yes, it's about time

Okay, so NOW we're engaged. :)

Matt and I "braved the storm" last night -- insert major eye roll here -- to have a lovely dinner at Galileo in D.C., after which Matt popped the question. ... I kept expecting to find the ring on my dessert plate or something, but he refrained until we'd gotten back to our car rendezvous point. He'd planned to take a nice, romantic walk around the neighborhood where I lived when we were first dating, but the cold and driving, wet snow weren't terribly conducive. So he just dropped down on one knee in front of Lizzy's day care and said, "Well, I guess we both know what's coming now ... Will you marry me?" I think he felt self-conscious because I was giggling, but it just felt kind of ridiculous! We both felt like we were going to prom, or something. It was so strange to leave our 3-year-old with her grandmother and go to a fancy dinner so we could get engaged. (I responded, "I'd love to.")

It feels kinda weird. I don't think I realized before now just how "married" it seems like we already are. Even though we didn't do things in the right -- er, conventional? -- order, it feels like they're already done. Doing the engaged/planning a wedding thing now feels a bit goofy and out of place ... Like we're playing a role. But I know it's important. Then we can really move forward, not worrying about how we got here. It's our story, after all. I'm just glad we're getting this part of it right. For Lizzy's sake, and ours.

Today, we went out and did some sledding. More accurately, some dragging Lizzy through the too-soft snow. She wasn't really having that big a ball, so it didn't last long. But Mommy got some cute scrapbooking photos. Thanks, God, for bringing the snow on the weekend! ... Lizzy and I are flying to the West Coast Wednesday for a trek through Portland and up to Centralia/Chehalis (the "twin cities" - total population, probably about 25,000) to see relatives. I'm really looking forward to it. Even the plane flights. Lizzy's at such a fun age, it's just going to be a treat to have her for six entire days, and to share her with my family.