Silent Auction

I went to a silent auction on Friday night. I was outbid at the last minute on a Pampered Chef stoneware bar pan. Rats! Duped again.

I have a whole cabinet full of pans for bars, but I sure wanted that one.

When my daughter Katie was in elementary school, my wife and I were working the food line at the annual school carnival, serving up pizza and hot dogs and corny dogs and nachos. We weren't able to get away to the silent auction, so Katie took my wife's secret number and went to check it out.

Katie's concept of a silent auction was that you bid what you thought each item was worth, and the closest bidder wins the item. She was curious that everyone else was not also bidding on each item.

My wife got a call the next Monday with the good news that she had won 14 of the items in the silent auction. And, the school secretary said, "You really gave me a run for my money on that big Mary Kay basket!"

After lengthy discussion and negotiations, my wife was able to talk her into only paying for the 6 items for which there were no other bidders -- and let the second place bidders claim the other 8 items.

Our 6 prizes included a very large stuffed goose, a wire basket with a big square of bird seed suet, lunches with 3 different unpopular teachers, and one item so awful we can't even remember what it was. Please make your check payable to Kimberlin PTA for $49.

Katie (now in college) and her boyfriend Joe were at the silent auction with us on Friday night. It was also an art show, and my wife was there selling her original artisan southwestern turquoise jewelry. Katie said, "Why did you bid on that Pampered Chef pan? Shaina's mother sells that stuff and will probably give you one. Hey, what's your secret number, anyway?"

I'll just stop there and let you figure out the rest of the story.