This past weekend Tracy and I went to Classique, I highly recommend, in Frisco and chose our wedding rings. Like so much so far, not extremely traditional; we are going our own way. Both rings are great and speak a lot about us both.

Her ring will actually be based on the engagement ring I gave her. As you might recall that ring belonged to my great grandmother purchased for her by her husband sometime just before or just after World War I. It was passed to my grandmother, who in-turn passed it to her oldest son's wife, Sharon. She then offered it to me to give to Tracy so it would stay in the immediate family. We sat with the jeweler and decided we would create a ring that can be merged with the engagement ring without destroying the beauty of that nearly century old ring. Should look beautiful.

My ring will be made of tungsten, an incredibly hard metal that should quite literally last me my entire life and then some without ever scratching. I chose a very simple design of pure tungsten. It will be simply round with a bit of a concave shape on the surface to make it different. The ring is simple, round and just right for me.

We are also working on choosing the various gifts for those involved in the wedding, but don't expect me to tell you what those will be. They will be given out during the rehearsal dinner on November 4th. A dinner that I am still working on planning. I have a few ideas for a location and am making calls to them to see what can be arranged. Again, we want to keep it simple yet private so we can enjoy ourselves.

The wedding and reception are working out well so far. I have already spoken to Marius, owner of Trinity Hall, a few times regarding the ceremony and reception and in the next few months we will pin down the menu and the entertainment. We won't be doing a sit-down dinner for the reception, but instead heavy appetizers. As the wedding will start at 2:00 we figure most will have either had brunch or lunch. The food will be great though, rest assured. I have never had any bad food at Trinity Hall. There will also be a good selection of adult beverages to choose from; as one might expect from a classy pub. If you like bear, you will be in heaven! I know I am when I go there.

More details will continue to flow. I need to update this website with some of the new details and will hopefully get to that in the very near future.

Today was an incredibly special day. The day was special for the simple reason that I picked up the ring that I will give to Tracy when I propose. The ring that Jim and Sharon gave to me. The ring that had been my grandmother's ring and her mother's ring before her. When the jeweler showed it to me I was stunned. I had no idea how pretty it would look when completed. The ring was already wonderful and now with the extra diamonds and a brand new sine the ring looks brand new. (Photo to be added soon)

Tracy and I had looked at faux antique rings, but this is a real antique with real family value, as well as commercial value. While I can't say without a shadow of a doubt that Tracy won't be overjoyed with the ring itself, I am still secure she will be. Of course she is just wanting me to pop the question and even though I have the ring, I am not quite ready to do so. Not because I don't want to ask, in fact I really want to; but the time isn't right yet. I want to finish designing the web site, decide how I will propose and possibly arrange a get-together with some friends and family.

While I may not be ready to propose, I do want to make sure I have everything prepared. I have the ring of course, but the next step for me was asking Paul (Tracy's step-dad since she was a child) for Tracy's hand in marriage. I don't know if it is still a "live" tradition, but I felt it important to do so and called Paul and Gay this morning to arrange to meet with them. I didn't tell them why, but just said I needed to stop by and show them something.

After I picked up the ring I immediately headed over to their house in The Colony. Of course they had a very good idea why I was coming over and didn't waste anytime getting to the point. In fact I had a hard time asking Paul what I wanted to ask him, he just kept saying "show me the ring!, Show me the Ring!" He eventually calmed down long enough for me to get out "May I have your daughter's..." "YES! NOW SHOW ME THE RING!" Apparently lack of patience is a family trait. So I showed Paul and Gay the ring, and they were quite surprised. Especially surprised when I told them how old the ring was, they said they never would have guessed; but after looking at it again they realized how different the ring really is to what you see today.

So, I have the ring. CHECK! I have asked for her hand in marriage. CHECK! I just need to finish this site (nearly complete), plan the proposal and probably plan a small get-together. After that, I will hand over the reigns of power for our wedding to Tracy and do as instructed.

I am off to bed in a few minutes, but I did get the photo I requested from the jeweler that is working on the ring I got for Tracy. This photo shows the ring basically untouched saved for a quick cleaning. I will have more information on the ring itself soon, but for now save it to say it is an antique nearly 100 years old. It is a family hierloom belonging to my great grandmother Boilin who as I understand it grew up in New York, but whose parents hailed from Ireland. The ring is made of 18k white gold with one center diamond which apparently is a European cut.

The changes I am having done are small. Basically they are going to add 4 diamonds, each of .5 carrots. Two of them also came from the family, Sharon gave me the ring and these two small diamonds as well as another diamond ring. The other two .5 diamonds I am buying to be added. Two of the diamonds will go on one side of the ring and two will go on the other side. They will then add a special material to the ring that will give it a proper "new" shine and I should be able to pick it up by Saturday. I should have a few more details on the ring's value tomorrow or Thursday after he completes the appraisal.