I Win!

I don't know what it is about visiting my parents, but it makes me want to buy lottery tickets.  OK, I do know what it is.  Every Christmas they give us all scratch tickets.  Last year we won about 50 bucks.  That wasn't bad.  And my dad used to buy tickets every week when I was a kid.  I would sometimes go with him and watch him hand over his pre-filled Megabucks ticket, hoping the one dollar investment would pay off.  Although he did have one $200 win once, like most people his dreams of getting lucky and hitting the jackpot are still just dreams.

I have never had a dream of winning big money in the lottery.  I have been a little more pragmatic.  But now I do not need to have that dream.  On a whim I bought a ticket this weekend.  I didn't just buy a scratch ticket, as I usually might when I have these desires to try my luck, but a pick-your-six numbers and hope for the best ticket.  When I compared my numbers to the winning numbers, I said, Hm, looks like I won.  It did appear that I had matched all six numbers.  I thought it must be a mistake.  I saw the numbers in the newspaper (it took this novice a while to find them) so I checked on the lottery commision's website to double-check.  Even though it verified what I had read in the newspaper, I asked my wife to check it out as well.  Sure enough, we had a match.  Six matches in fact.

This was not the biggest jackpot in history.  The official total was about $1.2 million dollars.  Of course, anyone who has ever read anything about lottery winners knows that taxes will take a chunk from the official total.  After lots of guessing and then some conversations with state officials (that took some doing on a Sunday and I was surprised we managed to speak with anyone today at all), the total comes out to roughly $711,000.  Not too shabby, if you ask me.

I have to admit it does not seem real.  It seems like some kind of joke, or hoax, or dream even.  What to do with a windfall that big?  I will need to take some time to figure that out.  Pay off debt?  Donate to nonprofits?  Have a party?  Buy a Prius? 

I know this:  I have been lucky enough in this life and this is a big one.  This is luck luck luck, no skill or talent involved.  I won the lottery!  Who the hell can say that without making it up?