NSV

In the spring of 2007 my hubby and I spent a month driving through several states. We had a wonderful time, seeing and experiencing the various landscapes and sights.

At the beginning of our trip, at a lunch stop in Montana, I went into a 'Gem Store' just to look around. I was thrilled with all the different colors of stones - most of which I had never seen before - or even heard of. Color makes me happy in any circumstance, so a store full of sparkly color was a real treat! I was especially drawn to the garnets. Red is one of my favorite colors and I had always like rubies because of that. Garnets make rubies look washed out. They have the deepest, richest color I've ever seen. Luxurious....that is the word that comes to my mind when I think of a garnet.

On our way home, we stopped at an Opal mine in Idaho. (Opals are another favorite of mine) At the gift store, I found some necklaces of unfinished garnets for only $5 each. I wanted one SO BADLY, but they were quite short and I could not get it around my neck. Since I couldn't have one for myself, I bought one for each of my girls. They resemble those puma shell necklaces that were so popular a few years ago, except that instead of white 'beads' they are polished deep red beads. Very pretty.

The other day, Jim and I were looking after Seth at Vinjelu and Kathryn's house. Kathryn's garnet necklace was laying around, as if she had just taken it off. On a whim, I tried it on.
IT FIT!!! I could wear it all day, if I wanted.

Sometimes, when the scale isn't moving as quickly as we want, when things are not going as well as before, it is good to have something remind us 'from whence we've come'.

I may have a long way to go, but I'm not where I WAS! And that is something to celebrate.

Too bad I was too cheap to buy myself a necklace just to look at.