It was a Christmas miracle.......

So, I figured I'd start out my first post-Christmas entry with a little weight-loss/holiday related story.....


There I was in the wee hours of Christmas morning, cleaning up after my very first hosting (a very successful hosting if I may say so myself!) of the super Italian Vigilia di Natale......wrapping up leftovers, cleaning off the table, washing the crystal and the china and the good silverware.  
Oh, and yes,  waiting for Santa.....

The remnants of a long night at the table! 

When what to my wondering eyes did appear?
A missing wedding ring!  


To explain....my wedding ring set has 3 pieces.....here's what they are supposed to look like.....

Sorry for the blurry pix....I extracted a close-up from another picture!

When I looked down at my rings....the top ring was missing.
I left like I was ready cry, my knees got wobbly and I could feel my head start to spin.  
After having such a lovely evening, I could not believe it was ending this way!!!  
 
Hey, it was bound to happen.
You see, I never got them resized after losing weight.
This is actually my second wedding ring set.
I grew out of my original wedding ring set as my weight escalated.
After having them expanded three times over a period of about 20 years, we gave up and went with a simple wedding band.....in a ginormous size to fit my chubby little finger.
Then, in celebration of our 26th Anniversary Cruise and the fact that I had lost about 75 pounds, Carmen surprised me with this beautiful set.  
At the time, it fit just perfectly.  
However, as I lost the remaining weight and my body adjusted to the weight loss and it redistributed across my body, they began to get loose.  
I really did mean to get them resized.....I really did
Even though I talked about it a gadzillion times, I never did it.
Maybe it was just another left over fat-girl behavior......I never believed I'd really keep the weight off.  
You know, I should have had them resized.  
I really should have believed in my Lapband.   
But, I didn't. 

So, anyway, there I was---in the wee hours of Christmas morning....standing in my kitchen.....looking down at my finger and my heart was sinking.  
I looked everywhere for that ring.....everywhere.   
Finally, at around 5 am, I gave up the search and crawled into bed.....vowing not to put a damper on Christmas Day by telling anyone about it or by pouting all day long.   

Christmas morning was a whirlwind of gift opening and brunching and getting ready to head off to my sister's for our family celebration.   
I kept my secret to myself......

Opening gifts......

Having brunch.....

 In the hustle and bustle of getting out of the house to go to my sister's, I realized that I had forgot to pack up some of the salad fixings that I was in charge of.  
I didn't have time to search for a bag to put everything in so I just grabbed one of the gift bags I stuffed under the loveseat from the night before (yes, that's how I cleaned up...I put things under the couches!).
And, there, in that random gift bag from Christmas Eve was my wedding ring.  
Yes, it was a Christmas miracle.  

And, it was a Happily Ever-After Christmas!