Rings are all around...

I will start with the latest weather report. Very hot, muggy, humid and no air-conditioning. Oh my, oh my.

Well, as many of you now know (or the two people who read this blog—Mary and Katherine), I am now engaged to Brian. This has brought on a plague of mixed feelings for me, both happy and bitter. It is like déjà vu all over again for me. Maybe some people wouldn’t understand, but I feel as though I am the victim of bad luck or bad timing. I know that I should be really happy, but since this is the second time, it is somewhat different. And though I am excited about the wedding, I really can’t even start planning it until Brian gets a new job, which should be in the fall sometime.

I just had this feeling sometime last week that it would happen. I don’t really know why I felt that way, and I didn’t tell anyone, for fear of being wrong. And then, it just did.

Last summer, a few days after I arrived in Massachusetts, Brian took me on a little trip to Cape Cod. Now, I always had this crazy, outsider notion that Cape Cod was one town, an elitist place swarming with people like Ted Kennedy and Martha Stewart types (her vacation home is in Maine, by the way). But Cape Cod is this huge area, from Falmouth to Provincetown is definitely over 70 miles. It is pretty diverse, too, and attracts all kinds of people, from families to singles to couples, etc. This year and last year we stayed at Nickerson State Park in Brewster, which is in the middle of the cape. We camped, but we are not really hard core campers. I mean, we have a tent and roasted marshmallows, but there were bathrooms about 50 feet away or so from our little area, and grocery stores and restaurants very close. It is just cheaper to camp.

Anyway, we left for the Cape on Saturday morning, June 23rd. The night before, we went to Shrewsbury and ate at Qdoba (yay, I haven’t been there in a long time), and we bought snacks at Trader Ho’s (oops, I mean, Joe’s, ha). We left on Saturday at about 10 and arrived at Sandy Neck Beach before noon. This beach is in Yarmouth, on the harbor side. We like it because the water tends to be warmer here, although the water was very cold this past weekend. After settling in, I took a long walk along the water and then sat down to read when I got back to our chairs. Then, Brian got up and then got down on the sand and said “I have a question for you.” Well, I thought he was going to ask me to take a dip in the ocean with him and I was totally going to say no. But then, he asked if I would marry him and I said, “well, you don’t have a ring,” when he presented one. It was sort of romantic, but I liked that it was all mushy, because frankly, I’m past that now. It was a Brian-type of proposal. I love my ring, too. It’s white gold with a thicker band and a round diamond with a kind of square setting with little diamonds around the diamond beneath it. I will take a picture, soon, I promise!

After that, I started calling my family and I called Abby that day, but I didn’t really tell anyone else until we got back from camping.

After the beach, we went to check into our campsite and then we went to dinner at the Lobster Claw in Orleans, which is the next town over from Brewster. We both had lobster (which was $30 for each dinner, oh my) and clam chowder and oysters; it was a typical Cape meal. Then, we went to Skaket beach and watched the lovely sunset (again, this is a tradition). Then we got a snack to take back to the campsite and set up our tent. It was a little cold that night (in the 50’s) and we tried to snuggle together, but sometimes that doesn’t even work. Plus, we need to get an air mattress because sleeping in the tent on sleeping bags is mostly like sleeping on the floor.

On Sunday, I bought these great bagel sandwiches from Jo Mama’s Bagels in Orleans (mine had an omelet with Muenster cheese, tomatoes and avocados, yum) and then we headed to a beach in Provincetown. Provincetown is at the very tip of the Cape and is a truly interesting place. It felt like we were at the end of the world or something, well, because the road just goes into the ocean there (not really). I actually think that the most eastern part of the U.S. is in Maine. But still, it is cool. We spent the day at Herring Cove Beach and got a lot of sun, perhaps too much. I took a walk on this beach and I wish I had had my camera, for a baby seal beached herself on shore. She was alive and so cute. I think she was injured though, which was sad. Everyone crowded around her and took pictures and she wasn’t scared at all. Later that day at Nauset Beach, we saw another seal, only it was a lot bigger and in the ocean. Anyway, after our day at Herring Cove, we had pizza in Provincetown and drove around for a bit. The town was very European and had really narrow, windy streets and a lot of art galleries. I wish that we could have spent a little more time there. Anyway, then we played some more mini golf at a nicer course (I won this time) and we had some pistachio ice cream. We went to the Nauset beach and then went to the grocery to get s’mores stuff and firewood. Brian had a little trouble starting a long-lasting fire, but he got it together. I love marshmallows and chocolate together.

On our final day, Monday, we had more bagels, and I finished my current book, The Time Traveler’s Wife. Hmmm, very interesting. It was like 540 pages, but it went very quickly. Oh, I also had a gingerbread chai tea from the bagel place, which was amazing! We ended up going back to Sandy Neck Beach on our way out of town; it was a little windy, so we didn’t spend too much time there. We split a late lunch at Friendly’s on our way out of town and then came home. That evening, we picked up Morgan at Gretchen and Andy’s house. She entertained them greatly. Both of his parents were happy that we got engaged.

The three days since we have gotten back have been a bit tedious at work and the weather has been really hot and humid. I think the heat wave will break tonight though, with the oncoming thunderstorms.

We’ve been eating some very interesting food lately and a lot of fish lately, which is great. Brian went to the grocery and we had haddock and asparagus on Tuesday and then we had filets, asparagus, and salad last night. I’ve also been eating hummus, alfalfa, and tomato sandwiches on wheat for lunch. Very good. However, I’ve been bad about working out lately.

I’ve started to look at some bride’s magazines. Now, planning a wedding is fun, even the first time was that way. Abby is my maid of honor and my sister-in-law, Sarah, is a bridesmaid, but I may ask a few more people later. Or I may not. I probably won’t even make them buy special dresses. I want to have cupcakes instead of a cake, possibly with big flowers on them. Also, I want a simple dress, and nothing with a train. Those are pretty much all the decisions I have made. And no meatballs whatsoever!! Have I made myself clear? Ha.

Well, no plans for the weekend, but that could change.