Thursday, November 14, 2013

Diamond rings and the barn do not mix.

On Tuesday I wasn't going to ride, but our new boarder Natalie arrived at the barn just as I was finishing up with chores and got her new horse, Comic, all tacked up. I thought, hmmmmm, maybe I will tack Lucy up too! So I did, and we headed over to the indoor together and hopped on our horses. I let Lucy walk for a very long time, letting her stretch, then collecting her, then letting her stretch again. She felt so supple, and was responding to my inside leg nicely instead of leaning on it.

I picked up a little trot and she was a very good girl, so we moved onto the canter. She was great, especially to the right. I just love her.

I went home, made dinner, spent some time on the computer, and went to bed. Yesterday morning, I got up and went through my normal morning routine, but then could not find my wedding rings anywhere. I searched the whole house as fast as I could, looked in my car, and looked in/around my desk at work. No sign of them! Finally I called Kenny and broke the news to him. He asked me the age-old question: "When do you last remember seeing them?" I stared at him blankly. I had no idea!

I am horrible about taking them off without really thinking about what I am doing. I leave them laying around all the time. I am notorious for taking them off at the barn when I'm going to ride because they pinch my ring finger when I'm holding the reins. I was petrified that I had taken them off at the barn before my ride on Tuesday, put them in my jean pocket or jacket, and that they had fallen out somewhere at the barn.

After work yesterday, I zoomed to the barn and started searching. I looked through the whole barn, sifted through Lucy's bedding in case they had fallen out in her stall, looked in the barn driveway (which, of course, is rock/gravel), walked down the path to the indoor, and then did the famous zig-zag pattern through the whole indoor, scanning the footing as I walked.

NO SIGN OF THEM.

I contemplated the possibility that they had fallen out in the stall, she had eaten them, and they were going to be pooped out in her paddock. I was about ready to panic.

I found a friend who could hook me up with a metal detector so I decided to wait until I had the chance to search with that, especially in the indoor since the footing is so fluffy that it could easily cover up the rings if a horse walked close to where they fell. She wasn't going to be able to get me the detector until tonight (Thursday) or Friday at the earliest, though, so I resigned myself to being ringless and went home.

Once home, I was pretty cold from being out at the barn searching, so I went to my closet and pulled out a hot pink zip-up hoodie. I happened to be wearing it the night my rings went missing, too, and although I searched through my jean pockets, jacket pockets, pants I wore to bed (and even peeled back the sheets to see if they fell out of my pj pants pocket when I was sleeping!!), I forgot that I had put the sweatshirt on and so I didn't check it.

Well, in the pocket of the sweatshirt were my two rings, safe and sound. I must have taken them off when I was sitting at my computer, and slipped them into the pocket.

I felt so relieved and happy (and STUPID!) but I am just so glad they aren't lost.

To end this happy story, here is a photo of Lucy and her new lookalike boyfriend Comic Book ("Comic"), obviously having a dance-off:

photo by Maddy

17 comments:

  1. Wow, glad you found them! I hate the feeling of having lost something, especially as important as wedding rings! :) I have a little glass jar that I put mine in whenever I'm going to be working hard with my hands.

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  2. Been there, panicked over that! Same as Sarah, I now have a tiny tupperware container that sits in my grooming box. I'm glad you found them, that's a horrible, gut-wrenching feeling to not know where they are.

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  3. I'm so glad you found your rings. I hate that feeling!

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  4. I have been PARANOID about this exact thing ever since I got engaged! My ring is actually kind of tall, so I take it off whenever I'm at the barn. My problem is then that I usually leave it there and go home... which is a 40 minute drive.

    I've started trying to put it on a necklace I always wear, or sometimes on my keyring... both things that HAVE to go home with me, haha

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  5. I always lose mine, I set them int he house and don't remember where I put them. At the barn, I am too afraid to take them off because I won't remember where I out them. I try to leave them at home when I remember. Glad you found yours! The tupperware idea is a good one!

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  6. I put mine in my car in the middle thing (where ashtrays used to go, not the big one where your arm rests). Sometimes it sits in there for days but at least I know where it's at and can get to it. I can't ride with it on because it will turn on it's side and gouge out my finger. I also go through periods where I just wear my wedding band so I don't have to mess with it.

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  7. Phew! I am terrified of losing mine. That situation would have scared me terribly.

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  8. I nearly lost the diamond off my wedding ring while breaking ice last winter. Now that ring lives at home and I wear a $16 ring I picked up at Penny's this summer.

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  9. I LOVE that dance off picture!!

    I lose my rings sometimes but I usually find them in a pocket, in my purse or in the car. I don't wear mine at all when I work with the animals, so I've never lost it at the barn. I'm so happy you found yours!

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  10. I'm glad they showed up! I don't think I'll be allowed to wear rings when the time comes. I already lost one engagement ring... oops. That answers my question about your metal detector post last night...

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  11. Great you found them. I don't even wear my diamond anymore because of all I do, just a small wedding band I never have to take off.

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  12. I am NOTORIOUS for forgetting where I put my rings! I never wear rings to the barn, even if they're a simple band since I know they can still get caught and cause some real damage. I've trained myself to put my rings in one of 2 places: the cup holder in the car before I get out at the barn, or on top of the microwave (won't wash dishes with them on either).

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  13. I am always so worried to lose my wedding ring at the barn! One of my horses in middle school loved to suck on metal. Whenever the gelding would become anxious my mother would let him suck on her wedding ring. Well guess who's diamond got sucked off her ring, and guess who got to sift through poop for three days! Never found the diamond. Glad you found your rings safe and sound!

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  14. Prego brain!! :) glad you found it :)

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  15. I do that all the time with everything...thank god they weren't lost!

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  16. Wow, I am glad that you found them! Really hate that feeling. I don't even wear my diamond anymore during household services.

    Ladies Diamond Rings

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