I am Finally a Winner!

The Winner!

posted by Melissa Baumgart
I went to Bingo yesterday.  Me, and three kids.  Turns out Bingo (which is still gambling, isn't it?) is open to anyone 10 years old and up.  They just have to have a guardian there over the age of 18.  Works for me, I needed someone to go with and the kids can be pretty fun (sometimes.)

After being to Bingo once before, the kids not only looked to me as the wise adult that I am, but as an expert in the game of Bingo as well.  We each got our own cards and daubers and set up near the football game.  Levi thought he would be able to watch the game, but little did he know the intense concentration that Bingo demands.

During the first game, the kids were a mess.  "Help me, I need help!"  "I am so behind, what number was called?'  "I am so nervous."  "This is so hard, I don't know what I am doing."  And various other cries for help were uttered by two of them, Lily seemed fairly comfortable and held her own.  After a couple games were played, they all got into a groove and settled down to win some money.  They were feeling lucky, and it was announced before each game.

Levi, deep in concentration.

Turns out the kids luck ran dry and they didn't win, but I did!  I won on a blackout game, 1st consolation prize.  Someone else got a Bingo at the same time, so we had to split the $50.00 prize and I won $25.00.  It wasn't the $300.00 I almost won last week, but it still felt good to be a winner.  Real good.

So good in fact, that after we got home from afternoon Bingo, I was rearing to go back to the 7pm game.  We all were, so me, Lily and Levi all jumped back in the van and headed north to 220th St. Bingo!  We chatted all the way up about what we would do if we won big, since the night games pay more.  As we pulled into the parking lot, it seemed dark.  And empty.  NO!  It couldn't be.  Was it closed?

Our sidewalk today.

Indeed, as we drove up in front of the door, the headlights of our minivan illuminated a plain piece of paper with red hand-written marker (not neatly) writing spelling it all out, "7PM Bingo Closed due to snow."  Snow?!  There was no snow!  We drove out of the parking lot, deflated and not quite sure what to do without Bingo.

We drove home and settled for a Family Movie Night.  We watched A Life In A Day, and it was liked by all, but I am pretty sure it paled in comparison to the $900.00 we were going to win at Bingo.

I love how short this snowman makes
me look.

The best news of all though, is that we woke up this morning to true snow.  The neighborhood we live in,  Capitol Hill, got at least 5-6 inches.  That is a lot of snow for Seattle.  The kids had a ball today, building snow people, sledding, and packing snow into forts for a snowball fight that went way into the darkness of the early Seattle night.  I even went out in the snow (I usually opt not to for some reason, I guess I am typically not prepared when it comes to warm clothing) and couldn't help but laugh and smile at everything.  I wonder if snow is as magical in a place that gets snow all winter, to is it because we live in a city where snow is a special and rare event.

Oh, and I lost on both my PowerBall tickets from yesterday.  And when I went to cash in my last scratch-off ticket that I thought I won $25.00 on, they guy just looked at me after scanning it and said, "You are not a winner."  And I thought, "Oh yeah buddy, well, you must not know me then.  Cause I believe (against all odds) that I am!"

-Melissa