Remember Make Room for Crazy? Anybody? Hello?
Yes, that.
Way back before the stink bugs had invaded, before the Steelers lost a quarterback . . . or two or three, even before Chester and Hannah had dusted off their running shoes, Virginia and I had found ourselves on two very different sides of the Pirates Baseball fence. She had loaded up her bandwagon and was convinced that with a margarita or three, she could be sure that they would FINALLY have a .500 or better season. I, the voice of reason and sobriety, knew it would never happen. Not that I didn't want it to happen--I did. It's just that I had finally reached the point of recognizing the one-sided abusive relationship for what it was. The Nuttings don't care if the Pirates ever win. They have no interest in changing their ways. I could walk away, or I could continue to stand there and take the abuse.
I walked away.
But, there were some days that I wondered if maybe Virginia was right. OK, so there was like one day, way back in April. But! But! I really did think it would be sort of close, right up until it was painfully obvious that I must have caught a whiff of all those margaritas. Contact drunk, if you will.
Frankly, the battle lost all of its joy several weeks before Virginia finally admitted defeat and drove that burning bandwagon off a bridge and into the Monongahela. I wanted to be wrong.
There will be no gloating. Remember this moment--I'm not gloating. I did not lead you astray. I'm here for you should you need someone to talk to. I LOVE YOU, DAMMIT. (The reason for this blatant moment of butt-kissing will become obvious very soon. DON'T FORGET THAT I LOVE YOU BESTEST. Ahem.)
Anyway, the only potential for joy still remaining in the Pirate's season is to hand out prizes to those lucky enough to win them. At least somebody is winning something. Ahem. So, I took names of all of those who donated to Team No, made random.org do a little magic, and came up with 25 winners of fun and fabulous prizes. If you're one of them, you'll be getting an email from me in the next 24 hours asking for your mailing address or confirming your contact information. Emails will be going to whatever address you have listed on your PayPal account. You'll have 48 hours to reply before I go find somebody else to give some loot to.
The winners are:
Scarehouse--Ghost Hunters RIP package
Winners: Jessica B
IKEA-Pittsburgh--One POANG chair
Winner: Kayla D
Pittsburgh Glass Center--One two-hour workshop for two people
Winner: Nicole T
Tan 360--$50 gift card
Winner: Jen L
A Pirates Fan Pack (courtesy Dineen)
Winner: Kimberly Z
MLB.com/PittsburghPirates.com (courtesy Ex-Pat Pittsburgh Girl)--$50 gift card
Winner: Nicole K
Bocktown Beer and Grill--$25 gift card
Winner: Karen D
Las Velas--Two $25 gift cards
Winners: Bobby M, Deanna C
Access Closing Group--Bonfire Gift Pack (all the fixings for s'mores and roasting hotdogs and such)
Winner: Mike P
TGIFridays--15 Prize Packs
Winners: Leslie C, Brian M, Amy H, Mark C, Jennifer M, Alandra K, Alecia M, Jara D, Anthony N, Jack P, Jim S, Jan O, Lisa J, Melissa D, Kenneth C
Huge thanks to each and every one of our sponsors for making this moment of happiness possible, and a huge thanks to all of you who donated to Make Room for Crazy. You guys are the real reason Virginia and I are able to continue to make some magic for kids all over Pittsburgh.