Mission Accomplished!

So, after finding the perfect ring, finding it was too big, returning it, searching for weeks, and one near hit that became a miss, we found a ring for Billy.

You may notice that it is not the same ring that we picked out initially. So you'll also notice that this one could not be mistaken for a piece of hardware found at the local Home Depot (Mom...). But it's still Armani, and Billy loves it.

I got home Wednesday, after my search and subsequent disappointment with regard to the "Nut Ring," as it was titled by the seller, to find Billy in front of the computer, the bright primary colors of eBay glowing on the screen before him. "I found a bunch of rings," he announced as I dropped my purse and coat on the couch behind him. "Come look at them and pick one out." He was telling the truth: On his "Watched Items" list was no less than ten rings, all in his size and all to his liking. He had narrowed the search for me, and left it my hands to pick out the final ring for him.

But the way he made me click on this particular ring first, and how he reminded me (over and over again) that it was his size, told me that he took a particular shine to this one. He liked the weathered silver, the leather in the middle of the band, and probably liked the fact that the "Emporio Armani" logo wasn't splashed across the outside of the ring, but sat like a secret on the inside of the band.

So I clicked "Buy It Now."

And PayPal wouldn't work.

We contacted the seller and advised him (or her?) that we bought it, and would pay for it just as soon as PayPal decided to cooperate. For three days PayPal told us to try again later. It gave us so much grief that I finally contacted the seller again and told him/her that I'd have to send a check.

Then, late on Saturday night, we tried PayPal one last time.

And it worked!

So, in a few days, we'll get a package in the mail containing Billy's long-overdue birthday gift. He'll be a marked man, wearing the ring that I gave him. Finally.