Stones

Last night, Cas and I were asleep way before our usual time.  That's why it was so strange when the hailstorm started.  It was the worst one I have seen in my whole life, and from what I hear, most people in the area agree.  It was crazy loud, and the hailstones were massive.  I set a quarter next to one of them for scale.

This was the backyard: 

And the patio furniture that took a beating: 

It's a good thing Cas and I ordered up our new furniture last week.  It's actually on the way.  The umbrella came to us already, but the rest of the stuff hadn't arrived, so we didn't put anything out yet.  Excellent plan, as it turns out.  That umbrella needed to wait.  

When we got up in the morning, we checked out the house from the outside.  It looked pretty good.  It looked like everything was more or less perfect.  When I was at the hardware store picking up a light bulb, the cashier told me they had sold out of tarps.  Ouch.  

It was my extra day off.  I had a substitute teacher in my classroom, and while she was managing my students, I was managing the sudden and rather massive leaf collection that we had acquired on the sidewalk.  In fact, it had covered the sidewalk almost entirely.  I had to sweep a bit.  In fact, I filled up three trash bags just clearing a walking path the the mailbox.  

After the hailstones all melted and the sidewalk, Cas and I went to look at gemstones.  We started at one store, went to another store, ate a really nice lunch complete with noodle salad, then returned to the original store.  

I pretty much want this, except with a sapphire:

Of course, I would also want it to fit on my actual ring finger.  Since Cas told his mom on Monday that we're planning to get married, we are apparently free to shop for an engagement ring, now.  Of course, I want something totally different from everyone else in the world.  I want a sapphire, and I want it without a lot of embellishment.  We're working on it.  As much as Cas and I both hate shopping, the day was pleasant.  I guess we had the bigger picture in mind...