Winning the Lottery!

I’m pretty pumped! Just checked my lottery tickets and I won a whopping $27 from the last drawings for the Powerball and Mega Millions! No, I cannot quit my day job, but it will be spending it all in the same place. It’s more than enough to fund the purchase of more tickets for tonight’s drawing.

This is the year I’m going to win and if a considerable amount of time goes by and I haven’t posted, you may safely guess that I’ve either died or won the lottery. And why won’t I be posting? A wise friend told me years ago that if/when you win and immediately go public, you and your family could become targets. Targets for thieves, kidnappers, con-artists and greedy, lazy relatives (which sometimes are one and the same). Pretty much anybody you can imagine that thinks they might be able to benefit from your fortune. With that said, if I win the lottery here’s what will happen:

• I’ll go to work the next day (Yeah, I know it kind of sucks. But it’s important to maintain a look of “normal”)
• Take 2-3 days of vacation to TCB
• Change our land line phone number and get an unlisted number
• Consult and put on retainer a tax attorney
• Consult with a couple of banks and financial advisors.
• Once I have determined how to insure my financial security (an oxymoron if I ever heard one - (snicker here if you like) till my death, then I will begin to take care of my family.
• Set up college funds for our kids that want to start or have started school
• Set up college funds for grandchildren and future grandchildren
• THEN- Quit day job
• Buy a house for one of our daughters
• Buy a car for each of our kids
• Buy a church. Our small congregation has been meeting in a rented shared building for years and needs a permanent home.

Of course we’ll take trips, go shopping and maybe even buy a new house, but taking care of our family and church family will and should be the first thing we do.
One more thing I want to do: TIP BIG. I don’t mean Johnny Depp tips of $1000 for a dinner, but tips that at least equal the amount of the service or meal. All of our kids work or have in the service industry and I am very aware of how much people depend on their tips to earn a living.
So, I'm off to buy tickets for tonight, wish me luck!