Blue Ribbon

Howdy strangers, I’ve been away, doing lots of fun things while working 3 day work weeks this summer. Alas, those short weeks are over and I’m back to the grindstone.

One of my goals this summer was to win a blue ribbon at the Adams Agricultural Fair. I knew I’d enter the knitting department, but what would it be? When I finally settled on the idea of a hat, I went on a hat making bender – justifying my work with the thought that even if none won the big prize, I’d still be able to keep my family warm this winter (as the oil prices rose, dh and I kept lowering the bar we could live with “I think 57 isn’t too cold, what do you think?”).

Once all hats were made, I picked the best of the lot, enlisted my husband to drop off my entry form while I was on a train to Atlantic City and then enlisting my friend Monique (you’ve read about her toilet on Breed ‘em and Weep) to drop off the actual hat for competition while I swam in a warm tidal pond on Cape Cod.

Due to vacation plans, we couldn’t make it back in time for the whole family to take in the fair this year, but as soon as our car hit our driveway, after 10 days away, I ditched the family and burned a bit more rubber to make it to the fair as they were breaking down the rides, putting away the fried dough machine and generally getting ready to go home. I ran into the judged crafts exhibit, saw my hat sitting there, and went to reach for it when I saw the Blue Ribbon. I think I may have screeched like a 6 year old at a Hannah Montana concert. I stopped just short of jumping up and down and screaming “I won, I won!”.

Do you think it would be wrong to wear this with the blue ribbon tag still on?