A girl can dream, can't she?

Every day on my way to work, I drive past a billboard for our state lottery. It is one for the BIG lotto game, where the jackpot never is less than 20 million. It changes whenever someone doesn't win to show the new estimated jackpot amount, and says things like

'25 million ways to thank your parents'

or

'85 million less minutes you will have to spend at work'

The game draws winners on Wednesdays and Saturdays, so AT LEAST 2 times per week I end up looking at the sign and I start day dreaming about what *I* would do if I won 20+ million dollars. I have to admit, I really like that dream.

I would travel to warm, exotic and interesting places with my immediate family, as well as take my closest family and friends on a group vacation somewhere fun and far away.

W could go to college - I would LOVE to see him be able to not work and just go to a 4 year college. He would do SO WELL with learning now. He has always been smart, but could have cared less about learning when he was younger. NOW, though, he would just soak up all of the knowlege to be had, I just know it. He would kick some college learning ass.

I would take some photography classes to get some formal schooling in that photography shit that I love so well, and I could open my own studio, and if nothing else, take free photographs of my friends and family.

I would put money away for each of the boys for college. I would make sure there was plenty there - who the hell knows how much college is going to cost by the time they are that age.

I would have AT LEAST one more baby. And maybe I would just go on having babies until my uterus fell out, who knows? If I could afford them I just may, because I KNOW I could LOVE them.

I would pay off my parents' bills and get them on their feet, and do what I had to so that they could retire and just enjoy their years. I am only being honest when I say that neither of them are going to live so long that if I won 20+ million dollars I wouldn't be able to support them until they died. Although, if I had that money, I would pay for my Dad to go to rehab. The BEST rehab. And hopefully it would work, and it would give him more years than he has on his current path.

I would help my brother - probably pay off his mortgage at least, so he could relax a little and not have to be so stressed.

I would help a few of my bestest friends who are SO deserving and could use a little hand up. I would hope I could do it in a way that they would not feel insulted, or inadequate or whatever; I hope they could know that I only wanted to help them a little because I LOVE them, and because they do SO deserve it.


I would pay off my house, and replace the windows and siding, put in central AC, replace the flooring in the kitchen / bathroom / entry, put up the retaining wall that is needed in the back (because our house is slowing sinking in the back - you can see that the addition on that side is slowly falling away from the rest of the house - yikes!), fill in the old cistern that we have discovered back there, put up a new garage (which is also falling down), and then sell it. Probably for cheap to someone who could really use a nice starter house. I would buy a bigger house - probably twice as big, around 3000 sf would do us plenty. Probably an older home that has been restored - we love that old charm.

I would buy a new car - probably a Nissan Maxima. Sweet :-) And I would give my car away to someone who could really use it.

I would give to charities that help impoverished people in our own country, as well as abroad. I would give to charities that help children who are dying realize a dream before they die. I would give to charities that help animals.

**SIGH** I sure do love that dream...

I love that dream because, above all, 20+ million dollars would buy me so much time. Time that, right now, I don't get to spend on the really important things, such as my family, because I am busy working to pay for things like food and shelter. And less important, but still desired things like cars, toys (for big and little kids alike), vacations, etc, etc. It would buy me time to persue hobbies, and to volunteer and time to just enjoy LIFE that doesn't involve working for a greedy boss to scrape by.

W says that it would be the worst thing that ever happened to a person; that it would RUIN a person. But I say only if you let it.

Maybe one of these days I should start buying that one lottery ticket per week that I always say I am gonna buy so I could actually have a shot at that dream, huh?