I’ve been pretty negligent with the blog updates lately, but I think I have some good excuses, so it’s time to provide a rarely-seen personal update or two.

March 18 was a big day for me this year. First and foremost, it was the day I asked Megan to marry me. Since people like hearing proposal stories, and I’m already going against my track record and sharing aspects of my personal life, I might as well recount it here. There are a few pieces of background information that might help to make the story better demonstrate how awesome I am:

• When we first started dating, I told Megan that guys only buy flowers for their girlfriends when they feel guilty for having cheated on them. This set the stage for me never having to buy flowers, since she never wanted to receive them from me given my view of what they represent.
• We both love movies, and spend a lot of time watching them together. I’d say it’s a large part of our relationship if there was a way to do so without making it sound trivial. At any rate, suffice it to say that we’ve always been able to enjoy a movie together, and we’re both equally big dorks about movies in general.
• Like most girls of our generation, Megan is a big fan of Disney movies. Like most guys of our generation, I am not.

So, on the day in question, I “happened to” get off work early. It also “happened to” be the day that Enchanted–a movie that Megan had seen twice in the theater, she loved it so much–was released on DVD and Blu-ray. So, I beat her home from work, and had flowers waiting out on the table for her when she got home. The first thing she said upon walking in the door, of course, was, “Did you cheat on me?”

After clarifying that “I just felt like doing something nice,” she remembered that the movie she’d been eagerly anticipating was released that day, and asked if I’d gotten her anything else. At this point I pulled out the BD from its hiding spot, still shrink-wrapped (or rather, apparently still shrink-wrapped). As she ripped it open like a kid on Christmas morning, I slyly slid off of the couch and onto a knee without her noticing. The timing worked out even better than I’d planned: “Oh look, it even came with a ring–OHMYGOD!” (For those unfamiliar, Enchanted is, um, about a princess or something, so it’s not completely outside the realm of possibility for it to come with princessy things–like diamond rings. At least, it was plausible enough to fool my would-be fiancée for just the right slice of time.)

So then, of course, we (well, mostly she) had to spend the rest of the evening calling friends and family and telling them about our newly-minted engagement. And, of course, Megan had to watch her new movie. Since it didn’t really hold my attention, I diverted myself as I usually do by turning to the computer I keep next to the couch to check my email, update Facebook, chat online, and the like. And that’s when, in an irc channel, another life-changing even occurred:

21:18 gdm_> so -- any SAs looking for honest work?

This would lead to a discussion of the pros and cons of living in the San Francisco bay area (primarily focused on the cost of living differences between there and Champaign), and eventually to me sending the inquirer my resume. The company responded with surprising and impressive speed, and the next day I found myself scheduling phone interviews with them. After another round or two of phone interviews, they were flying me to San Francisco for an in-person interview. All of this went well, and I ended up–less than a month after starting the process–getting offered and accepting the job.

Things moved so quickly, in fact, that I find myself now writing this from a hotel room in San Mateo, California. My first day at Aggregate Knowledge was Monday (Cinco de Mayo), the day before Megan’s and my four-year anniversary (“Cinco de Mayo plus one”). We have settled on a place to live in South San Francisco, and will be moving permanently next week.

March 18th ended with my friends from what is now “my old job” noticing the big news:

22:43 CmdrKuehn> whoa, facebook engagement!

So, in summary, after over 6 years working for CITES, and after 9 years in Champaign (virtually my entire twenties), Megan and I are moving on to pursue a new adventure. (It also gives us a good excuse for pushing the wedding back until next summer–a much-needed chance to get settled and catch our breath before taking that plunge.)

Our cat Yoshimi was even happy for us, taking it upon himself to guard what would come to be known as our “engagement flowers.” He and his younger sister Dani will be making the cross-country road trip with us next week. I made the trip myself last week, but that’s worthy of being its own story, so I’ll save it for another day.

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I was at a presentation at work today, and my dad called. Not wanting to walk out on the presentation (which was scheduled to last for another 20 minutes or so), I chose to defer to voicemail. As the presentation was letting out, he called again. As I answered the phone, I returned to my office to see that he’d tried calling me there too. I’m thinking something serious has happened. Turns out he was just really excited.

He was in the car, on his way to St. Louis to attend game 5 tonight. He had another ticket, and wanted to offer it to me. Before I go into my reasons, I’ll say up front that I turned him down. And this, I hope, will offer an insight into how deep is my hatred (and that of Cubs fans in general) for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Given that after last night’s debacle, the Cardinals are now up 3 games to 1, consider the possible outcomes:

1. The Cardinals win the World Series. This is pretty much the most devastating thing in all of sports, save for perhaps the Green Bay Packers winning the Super Bowl. There is no way I want to be present for this event, especially if it takes place in St. Louis. The only thing I hate more than the Cardinals is their fanbase, and seeing them celebrate a championship, in person, in St. Louis, would probably result in some jail time, one way or another.
2. The Tigers win tonight, thus sending the Series back to Detroit. This is, obviously, what I’m rooting for. If this were to happen, I’ll be sad that I wasn’t present with my dad when he got to see his team win a World Series game.
3. The game gets rained out, and I’m stuck in St. Louis for the evening, without having even seen a game. Then I further have to decide if I want to stay in St. Louis for another day, to have another shot at seeing the game tomorrow night. Then I’ve blown an entire weekend in St. Louis, a city where they think that Budweiser is a good beer.

Basically I am banking on the supposition that this will not be the only time in my life I am offered the chance to attend a game in the World Series. I’m sure my dad will enjoy it, though, and I hope the Tigers win. I really hope the Tigers win.

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