jackpot

What would you do if you won the lottery? A lot of people have an easy off-hand answer to this question: buy a sports car, travel the world, have plastic surgery, quit your job, buy an island complete with cabana boys and endless margaritas…

But what would you REALLY do? Would you keep working if you liked your job? Would you quit and start volunteering for charities because you don’t need the money? Do you tell everyone you know or try to keep it a secret? What would your friends say? Would they start calling more often only because you have money? What about your relatives? Would they expect you to put them all up in nice houses and pay for their children’s college tuitions? And the general public? Are you going to be mobbed by the media and fortune hunters and “long-lost relations”? Are you going to have to second guess the motives of every person you talk to?

Would you have to move to the other side of the world and change your name just to buy some peace of mind?

Luke and I bought some Powerball tickets. I know that it’s not even remotely likely that we will win the jackpot, or even some smaller sum of money. But it has me thinking… what would I do?

I probably WOULD quit my job. I don’t hate my work. I’m not half bad at it either. I make a decent living doing what I do, but it’s not what I love. Nor what I want to spend the rest of my life doing. I would buy myself a Canon DSLR camera and start taking pictures. Take a photography class. If I turn out to be any good and people are interested, I’d sell my prints or hire myself out at freelance… maybe. I would probably be happy to just wander around with my camera. That’s what I would love to do with my life if I did not have to worry about financial security.

I think Luke might still want to teach. So maybe we would buy a house in Chestnut Hill. They have some beautiful old stone homes there, with big yards and pools, and near the woods. And we could buy a storefront downtown to open up the “434 brewery”. That would give me something to do with my time, help the boys get that thing running. I could learn how to bartend, help them plan the menu and decorate. We could hang my photos on the wall :)

Of course I would add a little extra to the wedding budget… probably buy plane tickets for those I loved who couldn’t afford to come on their own. And our honeymoon would be amazing. We would probably spend our summers travelling. And I did promise Luke we could get puppies. IF we won the lottery…