Much better today

Don'tcha hate getting in those horrid low places. Apparently my last post was kinda whiny, and apparently I pissed off some people last night. I won't apologize for how I felt, sometimes the masks we wear get suffocating, and I tried as hard as I could to have a good time. Anyway, I'm super glad Erin had a tonne of fun on her girls night... it means the world to me, and big shout out to all the girls (and 4 guys) that came to make it special for her. Thank you so much for sharing in our excitement, even if I was frowny.

Today was much better. It's amazing what a good sleep and some relaxation can do for a guy. We got the diamonds on her ring tightened into the setting (they were loose) but in the process the jeweller wore off the Rhodium plating on the gold. (white gold is always rhodium plated). He's gonna re-plate it free tomorrow. I feel bad cuz he's super nice, and a small business man trying to make it on his own, but it was a pretty big mistake on his part. It's cool that he offered to fix it free. I'll probably send ma with it anyway, to make sure he does a good job (she's a legendary consumer, a guy in egypt offered me 500,000 camels for her she was so good at shopping).

Got to chill a bit with Erin's family, that was fun, then we went to my parents' friends place for a bit... that was great... soooo good to see my folks old friends and thier families.

Anyway, that's all for tonight... Song of Susannah is calling

True love waits

For a lot of things it turns out. There's the waiting to propose, which is brutally hard, in our case the waiting for the ring which was exceedingly nerve racking (custom work rocks, but requires HUGE faith in the jeweller when its this important), for Erin waiting to meet the inlaws, and at this point waiting for life to calm down enough that I can be with my fiance alone for more than 10 minutes.

The ring arrived safe and it is stunningly beautiful. A few people have commented on how high the setting is but its all jealousy ;). With diamonds this beautiful, you need a setting that shows them off. Unfortunately, one of the stones is a bit loose, so we need to get that fixed before she can wear it anywhere.

At least as important, my parents also arrived safe. It's really good to see them. We had dinner at Lee's last night and that was good, tonight my mom met Shauna, and they got along well, which is cool.

I got to see Matt today... Miss that guy like mad. We had a good chat for a while then crashed the girl's engagement party. This is how in love I must be. I HATE bars... at least ones like they went to. I hate the clothes, the music, the atmosphere... everything. I can't hear well enough to converse with anyone and I get totally agorophobic. I hate that too though, cuz I sincerely just want to have fun with everyone and all Erin's friends are cool, and they're all out to celebrate something good, but I just can't enjoy myself. BUT, I'd rather feel all that, and at least get to see Erin today than just not see her at all. Sick eh? I feel bad cuz I'm sure I come across as a bummer because of my hang ups, and I don't want that... I just can't help it. But the girls all seemed to have a great time, which is awesome.

Too many people and too much stress lately. I miss Erin like mad, and I'm feeling crazy introverted. I'm also in a bit of spiritual desolation. I hit moments of consolation from time to time, but they almost always come right after quiet time with my sweetheart, so I'm craving that more than usual. I guess if she has to spend the rest of her life with me its good she can see me like this too, but I just wanna be an uplifting person that makes her happy all the time... she deserves it. Sigh... miss my fiance.

Anyway, I sound WAAAAY too emo here, so I'm gonna call Erin and then read the newest Dark Tower book for a bit. Maybe getting lost in Roland's world for a while will help tonight.

Also, no white water update

I'm getting whitewater itchy already. I miss one weekend and I start to pine for the river... sad eh? But I can't afford the kayaking in July (it's pretty cheap but I have a LOT of other july expenses) and since I lost a surf fin I can't body board out on the kan either. I have to lines on ebay... one is for an okay (Like, cheap basically) pair of fins on sale for a buck... so if shipping is cheap enough I'll grab those until I can afford some good fins. I'm leaning back towards the churchill classics that I have now, but I've found two pairs that make me drool. One are surf fins but they have almost a snowboard style binding on them. They'd be good cuz I have foot problems that churchills aggrivate. The other ones are called Shin Fins. They're REALLY cool. They attach below the knee and run down to just past your toe. The look more ideal for white water because regular fins curl up in the current and pose some added risk of pinning or getting caught. Both are ridiculously expensive though. The shin fins come from australia too, so that makes it even more imposing to get them.

Anyway, not much else for news. Erin and I have tonnes planned, and have just been relaxing the last while. My parents come home on friday, that's exciting. That also means Erin's ring gets here friday. I've only seen pics but it looks absolutely stunning. I can't wait till a) it gets here, b) my folks get home... not necessarily in that order.

That's life in a nutshell.

Ryan 6, River 4, Sandy 0, Erin 2

Went kayaking again... this is awesome, 4 days already and only the beginning of the season. The water was HUGE! Like, biggest baddest I've ever seen it. I've seen more water, but it just washes out... the level it was at, the rapids were all at their nastiest.

House rock, the biggest rapid, had 16 or so foot waves with HUGE curls at the top. It was literally like hitting a wall of water. I almost got surfed by it, but broke through by sheer will and brute force, then the next one ended me. I was pointing straight up with my tail in the water for the third wave... it was freaky. BUT through superhuman acts of balance and strength I didn't flip in the wave train... it was amazing. The water was insane and I made it through my first class IV IV+. AWESOME! Arlin hit wave #2 sideways and didn't stand a chance. Sandy (her and Arlin were on sit on top kayaks) almost made it, but managed a midair corkscrew and her boat went flying (it was funny).

We portaged Gooseberry ledge. It's not as big as house rock, but the safe line is narrow through it, and the consequences of missing it are quite severe.

Jimbo's and nationals were equally huge. Arlin scouted an excellent line through jimbos and Nationals was fun, but Sandy bailed again.

But the river's point comes at the end of the day... Sandy bailed in the last rapid and to protect her safety, had to ditch her boat. IT was the right move in the situation, but it meant about 4 hours of rescue work to get the boat back... I was so bagged.

Erin had her wisdom teeth out... poor girl... she gets a point cuz it meant she got me hanging around getting her things, giving her head rubs, and being generally cuddly for a few days :D

Thats it, I'm going to sleep off this athletic hangover.

Ryan 3, River 3, Erin 1

Went camping this weekend. Best camping trip ever. Reason #1 in reverse order of importance... I got to finally surf Santa Claus. Okay, it's a wave on the kananskis river I've wanted to take my board on for ages, and I finally got to. Got some great surfs in and almost made a complete flat spin... getting better!!! I like it more than the ocean cuz you just walk up to the wave and away you go for as long as you want (depending on the line up). River gets a point too cuz somewhere between surfing and packing up the car one of my surfing fins vanished. I'm not exactly sure how I'll replace it since there aren't any surf shops in land locked Calgary, but I'll figure something out.

Now reason number 2, the real number one... I'M ENGAGED!!!! I proposed to Erin on friday night and she said yes! SHE SAID YES! WUHU!!! We're planning away now... should be fun!