Goin' once Goin' twice...SOLD!

Auction day came and went. Here is Becca showing-off her 2 ponies in the auction ring.

It was a sad day for her because she has poured her whole life (for the last 9 months anyway) into these 2 horses. But, the auction was always the goal. So it was good-bye to Boots and Whizard. Sniff. Sniff.

I don't know how you feel about auctions, but I like them. They are fun and out of the ordinary for me. It is like a different little world. The auctioneer is completely not understandable, the stuff for sale is usually interesting and then there are the crowds of people looking for a bargain.... just a fun time. As long as you are not buying, that is!!

And in this case I wasn't. I just came to see my baby and experience the fun of a good ol' horse sale. Auction style.

At least that is how I had planned the day.

Turns out my baby had registered me as a buyer and when I walked up to the barn she pressed this into my hand!

"Mom, I want you to buy Ticket for me!"
"What?!?!"
"I want you to buy Ticket for me! I already signed you up as a bidder".
"Oh man Becca, I was not expecting this," I say as my heart starts to race. So much for the fun little experience. Now I am up to my ears in responsibility.
"I know Mom, but I really love her," she says as her friend Melissa nods agreement.
"Ok, what is your top price?"
We discussed this for a bit.
Then we prayed about it. Becca was prayin' for a horse and I was prayin' that I would be able to pull this off.
And then I was thinkin' that auctions are not that fun at all. I mean really, it is IMPOSSIBLE to understand what the auctioneer is saying. And then there is all this stuff that may or may not be as great as you think it is. And let's not forget about all those people who also want to buy the same stuff you do. And the price just keeps going up and up and up. What is so great about that!!?? And if all of that is not bad enough, whenever I start bidding on something...I go a little nuts. My hand keeps going up and up and up, and the next thing you know my guy is dragging me out of the building and tearing up my number in an attempt to avoid refinancing our house to pay for a crockpot from 1962!!

Oh good grief.

So, in hopes of avoiding all of that, I applied myself to staying focused and trying to understand the auctioneer and the callers and all of their hand signals.

But the time my lot came up, I had learned a lot. The auctioneer always started by saying "Who will give 5 thousand, 5 thousand, 10".

At first I thought, good grief who is gonna pay 10 thousand when 5 thousand wasn't getting any hits. Then I realized that 10 must mean 1,000 because the next thing he said was " 12, who will give 12 hundred for this Blah Blah Blah horse.

Then it was the hand signals that I needed to know. Bent fingers, crossed fingers, thumbs up and down. So confusing! But I did not want to be bidding on some mysterious price. So I kept watching, and eventually it started to make sense.

When Lot #23, more affectionately known as Ticket, hit the ring I was ready.

And then just like that, we were at our limit. And then over it. But my baby wanted that horse. She loved that horse. Oh, what is a mother to do. Keep bidding that's what. Who cares if we are $600 over the limit!!

But, thank goodness it came to an end. Just as I decided to flash my number one last time, the auctioneer called "Sold", and Ticket went home with some other family.

And my baby, well she was fine with it. "It wasn't meant to be Mom."

But my guy...now that was a different story. When I told him what I had done....
"You did what!!??!!?? I can't leave you alone for a minute!!"

Oh well, you win some and you lose some.