The draw

I won a prize today in a raffle at work, which is really weird. For me, winning prizes in raffles or draws just doesn't happen. You know how some people tend to win almost every raffle that they enter? I'm the opposite. I don't win. Ever.

I've only ever won a draw one other time; and I suspect that that experience soured me on draws for life.

I was a bit of a tomboy as a kid. I grew up in the country, and even as a preteen, would rather be climbing trees or getting dirty than playing with makeup or chasing boys. My mother was apparently concerned that I'd never grow up to be a lady, because she signed me up for an etiquette and presentation class.

Do I seem like somebody who would want to spend my Saturday afternoons learning to walk in heels or mastering which fork to use?

Good. It wasn't my thing back then either. (Although, for the record, all of those skills did come eventually... just maybe a little later than they did for others.)

Anyway, on this particular Saturday, the time had come to drive into town and go to this class, and I'd done what any smart girl would do: I'd taken off. I had met up with a friend of mine at a massive mud puddle near her house, and we were having a ball racing painted toothpicks down a little stream that was running down the hill to an even bigger mud puddle. If I remember correctly, I was knee deep in the muddy water (But my toothpick was ahead!) when my mom drove up.

She wasn't very happy.

Mom told me to Get In The Car. Now. I wasn't given a chance to change clothes or clean up; I was just loaded into the car, driven into town, and dropped off for class. Of course, that was the day that we were to learn about manicures. The teacher put all of our names in a hat, and the name that was drawn got a free manicure while the rest of the class watched. Guess who won that draw?

Just guess.

Come on, you can do it.

I'll give you two guesses.

And a hint.

You're reading her blog.

Yep, on the day when I was looking very similar to Pigsty from the Peanuts cartoon, I won a free manicure. I looked down at my hands, and that was the first time that I remember wishing that I'd taken a little more care with my presentation. My hands were filthy and there was mud caked under my nails. The manicurist bravely scraped some of it away and then the teacher suggested that I go down the hall and wash up before we continued.

And from that day on, having clean hands with well manicured nails has been of vital importance to me. I don't dye my hair. I don't wear make up. I tend to dress on the casual side. But dammit, my nails always look good.

All because I won that stupid draw.

And today, 25 years later, I won another draw: a gift certificate to Pier1. I checked, and my hands were clean. My hair was combed, my fly was up and my teeth were brushed too. I think I had the cleanliness and presentation factor covered.

I'm pretty excite about the prize too. I'm looking forward to going to Pier1 on Saturday, and wandering the aisles to decide what I want. Right now, I'm thinking place mats for the new table; but I'm going to keep an open mind until I see what they've got. They've got some pretty cool stuff, and I'm really looking forward to picking something out.

And then after that I'm thinking that maybe I'll give Jen a call to see if she wants to race toothpicks.