Tip: Do it in the summer. (If that’s all you needed, there you go. Story and explanation follow.)

Let’s start with the assumption that the majority of the population probably intends to wear engagement and/or wedding rings to mark those events in their life. I could write another whole post about my ambivalence on the subject. Despite this ambivalence, I have both.

In the last month, however, I’ve only been wearing my engagement ring. It makes me feel strange, just not as strange as if I weren’t wearing a ring at all. I realize what a different connotation it has. Engaged ain’t married.

The reason: the heat that’s been plaguing DC lately. My fingers always get fatter in the summer and the recent humidity has been making them almost fluffy.

We got engaged in the end of June (2006), so I had my ring sized for fat fingers (Delaware gets quite humid too). We got married in July but I got to weigh in on that ring and had it sized that March. It wasn’t humid at all and quite cool, so my fingers were their svelte selves.

On the first day of my honeymoon, I probably made Micah quite nervous by spending a lot of time taking off my ring. I’d fight with it, tug at it, finally get it off. Then I’d put it back on for another hour until I felt the panic again.

I’m not sure where it came from, but I was terrified that it’d be stuck on my finger and my finger would die and fall off. It was also uncomfortable, too tight and constricting.

This summer, I decided to avoid the discomfort and panic altogether by taking it off when the weather warmed up. I’ll put it back on in the fall.

It’d be smart for me to get the ring sized now that it’s summer, I just don’t have the same comfort with the area that I had in Delaware. After living there for years, I knew a trustworthy jewelry store. So maybe I’ll do it, maybe I’ll wait until I find a store I know and trust. I’ve got the engagement ring anyway.

But if when I do get it resized, I’m going to do it in the summer.

Save yourself time, money, frustration, and freaking out your spouse (though Micah’s quite understanding). When getting your rings, get them sized at a hot and humid time. It’s easier and cheaper to buy a little ring guard for the winter (if your fingers dramatically shrink in the cold) than to deal with this discomfort your whole life.

Am I the only one with this seasonal problem?