YOUR HUMBLE REPORTER POPS THE QUESTION >>>

Thursday night was huge for the Weekly Volcano, as it celebrated the debut of our Best of Olympia edition. Far more important to me, however, was the impending arrival of a certain long-awaited piece of bling. My girlfriend Amanda and I planned to celebrate a postponed Valentine's Day the following night, Friday, with a steak dinner, home cooked by yours truly. Unbeknownst to Amanda but benknownst to just about everyone else in our lives including Rep. Dennis Kucinich, I meant to propose to her after dinner. I've been incredibly stressed this month, so much so that my face has broken out like that of a high school sophomore in dire need of Proactiv, but my most harrowing worry was that something would happen to the engagement ring in transit. I was cutting it down to the wire, and my luck this year has been atrocious.

Amanda and I left the Volcano party at The Brotherhood early, but we wound up getting into, well, not a fight - we seldom fight - but a rather intense conversation. The subject was marriage. After a conversation with her father earlier that day, a conversation prompted by his awareness of my imminent proposal, she was so freaked out she could barely focus. Her Spidey sense was tingling. Something was afoot! So why wouldn't I talk about it? She couldn't get anyone to tell her what was going on, and she assumed it was bad. In her anxiety, she warned me that I'd better not think of proposing anytime soon, because she wasn't prepared to pull the trigger.

Terrific.

So after a few angst-ridden emails and phone calls the next morning, I went to pick up her ring. Much to my surprise and relief, the ring had arrived and looked amazing. I decided to take my shot and risk the rejection she'd already warned me I'd receive. I cooked her the steak, drenched it in Roquefort butter, poured some wine and tried to get her to relax. It wasn't easy. She was still awfully tense.

I told her to dress up, as we were going out for dessert. She didn't know where and wasn't happy about that. What did I mean by dessert? Was it going to be messy? Would she need special shoes? What was going on?!

I surreptitiously texted her sister to say we were on our way. I drove Amanda to Cascadia Grill, the former Plenty, where she and I had our first date three years and a month ago. Amanda noticed immediately that her brother and sister were there. They tried to play it off as a coincidence, but Amanda wasn't buying it. I got down on one knee, withdrew the ring from my coat pocket, and asked Amanda Stevens to be my wife and partner for life.

I said on Facebook last week that my interview with Dennis Kucinich was my "get of the month." Of course, that wasn't even remotely true. He came in second and far behind, because my fiancee Amanda Stevens said yes.