Uniform

 Friday evening I took Robby to the auction that he has been planning for over the past several weeks. He had the singular goal of obtaining something from his beloved teacher's collection. In his wildest dreams, he wanted the impeccable WWII Officer's uniform. After investigating the value of the objects being auctioned, Scott and I tried to temper his expectations. We were going to do our best to get him something from the collection, but we couldn't guarantee success and we had no control over the prices. 

The fact that it was a local in-person auction instead of being hosted online definitely worked to our advantage. We arrived at the auction site about an hour before the gavel struck, allowing us time to thoroughly evaluate the items and get settled. The auctioneer encouraged us to get our seats early because he was expecting a crowd.

The crowd never arrived. In total, there were about 25 bidders present. Not only did the low numbers play into our favor, but the bidders were all "regulars" without specific knowledge about WWII relics. As soon as the first item was sold I knew that the winds were blowing in Rob's favor.

By the time the uniform was on the block Rob was shaking with excitement and nerves. It only took seconds, but before I knew it he was walking to the front to retrieve his new uniform. He was so excited he couldn't stop smiling! As we were leaving he was approached by several bidders, congratulating him on his purchase and remarking that he had a wonderful mother for taking him to such a unique event. (I plan on remind him of my awesomeness whenever he becomes snarky in the coming weeks.)

He spent the weekend going over his new uniform, evaluating every seam and medal. He is truly on Cloud 9 with his new prized item! While Rob was in full-research mode, Timmy spent his time on art because the weather was yucky. The skies are supposed to clear today so hopefully we will be able to have some fun in the sunshine.