Rings of Circles & Circles of Rings...

Rings.
Stones.
Circles.
Rocks.

I have only had a couple/few rings in my life made of gold or platinum, with or without precious or semi-precious stones.

My sister gave me a ring some twenty plus years ago made of gold.
Never seen anything like it.
Ornate & old looking, I am sure, from the day it was made.
A tiny little sapphire surrounded by a small square which was cornered in hearts, surrounded by a small rectangle and more hearts....all enclosed by more hearts & boxes.
One sapphire, repeated four corners & thirteen hearts in all.
I wore it daily until I broke it, collapsing one corner of the heart shaped filigree.
Three jewelers have told me that they would not repair it.
So I keep it in a special little cardboard box I got on my eighteenth birthday.

My engagement ring was made of gold & platinum.
It has a small little round diamond with clarity much better than my own and an ornate squared setting. Ironically enough, just before I asked for divorce, the platinum setting popped on one side, separating itself from the band. A circle wide open. It now lays folded in some tissue & stuffed into an envelope in an unfrequented drawer.

My mother gave me an antique platinum band with three small diamonds in a beautiful setting. I have worn it faithfully for years until last week. The jeweler told me 'You can't break platinum.'
I reached in my pocket, pulled out a folded & torn corner of an envelope & passed it to him...'Well, I'll be damned.' In it lay the platinum band from my mother. He referred me to another jeweler...and I dropped it back into the paper pouch.

Before going home, I stopped by a vintage shop. There I saw a little sign.
It read.... 'The things that matter the most in life aren't things at all.'

Profoundly true.
I pulled on the Joe-made peace sign that hangs by leather from my neck.
I looked down at the little leather band that now sat solo around my finger.
I rubbed the jade that the leather held.
I thought of the good health that the jade represents.

I thought of my brothers, my sisters, my life & mortality...
Everything means something...

and I remembered that those rings may be broken,
but the circle is not...

(image is of jade, silver & leather ring made by awesome spirit at earthlypossessions)

Here's your change ma'am, Thank You

...and Have a Nice Day.
Just Do It
Not so long ago I had a gazillion letters in my name.
Now I have 10. First name, middle name & last name...10 letters.
Some get repeated, some don't.

With my old name I could re-arrange letters and spell great little words like peace.

I Did It.
'Peace' may not be a word mixed in my new name, my current name...my final name anymore, but it's in my life...slivers, moments, glimpses, whispers of it.
Now, ironically enough 'Live, Love & Learn' are mixed up in my name and ... ah well, I'm pleased to offer up 'Peace' and just keep the change on this one...

Sometimes we gotta give stuff up...Live, Love & Learn to truly keep the peace.

Could I get my change, please?

I get called all kinds of things & I answer to just about any & all of them. Outside of the generic pet names dosed out here in the south, such as darlin', babe, dear, sweetie, shoog (as in shew-gah aka sugar) I also get called some pretty specific proper names, which are not mine. Most often these names are Pam, Peg and for some strange reason, Faith. Doesn't matter really.
If you're talking to me, I will pretty much talk back, I was raised that way. Mom usually went through a smorghasborg of names before she got to mine. I think anyone with three or more children in the house is allowed to do this & I think that those children should listen when spoken to, regardless of what they are being called.
Call me what you will.
None-the-less, I do have a name. A legal one. It's attached to my social security number.
I have the name that I was born unto, but it's not my legal name.
I had my legal name changed after I got married.
The social security office told me to write, then sign, what I wanted my legal name to be. I asked if I could change my name to #&?@* and was advised that I had to have a legal reason to change my legal name. I asked about the Artist Formerly Known as Prince & was told he had his legal reasons. They said that my legal reason was my marriage.
But now, I'm divorced & the judge declared that I could go and change my name back.
back?!?
Hmmm...
I decided to get married much for the same reasons that I chose to get divorced ... I was moving forward in life .
But legally, it would look like I am moving in circles... in fact, like I am going back.
I haven't gone down to the Social Security office with my divorce papers yet, but when I do I hope to let you know if they will allow me to simply change my name or if they will tell me if I can only change it back.
I still love him & he loves me but there's no going back.

What's In A Name ... Space, Mace & Grace

Growing up as one who hated the TV, I often found myself entertaining myself in a variety of ways...furthermore, even as a kid, I have always had a miserable time falling asleep. I'm not one who 'goes' to sleep. I have to 'fall' asleep. I have to be doing something until I just go. It doesn't matter how tired I may be, as soon as I lay down...BOING! I'm suddenly second or third winded. So, in bed, I will read, draw, write...often with one foot sticking out from under the covers shaking left to right with a vigor that threatens to make the ceiling come down. I've done that since I was a kid, too. When I have read all there is to read in the house & my mind needs to go blank, I'll try to find sleep by making lists. This list-making thing is also a carry-over from my childhood. Oh, the things we do for sleep. (sing-song in my head, like the old 70's song...the thing we do for love)

So...What's In A Name?
These are the letters in my name...
AAA EEE III O BCGHKLLLMNNPPPRS
That's a lot of letters, but each can be used only as many times as it appears above for each word...and this is the list I came up with last night, as I was fading to the paralysis called sleep.
shrimp, primp & limp
apple pies & pralines
manners & banners
places, laces & races
bark, spark, larks, parks
pranks, banks, slank & sank
clasp, hasp & rasp
implies, pries, lies
scallion & onions
rallies & relies
meager & eager
shape & mishapen
hell, shell, repels
slap, happen
maples, oaks, pines & elms
shopper, hopper & chopper
scream, cream & redeem
shrank, crank, plank & prank
linger, singer& ringer
ginger, singe & hinge
cleanse, lense & sense
sleek, meek & shriek
slim, limbs, & grim
prone, cone, bone & lone
skin, prim, sin & brim
reign, lane, mane & gain
millions, billions & gabillions
glimpse, limps, chimps & hemp
shock, locks & rocks
lapse, chasm, brash & crash
slipper, shipper, dipper
pains, gains, slain & plain
space, mace & grace
sigh, high & nigh
palace & malice
spring sprang, ring, rang, sing, sang...
hills, pills, chills...
sleep, peace, again, amen... blink.