musings: October 2009

This picture is blurry, but decidedly my favorite--I was too bashful to get a better one.

The Adventure
Ok, so we've been looking for the gift for the senior girls for the soccer banquet at the JSMB in a couple weeks. We wanted to get a silver ring engraved, but it became quickly apparent that was beyond our budget. So we decided to look for a small silver pendant we could get engraved. Which should be easy as you see them everywhere and affordable.) Over the past 4-5 days we (we being mostly my mom, accompanied sometimes by me or Lydia) have checked 2 stores in Fashion Place Mall, The Vug jeweler, Freshman's jeweler supply, Michael's, Puma Beads, a wholesale bead store in Sandy, Fairy Beads, a trophy engraving store, online, pets mart, Ma and Paws Bakery (all the collar tags were shaped like fish or bones, etc), as well as got the name and emailed a lady who makes jewelry for a local boutique, and ended up at Robert's today.

So by the time we got to Robert's this afternoon we were ready to admit defeat even though the search had now reached epic quest proportions. (The one or two things we found that did work were way beyond our budget, and though there are metal discs in jewelry everywhere the are all already engraved/stamped with words like "love, cherish, dream, and karma".) At Robert's we check the bead stuff and the scrapbook stuff with nothing, so we asked if they had engraving equipment which they did, but no discs/pendants, nada (shocking, I know). So after hearing the negative response to our inquiries my Mom said basically the only other option we had was to go to a metal place and get something cut. Next thing you know the lady shopping next to us was "Not to eavesdrop, but there's this great sheet metal place, and they're wonderful...". Praises be to her. We went right down and found the store.

They guys in there all though we were nutters, but could not have possibly been nicer. The first guy led us to their scrap bin of plugs that have been punched out of metals. It was seriously like a cave a wonders. We started sorting though them, and found some possibilities, but most were too thick. So when we asked if they could punch us out something this size, but this width, they looked at us slighty mystified, but said "Sure, we can just do that for you". So they did. I haven't been that happy and giddy in weeks. I haven't been as excited by anything since we went to the rock store on Main street and I realized for $400 one could buy drill that would put a hole in a diamond. I find something very empowering about being able to cut/put holes in hard things. Anyway, we were as thrilled as could be and were positively glowing and giggling quite a bit. We came away with our plugs aka pendants as well as a box of souvenirs from the cave of wonders that we are tickled pink with. And they didn't charge us a penny and left us with a parting sentence of "Well, if you ever need any other weird things just come and tell us."

So compared to that the other hurdles we still have to cross in what I have begun to affectionately refer to as "the dang necklaces" are nothing and now we have a metal store!

Me with no neck in front of the guy/machine cutting our plugs.