I was in the kitchen making dinner tonight and I looked down at my right hand after drying it off and saw that a stone was missing from my ring. I am so sad! Those of you who know me well might remember that I purchased this ring in a little town called Arundel in southern England while on my study abroad in London during the winter of 2001. It was on display in the window of a little jewelry shop and it caught my eye, but when we tried to go into the store the door wouldn't open. At first I thought maybe I was just trying to open it incorrectly so I tried a few more times, but the door was indeed locked. A little disappointed I turned to leave, but suddenly I heard the voices of several women coming from inside, arguing about whether or not to let me in. Kindness prevailed and a sweet little old woman opened the door and invited me to come in. It turned out that the shop was owned and run by three adorable little old ladies who reminded me of Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, the three fairies in Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty. The nice one who had let me in retrieved the ring from the window and as soon as I put it on I knew I wanted it, but I didn't have any cash and they didn't take debit card. I felt so awful that they had taken the time to let me in (one of them was rather put out that they were late for tea) and then I didn't have the money for the ring, but once again, one the women told me that there was an ATM across the street and they would wait for me if I wanted to run and get some money. So quickly as I could I ran across the street, returned within minutes, and this little ring became mine! But now the black obsidian stone that used to be in the ring is gone and I have no idea where or when it came out. I remember it being there this morning when I put it on, and it was also there while I was at the archives, but after that I went to the grocery store and came home and I could have lost it anywhere. I used to joke that someday the frog on the ring would turn into my handsome prince . . . I hope that losing the stone is not some kind of bad sign! Anyway, I just thought I would share my sad story with everyone, so there it is! I can still wear the ring without the stone of course, but it just won't be the same!

p.s. I have another new post in the works about my wonderful trip to Scotland last weekend and I hope to have it up within the next few days, so keep an eye out for it!

A somewhat blurry picture of the ring on my finger- (apparently my left hand is not very adept at taking pictures by itself!)

The pouty face says it all!