Stop the Presses!

      Big news, people.

      Huge!

      Just as I was wallowing about really scraping to get by (Gav and I have had to take out another small loan...oy) and was worrying about our financial future, I received an email that has changed my life.

      But before I tell you about it, let me backtrack a bit.

      I feel very proud of myself because when I put up my "Back to School Night" show, I committed myself to giving a solid percentage of it to my charity, The Mellow Bear Foundation.  When I told Gav that, he wanted to have me committed, but I truly feel like giving to others keeps the money channels flowing and eventually it will come back to us.

      Now, while I did make a profit on my show, after paying for the theatre and all those expenses, I pretty much just earned one mortgage payment.  Of course, I am very grateful for that, especially in these economic times.  But I had a fleeting moment of, "Shit.  Maybe I can't afford to give anything to my charity."  Still, it was truly just fleeting, and I have since deposited a percentage of my proceeds into my charity's bank account.

      So, you can imagine my sheer delight and overwhelming relief when I realized that all my hard work and giving to others had come back to me in spades through the following email:

International Olympic Committee The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad Beijing-China.  

Dear Lucky Winner,

 

We are pleased to inform you of the result of our computer Draws (#978) for the just concluded Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Lottery program selected your email address attached to e-ticket number: 56475600545188, Ref: 9420X2/68 and Batch:074/05/ZY369. You have therefore been approved lump sum payout of US$1,800,000.00 (One Million Eight Hundred Thousand U.S. Dollars) only.

 

Note that all participants in this lottery program have been selected randomly through a computer ballot system drawn from over 120 million company and individual email addresses from all search engines and websites.

 

Your US$1,800,000.00 (One Million Eight Hundred Thousand U.S. Dollars) only prize will be released to you by our preferred payment centre.

 

Due to mix up of some names and numbers and for security reasons, we ask that you keep your winning information confidential until your claim has been processed and your money remitted to you.

 

Please be aware that the Paying Bank will effect payment swiftly upon satisfactory Report, Verifications and validation provided by our processing Agent designated to your file.

 

To file for your claim, please contact our processing agent stating your Full Name, Address, Telephone number, Age and occupation:

Name: Mr. Paul Legan
Email: leganpaul@live.com

 

All winning must be claimed within two weeks of this notification to avoid a return of funds to the LOTTERY TREASURY as unclaimed. Please note, in order to avoid unnecessary delay and complications, remember to quote your reference number and batch number in all correspondences.

 

 

Congratulations.
 
Your faithfully, Mr. John Harrison Co-ordinator (Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Lottery program) The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad

 

       Can you believe it?!  I am so excited!!  At first, I was worried because Mr. Harrison said "Your faithfully" instead of "Yours faithfully."  But then I figured that he was just so excited for me that he forgot to edit his email!

      So, hooray, hooray.  Life is good once again in the Aubert household thanks to a winning lottery draw from the Beijing Olympic committee.  I didn't even know there was one!

      But I know it's the real deal...unlike those bogus emails I've gotten from Africa saying I'm the sole heir of a long lost relative and I've inherited a huge amount of money...because the Chinese Olympic officials would NEVER do anything below board or shady!