Getting the Ring & avoiding detection! Very complicated!

After having the ring made, I had to orchestrate a somewhat complicated delivery system to pick it up without Lori's detection or thoughts of mischief about my actions...

Here's how it started:

After the final concert in the series we'd been going to throughout the summer, I was going to leave Raleigh to go to Charlottesville, VA to see my best friend, Kris.  Lori was going to ride back home with friends.

I had an extra day off, not having to work until Tuesday night, so it wasn't going to be a big deal.  The concert was scheduled to start at 4pm, or at least that's what the tickets said, so I'd get to his place sometime around midnight.  We'd hang out, then watch the Redskins/Cowboys game on Monday Night Football, before I'd go back to NC on Tuesday morning.  Simple enough.  Oh no, nothing that is this big in my life could ever be that simple.

The concert tickets said 4pm, it was a Sunday, everyone works on Monday, so all that made sense, right?   Nope!  The concert ACTUALLY started at 7pm.  It was fantastic, the best one all summer, and we stayed til the very end.  Meaning, I didn't get to Kris' until between 4 and 5 AM!!!  Normally, I would have just scrapped the plans, but Kris was the final part of my delivery system!!
Remember, I'd had the ring made by the guy who also had made my mom's wedding ring and a lot of her other jewelry.  In Northern, VA (about 400 miles from Wilmington, NC where I live, if you're reading this from out of town)

To get the ring to me, my mom & my stepdad, Dick, had gone to pick up the ring on September 10th from Teddy, the jeweler / master goldsmith who'd made it for me.  Kris would then stop by their house on September 24th his way back to Charlottesville from visiting his family in Maryland, and I would get the ring from Kris on September 25th.  (sounds like plenty of time to get everything done, right?  Wrong again, but we'll get to that in a minute!)

So, that meant I was headed to Charlottesville no matter what.  Lori talked about going with me rather than riding back to Wilmington with friends as originally planned.  While I would have loved for her to be there with me and she loves hanging out with Kris too, it would have been a little difficult to receive and immediately hide a ring!

Now, I was scheduled to pick up this ring on September 25.  This was very shortly before Lori & I were supposed to go to Asheville for her birthday, and the ONLY time I'd have available to get to VA before our trip.  Lori and I were in Durham and Raleigh that weekend as it was anyway.  We'd be going to our great friends Bull & Jennifer's wedding on the 24th (while Kris was getting the ring from Mom & Dick at the same time).   Well, on the 23rd, while going to pick up stuff for the wedding, Lori & I were in a mall, walking by a jewelry store, when she says, "I should go find out my ring size."  To which I said, in as half-interested tone as I could possibly fake, "Okay."  She was looked excited, we found out her size, and we went on with our day.  Certainly this couldn't be a problem, right?   WRONG.  As in, I'd ordered the Wrong size and my best friend is supposed to pick it up the next day and it needs to be re-sized FAST!!   BUT I CAN'T CALL ANYONE OR SAY ANYTHING TO HER!!!!!  AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!  

Things lined up so I could finally make a call to Mom, or Dick, or Kris, but no one was able to answer!!  A little while later, I finally got up with mom, and she spoke with Teddy and got the ring re-sized the next morning before Kris came that afternoon.  Thank God something is working!  

I can only say at this point how excited I am feeling about the whole thing, about being totally committed to Lori, and now even more nervous and anxious because there's even more to hide!!!

Will the day ever get here when I can propose?   Check out the next post and find out what comes next!