I donated it!

Last week, I finally wrote up the awesome story of our crazy money-finding, casino-winning, Japan-tripping February, and it was long overdue. I was denying you, poor little blog, of a pretty great story. I had been meaning to do it, I swear, but as with many things in my life, it just didn't happen until I had a deadline. "But what could be the deadline?" you ask. Well, it was for work. "Whaaaat?" I know. And I don't even work for a casino-advertising company.

I spent last Saturday at a workshop on storytelling with my coworkers and all of our Board. It turned out to be much more interesting than I had anticipated, but I have to say that I am still far happier today, holding up my end of the LuckyKat weekend bargain by plunking my unshowered, fleece-robed self on our couch, exploring the depths of my complex and rewarding relationship with the internets while Lucky does "market research" on games. I know it's sunny, I know I should be outside, don't judge me. It is glorious. Next, I will toast bagels .

Anyway. Workshop. Office. Follow along. So, I had to write up a story to share with all my fellow workshoppers, and I had the choice of relaying a tale of a season, a sport, or a holiday. I don't have anything too gripping to say about spring, and goodness knows I don't have a wealth of sports experiences to mine, so the holiday was the easy choice. I thought of all the fantastic stories I could share about our trip to the UK last year, foremost among them the time that BF's husband whacked me in the face with an oar while punting on the River Cam, and against all odds, and all swollen noses, it was super fun (only possible with BF), but those stories are all a little heavy on the debauch, so that choice was quickly discarded.

Instead, I settled on the story of Japan, and how we got there. Since that fantastical experience, despite the number of times I've talked about it, I hadn't really settled on a good way of telling the story that truly captured the timeline, and shock, and wonder of the whole experience. That's not to say that people weren't shocked, and they didn't wonder at the whole thing, it's just that it could have been better. It can always be better. So, I didn't really mind having the impetus to flesh it out, and lay it down, and I had a day or two to rehearse it and make sure I hadn't forgotten anything before I took advantage of some valuable Board impression-making time.

So, we got to Saturday, and after a day of good stories and good bonding, it got to be my turn to share a story. I got up there, and I got it all out. I allowed myself a happy sigh as I sat down, my job fulfilled. Then, I remembered that I had forgotten to share a key bit of information: information that grounds the story, bringing an aspect of social responsibility and karmic balance to what could otherwise be seen as somewhat wild spontaneity and frivolity. The thing is, I donated that first $100.00 to an addictions charity that I care about. While it wasn't quite rolled into a little tube, I felt that it was somewhat suspect to find a 100 dollar bill on the floor of a restaurant bathroom, and I wanted to give it back to a group that would use it well. It was hardly a breakthrough of philanthropic generosity, but being that I was sharing the story with our Board, all of whom are hardworking volunteers, and ultimately, my 7 bosses, and being that I work for a non-profit that depends on public donations to survive, it might have been a nice touch.

As the next participant got up to tell their story, and I mulled over my unfortunate omission, I bit back the urge to blurt "I donated it! I donated the money! I'm not completely self-centered!" but a more reasonable part of me was resigned to the fact that that would go against my aim at character improvement. I'll just have to work it into my next Board Report, somewhere between website updates, and community networking. That's totally doable.