How Can This Be?!?

Are you as shocked as I am that I didn't win the Mega Millions lottery jackpot yesterday?!

When I bought my ticket on the way into the office in NJ on Tuesday, the cashier asked me - "Cash or Annuity?" Well, I know the difference between these two words, but her question caught me completely off guard. When you buy a Mega Millions ticket in Michigan, they don't ask you any questions except for maybe "Easy-pick or pick-your-own?" So, before really processing the baffling cash or annuity question, I responded with a highly intelligent, "I'm not sure what you mean by that." I guess when you BUY your ticket in NJ, they want to know up front how you want your pay out. In Michigan, you make this decision after you win. I picked cash, of course.

As with every time I purchase a Mega Millions lottery ticket (which is only occasionally since I don't see the point in playing when the jackpot is anything less than $100 million… I mean $7, or $12, or $38 million can hardly be considered MEGA millions, maybe MULTI millions, but the name of the game is not MULTI, it's MEGA). So, as I always do, I convinced myself that I was the winner. And now that the state of New Jersey already knew how I wanted my pay out, OF COURSE the numbers picked would be mine and mine alone.

I envisioned my reaction and how I would share the news with my husband (and family, friends, employer, and enemies). The jury is still out on how anonymous I would remain. I think that I would want to remain fairly anonymous, but when I am truly excited about something, like my Coach Sample Sale, it is VERY hard for me to keep it a secret.

Of course, I had already spent countless hours (mostly ones when I should have been in deep slumber) imagining how I would distribute my fortune … mortgages paid for ourselves, our parents, our 7 siblings, and a handful of friends... college tuitions paid for our 3 kids, our 15 + 1 on the way nieces and nephews, and a handful of friends' kids, and maybe even some sort of college fund for the underprivileged.

I started locating and decorating the various residences we would own - we'd keep the house we have now so our kids could maintain some sense of normalcy (of course we would finish the basement, decorate & landscape it professionally, install a hot tub, and have a full time staff of at least 5 to maintain it -
1. Housekeeper (who does laundry & windows)
2. Landscaper
3. Maintenance/Handy Man
4. Cook/Nutritionist
5. Driver

We would have to get a loft in downtown Detroit to use during the spring/summer/fall when we go to our beloved Tigers' games. Should we also buy a place in Tampa for the fall Sundays when we fly down there for the Buccaneers' games? Surely a mega millionaire could get season tickets to the Bucs, even if there is already a 3 year wait list. Or should we just stay at a posh hotel when we go to Tampa? Definitely a place in San Francisco, a vineyard in Napa, and the empty lots on either side of our house, plus another 4 or 5 new houses on our lake so that some of our friends and family could live even closer by than they already do.

I could see myself doing anonymous and abundant and completely selfless good deeds - funding the local community water splash park (Should I have it tiled with my name like Kid Rock did in Clarkston?), installing a pool at the nearby country club for the community to use, founding a Random Acts of Kindness organization at the Middle School, supporting the arts in every possible way, buying up all of downtown that's currently for sale and developing it into a very hip and affordable place for kids, teens, adults, and seniors to hang out and commune.
I envisioned myself as an old and very well dressed lady telling my very fortunate and adoring grandchildren the story about the day I won the Mega Millions jackpot.

And then, they read the numbers….27, 30, 25, 6, 45, 46

What? Those are NOT the right numbers. Not even ONE of them matches my ticket, my one winning ticket. And you asked me how I wanted my payout and everything…..

How can this be?

Oh well, Tuesday's jackpot was only worth $115 million, this coming Friday's jackpot is worth $137 million. The powers that be must realize how much more good I could do with an extra $22 million in my winning jackpot.

Off to the store to buy the winning ticket for Friday's drawing.