Sparkles

My sister has a friend who’s into the whole new-age mystic healing stuff, and she warned Sis, upon hearing that we were going to the Gem Faire, that crystals put off energy, and it could mess with people who aren’t used being around it, so bring chocolate to stay grounded.

I have a hard time believing that, say, lapis lazuli (which is a rock, by the way, not a mineral, and therefore, not a crystal) gives off any energy except to make people say “oohh, pretty blue”–but, after leaving the Expo center, eating chocolate did make me feel better.  Of course, eating chocolate always makes me feel better.

The expo was a bit overwhelming.  There were TONS of people there, to the point that the entire parking lot was full (there was also a scrap-booking exposition, and a golf exposition) and things were pretty crowded.  It also didn’t take long for all the sparkling beads to get to be too much, so we just focused on jewelry that had already been completed, with some side adventures for valuable gemstones.  I loved all the ammonite, but that didn’t really surprise me–I’ve always had a thing for fossils, and I love the idea of fossils as jewelry.  I found a booth selling ammonite rings, and a ring made of–I don’t remember what it’s called, but people think it’s a fossil but it’s not.  It looks very ferney and delicate.  Dad, a little help here?

UPDATE:

Dad remembered the name of the formation–Dendrite, and I was able to search online for dendrite rings.  This isn’t the ring I fell in love with, obviously, the stone is different, but so is the housing, but it’s a close approximation:

The stone of the ring I fell in love with looked like an antique Japanese painting.  Very lovely, and Sis agreed that she could see me wearing it everywhere.

And back to the original post:

I wanted the not-fossil ring, but it cost $45, which I most definitely don’t have.  I did come away with a blue and orange beaded necklace, that’s long enough for a flapper.  I’ve been having fun figuring out different ways to wear it.

I also have to say, Dad, that I was reminding myself of you.  We were looking at a booth that had geodes and obsidian and stuff like that, and I saw some cross sections of stalactites.  I mentioned to Sis that the stalactites bothered me, I didn’t like the idea of cutting up a cave for cheap trinkets. (Okay, so I didn’t notice the price, they could have been very expensive trinkets.  They were pretty–they looked like the inside of a geode.  But still…)

Okay, so on to the news from yesterday.

Uncle Ornery, one of my mom’s brothers (not his real name, obviously) was scheduled to have minor surgery yesterday.  In bout of stupidity that has lasted a couple of years, he lost, among other things, his driver’s license.  So, Mom’s been acting as his personal chauffeur.  She took him to the hospital in the town 50 miles away from where she lives (35 from where he lives), dropped him off, and headed home.  Just as she got home, she got a phone call, basically Ornery saying that they weren’t going to operate, that his white-blood cell count was too high, and the doctor thought it might be leukemia,  “but I’ve got another ride home, so don’t worry about me.”  Ornery had an appointment at the Huntsman Cancer Institute today for more tests.

Long story short, it’s not leukemia, his red-cell count was too high as well.  So, they took some blood, and scheduled another appointment for two weeks.

I guess I should also mention my Grandpa in all of this.  A few years ago, Grandpa began showing all of the symptoms of leukemia, but tests revealed that he was cancer free, month after month, and year after year.  I’ve never heard a name put to what Grandpa has, but his appointments at the Huntsman Cancer Institute have gone from every two weeks to every three months. Also, grandpa’s only sister died of leukemia.  So, there is a genetic predisposition towards the disease.

I don’t really know what’s going to happen.  Because of the stupidity, Uncle Ornery lost his health insurance, his cattle (which were his main source of income) and most of his money.  He’s said that if this gets too expensive to treat, he’s just not going to do it–but he doesn’t want a handout from the government.

I’ve been avoiding the whole health care reform debate, but I think that this discovery is very timely for Uncle Ornery. If a deal to lease his water rights goes through, he’ll be given a considerable income, and now, insurers can’t turn him down for having a pre-existing condition.

Anyway, I don’t want to turn this into a big debate over health care, and even if I mentioned that particular caveat to Ornery, he’d still grumble about how democrats are ruining this country…

Of course, it’s not coincidence that I gave him the code name of Ornery…

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