My ears perked up- What? What's that!? A lottery! What lottery?! She proceeded to explain that each performance night they give away twenty tickets through a lottery. By "give away" I mean that you recieve a ticket and only have to pay $25, verses the base price of $40 for a seat in the balcony. To enter the lottery you needed to submit your name between 5:30 and 6, at which point at 6 o'clock sharp they would pull ten names. Might I add, for those of you who are long term readers of the blog, that this is NOT the same kind of lottery I swore off in high school (see previous blog on winning things). There was no down payment to 'play'. You only paid if you won a ticket.
Steven returned home around 4:45pm and asked if I was going. With such little time I had put the idea to the side and decided a quiet night at home would be enjoyable too. I mean, come on, I'm a mother of four and over thirty - days of carefree spontaneity seldom appear, or are quickly quelled by the demands of the children.
My dear husband wouldn't let me give up that easy. My friend Carolyn is the wife of another ophthalmology resident and Steven told me to give her a call and see if she would join my last minute adventure. Within five minutes I was dressed and out the door to pick her up and head downtown. We got outside the theater at 5:50 pm and Carolyn jumped out and ran to submit her name while I attempted to find parking. I passed a few lots that had $10 parking signs outside of them and decided to try my luck. I pulled into a lot, rolled down my window and said to the gentleman standing there, "Sir, I'll be honest with you. I have $30 in my pocket but if I actually win a ticket over there (pointing to the Orpheum) I will need to give them $25 of it immediately". He looked at me and back to the theater and said, "Park right over there and run for it". I did just that and made it to the line with five minutes to spare. What I thought would be a crowd of thirty or so was actually a mob of a hundred. I placed my name in the lottery barrel just in time.
At 6 o'clock they began calling names and the first five individuals called were men. Due to this fact, very little emotion was shown as the men would walk up quietly and be escorted inside. At this point from the crowd you hear, "hey, what about the ladies"? The man turned the barrel a few more times and then took out the sixth name. He said, " Oh, here's one finally. . . (This is the dramatic pause, do you think he will call my name? Wait for it. . . )
. . . Lynette Ballard"!
AHHHHHHH! Carolyn and I screamed and jumped and high-fived and screamed and jumped some more. Everyone was laughing at the sudden show of emotion. We were taken inside and given tickets and buttons that read, "I Won The Wicked Lottery." We called our husbands and screamed some more and Steven just laughed. We grabbed some dinner and returned to the theater to take our seats. Assuming our seats were in the balcony, and just happy to have a seat, we were surprised after handing our tickets to the usher when he escorted us down a ramp and into the "President's box"! The stage was right there! The orchestra was right there! Everything was right there! If I were to leap over the railing I could actually land the jump onto the stage, and not break my legs in the process.
The show was, of course, once again wonderful. A fantastic show and an adventurous night. Steven is amazed at my ability to win things. I may be the "lucky" one when it comes to winning things, but I feel truly blessed for my sweet husband who wasn't going to let me give up on something he knew I would enjoy - even if we are in our thirties.
