Faye, I can see why you wouldn't want to be without one because it's beautiful. The colour combination in that photo is very pleasing to my eye! Don, Dick Ward and Paul's Glory look like great pals! That has the makings of a beautiful friendship. :-) LuckyKat, your amazing specimens are the anchors in your garden! Really lovely gardens. Linda, that photo would do it for anybody! Gorgeous! I can see that I made a good choice! Thank you for sharing your photos. Jo

I'm weird, I guess - I rarely wear my ring. DH and I were "shacking up" at the time, and one day I told him in no uncertain terms that if I was to keep living with him, I ought to at least have an engagement ring, for heaven's sake. He agreed. We were poor folks, and I had a credit card, so we shopped and put my engagement ring on my credit card. Romantic, huh? We bought the kind that fit into the wedding ring, which we bought at the same time, but he kept that in a box in his dresser. The engagement ring had one "big" diamond and one "small" diamond, and the wedding ring had the other "small" diamond to mirror the engagement ring. They're not worth more than $200 all together, but who cares? I'm not a materialistic person. We've got diamonds and rings. About 2 years later, we had a modest, but very nice wedding. I got the two rings soldered together. We bought a plain gold band for him. He wears his every day, and after these 9 years, he can't take it off without a lot of effort and hasn't really tried. I got out of the habit of wearing mine during my 1st pregnancy when my hands swelled. I bought a plain gold band to wear instead, and would wear it as a wedding ring now (it'd have to be re-sized) but he says no, it's not our wedding ring. I find the diamond stuff gets in the way, and I only wear it when I go out somewhere special or care that people see that ring on my finger. As I said, I'm not a materialistic person. We could afford to get bigger diamonds now, I guess, but who cares? Why spend all that money on a freakin' rock?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If you have doubt about someone else's view of a phototgraphic image, or some other situation; try to breathe and relax, and when feeling more relaxed do ask them. You can ask your husband why he likes photography, or putting together particular images. You can find out directly from him in this kind of way, at least some of the whys. (He might have had some intentions which could help with your hurt feelings.) What do the photos mean to him, or what do they remind him of? (try to get his point of view about what he was thinking when he picked this or that photo). Feelings just are, and the challenge is to manage them as they occur. Just knowing and being aware of them is a good first step. P.S. New Years is coming up, and even regular days of the week in case that holiday is already spoken for; but you can share any ideas with him about how you can share some personal time-- or experience which could help a lot to reinforce that you are a unique and a valued person to him. (It's similar to that week in the mountains, but this kind of thing could be shorter and done for anniversaries and birthdays too-- or any time it is important to do).

I appreciate your comments and observations on the subject. I do see however, that I'm not the only one who suffers occasional thoughts about food offerings that are presented in group settings, as well as those line hogs who load their plates to overflowing leaving only bits and pieces for those in line behind them. I might also mention here that I have a special animosity for those trolls (of ANY age past toddler) who constantly hang around the serving table/line pre-serving time and continually snag a bit of this or that, maybe stuff a roll or biscuit with a piece of meat, etc. and if confronted, will try to explain it away with some flimsy excuse ("just thought I'd try it or my sugar was low and I had to eat something or I just wanted to see what it tasted like, etc.) It's even worse when they do it bare handed instead of using the service utensil provided. This includes those that visit the dessert table long before meal time to grab what they can, eat it and then go back for seconds after the meal. Yes, I'm weird that way and my wife constantly reminds me that just because we try to show off our "best" company manners in these situations, not everyone else does. We were invited to an annual Christmas party last week where everyone is invited to bring food. The selection is always eclectic to a degree with a plate of some meat and other dishes that range from vegetable to weird salad combinations. This time, the meat consisted of what appeared to be a very small plate of smoked turkey and from the fellow that apparently doesn't cook, two pepperoni pizzas. Some of the vegetable (?) dishes consisted of what appeared to be a lot of cheese, a grain or possibly rice with some unidentifiable green bits mixed in which was presumably broccoli. In any case, there were a lot more people than dishes so somebody(s) cheated and didn't bring anything. And just so I you won't think I'm bagging on others while not admitting to my own offerings, I brought tamales from a very good local Mexican restaurant in my area. Mind you, while I'll readily admit that I'm not usually the most adventuresome cook around, I always do try to provide a food offering that is rather benign in terms of weirdness, that is, a colorful green salad, some vegetable that's not drowning in cheese or an unnamed condensed soup, smoked ham, a seasonal fruit salsa and chips, etc. Again, thanks for your comments. Just glad to see that others suffer in silence at times just as I do. ;o)