The law of unintended consequences

The hubby and I watched this moment on television once we were somewhat settled in Juneau, but we had the good fortune to spend some time in Germany during the last world cup in 2006.  We saw two games, neither of which were played by any of the top teams, but it was an incredible experience, nonetheless.  We also got to spend some time with hubby's relatives, and explore a town where my ancestors had lived before my great grandmother emigrated to New York.

So when the opportunity to apply for tickets to the next world cup in South Africa rolled around last winter, it seemed like a good thing to apply for tickets again.  We weren't planning on moving in 2010, and the summer is the slow season in terms of my meeting schedule.  So I applied for the tickets, and then, because I wasn't getting any e-mails from the soccer (or futbol) gods, other than offers to buy more jerseys which spousal unit says I don't really "need", I figured we would just watch some of the matches on TV (or listen on the XM radio, which we did a great deal of during our Massachusetts to Alaska trip in 2006).

Then some things happened that we were not expecting.  Good things, all of them, but creating some difficult choices....

In late August we found out that I was getting promoted.  Quite a surprise!  This meant that I would have to find a new job at a higher rank, which usually means moving.  None of the jobs that I would have considered asking for in Juneau were open, so we had to cast the net a little farther.  I put in for a great job in Anchorage, but the USCG decided to extend a friend of mine who currently holds that position.

My financial advisor (hubby) was going thru the credit card bills recently, and he asked me, "What is this $748 charge that says world cup something?"  YIKES!  I open up the computer and start searching thru my e-mails.  I don't have any that say, "Congratulations!  You have just bought several hundred dollars worth of sporting event tickets!"  I did find one from last spring that said my application for tickets had been accepted.

I got on the FIFA website and put in the application number from the e-mail, and after a few frustrating minutes trying to navigate to the right information, I found that we got some tickets to all the first round games of Italy!!

So now we have to figure out how to get ourselves to South Africa for about 10 days, or get a refund......