I keep seeing Facebook posts talking about the Powerball jackpot. How many hundreds of millions is it up to now? I have no idea. But, it seems like it must be rare for it to be so high the way people are freaking out.
I don’t play the lottery. The last time I bought a scratch off ticket, I was in college. I remember paying $1 for a ticket that won me $2, which allowed me to buy a pack of cigarettes. Now that neither of those vices are in my life, it seems like a lifetime ago.
In fact it was almost twenty years ago, and until all the recent publicity over the Powerball jackpot, I’d kind of forgotten the lottery even existed. I rarely watch live TV (mainly DVR so I can skip the commercials), so I don’t see any lottery ads. I pay for my gas at the pump, so I don’t ever see the scratch off tickets inside the station, and the billboards, well, I guess, I just ignore them.
BUT, all the Powerball talk got me to thinking, what WOULD I do with all that money? With several million, or hundreds of millions of dollars, whatever the case may be?
If I woke up a multi-millionaire tomorrow, I’m certain the first thing I’d do is… make my kids breakfast. Then I would walk First Born and Middle Man down to the bus stop, giving them one last hug before they stepped on the bus. After that, I’d load up the Blonde Bomber in my minivan (Hot Wheels), the van with 140,000 miles and its check engine light flashing, and drop her off at preschool.
After taking BB to her morning of preschool, I’d run whatever errands needed done (likely getting groceries for dinner), go home, do a little laundry, a little housecleaning (those toilets aren’t going to scrub themselves), and maybe write for a bit before it was time to go back and pick up BB from preschool.
After the big kids got off their school bus, I’d make them a snack (or clean up after them if they tried to make one themselves), help with homework, and possibly play a game with them before I started making dinner. It is likely during dinner prep, my kids would start to make me crazy so I would force them to bundle up, go outside and burn off steam until their mom got home from work.
After my wife got home from work, we would eat dinner, clean the kitchen and put the kids to bed. After that, my wife and I would relax. We would likely talk, read, or watch TV before heading off to bed, in preparation for the next day.
I guess what I’m saying is, my life as a Powerball winner wouldn’t be much different than my life is today.
Looks like I’ve already hit the jackpot.
-Pete