HNY2K6

Yep. It’s been almost two weeks. Since last year, even. To exhaustively kick that dead horse.

Happy new year! Is it so far? It’s hard for me to tell through this glow. I asked Maigen to marry me. She said shoor. I figured she might. Since then I’ve wondered who got the better Xmas present that morning and I guess that’s exactly how it should be. If you’re one of the three people on the planet who hasn’t read the story yet you can read Maigen’s account of it on her site. I did the deed Xmas morning at my parent’s place on a beach near Qualicum.

There’s a strange difference between my parents and their offspring. When Robyn told them over the phone they were finally going to be grandparents they became very quiet. Mother said something like, “oh…” and Dad excused himself from the conversation. Similarly, when Maigen unwrapped her ring and dissolved into mush in my arms Xmas morning, Dad had a distracted half-smile on his face as though unsure what to do with himself and Mother said, “oh how cruel. What if she’d said no?”

To be fair they emailed Robyn a few days later to say how happy & excited they are. And a couple nights after the proposal they broke out the sparkly and we toasted “the happy engagement”. It’s not that they aren’t happy with a grandkid and daughter-in-law on the way. I’m sure they really are very excited to have two huge events coming after waiting patiently for so long.

But where Robyn and I are affectionate and tactile people who yearn to show love and positive energy, we somehow grew up in a more restrained household.

Or maybe it’s just that they don’t do surprises very well.

Anyway, I’m gonna get married. How’s that for wacky? We’re looking at August, but that may get nudged to September depending on what we want to do with ourselves. Summer in BC is beautiful and pricey.

It’s funny… I’d been planning this proposal since early September but I hadn’t given a moment’s thought to wedding locations or gift registries or coordinating three countries worth of relatives. Not even a split moment’s thought. But as soon as the words were said we had to start having answers to all these questions. Where & when, who and how much. What to wear. What colour. What do we eat? Where do we go then?

I dunno. I’m just the guy who started the whole mess.

It’s fun, though. Like I said I’ve been very glowy. We both have.

Why a ring with no stonkin’ huge diamond, you ask? Why no gems at all? A few reasons: 1) She said she doesn’t care for diamonds. I don’t either. The whole market seems laughable and far too many people place far too much importance on them. And you know what a follower I am. 2) She was once given a ring with her favourite stone but a month later it was broken and flushed down the toilet. Not auspicious. And again: I’m no follower. 3) Money. We don’t have much and what little there is has to be saved carefully in case I don’t get work right away at the end of the month. We don’t have a couch, for the love of all that is holy, so I was hardly going to blow a non-existent fortune on a symbol. She’s the kind of girl who would have been happy with a ring from the bubble gum machine, and I briefly entertained the idea, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I needed it to be clear I wasn’t kidding. It’s white gold because neither of us cares for yellow gold but I wanted something more substantial than silver. And there’s no way this bear was bringing home platinum anytime in the near future. 4)It’s a symbol. We both know we’re devoted. We both believe it’s forever. The symbol is a representation of that bright and endless future. Not a symbol of my bank account. So it’s a white gold band, unbroken and simple. Elegant and timeless. The hammered central band is our life together- not smooth but unbroken. The outside edges are each of us, always side by side and holding it all together.

In other news tokitikki.com is having a sale. There’s a whole slew of new stuff and you really do deserve a little something pretty.

So. A year ago I declared 2005 would be the Year of Change. And so it was. I really nailed that one. This year…?

This is the year I become an uncle and a husband. What more do you want from me?

I hope to sell some more pictures. I hope to get some gallery space. I hope to publish. I hope to get a few more film & tv credits under my belt. I hope to find myself on imdb. I hope to bring to life an idea I have for a website. I hope for happiness, safety, and warmth for all my friends. And if that sounds cliche… well, t’is the season.