and we have a winner!

I'm not much of a gambler.  And definitely not an advocate for raffle tickets.  I like substance. Certainty.  Especially when it comes to fund raising.  I would much rather try to sell my neighbor a $5.00 hershey bar that they can buy at the drug store for $.50 than to peddle a book of raffle tickets for free time share trips to Sweden which they will never win and probably wouldn't want to go on anyway. But I digress. Sort of.

This week we've been lavishing in the elementary school book fair.  (Mentioned subtly in last post).  Well, they've been selling raffle tickets at the fair and it's a huge hit with the second graders.  I've been trying my best to explain to Gage that I would much rather spend $15 on a book that we can read and which a portion of the proceeds will go to the school library than to simply drop $10 on raffle tickets for which we'll surely get nothing.  Didn't work.  He bought TWO raffle tickets.  With his own money.  And he made two trips to do it.  He went during snack time and bought one ticket. Then, he went back during lunch and bought a second.  Same day.  Think it just made him feel good to go twice.  Anyway, he had great expectations. "Quinn won a flip camera last year!... I might win a wii!.. We have to go to the Cafe on Thursday night to see if I win!" 

Cut to the chase?  We didn't go to the Cafe.  I spent over $100 on books for the entire family for which I have absolutely no regrets and Gage bought two $1.00 raffle tickets.  Tonight at 8pm our phone rang.  A little late for a phone call round here but it was our dear friends from up the block calling from the car.  Guess what, Gage?  "You won a....

LULULEMON WATER BOTTLE."

And. The. Crowd. Went. Wild!!!!!

He was ecstatic.  Running, jumping, screaming.  You would have thought he won a wii for each and every child in his class.

But wait.  It gets better.  (It usually does.)

Then.  "We have even better news for you, Gage", we hear from the car full of girls.

"IT'S PINK!"

Disappoinment?  NEVER.  The kid was still on top of the world.  I told him I'd be happy to take it as would his sister but NO.  He wants his pink lululemon water bottle all to himself.  And he doesn't care what anyone has to say about it.  Because he beat the odds, dammit.  And he won (snicker) a pink lululemon water bottle.

Remind me to bring the camera to school tomorrow for when we redeem our prize...