I hope I haven't left anyone out. Well, Leah, I know I haven't called Leah. But I will.

It's great. I'm very happy and excited and in love. :)

So, down to brass-tax. The only downside has been Dad, so far. And you'd think, right? But here's what's up:

Dad is happy for us. He gave Matt his blessing (or rather, couldn't think of a single reason to object and didn't know what else to say). When I went home Wednesday night, both Mom and Dad were happy when I told them. But later on, Matt and I had idly started to look at places to hold a wedding, because people keep telling us you need to book that mess a year ahead of time. So I'm starting to realize how much this is going to cost, and me, not wanting anything left to uncertainty, went in to share what I'd learned with Dad. Dad freaked out, and told me that $25K is more than he will ever pay for a silly party. Except that the way he said it made it clear that there isn't a number he would have been happy with. If I'd come in and said, $10K he would have been upset.

So that sucked, a lot. Ended up with the usual Quattrini-style all out argument. Poor Matt!

Mom's on my side, naturally, and as long as it's reasonable I think she understands that weddings are expensive. As she told Dad during our all out argument, "You're going to be spending $25,000. Get used to it." So after that, I was depressed for a few days. I mean, my Dad doesn't want me to have a wedding! What a dick. But then again, Dad's a cheap bastard so he's probably just dealing with sticker shock. So passing into my third state of emotion on this, which we'll call "resentment", I'm now after my damn movie check, as it's called. He's going to pay and he's going to like it, and that's what he gets for making me sad. Badam!

So that's where all that stuff's at. I'm looking at places, I have some ideas, we'll chat more.

But right now, I'm running out of February to enjoy with Matt before we ship him off to Atlanta, and that's all I care about.

See you, everybody!

the Engaged McShank