I'm back from LA....

[Jenny]

Hey everyone,

Looks like I missed some troublesome threads while I was gone. Thank you to everyone who emailed me about the problem. Luckily, Heather took care of things (thanks, Heather!).

Anyway, I went to the jewelers on Monday and saw the ruby earrings set in 14k gold (for $325). The rubies were a beautiful color, but they seemed a bit too small to me. I asked for the jeweler to get the same or higher quality rubies (she said they were AAA, I think) and have them set it 18k gold. I also said it was OK if she finds some stones that are just a bit larger. She is going to have some stones for me to look at when I'm back in LA June 10, and the new price (with the larger stones & higher qual gold) will be around $400. I'll pick the stones that week, then she'll do the setting for me and I'll take a picture of them for you all (hopefully) before getting them to Michelle. I'm thinking at this point I might try to drive out to Frank's new training center myself and make sure that Michelle (or someone close to her) gets them.

In the meantime, I think we should start working on the note that we want to include with this gift. Of course she'll know that it's from all of her fans at MKF, etc, but it would be nice to also include something about why we chose this gift. Some things that have been stated already:

--ruby is her birthstone
--set in gold in honor of her gold medal at worlds
--she looks great in red
--a lot of her costumes have been red
--"a price above rubies" (or some quote like that that I saw one of you post somewhere!!)

What else???
Anyone want to put all of these ideas together in a nice letter or poem or something??
Should we include an MKF username list, possibly with everybody's gender & location so Michelle can know more about us?

[AYS]

Wow, that's a lot to think about. Thanks for keeping us posted.:)

I'll be back to weigh in everything when I have a little more time. I'd be happy to write a letter, or help with it, but don't ask me to do poetry!:O

[skatingfan]

I think we should include the usernames, male or female and location + whatever we want to let MK know about us.

[XPEG]

I think it's a very good idea to personally deliver the earrings to somebody who you can trust to see that Michelle gets them. $400 earrings shouldn't just be dropped off casually. I also like the line "a price above rubies." It would be nice to include that in our message. The username list is a good idea too.

Great job you're doing. Thanks.

[Beth2000]

Sorry I can't help with the stories or poems but I do agree that you should include all of the usernames and where we are from and also our sexes and ages. You are doing a great job keep up the good work.

[michellesmom]

"The Leader's Code" by Linda Rae Chappell

I Am Honest. I communicate the truth in my words and actions.

I Am Responsible. I am a person of my word. I am dependable and sincere.

I Am Positive. I have a good attitude. I approach each challenge with confidence.

I Am Fair. I treat individuals equally, patiently, and respectfully.

I Am Dedicated. I work hard for what I believe in. I set goals and achieve them.

I Am Patient. I have time to listen to others. I try to understand people and situations as thoroughly as possible.

I Am Kind. I take time to be a friend, give a hug, show I care.

I Am Energetic. I set a good example by approaching situations enthusiastically. I go the extra mile.

I Am Respectful. I am sensitive to the feelings of others. I treat individuals sincerely, consistently, seriously.

I Am Creative. I am not afraid to take chances with new ideas. I am spontaneous, flexible, innovative.

[Valerie]

I am picturing her wearing them at some competitions! Can you imagine how cool it would be? We'd be screaming and probably crying if we see her wear them! :)

[Calum]

The quotation comes from the Bible:

But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?
Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.
The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me.
It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.
It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold.
No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for <!--EZCODE BOLD START--> the price of wisdom is above rubies.<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->
The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold.
Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?

Job 28 v. 18 (King James Version).

P.S. "A Price Above Rubies" is the title of a movie starring Renee Zellweger.

[kwanluv]

Thanks for the update Jen!!!

I'm also glad you'll be delivering the rubies in person, that's a nice touch ;)

I'm no poet, so I can't help with the note...but there are many here who can I'm sure :)

Bye the Bye...any word from MK's people about our messages that were sent?? Do you know if she got them yet?

[TaraLipinski87]

Thatnks for the update!

[Sharon]

Everything sounds great; larger stones, 18K, personal delivery, MKF list, poem....it's also in honor of TRV program, right?

THANKS SO MUCH :) !

[Kara]

Sounds good Jenny! Bigger stones and better gold - that sounds like what MK deserves:) . Thanks, again, for all your effort. To answer your questions...

We need to metion that in addition to red being one of her favorite colors, both of her costumes this year were red and she won her 3rd WC with The RED Violin.

Also, there's another Biblical quote about the worth of a good woman being above rubies. I don't know which everyone wants. I think the one I mean is more from the perspective of a male looking for an honest wife, though. But, we could use both...I think the other one could be cut down a little bit, too...esp. if we're now going to list all our names...but didn't we already do that in the letters??? I thought that would be like the card. Does she really need to re-read all of our names and cities again? Seems redundant and unecessary to me. But, maybe there's a need to do this now, so I'll go check the other thread since I haven't looked at this page in a little while. I wonder if she knows we're doing this:) .

[skatingfan]

That is the proverbs chapter 31 woman.

Since Mk is still so young and she does not even have a bf yet, to quote proverbs 31 for her is
a bit premature.

BTW, Kara, I miss you, haven't seen you for a while, where have you been?

[Jenny]

Thanks, everyone, for your wonderful input (as usual!)!!

I haven't heard from anyone whether or not Michelle received our messages while she was in CA for the tour. If I don't hear something soon, I will call Shep's office again to find out.

I just posted this in the other update thread, but I'll repost here:
As for sending our names, I wish I had thought to tell everybody last time to include their gender/age/location, but I didn't do that and most people did not include that info in their message to Michelle. So, I thought it would be cool for Michelle to see how diverse all her fans are by including a little list, but I'm not sure we'd have time to compile something like that. We'll have to save that for another time. Also, you are right that the messages we already sent are her "card" for the earrings, but the gift is from everyone at MKF, not just people who wrote a message last time (since some people are new, missed that thread, etc).

[Calum]

Kara and skatingfan are right. Proverbs 31:10 says: "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies." But this quotation is really about a virtuous wife. There is another quotation about rubies in Proverbs 3:15-18, below. The "she" in this proverb refers to wisdom rather than to a person, however:<blockquote><hr>
She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.
Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.
Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.
She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.<hr></blockquote>

[Kara]

Oh, well, then should we just not use either of them since MK is obviously neither a wife or Wisdom itself:) ? (Thanks Calum!) They sound nice, but maybe they don't fit well enough.

Hmmm, so what are we going to do about the names then?

Skatingfan- Thanks so much for missing me:) ! Wow, you actually *missed* me...hmm, that's really nice to know! I love it here, but sometimes there's so many thread it gets overwhelming, ya know? I'm around, though, and over at FSW and on email. I would never abandon MKF:D . Actually "real-life" friends can barely even talk to me anymore b/c I'm always here and tieing up the phone line! Hehe. But, really, I appreciate that you said that...leave it to MKF to make you feel good about everything. Have a good weekend!

[taf2]

I think Calum's quote is perfect.