What are the odds?

Have you ever had a connection with something or somebody that it seemed too coincidental that it was erie? It has a couple of times for me, but this one just seemed too remarkable!

I have traded on Swapbot and although I don't trade as much as I would like, I felt very compelled to join a dragonfly ATC exchange since I love winged things. The exchange is purely random and even the host of the swap doesn't know who she gets paired up with. As it turns out, I read the gal's profile of whom I was paired with in Mississippi and much of her was like me! We both loved peacock feathers, bold bright colors, zebras, painting, beads, etc. We also post things that we are hunting for and one thing she was looking for, caught my eye. It was an aluminum Colander with a star pattern and I knew just where to find one locally. I also searched for other star patterns for her and naturally checked ebay. One was particularly different than what I had seen locally that was a vintage one and this one was new. I wasn't sure if it was stainless steel or aluminum so I did an enquiry. I also noticed that the place that it was located was at a hardware store in McVille, ND. It's a small town in the middle of no where and it's not likely no one would really know where it was on the map let alone has been there. Mind you I live in Ohio, but am originally from ND. I had never been there until I met up with a gal on the Ohioquilter's list. She had ties with Ohio since she had a son living here, we also quilted, so we had a connection there. Anyway I was destined to meet Jan and did one day when we drove to visit my family since it was on the way so to speak even though it took a different rode home. So that's how I met Jan.

When I enquired about the colander, I told them that I was checking on it for a friend of mine in Mississippi and I said BTW, I have a friend that lives in McVille. The guy was very impressed and amazed that some one in Ohio knew where it was. He let me know the content of the colander, and I wrote back to him and thanked him. I also said, I know McVille is a small town, and you might even know Jan Thompson. He honestly couldn't believe it and he just had to write back to say, "YOU ARE KIDDING! Jan works for me putting up the listings on ebay for the store and this was one of her ads!" He said "go look at the ad and you will find the initials jt." LOL

SO WHAT WERE THE ODDS!?! I had no clue she worked there and had it not been for this other gal from Mississippi, I would have never looked for the colander or at least inquire of it's content since she was specifically looking for aluminum or find the accidental discoveries that unfolded! So my friends, I thank my lucky stars for remarkable things that happen in life. Perhaps this is that theory of six degrees of separation.

Maybe you are also in need of a lucky colander and there are more available for purchase. I am guessing Jan works on commissions, hence the initials. So if you purchase one, tell them Wanda sent you:) Ebay link