Lotto Dreams...

I've never played the lotto before but based in the record setting jackpot, I figured I'd take a stab at it.

Problem? I don't know how to play. Sure, I could go into the local 7-11 and ask for help (if that is in fact where they sell lotto tickets) but I don't want to look like a rookie. So... I enlisted the help of a co-worker.

"Which one do you want?" she asked.

"There's more than one!?!?"

She rolled her eyes and grabbed the Mega Millions number selecting paper. She explained how to choose numbers and how to make the machine choose the numbers for you. Then she went in to how to repeat numbers for draws at a later date...

my eyes started to glaze.

This required way more effort than I expected.

We finally got around to actually selecting the numbers - which took forever. I picked enough for one ticket, got tired, and made the machine pick the rest.

As I pulled out a crisp $5 bill for the guy behind the counter, all I could think was how much I'd rather have spent it on rolled tacos and a Pepsi. Clearly I won't be needing to call gamblers anonymous anytime in the near future.

Hubby bought tickets as well. We talked about what we would do with the money. Buy homes, give a huge chunk to charity, move part time to Italy, help family...

then we started arguing about how much we'd give to family, then arguing about where we'd live in Italy, then arguing about whether or not we'd buy a house in Hawaii.

It's not like we starting throwing stuff... er... sharp stuff... um... we didn't throw anything too sharp.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! We didn't even win yet and we're arguing over it?!? Isn't our marriage worth more than 650 million dollars!!??" I yelled.

...

...

...

Chris stayed silent.

That's when I started throwing the sharp stuff.

I'm Back!

Life has only gotten better since I was last here. Our debt is gone, I've changed jobs and been promoted a few times, had a wonderful baby boy, and I'm still head over heels for my guy.

The biggest change, our bouncing baby boy, has caused us to look at our life goals a little closer and encouraged us to make some big decisions.

Hubby has wanted to open up his handyman/remodel business for years and has decided to take a leap in that direction. We ponied up nearly $1000 for his contractor's license school and testing fees.

Our next step is to save 8 - 10K as an emergency buffer for the lean months. He has a renewed energy doing odd jobs to save that money. I didn't realize how passionate he was about having a company of his own and wish I would have been more encouraging a long time ago.

We also decided we are on a 4 year and 4 month countdown. If we aren't successful enough to become a single income supported family in 4 years and 4 months, we're moving out of San Diego. Why the odd timeline? Because it's important to me that our son be homeschooled and he's 4 years and 4 months from his 5th birthday.

Things that haven't changed? My husband's inability to sit still. At home or at work, he's always working to make things better. I've got a giant unfinished hole in my kitchen wall and a halfway plastered wall in my dining room (more on that later) but in the end... I know it will look amazing because everything he does turns out that way and I guess that's why I'm confident we'll still be here in 4 years and 4 months.