We're Getting Married!!

Now that I'm fairly sure that I've spoken to or at least attempted to contact most everyone who I should before making an impersonal announcement, I have something I would like to post here:

SCOTT AND I ARE ENGAGED!!!!

It happened Monday, July 20th (so just over a week ago), but I'll start at the week before to set up the story.

Scott and I have been together for about a year and a half now, and since very close to the beginning of our relationship, I've been hinting to him that we should go on a picnic. I just always thought a picnic date is about the cutest thing you can do and it can be both very sweet and romantic and not expensive. It started with me forwarding some stuff online to him, to seeing stuff in the store that "reminded me of a picnic". It finally became a running joke that Scott would take me on a picnic... someday....

So, imagine my surprise when Scott told me that he was planning on taking me on a picnic on the coming Saturday. He wanted to take care of all the details, he didn't want me to lift a finger, and he wanted to find the perfect spot for it. I was really excited, and for some reason, I had an inkling that this might be more than just a picnic. That thought quickly vanished when in a discussion on Friday afternoon Scott told me that the place he wanted to go had a wedding going on so we would have to go a different day. Maybe Monday. Well, I was super disappointed (especially since nothing good ever happens on a Monday!) but I tried to make the most of it and not complain. That only lasted until Saturday morning when I was even more emotional about it and let Scott know it. Luckily, Scott knows how to handle my emotionalism by now, and talked me into being ok with our (less romantic in my mind) Monday evening picnic.

Monday came around and I went to work. I had a great surprise that morning when I walked in and my boss was engaged! It made me a little sad actually, since I had imagined for a little while that maybe I would have been engaged over the weekend too, but decided to put it out of my mind since I realized that I was probably only making up in my head that Scott was thinking about that and I had no proof at all that those were his intentions for our date. Erin, my boss, let me know that she had a doctors appointment and would need to leave a little bit earlier for lunch and then I would have to go after that. I just agreed to it, no questions asked, and got back to work until she got back around 12:30. I handed the portable phone for the main line to her as I do everyday when I'm leaving and started to walk out the front door.

I was looking at my phone to give Scott a call, when I heard someone calling my name. I looked up to see Scott standing to the right of me in front of my office!!! I gave a little jump totally startled and asked him, "What are you doing here?!" He replied, "I want to take you to lunch." To which I said, "But what about our date tonight? Can we not do the picnic again?" He said, "I want to take you on a picnic right now!" We got in the car and started driving. I realized that the place he wanted to go for the picnic was a full 15 minutes away from where I work and I only get an hour for lunch, so it seemed unlikely that we would have time for a long lunch. When I expressed my concern he only told me not to worry about it and we would be quick. On the way up, we just had some normal conversation. I thought about telling him that Erin had gotten engaged, but I realized I might slip my own thoughts about maybe it would have been me that day going into work, so decided against it, especially since he was being so good to me at the moment.

We made it to the Millenium Gardens in Plymouth and set out to set up our picnic. We picked a spot right in the center of the rose garden with a stream and fountain right by us. I could see why Scott had so much wanted to have the picnic in this location. It was a beautiful day with the sun shining and the beautiful flowers and water--absolutely heavenly. Scott pulled out a wonderful lunch of cheese, grapes, and sandwiches with some wine ("Wine! I have to get back to work after this!" "Just have a glass; it will be fine"). We enjoyed the place and each others company for a good 20 minutes before he said, "Let's pack this up and go on a little walk--I want you to see the whole park before we have to go."

We started to walk around and we saw some beautiful flowers and some fish in the sream around the garden. The stream went into a water fall that ended on a small pond. We walked down the path that followed along the side of the waterfall. As we walked over a small bridge that went over the waterfall, I saw something sitting on a bench just on the other side. There was a bouquet of flowers on it... with a card... with my name!! I turned to Scott said, "Scott, for me?? Why??" The flowers were just gorgous and I enjoyed smelling them and just taking the moment in. I opened the card to look at it, and it turned out that in the envelope was an 8-page (small pages, but still, 8 of them!) letter! I asked Scott, "Should I read this now or take it with us?" When he encouraged me to read it then, I sat down on the bench with the flowers in my lap and Scott next to me. Well, after about the first 1/2 paragraph I was already sobbing. I don't know how I made it through that letter to the very end, but as soon as I read the last words, Scott was on his knee in front of me, pulled out a ring and said, "Sarah Marie Galgano, will you marry me!?" I jumped into his arms (well lap kind of) saying "YES!" and just cried on his shoulder for about five minutes, at which time he said to me, " do you want to put on the ring?" We laughed and cried, and even had an onlooker from across the pond shout to us a congratulations and assurance that married life is simply wonderful.

Scott explained to me that he had gotten the rest of the day off for me (which explains Erin's mysterious emergency doctor's appointment). We somehow walked back to our picnic stuff and I made a few quick phone calls to my family. Since we were so close to Providence Academy, we were able to stop in and give my mom a hug, see JP, go into the chapel for a prayer together, and see Ellie who rushed up and wanted to see the ring!! We then went over to his house (less than a mile away) and had a glass of wine with his mother and brother.

That night, my family invited his entire family over to our house for champagne and cake for the celebration!! I think from the moment he picked me up from work until I fell asleep that night, I had a perpetual smile on my face.

I'm so happy that the man I get to spend the rest of my life with is someone with whom I can laugh, be goofy, have a deep conversation, pray, respect, love, challenge and just be me. Scott Michael Deeney has made me the happiest woman and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with him!!!

Pray for Pope Benedict today!

The pope will be having surgery after a fall that caused a slight fracture. Read the whole story here.

Ginsburg's True Colors

"Frankly I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don’t want to have too many of."

In this quote from Justice Ginsburg, (given in an interview with Emily Bazellon of the New York Times Magazine conducted an interview with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg entitled “The Place of Women on the Court” which appeared in its’ online July 7, 2009 issue) I'd love to know exactly what she means by "populations that we don't want to have too many of." Ginsburg was born in 1933, and lived through the US Civil Rights Movement (as well as the time leading up to it) and it is reasonable to think that her impressions surrounding races and "populations" would have been formed from her youth. One might think though, that being a Jew, particularly one who was alive during the greatest eugenics effort perhaps in history which tried to exterminate the Jews, Ginsburg would be more sensitive about the subject of getting rid of or limiting certain populations. I guess she just refuses to see it the other way around.

For more on the NYT Magazine interview, take a look at this article.

Outing, MN

This past week, I was able to spend some time at a lake house (or cabin, as we like to call it in Minnesota) with my family and some friends. This is the second year we have rented this same cabin for a week, and we love it! It was a good time for all. By the end of the week, all my family (Mom, Dad, Lauren, Ellie, John Paul, and myself) were able to make the 2 1/2 hour trek up to Roosevelt Lake near Brainerd. Also able to make it were Scott, Ben, and Mike (the boys we girls are all dating) and it was a lot of fun to have them along as well.

We were able to do most everything that Minnesotan’s love doing at their cabins. We sunbathed, we spent time on the lake in boats, we went fishing, we took walks around the area.

Some highlights included:

• Kareokeing with Scott and my mom (even though she didn’t go up and sing) on the first night at The Narrows
• Fishing with Scott and JP for an entire day
• Taking a walk with Scott and adopting a stray dog for a while (or rather, he adopted US)
• Sitting around the campfire with the fam, and having Scott with his gimpy lungs get it going boy scout style
• Spending time on the lake
• Soaking up all the sun I could take in for the few days I was there

Mid-week I had to come back to the cities for less than 48 hours to work two days, but it worked out alright since Scott needed to make it home to move out of the frat house and get ready for his vacation in Banff, Canada, which he left for on Saturday.

Now for another short week in the office, and then off to my cousin Meghan’s wedding!

Review: The Stoning of Soraya M.

Last weekend I had the opportunity to see The Stoning of Soraya M. at the Uptown Theater in the lake district of Minneapolis. Viewing this limited release movie was at the suggestion of a friend of mine who had the opportunity to go to a prescreening of the movie.

Focusing on the corruption in government and the Islamic religion in Iran, the film tells the story of a woman wrongly accused of adultery—an offense punishable by death by stoning in sharia law. This barbaric practice still occurs with some frequency through out the middle east today.

The Stoning of Soraya M. is produced by Steven McEveety; the same as The Passion of the Christ and Braveheart, so you can be sure that this is in the same vein as the others. Jim Caviezel plays the reporter who records the story told by the aunt of Soraya. Caviezel’s role is limited, but essential and played with class.

Something to be aware of is the extreme violence with which the stoning is portayed. It is extremely bloody and not for the faint of heart or stomach.

PLEASE see this movie. It will not disappoint.

Destruction and Sympathy

The admission of an affair with some Latin-lover-Argentinian woman from Gov. Sanford (R-SC) yesterday first made me angry and annoyed. And then I felt bad for the guy.

The media, as always, has no mercy on those they hate. This is no different than any other time. They are a pack of ravenous wolves, waiting to feed on the carcass after the animal makes a fatal mistake.

Sanford's shoddy excuse in the first place for why he was MIA for about five days seemed weird to me when I first saw the snippet on to Reuters board in the office where I work. I thought, "It would kind of suck if everyone went hay-wire if they couldn't get a hold of me just because I am on vacation, but then again, he's in the kind of job where you need to be accessible at all times and in all cases." But the fact that he took time to "clear his head" and "unwind" away from his wife and kids on Father's Day was certainly suspect for a high-profile politician. I just wrote it off as some people are weird like that. (I've known plenty of people on Mother's Day and Father's Day who choose to spend it alone going to the spa or taking a day fishing because they see it as their day off where they can pamper themselves and not worry about the kids... whatever.)

Though I had some suspicions up to that point about why the South Carolinian would act so erratically, I was still surprised to hear the confession yesterday that he was having an affair with an Argentinian. I mean, it sounds like a plot out of a book. Needless to say as the head of the Republican Governors Association and just being a Republican governor in general, what he did was extremely detrimental to a party that is already been in such decline recently. Not to mention the disgusting way that he has treated his wife and four sons. It's truly awful and I grieve for the way that all have been tricked and treated in this situation.

And now the media has made it that I feel bad for the governor too... a reaction I was not planning on. This family, all the people involved have been hurt enough by the publicity of the situation. Now they have to heap more shame onto all involved, including the wife and boys, by publishing the personal romantic correspondence between the lovers. It's awful. And I feel so sorry for the man. His boys--can you imagine being subjected to the contents of your father's affair notes? They will be feeling the repercussions of this for years to come, perhaps even the rest of their lives as many children do caught in the middle of this sort of a situation, public or not.

The media does not only wish to dismantle those they dislike; the work swiftly to devour them within hours when the opportunity arises. And that is what they have done here.

For those of us who are disgusted by the situation, I urge you to stop reading the correspondences and the articles and watching the broadcasts that outline the gory details of the affair... don't give them the ratings they are looking for and don't disrespect the privacy of this man.

Iran: Nearing the End?

Most of the free world has been following with interest the situation in Iran over the last week. Though the situation has been getting more desperate with everyday with intensifying protests, today saw a sharp drop in demonstrations. Ahmadinejad’s regime is continuing to employ fear tactics on those who would oppose him, and it seems to be working in quelling the people. I’m continuing to watch the events unfold, and I hope to see good and the will of the people prevail in this.

There is a great opportunity for anyone who is interested—the movie The Stoning of Soraya M. will be premiering in select theaters across the country starting this Friday, June 26. A timely release given the events in Iran, the movie focuses on the injustice and refusal of basic human rights to so many in that country.

Check out the trailer and theater information here:

http://www.thestoning.com/