"We being with breaking news..."

It's funny that G Love would decide on this wonder for the week.  A few of my coworkers and I were discussing this exact topic just a few weeks ago.  There are a group of about 25 of us that each contribute $2 when the Lotto jackpot gets high.  Our designated ticket buyer will purchase, and subsequently scan, 25 tickets at a local gas station.  All participants then receive an email which includes the date and location she purchased the tickets, as well as the scanned images of the tickets.

Unfortunately, we've never won.

Okay, I take that back.  I guess technically, we have one, but the most we've ever won was $4.  Our ticket buyer reinvested our $4 to purchase more tickets, but none have been winners thus far.

I cuss every time we lose.  Because, seriously, who doesn't want to hit the big jackpot?  And it {almost} always happens to groups of people who pool their money, right?  And the winners {almost} always purchase their tickets from a grocery store or gas station that has a "Lottery Jackpot Sounding Name," right?  Can't you just hear the news headline now?  "We begin with breaking news.  A group of 25 University employees hit the Lotto last night.  They purchased the winning ticket at the Dinner Bell on the south side of town."  Doesn't that TOTALLY have a ring to it? 

Of course, each time we pool our $2, we dream about not coming into work the following day.  Some of us are kinder and say we would stay and give our two weeks notice.  Others of us aren't so kind and vow to call in the very next day to quit.  I like to think that I fall into the latter group, but I know my conscience would get me.  No doubt, I would come in the day after we hit the jackpot and give my two weeks then.  'Cause I'm nice like that.

But, I tell you what, once my two weeks were up, I'd be outta there and I would never look back!  (I just need to add here that my neighbors really did hit the lottery about 1.5 years ago.  He hit it with a group of coworkers, so if he can then I can too, right?  Or do you think my odds severely diminished because what are the chances that neighbors would both hit?  Am I thinking too much about this?)  After hitting the lotto, I would start living a life free of time and financial constraints.

During the school year, I would volunteer at my girls' elementary school.  I would go in a couple of times a week to staple worksheets or cut out construction paper apples or hang artwork in the hall.  I would do all of that stuff that teachers don't have time to do and I would love every minute of it.  I would work there in the mornings and then eat lunch with my girls.  After that, I would run errands or do whatever needed to be done before heading home to make dinner.

On the days I didn't volunteer at the school, I would either volunteer at another organization (like the local pet rescue or food pantry) or simply take those days to focus on myself.  I would love to attend a yoga class or maybe a gardening class.  (My neighbor who won the lottery?  She quit her job and took up cooking classes!)  Yes, I would have the freedom (both in time and in finances) to do those sorts of activities.

Summers would be especially sweet because I would have my girls with me all the time.  They are at such a fun age (10 years and 8 years); an age where you can really do stuff with them.  We would have the time to hike the parks together, visit ice cream parlors, pick strawberries, tend a garden, spend hours attending the activities at the local library.  Just thinking about it all makes me positively happy and yet positively miserable.  Happy that it's a possibility, but miserable in the fact that it most likely won't come true.

But, I'll keep wishing.  And I'll keep making the commute.  I'll keep putting my hours in in order to receive my monthly paycheck.  I'll keep on keepin' on.  But, it won't stop me from dreaming.