Entering Contests

You guys should know that I am a contest-enterer. I'm sure this was inherited from my mother who, for as long as I can remember, would fill out every entry form in every department store and put the piece of paper in the box. Often our whole family would huddle around, each person filling out a form. As far as I can remember, this resulted once in a box full of VHS's, most of which we weren't allowed to watch (an exception being Heaven Can Wait, which is why my siblings and I have all memorized that movie). On another occasion, my mother won a huge flat-screen TV. This was certainly ironic since we aren't big technology people and have never had cable. But now we do have an enormous TV in the basement. Which means the family can watch Lord of the Rings in near-life size on a regular basis.

I just entered a contest to win a million dollars through my credit card company. (Wow, no one should tell Mama Leopard about the existence of online contests!) Entering it felt slightly like giving in and admitting I'm not crazy about my life and would rather have something different, like a million dollars. Also, these online contests I've found impossible to win--there are simply so many entrants! This is nothing like sticking a slip of paper in a box in a department store. Of course, even if I had a million dollars, chances are I would do predominantly practical things with it.