Sunday, December 5, 2010

An In-between Day...and contest winner!!

Happy Sunday, friends!  I've got a contest winner to announce today!!  *pauses to do a little jig*  :) 

But, first (don't hate me!)  I've got a post to get out there today and I hope you'll read through to the end, instead of scrolling quickly.  *waits to listen for mad mouse scrolling....none?  Phew!*

Today, as you all know, is Dec. 5th.  It's kind of a weird day for me.  It's between the birthdays of my husband and that elusive "one-that-got-away".  Ok, well - let me first preface the rest of this by saying that I love my husband.  In fact, I spoiled him to his heart's content with a fancy-schmancy dinner last night of prime rib, blue moons, and creme brulee at Rickenbackers.  AND Mr. What-if is in a different state and HAPPILY married to not me.  Still....

Do you have this elusive "one"?  Do you ever sometimes sit and wonder how vastly different your life could be if you'd ended up with one person over the other?  Or, even if you're not married, certainly there is a decision you've made in life that pointed you in one direction over another: jobs, education, friends, etc.

Even stranger for me, though.... my husband and this other guy went to the same high school.  They knew of each other, but weren't friends.  They were born the same year - two days apart.  This would make them both Sagittarius's.  But, honestly - they couldn't be more different.  (makes me wonder if I need to put stock in Zodiac signs AT ALL...)  See?

Mr. "IF" was unavailable, so Tom is sitting in....

*VERSUS*



You get my pondering, right?  :)  (couldn't resist...lol!)  And of course, there's no sure way to tell if one decision/one fate would have worked out better than another.  But...there's always "but".  Anywho!  That's what's on my mind today - and JUST today.  Every December 5th = me and "What if?"  (hey, that rhymes!)

DO YOU HAVE ANY INTERESTING "WHAT IF" SCENARIOS IN YOUR LIFE?

Well, thanks for ploughing through my thought of the day.  :)  Onto the thing you really want to know - winner, winNER, WINNER!!

Here's the hat with all of your entries:


Here's my daughter picking the winner:


And here's the lucky, no-rigged, bonafide WINNER extraordinaire!!!



CONGRATULATIONS, COLENE!!!!  *dances another jig!*  Please make sure you e-mail me your preference of Amazon or B&N and if you'd like the ornament or something else (holiday related).  And don't lose heart, losers the-rest-of-you-who-didn't-win.  :)  Random generosity is cool.  I'll totally do this again!
Hope you've all been having a FABULOUS weekend!  I'm off til Wednesday to read, read and read a little more....

12 comments:

Colene Murphy said...

No way!! Yeay! That is so awesome! Thanks Donea!

Will email you shortly!

Colene Murphy said...

Gosh. I left before I remembered I was going to comment on the other part of the post! Yea, I have those "what if" thoughts about the other one. But mostly I'm grateful I'm with my hubs. He is infinitely better than the one was all those years ago. I loved him. But I'm grateful things worked out like they did, even if it sucked then. I don't think you can avoid those what if thoughts though.

Jess said...

Congrats Colene!

Lenny Lee said...

hi miss donea! BIG HOORAY for colene for being the winner!!! for me i dont have any what ifs cause im not old enough for being married and i didnt ever get a girfriend and i dont want one. girls? ack! ha ha.
...smiles from lenny

Abby Minard said...

Congrats to Colene!!

THats funny the other day my friend texted me and said my boyfriend from high school (like 12 years ago..ahem..) came into her restaurant. She said he looked at her weird when she said she recognized him. I never asked if he even asked about me or whatever. I've never really thougt the what if with him...we'd all be speaking spanish to our kids I guess (he was half mexican). Trying to act all noncaring I was like, oh, how is he? And that was it. But oh well, you think of those things, but then you and your husband go and laugh at silly picturs and poems this guy gave you.

Misha Gerrick said...

I get a lot of those moments, but then I realize that even if I got to do everything again, there is very little that would change.

I make a point of not regretting things I have chosen.

:-)

Unknown said...

Yay to the wonderful Colene Murphy! She is one deserving winner (though I will admit, I'm jealous!)

Love the photos! So fun!!

Unknown said...

Congrats, Colleen!

What if... I am not much of a what- if-kind-of-person but I do often reflect on how different my life is now compared to 20 even 5 years ago. Those changes in perspective and paradigm really inform my writing.

Shannon said...

Congratulations to Colene! =)

To answer your question about what if's - the only one I have is "what if I finished grad school?" But the moment the thought enters my head, I am well aware that I wouldn't have met my Michael and I would not trade that for anything. :)

Beth Fred said...

I have what-ifs sometimes, but I think things happen for a reason and when I really think it through, I can't see a way the what if would have worked out.
beth-project52.blogspot.com

Jennie Bailey said...

Congrats to Colene! I love the pics of your daughter picking the winner. As for the 'what if', I have two - I was engaged for eight years before we broke it off and went separate ways. In that time, I raised his son. When I walked away, Nick dropped out of high school. Never would have happened if I had still been in the picture. I was the sober, responsible parent and I left a child behind. I had no legal rights to him, but I still feel bad. I tried to be there for him as much as I could. He's a mess now. I still talk to him and have mended bridges with his father. I 'what if' about him. There are things about the relationship I miss as well, but I love my husband and life with him is so much more than it ever could have been with my ex. He's wonderful in a different way. No regrets about the relationship, just about the son.
My second 'what if' involves my days in television production. I walked away before I had made it to the top. My friends who stayed are executive producing the following shows: The Office, Hannah Montana, Two and a Half Men, Mike & Molly...and one is super high up (EVP) at a major studio. So I what if that sometimes. But then I meet them for lunch or coffee (after they have to reschedule a billion times) and remember that I got out because I wanted a life. I wanted to be married. I wanted to see my friends when I felt like it. I was tired of sixty hour weeks. I needed to live!

Donea Lee said...

Welcome to a few new commenters!

It's nice to see that I'm not alone in my "What if" moments. I do try to keep them to a minimum, but like I said....some things and some days just bubble them up to the surface sometimes.

Jennie- I tried to e-mail you back, but got that pesky "no-reply@blogger"... hopefully you come back to read this - just wanted to thank you for sharing your story and I do hope that Nick finds his way back to all this wonderful good stuff!

Thanks, everyone, for sharing!