Grammar Lesson

Last week was sort of bizarre.  

It started with an email.  Something along the lines of, "Don't forget, Steel Magnolias tryouts are coming up!"

Steel Magnolias is my favorite.  I didn't even know I was on the Community Theater's email list, which is why I took it as a sign from God that I should try out.  

So I did.

Later in the week, we received a flier from a car dealership in a town that's about an hour from where we live.  "Scratch off the center to see if you've won!"  Well, by golly, I scratched it off and it said we had won $25,000!  The only problem is that we had to drive to the dealership to "claim our prize".  We knew it was a hoax and that only one person could possibly win and that that one person probably wasn't us.  

Nonetheless, we loaded up our baby and our hearts full of dreams and started out on the road.

When we got there we discovered that we didn't win.

We were disappointed, but by no means shocked.

"Sorry you didn't win.  Here's a gift card to WalMart.  It could be worth anywhere from $5 to $200."

It was worth $5.

We figured.

While out on a walk I answered a call from the Steel Magnolias director.  "I'm sorry, but I'll be unable to cast you.  You had a good audition, but it seems you were too young for some roles and too old for other roles."

I assumed as much.

Looking back over the week, I realized that we placed glimmers of hope in things we knew would be long shots.  As it turns out, all of them were long shots.  But I'm still glad we pursued them.  I'm glad I tried out.  I had a good time and it brought me out of my comfort zone.  I'm glad we drove out of town.  It was nice to visit in the car and we took Tidytot to the park and even went to Starbucks (a real treat!).  

None of the things we hoped for worked out.  

And I don't mind.  I would rather live life knowing than wondering.  

Exclamation points, even at the end of sentences I don't like, are often so much better than question marks.