Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Dripping with Diamonds and Pearls




The excuses for an almost two month hiatus from my blog are multitudinous, and I won't bore you with them at great length. Suffice it to say that in early February I had all four of my wisdom teeth extracted at the same time, and it has taken me quite a while to recover. Note to those of you with teenagers..... if wisdom tooth extraction should ever become necessary for your child, make sure to deal with it while they are young and able to bounce back easily. At the ripe old age of 29 and some-months :), it was not a cake walk, to say the least.


Fast on the heels of my dental surgery came both Valentine's Day and my much-anticipated birthday. (after last year's celebration of my ?0th, from theretofore I will forever be 29-and-some-months) On Hearts day, hubby-dearest presented me with a little square velvet jewelry case. He gave me a lovely, wide, gold, comfort-fit wedding band. Although I appreciated the band, and wore it with pride, one thing was still missing. During our engagement, almost 15 years ago, I received as engagement jewelry an absolutely stunning 9-karat amethyst pendant set in gold. Although it was quite striking, I felt sad that I didn't have a proper engagement ring, something that every girl in the culture expects. However, at the time, finances would not permit such an extravagance, so I hoped for it one day, and always felt that the solitary wedding band looked incomplete. Well this year. not to be outdone by Valentine's, on my birthday, my husband presented me with a truly gorgeous trinity-styled princess-cut engagement ring highlighted by eight inset diamonds (three on either side of the larger stones and two embedded on the underside of the ring highlighting the phrase "past, present, future"). To say the least, it is a stunner, and looks great on my pudgy digits! Despite my attempts to be "cool" about the whole thing, I admit that I often find myself mesmerized by the sparkle! It is, most certainly, not the kind of ring I ever expected to own. And yes, I am going to be gouache enough to post a picture of it! It is ever-so-much larger than what I had imagined owning. In this case though, folks, bigger is definitely better!
After receiving the gorgeous ring, I was surprised once again by the generosity of my ESL class (English As A Second Language). At the end of the winter term they presented me with a beautiful cultured pearl necklace and bracelet. It was a total shock and a complete delight. I had been looking for a short, simple white pearl necklace, and without having ever mentioned to anyone, I was stunned to open the gift from my students to find exactly what I had envisioned. I have worn it almost daily since receiving it. Between this thoughtful gift, and my apres-engagement ring, I am feeling most blessed and not a little pampered!