(no subject)

We had to go to Commerce this afternoon so Justin could file some more paperwork, and then we drove around town aimlessly. In the "Historic Downtown" (EVERY town in Texas has a "Historic Downtown," even if the damn place was founded in the '50s) there was a five and dime that was still in business, and had the same stock, and was untouched. Walking inside was like stepping back into 1972. It was crazy weird. They sold pocket handkerchiefs and Bryl-Creem and mineral oil as a personal care item and coloring books and 1970s replacement inserts for Thermos vacuum bottles and yarn and crochet patterns for ponchos featuring models with Farrah Fawcett hair and hairnets and teacups and vinyl tablecloths by the yard. It was like going into the storage room in my grandmother George's house, back before she went in the nursing home and Tina took over the house. So very odd and vaguely nostalgic but not really in a good way. I was saying "Wow." for like fifteen minutes after we left.

I half expect to return in a few weeks and the store not there, not even a sign that it USED to be there, something completely different there and looking settled as all hell. I feel through a gate into the life of a small-town Texas housewife in 1972.

(no subject)

Oh yeah, last night at work I dropped my engagement ring and the stone fell out. Justin managed to get it back in (it's a tension mount, no prongs or anything) but we're worried about it happening again. We're kind of half-heartedly shopping for a replacement. It just feels wrong to replace it. I've had it for a long time, and it's My Ring, you know? Even though it's only a $10 bit of silver and cubic zirconia.