Benefit

The benefit for Rachel was a lot of fun! I heard some great acappella groups, and I've made a mental note to try to get out to see them at a paid gig sometime in the not-too-distant future. I also saw the Jaztronauts play, and while I'd seen them before it was interesting to see them play in a non-swing venue. Buddy (the lead singer and sax player) is really good at interacting with kids in the audience!

At the silent auction, I bid on an afternoon flying raptors with a falconer that visits each year for the State Fair. I didn't want it $400 though, which is what it went for. It's not like I have any shortage of time spent around birds. :) I did bid on and get a certificate for two massages, a certificate for a professional photo enlargement, and a kiddie basket. I bid on the kiddie basket at the last minute, because no one had bid on it yet and the opening bid was only $15. There was a 500 piece jigsaw puzzle in it that looked interesting, and was probably worth the bid price. The basket also included an interesting Discovery Channel/Animal Planet DVD series on what scientists predict animals will evolve to millions of years into the future, a Mr. Rogers DVD, a Disney Princess Puzzle book, a couple of mermaid dolls, and a set of Monsters Inc collectable lithographs. I have no doubt that my nieces will happily take most of those items off my hands.

Today is National* Solve a Puzzle day. I hope you all celebrated accordingly.

(*I found this out from a Canadian comic strip, so take the 'National' part with the appropriate grain of sand.)

Toaster

One more thing about the benefit.

If you haven't seen pants_of_doom's space pirate decorated toaster here you should go look at it. When I was in the auction room, I heard more comments (all positive) about the toaster than about any other item. If there hadn't been anyone bidding, I would have bid on it. But since there were plenty of people bidding, I decided I would support Penny's artwork in ways that will directly benefit her (even if only a little). I think the toaster ended up going for over $40, though I stopped paying attention at around $30. So Penny, if that law school thing doesn't work out, there's clearly a market for space pirate toasters!