What's your jewelry box?

I swear, I'm not asking because I plan to track you down from your IP address and break into your house when you're away at church ... or anything.

I'm just curious because I think there's a lot of meaning in our jewelry cases. Even those of us who don't think of ourselves as coveters of extravagant gems are still really attached to some piece of adornment in our possession, be it manufactured or mined. It might also be something that's not jewelry but tucked in there for safe keeping. Or, it could be something that might belong in a jewelry box but is hanging out in some other location ... like the dashboard ledge of your car ... *ahem.*

I have a bunch of rings - mostly plastic but some glass - that mean more to me than my engagement ring. (And I swear, there is a jeweler out there worth her weight in gold for having to size a surprise engagement ring using a half-dozen adjustable toys dumped out onto her display case by a clueless, but hopeful, groom-to-be ... but that's another story).

See, I'm a sucker for the kind of gaudy, toy rings one might purchase in chintzy gifts shops and tourist spots if one were, say, eight years old. In my collection I have about a dozen holiday rings with witches and bats and snowmen and snow globes. I have a ring that's a working level. I even have a slew of colorfully painted plastic rings shaped like hearts, circles, ovals and squares. I get one each summer when we visit my mother-in-law in Maine.

I even have two tempered glass equivalents, that were still a bargain at more than three-times the price of a toy. I bought one in orange and one in blue to match slings I wore when toting The Champ around when he was an infant. One has since been retired after it chipped at a stress point. The other remains perfectly unblemished despite having never left my finger.