$81 & a copy of "Boogie Nights"
Yesterday, I told Mick I wouldn’t call him right at noon - I had an errand to run. The night before, I took the rings out of my jewelry box and slipped them into my purse - three wedding bands. I drove around the corner from work to a pawn shop. I walked in and smiled, declared I wanted to sell my rings.
I had the set of the original wedding bands - simple white gold bands bought at Wal-Mart. The third band was the last gift Shawn ever gave me - for my birthday in 2012. I’d lost over 50 pounds by that point and I couldn’t wear my wedding band anymore. We fought about that - I’d wear it on a chain around my neck; he wanted me to “wrap” the ring and keep wearing it on my hand. For my birthday, he bought me a cheap little band - I think he paid $11 for it - so I would keep visibly wearing a wedding band.
We separated two weeks later.
When he moved out, he left his wedding band behind. I held out, hoping for gold prices to crazily spike up again, but they never did. Later this month, Mick & I are driving to Virginia for his daughter’s wedding and the budget is tight for the trip. I decided to cash in the rings now.
I explained to the woman behind the counter why I had three, and she quietly asked if I lost the weight before or after I left him. “Before!”, I merrily exclaimed, “I had to get my head straight to do that!” She offered $80 for the matching bands, and sheepishly offered $1 for the third band. I said okay, and she asked if I didn’t just want to keep it instead. I shrugged and pointed out that it was a dollar I didn’t walk in with - I just wanted to get rid of them, and hope they brought someone else better luck.
She pointed out a survey they offered, and since I had a smartphone, if I did it in the store, I could pick out a movie from the wall of DVD’s. I did so, and out of the sad sad pawn shop movie collection, “Boogie Nights” was the only thing that caught my eye.
I’m using the money to buy myself a proper pair of sandals - Birkenstocks - as I have no summer footwear at all. I’ll wear them to the wedding this month - my bursitis in my foot precludes any fancy, saucy, sexy footwear. But I can get a new pair of shoes and a simple dress, sport a pedicure and smile at his daughter’s wedding. We are renting a car and driving, getting a room on the way to break up the monotony of the trip. His mother booked us a room at Virginia Beach - she is very generous with both of us, so we’re staying in the same beachfront hotel with her. Left to our own devices, we’d have booked the Super 8 again way out on Willoughby Spit. It isn’t a bad place, and it is sort of beachfront. That is, you can SEE the beach from the parking lot, but you have to walk waaaay around to access it.
On the way back, we are taking a long scenic route - back in the spring, we kept seeing all these signs about oysters for sale, but we were still pretty far from the ocean so we balked. After doing some research, I found that area is renowned for the river oysters. We’d like to circle back around and try them. We are going to camp in Douthat State Park for one night, then head back to Louisville. We are renting a car for the trip - with the saved gas costs, it is cheaper than driving his truck, and I need to leave my car for our dog-sitter. My old roommate, Heather, is staying at the house for two weeks. We are driving to eastern Kentucky to pick her up the Sunday before we leave, then taking her home the weekend after we return from Virginia. It seems an extreme measure for the dog, but after the experience of boarding her earlier this year, I have to find another way to care for her when we leave. She forgot ALL her housebreaking after a week at the kennel. That was nearly 4 months ago and we still have to watch her when she tries to wander alone into the basement. Poop Central!
It’ll be good for Heather. She is going to contact the coffee shop where she used to work to see if they want her to pick up a few hours. She has had a rough time since she left Louisville - she still hasn’t found work up there - and this will give her a chance to say hello to all her old friends. The upstairs bedroom is really nice - we’ve had several people sleep up there since we tore up the old carpet and decluttered in there.