Calvin proposes to a witch

It's finally "official" now. Misty and I are engaged! Good thing, too, because we're getting married in less than a month.

Misty came to visit me at work Saturday so she could use the fast Internet connection. While I worked, she looked into weddings/honeymoons in Gatlinburg. After much research, we booked a cabin with a goofy name for the week before Thanksgiving.

On the way home, we each went off in different directions to search for Halloween costumes for a party we were going to that night. Unbeknownst to Misty, I also jotted over to Levy's to pick up the engagement ring.

Finding the components for my Halloween costume prooved much more difficult than I had anticipated. I was dressing as Calvin (of "Calvin & Hobbes"), so I needed a red t-shirt with black stripes, a stuffed tiger, and blonde hair. The first part was easy. I picked up a red t-shirt at Goody's for $5. I thought finding a stuffed tiger would be equally simple. The Tigger from the Classic Pooh collection would be perfect. However, after visiting Babies R Us, Wal-Mart, Toys R Us, K.B. Toy & Hobby, and the Disney Store, I was getting exasperated. Those things were everywhere when I didn't have any interest in them. I finally found something close enough at the second Wal-Mart I went to.

When I got home, I used a Sharpie marker and a yardstick to draw black lines on the shirt. Misty helped me mess up my hair and spray it with "fluorescent yellow" hair paint. Unfortunately, the yellow wound up looking like green, but it was too late to do anything about it. We figured green hair was just the sort of trouble Calvin would be likely to get into.

Misty was dressed as a witch, and the cat was terrified of her. She had a witch's cloak, a pointy hat, green hair (a wig), and lots of dark eye shadow and lipstick. Just before we left for the party, I told her that I had one more witch accessory that she should wear. I pulled the ring out from a drawer in the kitchen and gave it to her. I told her that she'd put a spell on me. That put a smile on her face for the rest of the evening.

The party was a total bore. I've been to parties before where I hardly knew anyone — even parties where I literally knew no one there — but I've never before had a problem finding sociable folks to chat with. At this party though, the guests were mostly neighbors of the host — they talked to each other, but it was clear that we weren't a part of their neighborhood clique. We pretty much just sat around, occasionally eating snacks and waiting for an opportunity to leave.

I was a little disappointed that no one guessed my costume. One person thought I was Christopher Robin (no, he wears a yellow polo, not a red t-shirt). What shocked me, though, was that when I informed people that my tiger and I were Calvin & Hobbes, they didn't have any idea who that was. "You know — the comic strip of the little boy with the stuffed tiger that comes to life when no one else is around," Misty offered. Nope. "You know the stickers you'll see on the back of a Chevy truck where the kid is peeing on the Ford logo? — that's Calvin," she said. Oh, him! They knew that one. Dumb asses.

Anyway, since Saturday night, Misty has been staring at her ring and saying things like, "Let's see what it looks like in the bathroom..." "Let's see what it looks like in the guest bedroom..." "Let's see what it looks like in the car..." I get the impression that she likes it.