And The Winner Is...

I was raised to be frugal (okay, cheap.). My parents made it very clear that if I were to go to college, it would have to be on scholarship. It was the focus of my educational choices from 6th grade on. It worked out just fine for me, since I ended up with a scholarship or two. (Okay, eleven, but who's counting?) I learned to use coupons, shop sales, look for bargains everywhere, and to prioritize my spending. Naturally, the love of getting cool things for free followed.

I enter tons of contests and have had pretty good success. In the last year I've won a back yard make-over (Fox 13 t.v.), a birthday party at the zoo for my kids (FM 100), lunch (KODJ), and my trip to Disneyland (FM 100). Well, the thrill of the win has been passed on to one of my children: Yakko has caught the free-bee bug!

Yakko entered a contest on the radio (I'm wanting to say KODJ?), where he had to sing a song from "Annie". He did a great job, and got a prize as a runner-up; he won two tickets to the Broadway touring company's opening night performance of "Annie". We went last night (thanks for the major help, Grandma and Grandpa!) and had a blast! He loved everything about the show, and kept saying "this is so much better than the movie!". He also told me that he is now my "official freaky-theater boy". I'm guessing that's a good thing.

Now if I could only score some tickets to "Wicked" next year, I'd be the "Mother of the Year" in his eyes...