FINALLY!!!

Yes. It has finally happened. I have a new wedding ring. After 2 1/2 years and the desire to put chunks of money somewhere else besides my finger...Ted has surprised me by making the sudden decision to buy me a ring. He knew I was ready to spend the money. Enough procrastinating. My sister said it would never have taken her that long. I am among a family of jewelry lovers. My mom and my sisters would keep collecting pieces if they had the money to. They make it a priority. Anniversaries are celebrated with jewelry. It's rooted on my Italian side, my mom's side. Each piece of jewelry my aunts and Grandma wore had long stories. Like the matching gold chains my aunt wore. They said my uncle came back from Italy with a pocket watch at the end of a long gold chain. When he died they separated the chain into lengths that each one could wear as necklaces. My great aunt Connie was especially a jewelry lover. Her hands were always taken care of and soft as silk when you held them. Her nails were long and perfectly manicured. Her hands were the perfect backdrop to her beautiful rings. She would wear huge bobbles that many people couldn't get away with wearing. Her hair was always neatly coiffed and I remember thinking she was like a movie star. Not the kind we have now. But like the Bette Davis kind. She didn't go to a nursing home when she got older, but a very classy retirement community. She married 4 or 5 times and never had children. It was either she or her sister, my aunt Marie, who made me promise never to blow bubbles with chewing gum because it was not lady like. They taught us how to be ladies.

I'm not sure if I retained any of that because I'm not like that at all. I'm not always proper, I can say what's on my mind and see faces in shock. I used to smack my gum til the cows came home until I learned it was really irritating to other people. I'm honest, not pretentious. I'm simple, not fancy. My goal is to make people around me as comfortable as possible. This means I will happily tell you my shortcomings and try to downplay my gifts. I'm the only one who didn't get the jewelry loving gene. I'm satisfied with costume jewelry on my ears and wrists. I do prefer real gold or silver for the neck, but never wear it. And rings...well, I prefer the real thing. I knew when we finally replaced my ring, I wanted to do it right and spend the money to get something I really liked. I guess this is why I put it off. I wanted it to be done right.

Since we moved into our house almost three years ago, any extra money has gone into updating the house. We've done our kitchen, the 1/2 bath on the main level, replaced all the baseboards and doors, finished our basement, and painted the whole house. There is more to do. We need new heating and cooling, a new roof, and to replace our asphalt driveway with concrete.

I put off buying a ring because I saw many other places for the money to go. I was too stingy with myself. It took 2 1/2 years, but this year, I started missing my ring. I had a plain, gold band that served the purpose and kept me from feeling "naked". But eventually, my fat, stubby fingers outgrew it. I yearned for a real diamond again. A real statement of "I'm married!" on my finger. Then Ted got laid off. And actually it could be for this reason that it made it easier to buy the ring. How is that you say? Well, since he has a job secured and will start January 8th, we will have two paychecks coming in for six weeks. The extra severance checks were more than enough for my ring.

So there it is. Oh yah! I almost forgot. You might be trying to count the diamonds on the sides because I said I wanted two on each side to represent the kids. Well...I changed my mind once I saw the ring in person, I realized I didn't want anything to take away from the main diamond. I wanted that to stand on it's own. So there are five little diamonds on each side and NO, I will NOT have 10 children! (Note to God: Please don't see this as a statement challenging what you know is best for me...please don't teach me a lesson by giving me 10 children).

Now I'm wishing I didn't cut off all my nails to play guitar at Children's Liturgy last weekend! A diamond looks much better on a pretty hand! Lisa bought me a nail care kit so I worked on them last night. I'm ready to show it off to my family!