Ritaluck and Santa Claus

Remember this picture? At the Muscatine auction -- I was DETERMINED to buy that Santa's workshop you see in the front...
There was no cord -- so I figured it required batteries. Of course -- like most auctions, there's no way to know if it even works...

After waiting for a couple of hours -- THERE WAS NO WAY I was going to let the crazy smelly lady win the bid. I got it. Of course. But it cost me $30. She must be made of money...

I could hardly wait to get it home and put it in a place of honor...

But, like most bargains -- it had a few problems. For one thing, Mrs. Santa Claus was missing an arm. Bummer. Maybe I could live with that -- but when I realized THE DARN THING NEEDS AN ELECTRICAL CORD...I was heartbroke. Darn it.  I was so disgusted with myself -- I almost threw the whole thing right in the trash.  Who wants to play with a broken toy that doesn't even work?? 

But here's the RITALUCK.  I explained the problem to John and HE FOUND A CORD THAT WORKED...Holy Cow -- what are the chances?? Because he is an electrician, apparently he keeps the cords from long-defunct appliances -- and I couldn't be happier. I didn't even know there was such a thing as an "electrical cord stash"...Amazing.

ALSO -- remember my credo -- "most days you don't know your good luck from your bad ." ?? Well -- this is a PRIME example. The very first time Lillian turned on the switch, she was mesmerized by the music, lights and action of Santa's workshop. The first thing she said was, "why is Mrs Santa's arm stuck in the reindeer's head?" And, of course, I hadn't even noticed that somebody had thoughtfully put her arm in a place where the new owner was sure to see it...

Every time Lilly comes to the house, she runs to the workshop and turns it on. She likes to turn all the room lights off and listen to the music...it plays a dozen Christmas songs...
And guess what? Her favorite thing about Santa's workshop is Mrs. Santa's broken arm. Every time she visits, she places it in another little hiding place inside the workshop. And the NEXT TIME she visits -- she runs to see if the arm is still in the same place. She ALWAYS remembers where she put it the last time...

So that's the lesson. If you worry too much about things being perfect -- you could miss the real fun...

TAKE A CHANCE, PEOPLE. 

Thanks, Lillian...