Carlisle's Diary

Flowers Galore

Dear Diary:                                                            February 14, 2014

I wouldn't have been writing this week if it wasn't for the ever romantic holiday of Valentine's Day. Because I've been so busy at the hospital, I knew I had to make something very special for my wonderful wife. But didn't really want to go over the top......well not too much. So I thought about it and then it hit me. I decided to recreate the very first date Esme and I ever had together. I think I described it in the very first entry I ever wrote in this diary. And seeing as it was winter and we had more snow and ice then we knew what to do with, all I had to really do was find a frozen pond. In NH, that wasn't that hard of a task. So when I had a few days off, I ran around trying to find the perfect location. In the neighboring town of Chelsea, I found exactly what I was looking for.

Now it was time for the harder portion of the plan. I called a company that specialized in writing on ice and asked them to carve "I love you Esme" into the ice which they said they would do just that the following evening. Then and this I had pre-ordered about a few months in advance as it was massive and that was a ginormous bouquet of flowers about a whole story tall to be delivered on the morning of Valentine's Day and put right in our front yard. I think there were close to 10,000 individual flowers in this bundle and they were totally different from one another. A company in California specializes in these monstrous creations and I thought that wouldn't it be a perfect lawn sculpture for this occasion?

All was set, except I had gone to oversee the ice carving and was very happy indeed with what they had accomplished. After which I strategically placed rose buds all around the ice and up in the trees. Then I brought a bunch of speakers that I placed into spots where they were invisible and picked the perfect skating music. Esme knew I was planning something, but she didn't know what. The other couples of our family were each doing something special and to tell you the truth I was so busy with my own plan that I hadn't gotten around to asking who was doing what. I'm sure I'll know next week. One thing is for sure, Alice was running around faster than me putting the finishing touches on Leah and Keith's wedding. Leah finally figured out what kind of dress she wants to wear. Took her a while but she is very happy with her choice. She's getting married in two weeks.

No news yet on that little earthquake that we felt last week other than the fact that it had in fact originated under NH and not somewhere. Even though it was like a 3.2 on the Richter scale, it made the news and the USGS are investigating. Rogue and Esme have been following the story like two information hungry people. They kind of remind me of me when it comes to new medical information. It's so cute watching Esme's eyes light up each time Rogue would tell her she found out something new; always made me smile. I never got into natural disasters myself but it would be nice to know whether this was some random occurrence or are we in for more "shake, rattle, and roll" as Jacob said.

But I digress. The idea for this Valentine's Day surprise came to me just as we were watching the winter Olympics in Sochi. They show figure skating practically every day and the first time they showed the ice dancing couples, Esme got this wistful and faraway look in her eyes. It didn't take a rocket scientist or mind reader to know she was thinking back to our very first date. Now we've gone ice skating since then of course but it's always been with family and/or friends. I don't recall the last time it was just her and I.

This morning, just as the sun was coming up, Esme and I got up and got dressed. She asked me what she should wear and I said something cute and warm. Both of our outfits as well as all of the other photos are in links below. As we got ready and walked out downstairs, before I opened the front door for us to walk out, I put my hand over her eyes and told the other family members who had already seen the huge formation bouquet to zip it. No one said a word and smiled as I opened the door and carefully led my wife toward the massive flower bouquet. Then without so much as a word, I took my hand away and let her look. She gasped and couldn't or didn't breathe, talk, or make any noise for a good solid minute; then she said: