but is it a diamond iPod?

I think an iPod could heal any mega-gifting wounds. Of course, I love mine so much I'm half-convinced it could heal flesh wounds too.

My engagement was an aquamarine, which is the same stone as an emerald.

It chipped under the setting. One the one hand, the setting was probably too tight, but on the other aquamarines are chippable.

Say you were looking at engagement rings for the hell of it (not for serious) and didn't want to contribute to the de Beers monopoly-- something precious and hard?

I love my sapphire engagement ring. And, we eloped but still got an engagement ring! But we were weird and got engaged and then ran off and got married. Kind of did everything half-assed.

We also just ran out of Kashi intnat oatmeal, but we made steel cut oatmeal in the slow cooker last night so I had a big ole bowl of that this morning.

Completely unrelated is the Valentine's Day Massacre. A famous Chicago gangster killing that occurred on Valentine's Day, 1929.

...the night Chicago diiiiiied!

Sorry, but if I get stuck with the earworm, so do you all.

The only reason that diamonds are the "classic" stone for engagement rings is that the diamond mafia worked very hard to establish them as such. Then, it backfired on them because no one bought diamonds for anything else. That's why there 's been a recent upswing in "anniversary bands" and "right hand rings"

While being single on Valentine's Day doesn't bother me much in terms of the not dating anyone (hey, I'm choosy and set in my ways), I am bothered by the huge plethora of couplecentric promotions, meals, and activities that surround the holiday. I went to my favorite local restaurant last night and found out they had a FOUR DAY special Valentine's menu with really nice-sounding entrees and desserts that only came in two person portions.

Meanwhile the universe gave me my valentine this morning in the form of a flung rock that put a chip in the new windshield I bought last fall. Thanks, universe.

Note to self: abandon "too dangerous, might lead to universal destruction" restriction on science experiments.

Sorry, but if I get stuck with the earworm, so do you all.

bye, bye, Miss American Pie . . .

buy vintage is my answer for almost everything. I hope to get my great grandmother's gold band and for an engagement ring, I'd like something pearl, but maybe a platinum band would be smarter.

I am way too hot to work. I need a fainting couch in my office.

Sorry to hear about the windshield, Matt. That the kind of chip that won't pass inspection?