And the winner is..... ME!?!

I discovered early this morning (on my Facebook page, of all things!) that I am the winner of THIS incredibly beautiful dinner set from Earthborn Pottery!!!! WOW! I'm really excited. :)
Thanks so much to Rachel and her fun contest celebrating her first bloggy anniversary! And thank you to Tena Payne who designed -- and donated -- the pottery!

I'm not usually one to win the big giveaways, the random drawings... or the lottery, for that matter. But on a few rare occasions in my life, I've experienced a few lucky streaks!
It may have started on Thanksgiving Day, circa 1989, as I listened to WDJC, hoping for my chance to win Michael W. Smith's new "I 2 Eye" tape. Yes, tape, as in cassette tape.... the little, rectangular plasticy thing with the delicate ribbon of tape that you.... ah, never mind. Not important.
I was listening intently to the radio because the DJ was supposed to play a new "Smitty" song, and whoever was the first to call when it played was the winner. Well, due to my speedy dialing (or the fact that it was Turkey Day, and no one else was likely paying any attention at all to the radio that evening), I won! I jumped around and giggled like a crazy person. My mom and my grandmother thought I'd lost it. They could not believe that I was that excited about a silly little tape. Of course, it was more than that silly little tape.... I was excited that I'd actually won something! I'd never won anything before! I thought, "Wow, maybe my luck has changed, and this is just the beginning of a long streak of big wins!"
Well... I guess my luck wasn't all that great... because it wasn't until February 2007 that I won something again.
Funny enough, it was another radio contest. I was listening to the... uh, was it the Mark and Mack show? Anyway, they had a Valentine's contest running in which you were supposed to e-mail them a letter stating why you'd marry the person you're with all over again. Sean and I had just been married the month before, so this was an easy one for me! So on the very last day of the contest, I sent in a quick, little e-mail. Almost an afterthought....
Since the contest was a random drawing and was NOT based on the creativity or the construction of the letter, I didn't put too much time into it. So when I heard my letter read on air, right after dropping Jaiden off at play school, I was a little dumbfounded. My phone was ringing when I got back to the car, but I ignored it. Had I answered it, I would have been on the air -- LIVE -- hearing about my big win from the radio DJs! I did call the station back a few minutes later, and then I heard my sappy, giddy voice played over and over (and over) again for a few weeks (was it months?) after that....as part of their radio promos.
Oh... and what, exactly, did I win, you may wonder?
I won a bouquet of roses, a Valentine's Day dinner (and show) for two at the StarDome, tickets to the Billy Joel concert (which we gave to my in-laws, since Sean and I were on a work trip out of town), tickets to the Nora Jones concert (which the station promised me but never sent), and a $900 diamond "circle of love" necklace!!!!
Of course, I never wear that necklace. It makes me nervous. The one time I did wear it out in public, I kept thinking that the diamond pendant was going to just fall off, leaving me with a $10 chain. In fact, I don't think anyone even saw the necklace that evening. I had my hand over it the whole time, checking to see if it was still there. Still safely attached.
Don't get me wrong, the necklace is beautiful. But nowadays, I just opt for the $10 copycat version that my mom got me at the women's show!

And, just for the record, (pun intended?) I still have my "I 2 Eye" tape... somewhere. I practically wore it out in '89... but I don't think I've listened to it -- or to the winning song -- since the early 90's. Luckily, a pottery set will be much more useful! I can't wait to display it in our dining room! Yes, display it. It's just too pretty to put food on!
(Hmmm... maybe I can put my necklace on it?)