Hitting the Jackpot

We attended our church's annual fundraiser yesterday evening. It was titled, "The Red Carpet Gala." It was quite an affair, and we had a great time! There were literally dozens and dozens of items up for bid, but we weren't really interested in most of it. It was a silent auction where you could bid on things with your auction number, and then keep bidding against other anonymous people who also wanted to buy the item. Everyone was dressed to the nines, mostly. And, more importantly, it seemed that everyone was having fun. It definitely was a party, with about 350 families alltogether, perhaps more. It's the main social event in our church each year.

Another one of the prizes was winning tuition for a year at our school, and also the cash drawing. Tickets for each were $25, a bit on the pricey side, but tuition alone is worth about $1500, and the top cash prize was $3000. When purchasing tickets for the cash drawing, they asked how many we wanted to buy. I smiled back, responding, "We only need one, right?" We both laughed. Halfway through dinner, the tickets were drawn. Unbelievably, our ticket was drawn for the $3000 top cash prize! I didn't even know it until my wife said, "I think they just said our name." Sure enough, I could hear it loud and clear. They were calling my name, inviting me up onto the stage to accept the prize. Wow! I'm sure I was screaming like a school girl, I really don't remember. Of course, this was after having about 5 glasses of wine, so I was having fun. I was given given a huge check and had our picture taken on stage. Everyone was clapping. It was surreal. It was a euphoric moment. Even after sitting back down, with the remaining cash prizes and tuition being given away, we couldn't believe that we won the top prize. We've never won anything.

The night was winding down. We thought bidding on the Ireland vacation in the oral auction, but the bidding was out of our league, even after just having won $3000. We did contribute a sizeable donation to the church though, to help defray costs of installing a new heating and air conditioning system. It was the least we could do.

All in all, we still can't believe that we won the top prize. After taxes and the church contribution, we'll have about $1500 left over. Wow! Definitely not a life-changing sum of money, but a warm fuzzy nonetheless. What should we do? Should we go to Vegas and have a great weekend! We've never been to Vegas and have always thought it would a nice getaway. Should we buy new furniture? Should we save it for a rainy day? In the end, I'm not sure what we'll do with the newfound winnings, but it will definitely be a night we'll never forget!