Fun Monday-Talisman

Our host this week, the misanthrope (Do you know what that means? If not, you should look it up.) has given us a very intriguing assignment:

Do you have a piece of jewelry or other item that holds great personal significance for you, and that you wear or keep with you every day? Show us a photo of your talisman, and tell us why it is so important to you.

Hints: Your talisman could be your wedding ring…or your lack thereof! Maybe it’s a bracelet or watch that belonged to a beloved relative or friend. Perhaps your item is significant in your faith, if you are of a religious persuasion, or maybe it is a proud symbol of your ethnicity. Maybe it’s something silly, that makes you smile every time you look at it! Maybe your talisman is actually part of you - perhaps you got a tattoo to mark a significant event in your life. I’m also thinking about our recent observation of Veterans’ Day here in the USA: Perhaps you have a loved one who is far away - in the military or otherwise - and you carry a memento of him or her with you every day.

Hmmm. I've never really thought about this before, but I am a creature of habit in some ways, especially when it comes to jewelry. I love jewelry, but I'm kind of a no fuss gal, so I tend to wear the same old pieces over and over, and they are pieces I really enjoy. I have a couple of necklaces featuring blown glass made by local artists, four silver bracelets, a gold bracelet, gold hoop earrings and silver hoops that I rotate. In pondering this assignment though, I realized there are two pieces I'm never without, and they are special to me. So I grabbed the camera, gave my best effort at a hand model pose and snapped away. Try not to notice how dry and chapped my hands are this early in the cold season. Here we go:

A few things to get out of the way first.

A-Scrawniest hands evah! If you've ever wanted to be a skinny girl, let me warn you, besides bird legs that never fit snugly into boots, you will have gnarly, bony hands that show every vein because they have no meat on them. Rejoice if you carry any weight at all in your hands.

B-OPI's Cha-Ching Cherry. Quite possibly the closest thing I have to a signature nail polish, and it's not really that close because I tend to change colors as often as the wind blows. The manicure is courtesy of my nail tech Cindy, who makes me look as if I know how to polish my nails..and file them...and have any sort of semblance of the girly girl gene. Too bad she can't do my makeup every morning. Or my hair.

C-This is my favorite Geoffrey Beene long sleeve 100% cotton shirt. I loved this shirt so much that I bought six of them last year in various colors and wore them to a nub. I had planned to buy more this year. I went into a panic last month when I heard that the Geoffrey Beene stores were going out of business, and I called around the country trying to locate more of these shirts to stockpile. Alas, they were gone since they were last year's item, and after wailing for ten minutes in the ear of the nice gentleman who answered the phone at the Gatlinburg, Tennessee store, I gathered up my dignity, quietly said "thank you" and hung up defeated. If you find these shirts, call me.

Now, on to the important stuff. I am never without my wedding ring. This is the beautiful diamond and band Hubby surprised me with last Christmas. Oh, how I love this ring. I never take it off because I believe if you're married you should wear your ring. It is a symbol. It tells the world something about you, and it keeps you honest. I had to leave mine at the jeweler's last month to have it resized, and I felt completely naked without it. I wear my original wedding rings on my right hand.

The ring is important, but the item I especially want to focus on is this bracelet. It is probably the one thing that comes closest to being a talisman.

I wear it nearly every day. I bought it from the Margaritaville catalog back before everyone had a piece of jewelry with a flip-flop on it. It's my little reminder each day to live life to the fullest. To dance, even when no one else is. To sing out loud, even though I can't carry a tune, and to look for paradise no matter where I am. I bought this not too long after my nephew died and I had promised myself to not take life for granted anymore. This little silver bracelet is a gentle nudge at the end of my arm to keep that promise. And as odd as it sounds, it also helps me to remember during the long dreary winter months that summer is always around the corner. It keeps me hanging on until warm weather returns. It also helps me to dream that maybe one day I'll be able to afford a little cottage in Aruba where I can retire and live out my senior years on the beach...in my flip flops. Now then, I've rattled on enought. Trot over to misanthrope's and check out what everyone else is baring...I mean sharing.

Surprise!

I love surprises at Christmas. I've always been that way. As kids, we never knew what we were getting under the tree, and I loved the anticipation and elation that came with unwrapping the unknown. It's hard to be surprised by most of my family, especially Hubby's side. They tell everything they know. They can't help themselves. Even when they try to keep a secret it eventually comes tumbling out before its intended release date. It drives me crazy that I always know what I'm getting from them for Christmas. This year is different. Hubby pulled one over on me. As we say in these parts, he got me good.

I needed to go to the local mall today to pick up a few small, last gifts. He grumbled about going there. He pretended to miss the turnoff. He pretended to take the back streets to the mall. He acted like he was going to take me to the back of the mall and drop me off. Except he pulled into...a jewelry store. Now, he's not a jewelry present kind of guy. Heck, he's not even a roses kind of guy. That's okay because he's a do the laundry, vaccum the floor kind of guy, and that's way better than roses. We never buy each other gifts for our anniversary, and we don't get carried away with Christmas presents. We tend to buy each other practical things. I spend a lot of time joking about gifts of jewelry, but never in my wildest dreams do I expect small boxes of gems under the tree. Never. I mean, never. That's why I was so floored that he had picked out a piece of jewelry for me and wanted to make sure I liked it. I liked it...a lot. I mean alot. I wanted to cry. I'm a sentitmental old poop you know. I didn't cry because I didn't want to embarrass him, but it was all I could do to hold back the tears. I managed to until he dropped me off at the mall. I'm sure the folks in the Hallmark store and Victoria's Secret were wondering why I was bawling all over the cards and lingerie. It's because I have such a wonderful husband. Wonderful, not because he will buy me jewelry, but because after nineteen years, he still thinks I'm worth orchestrating a surprise for. Oh, and because I refuse to open gifts or reveal them before Christmas morning, I'm not telling what the item is. I'm going to be naughty and make you wait until December 25th. And don't give me that "it's not fair" line. I want to surprise you. I think it's worth waiting for.