I won! I won! I won!

I finally ventured into the world of eBay. I really wasn't resistant to it, I just haven't found anything on eBay that I really, really wanted that would give me reason to sign up and go through the 'hassle'...until now.

Ben wants to be an astronaut or, more specifically, a 'rocket ship driver', for Halloween. So, I have been searching online for a costume. I have gone to Target, Walmart, Toys R Us, Party City, and a Halloween store in search of a costume for Ben. I have tried to convince him to try a Buzz Lightyear costume ~ that's a sort of astronaut, right? No, apparently not. I have tried to convince him to try Spiderman, Batman, a pirate...anything. But, no. He is sure he wants to be an astronaut. He's such a good boy and I really don't buy him much...he isn't into toys that much and I have so many hand-me-down clothes for him that I rarely buy him new clothes. It was killing me that I couldn't come through for him on this one request. I could only find the astronaut orange flight suit in an almost-too-small-size at the Halloween store ($30.00 and it does not include a helmet). Still, I tried it on Ben and he said, "That's not an astronaut!" ~ he didn't understand the whole 'flight suit' thing...he wants the helmet and 'space suit'!!! So, I caved and ventured onto eBay yesterday. I found this costume:

Ben thought this was the best costume EVER! Unfortunately, I couldn't just click a button and buy it ~ it had 5 hours left in the bidding. So I called Juli ~ the eBay buying expert, in my opinion ~ and she gave me tips on bidding for items and getting set up in eBay and PayPal. I made my first bid with 30 minutes left in the bidding and then waited...biting my nails and counting down the seconds until the bidding ended ~ hoping some loser didn't swoop in at the last minute and outbid me before I could make a counter bid! At 9:45 last night, I became the proud owner of the little rocket ship costume and I could finally say..."I WON!!!" Funny how paying for an item, a used item at that, can make you feel like you won the lottery and smile and cheer while you actually hand over your money. This is how they should do taxes...you should have to outbid someone else on the amount you are willing to pay...then when you 'win' you will gladly hand your money over. Okay, clearly there are some holes in that idea...but it could be worked out. This 'bidding' stuff puts a whole new perspective on paying for stuff :o) As a bonus, I didn't pay as much as I thought I would for this item so I bought another eBay item...the astronaut helmet!!! The one that comes with the rocket ship is more than a little dorky ~ you have to admit, this one is much better and worth the extra money :o)

I feel like the best mommy in the world right now! I can't wait until they arrive and Ben can put them on!