Throwback Thursday: Puzzle Problems
Last week (January 30th to be exact) was the six year anniversary of the night that I officially asked my now-wife, Michelle, to be my girlfriend. Most people would have probably chosen to go with the classic "Will you be my girlfriend?" or perhaps a simple DTR (Define the Relationship) chat, but I'm not most people.
Let me preface this story by pointing out that I was single for about three years before meeting my now-wife (no dates, no random hook ups, single as they come) and the only relationship I had before was a secret (well...you know - one of those secrets that you think is a big secret but it turns out that EVERYONE actually knew all along...yeah, that kind of secret), so I had a lot of time to think about what I would do if I finally got the chance to ask a girl out.
Somehow I decided that a random Wednesday night was the perfect time to put my plan into action, so I told Michelle to meet me in my grad school's library (because what better place to start off a big romantic gesture). I then informed her that we could leave the library as soon as I got through the last few note cards I had yet to learn and asked if she could help me with them. The first few were actual cardiology questions that I had taken from some class notes, but we quickly got to the one that said, "Who has Erica's heart?" In case you're wondering, the correct answer was Michelle. The next note card had some kind of clue on it as to what was coming next. If I remember correctly and know my wife, I'm pretty sure her only reaction was to be super confused, at which point I had to point out, "I made you a scavenger hunt. That's what this is. There's a present at the end."
Having that explanation out of the way, we headed back to my apartment where I had said scavenger hunt set up. I had put quotes onto more note cards (I had a lot of note cards. I was in grad school) and on each quote, there was one highlighted word which would be the clue to where the next note card could be found. It turned out the hardest part of the scavenger hunt was Michelle trying to decipher my handwriting, but luckily, we got through and she found her present, which was a puzzle.
Before I go on, I need to tell you about said puzzle. It had a picture of us on it and on the bottom were the words, "You're the missing piece of my puzzle." I had taken the one corner piece out of the box, written "Will you be my girlfriend?" on it, and hid it away in my pocket. My plan was for us to put the whole puzzle together and realize there was a "piece missing," at which point I would pull the piece out of my pocket and make her my girlfriend. There was one problem I didn't take into mind when I hatched this plan - I F'in suck at puzzles and as it turns out, so does Michelle.
After working like crazy for who knows how long, only to have a few pieces put together, Michelle finally asked if we could take a break. A break?! That wasn't part of the plan. Nope. No breaks. Need to make this girl my girlfriend. "I think we should keep working," I answered much more frantically than one should while working on a puzzle. Michelle gave me a look like I was a complete crazy person. "It's fine if we don't get it all together now. We can just save it for later. We'll work on it the next time I'm over," she suggested. Clearly she was over the puzzle.
"We have to finish it now," I practically screamed, as I felt my whole body developing those annoying red blotches that I get anytime I'm upset. "Why are you getting so upset?" Michelle laughed (because really what else can you do when someone is unreasonably upset over a puzzle).
"Could we at least put the outside together?" I begged. Since she didn't have much choice, Michelle agreed. Luckily, this was something we could handle and before long, we had the whole outside put together, sans piece in my pocket. I tried to nonchalantly point out that there was a piece missing and search around for it, but I'm pretty sure Michelle had completely checked out at this point and had no interest in searching for the MIA puzzle piece. That's when I stuck my hand in my pocket and pulled it out. Michelle commented on how strange it was that it had somehow ended up in my pocket, not catching on to what was happening. So I handed her the piece, making sure the side with my writing on it was on top so she would see it. Of course, she didn't see it and instead went to put it down.
"Does that piece say something?" I asked, at which point, Michelle flipped it over and looked at the picture side. "Nope! It's blank." She smiled, then went back to adding it to the puzzle.
"PLEASE LOOK AT THE OTHER SIDE," I screamed out in desperation. It was only at this point that she looked at the correct part of the puzzle and finally realized that I was asking her to be my girlfriend. Luckily, my mid-puzzle flip outs did not deter her from saying yes and well, the rest is history.
Don't worry. The puzzle DID get put together eventually... two years later... by my roommate.
Let me preface this story by pointing out that I was single for about three years before meeting my now-wife (no dates, no random hook ups, single as they come) and the only relationship I had before was a secret (well...you know - one of those secrets that you think is a big secret but it turns out that EVERYONE actually knew all along...yeah, that kind of secret), so I had a lot of time to think about what I would do if I finally got the chance to ask a girl out.
Somehow I decided that a random Wednesday night was the perfect time to put my plan into action, so I told Michelle to meet me in my grad school's library (because what better place to start off a big romantic gesture). I then informed her that we could leave the library as soon as I got through the last few note cards I had yet to learn and asked if she could help me with them. The first few were actual cardiology questions that I had taken from some class notes, but we quickly got to the one that said, "Who has Erica's heart?" In case you're wondering, the correct answer was Michelle. The next note card had some kind of clue on it as to what was coming next. If I remember correctly and know my wife, I'm pretty sure her only reaction was to be super confused, at which point I had to point out, "I made you a scavenger hunt. That's what this is. There's a present at the end."
Having that explanation out of the way, we headed back to my apartment where I had said scavenger hunt set up. I had put quotes onto more note cards (I had a lot of note cards. I was in grad school) and on each quote, there was one highlighted word which would be the clue to where the next note card could be found. It turned out the hardest part of the scavenger hunt was Michelle trying to decipher my handwriting, but luckily, we got through and she found her present, which was a puzzle.
Before I go on, I need to tell you about said puzzle. It had a picture of us on it and on the bottom were the words, "You're the missing piece of my puzzle." I had taken the one corner piece out of the box, written "Will you be my girlfriend?" on it, and hid it away in my pocket. My plan was for us to put the whole puzzle together and realize there was a "piece missing," at which point I would pull the piece out of my pocket and make her my girlfriend. There was one problem I didn't take into mind when I hatched this plan - I F'in suck at puzzles and as it turns out, so does Michelle.
After working like crazy for who knows how long, only to have a few pieces put together, Michelle finally asked if we could take a break. A break?! That wasn't part of the plan. Nope. No breaks. Need to make this girl my girlfriend. "I think we should keep working," I answered much more frantically than one should while working on a puzzle. Michelle gave me a look like I was a complete crazy person. "It's fine if we don't get it all together now. We can just save it for later. We'll work on it the next time I'm over," she suggested. Clearly she was over the puzzle.
"We have to finish it now," I practically screamed, as I felt my whole body developing those annoying red blotches that I get anytime I'm upset. "Why are you getting so upset?" Michelle laughed (because really what else can you do when someone is unreasonably upset over a puzzle).
"Could we at least put the outside together?" I begged. Since she didn't have much choice, Michelle agreed. Luckily, this was something we could handle and before long, we had the whole outside put together, sans piece in my pocket. I tried to nonchalantly point out that there was a piece missing and search around for it, but I'm pretty sure Michelle had completely checked out at this point and had no interest in searching for the MIA puzzle piece. That's when I stuck my hand in my pocket and pulled it out. Michelle commented on how strange it was that it had somehow ended up in my pocket, not catching on to what was happening. So I handed her the piece, making sure the side with my writing on it was on top so she would see it. Of course, she didn't see it and instead went to put it down.
"Does that piece say something?" I asked, at which point, Michelle flipped it over and looked at the picture side. "Nope! It's blank." She smiled, then went back to adding it to the puzzle.
"PLEASE LOOK AT THE OTHER SIDE," I screamed out in desperation. It was only at this point that she looked at the correct part of the puzzle and finally realized that I was asking her to be my girlfriend. Luckily, my mid-puzzle flip outs did not deter her from saying yes and well, the rest is history.
Don't worry. The puzzle DID get put together eventually... two years later... by my roommate.
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