Holy crap! We're engaged!

I would like to announce that Zack popped the question early Sunday morning (March 22). As is my typical after-work experience, I vent to him about all my troubles. Who said what, how this should be, etc. We get home and I head straight for the fridge downstairs for a beer.

Zack calls down, "What are you doing down there?"

"Getting a beer, you want one?" I call back.

"No, but I think you should come look at the cat...."

My heart drops a bit, because I assume he is referring to Mo, the cat who lives in our bedroom who is still working to achieve her spot with the Guinness Book of World Records for longest lifespan of a North American feline (she's 20).

"Oh, god," I thought. "The cat's dead."

I slowly climb the stairs and fin

d Zack in the kitchen. "What's wrong with the cat?" I ask. She's had such a wide variety of bizarre health problems in the past and I brace myself for his answer.

"Just come look," he replies. 

"If she's dead, I don't want to see it. Just tell me," I say.

"Don't worry, it's cute."

With a sigh of relief, I follow Zack down the hallway. We pass the computer room on our left and I glance inside to see if my other cats are sleeping in there. For a split second, I could swear that I just saw the TV that usually is in our bedroom sitting on the futon. My brain starts to wonder whether Zack has rearranged the bedroom furniture or something. 

He opens the door. The first 

thing I see is a bouquet of flowers sitting on my dresser. I think that he has a surprise for me, but my brain can't process fast enough what it is for.

"Is it my birthday," I wonder (like I wouldn't know when my own frickin' birthday is). "Our anniversary isn't until June..." I continue in my head as the door slowly opens wider.

The room is covered in flowers. Lillies, roses, daisies. The smell is unbelievable. So fresh and springy. Like someone has lit the best Glade candle on earth. Reds, purples, and pinks seem to bathe the room. The bed is made (a rarity in our house) and my geriatric kitty is dozing pretty as a picture in the center of the bed. Just beyond the foot of the bed is a small table. On it are two roses in a slender vase — one white, one red. Just behind the display is a heart-shaped balloon that reads "I Love You." 

I take all of this in before I zero in on the small, black box that also lies on the little table. It is propped open and inside is this sparkly, blue diamond ring.

It was at that moment that I realized what was going on. I turned around and Zack asks, "Baby, will you marry me?" and I quickly blurt out, "Absolutely!"

And that, as they say, is that. We haven't made any plans yet, but we do know that we likely will be married in Michigan. We also want to let Zack finish his coursework and get working again before we can put a budget together for the wedding. In the meantime, we're just going to enjoy this time in our lives and each other. I'll also be submitting engagement announcements in the Staunton, Va., newspaper, as well as the Muskegon Chronicle and Grand Haven Tribune in Michigan. 

I've attached some pictures of the ring and the 

room. It was just so perfect and exciting. I still haven't processed it all!