Not really. That's why I had a housing inspector at my walkthrough. He measured water temp and pressure, etc.

Needless to say, Barney is now Paul's forever.

Awww, you're going to be Paul's favorite teacher ever for ever and ever.

As JZ notes we decided against diamonds because (a) she thinks the diamond business is evil and (b) we couldn't afford it. But the alternative was the very nice gold ring with a Hebrew inscription from the Song of Solomon which, frankly, is cooler for us anyway.

Plus, Nilly then went and pointed out the double meaning in the quote so it was extra good.

But (a) would have trumped everything else even if (b) hadn't been a factor. I would, however, not be at all averse, should (b) ever cease to be a factor, to lab-created diamonds. The DeBeers people have been flailing about wildly over the last couple of years about how lab-created diamonds don't count, but I could frankly not possibly give less of a shit about what the DeBeers people say.

Unless they were to say it at a joint conference joined by Messrs. Vick and Gonzales; then I might give an exponentially tinier shit what they say. But only then.

{{{Jessica}}}

Shoe post! I think these are the last of my flats. They are just okay. I'm not so into the slide-on these days: [link] Side: [link]

GRONK! One too many Boston Cream Pie martinis last night. It seemed like a good idea at the time. t clutching vat of vanilla latte to breast

NOT "just okay," GC. Those are pure sugar.

In re: wedding rings: I've been making noises lately about wanting one. I don't want a diamond though. I'd really like the Cartier Love ring, but I can't justify the $$$. And, yes, that sweet GF of mine has offered to buy it for me.

My engagement ring has a sort of weird history. Joe was engaged before and there was a big fight over getting the ring back from her. Anyway, his dad went and got it back and took it to Joe's friend who was a jeweler and got a different ring - I guess to just hold onto until Joe, presumably, wanted to get engaged again.

Now, when I first heard this story, it sort of irritated me because a) my husband is normally very romantic and b) I would like to have thought that the ring was meant for me and not just the next girl that came along. Also, while it's a very pretty ring, it does stick up a lot and I have scratched Ellie (or myself or my clothes) many times with it.

Then, Joe and I were going through a rough patch almost 9 years ago. He was in Korea and I was in the States. He had his brother give me the ring as a way of showing me that he was serious about us getting married eventually and that I should keep the ring until we actually got engaged as a sort of promise.

I kept the ring, things got better, and eventually we moved in together. Then, he took it back without me knowing and surprised me in a rather romantic proposal on the dance floor at a ball. That part was nice. Despite the sort of weird history, I like the ring very much because it has history to it.

I am no more enamoured with the idea of engagement rings than I was before, but I am charmed by the sweetness of the individual tales told here.

For a long time people have been telling me that I'll get more traditional when I am about to get married. What they neglected to factor in is the likelihood that I'd have to get more traditional in order to even get started with the engagement thing.

So all bets are off.

For a long time people have been telling me that I'll get more traditional when I am about to get married.

Yeah, well, people have been telling me that my biological clock would start ticking when I turned 30.

{{{{Laura}}}} I'm so sorry about the loss of your friend.

{{{{omnis}}}} Much strength to your family.

re: rings. Z & I had matching blackworked silver rings in a Celtic knot design from Spirit Of The Red Horse (a mall shop), and we both wore them from the night we got engaged on. They were perfectly appropriate and very nice and worked within our budget. I would have hated to have a mined diamond, but I lurve created diamonds and rubies. So pretty! So affordable! So lacking in ethical dilemmas!

Saturday was awesome and Buffista-ful, what with breakfast with meara and dinner with Tep & the Boy, and the Bayistas at both. Unfortunately, Sunday mostly sucked ass, what with being sick. I did get to see off Tep and the Boy, which was nice. Also, M was very attentive (in between teasing me that I'd better not get him sick): he fetched water multiple times (even when I woke him up), brought me a kitty to cuddle, gave me good drugs, ordered in spicy Chinese so we could have a quiet dinner at his place, cleaned the Jacuzzi, ran the Jacuzzi, and boiled water to add to the Jacuzzi when his water heater crapped out at the halfway-full mark. So, that was good.

I am at work today. That is not of the good.