62. September 10th, 2010 Picture.

Friday night, September 10^th, Ratty and I went to my cousins Kara and Erin’s fundraiser at The Greatest Bar.  They'd both ridden in the Pan Mass Challenge, a 2 day bike ride from Sturbridge to P-Town, which raises money for cancer research, that had taken place earlier in the summer.  Kara and Erin’s father, my Uncle Dick, passed away a few years ago from Pancreatic Cancer, and they have been riding in his memory.  This year was Kara’s second go at the PMC, last year she hosted a beer pong tourney which turned out to be epic!  We were the Flippy Long Stockings and had matching t-shirts, knee socks and faux red braids my friend Mark created.  This time around it was on the top floor of a bar, with food and lots of auction items.  When we got there, I immediately recognized the bartender as Danny from the Real World - I was the only one starstuck.

It was a nice time, with lots of silent auction items, as well as great door prizes.  Each time we put in a bid on an item, we got one upped, and eventually gave up (that’s the spirit – right?!).  When we'd arrived, we got a raffle ticket that was good in the door prizes auction, so there was still hope we could walk away with something.  When it came time to announce the numbers, both Ratty and I perched ourselves at a table and whipped out our tickets to anxiously see if we'd won.  I like winning things, a lot, and I get somewhat competitive, even though I have no control over the outcome.  A few times we came pretty close, but eventually they called Ratty’s number for a $50 gift certificate to a restaurant in Natick, yay!  We both yelled REALLY loud, to the point where the people next to us got excited and yelled too, then laughed nervously because they realized they didn't know us.  I am pretty sure we were the only ones that were that excited about winning, but it's the little things in life, right?  All the other winners quietly walked up and claimed their prize, leaving people in the back wondering if someone actually won or not.  That's lame.

Kara and Erin had a great turn out and I think they made a lot of money for a great cause.  I look forward to another fundraiser next year!

Ratty flaunting the prize!