My hat is gone

The Fun Fair at Elli's school is finally over.  The intense planning and preparation paid off and the event was a real success.  Of course we have lots of ideas to make things better next year but we certainly can't complain, especially because the rain that was forecast held off until just a couple minutes after the Fun Fair shut down.  When it did come down it came down HARD but mostly people were gone home already so I was able to sit there and say "Bring it on!" instead of worrying about all the stuff that was going to get wrecked.

I ran the book sale which was surprisingly good.  Part of it was a white elephant sale with lots of extremely random stuff that people donated.  There was a candle holder set, a green Christmas themed cone, a bunch of stuffed animals, 3 picture frames, and other junk all for 1 dollar each.  I was sure at the beginning that I would end up with all of it still sitting there by the end but somehow the great majority of the stuff walked away with people.  They all seemed really happy to buy things for such a trivial price even if they didn't really need them.  I guess people who have basements can afford to just buy things like that randomly and hope they come in handy some day.

Sadly the event was marred for me.  I put my Tilley hat down on a bench and while I was moving things inside the school somebody ran off with my hat.  I have had that hat for ten years; it has travelled all over to a huge number of parks and events and was still in excellent condition.  You have to hand it to Tilley - their hats are really expensive but they are absolutely tops in quality.  I guess the person who stole it decided that they wanted a nice wide brimmed hat to keep the rain off and figured stealing one from a school volunteer was a cool way to go.  It really frustrates me because my brain mashes everything together and it makes me feel bad for volunteering at all.  Rationally the two events don't need to be conflated in my mind but there is no getting around that bitterness.  I don't have so much money that I relish dropping another 75 bucks to buy a new hat even if the old one did put in plenty of time.

I figure I will run the book sale again next year.  I can't imagine I will be up for the job of actually running the Fun Fair but spending a day doing things for the school makes me feel good; I sure got my exercise carting chairs, tables, and books around and working with a purpose is a pleasant thing.