Update!

Thanks for sending love, we appreciate it.

So Dad is going into surgery right about now; they haven't seen the results they were hoping for from the pulley system with the weights. His vertebrae haven't slide back where they should be, still pinching the spinal chord, and still not getting any response mid-torso down. He's been really drugged up to keep him comfortable and to keep him from fighting all of the accessories they have on him.

His heart rate has been lower than they would like, as well, so Wednesday they're putting a pacemaker in. They also want to move him from Palomar to Tri-City as soon as medically feasible for insurance purposes.

Everyone is worried how his heart is holding out- its good to know they;re keeping an eye on it but todays surgery makes everyone nervous. He's had 2 heart attacks already, last one about 6 or 7 years ago.



On the positve side of things, even with all the stress and worry we're dealing with, we're still very excited about the engagement ring. We emailed off the GIA report to the jeweler so they have the exact specs for our center stone straight from the horse mouth; they emailed off the original order with the specs I gave them but they want the official report so there's no confusion (though the jeweler got a good giggle that I knew all the specs offhand hehe). Its been fun showing pictures to the girls at work but I was reminded today about my parents and how sad it is that they aren't part of this huge event in my life. C'est le vie.

Fra-Gee-lay

Its so easy to go through life thinking we're invincible.
Until we get a shocking reminder that we aren't, and usually it takes a loved one to shake the foundation.

In the last year and 3 months, I've had 2 family memebers in ICU/CCU units.

Dad Rios had an attack of some sort last night while he was getting ready for bed, he fell, and the wall caught him. His head went through the drywall and (they think) pinched nerves in his spinal chord. He's currently paralyzed from mid-torso down. They have Frankenstein screws in his head attached to a weight-and-pulley system where they started with 5 pounds and have been building up to 55 pounds, hoping it will pull his bones back into alignment. He's slated for surgery tomorrow if they don't see the results that want.

Semantics aside, its heartbreaking to see him like this. When he comes out of the morphine, he flails and fights the neck brace, the weights, the screws, the IVs..... he's already 2 heart attacks in.... The screws pulled out early this morning and the weights slammed to the floor.... gouged his head... its grotesque. Mom Rios is being strong but I can only imagine whats going on in her head.

Seeing him in that bed brings back all the heartbreak of seeing Frank there last summer with a shunt in his head, tied down because he kept pulling out his "accessories". . .

But its Rob that hurts the most.

Ice

We found THE setting today.



And believe me when I say, We've looked at HUNDREDS of them....



Picking the stone was the easy part. I knew what I wanted- makes it a lot easier to find what you're looking for.
What to put it in? A whole 'nother story.

.... But we found it. We visited it today.

And now it's being custom made for us.

(And our rectangular radiant cut stone)

Its so much more sparkly in person. And I'm a sucker for a nice shiny object.

So, a sizable percentage of the females to whom I've spoken of Our Hunt look at me like I'm a car carrying, bra burning, cosmetic-shirking feminist . . . I'm not much of an extreme anything.

Is it really THAT left-wing for me to choose my own engagement ring? Pick my own stone? Is it the perception that I must be the initiator, the pusher? Is it that ridiculous that He knows I'd find the search fun? That I'd relish the excuse to do 'research' and ponder clarity v. color? That I'd love having conversations about girdles that don't conjure up thoughts of women with fingerwave curls in their hair? Does that make the intention/ purpose any different? Of less value? Doesn't it make it more? Do you think it means I won't get a proposal? Or that I proposed? And that makes it a bad thing...... how?

Goofy girls. We giggle about you. Together. And that makes it funnier.

And the ring is bomb. Sooooo bomb. I did a happy-dance.

(Note to self:

dangerous while driving; esp. in conjunction with illegal use of a cell phone....)

Let's start at the very beginning, A very good place to start...

When you read you begin with A-B-C
When you sing you begin with do-re-mi.....

So a blog, huh? Yeah, I'm too easily amused, it was inevitable.

Brace yourself:
Lots of wedding planning
Lots of things I think are nifty
Lots of thing other people think are nifty that I think are goofy.

Handle.