If I had $365 million dollars

The Barenaked Ladies song "If I had a Million Dollars" came to me the other day when Steven and I were talking about the lottery. The Powerball had gotten up to $365 mil and I just found out today that 7 employees at a meat packing plant in North Dakota won the pot. Can you imagine? Between the 7 of them, that would be $52 mil. Whether they tax it before they split it or afterwards, who knows.

Steven determined that I could live off of just $40 mil. I probably could. BUT, if I had $365 million dollars--or whatever I had left after they take their share--here's what I would do:

1) Give my parents and my sister and brother-in-law $1 mil per couple.

2) Give my two best friends $200,000 each. Maybe more.

3) Buy a new house. This house would include: a big walk-in closet to fit both of our clothes. A bathroom with our own sinks (I'm sick of seeing his bristlies in the sink after he shaves and then doesn't clean it up) and a claw foot tub. A state of the art dishwasher (cuz I'm so SICK AND FRIGGIN' TIRED OF WASHING DISHES BY HAND), a state of the art washer and dryer (big enuff to wash and dry our huge fluffy comforter). A bigger office for me where there would be enough room for a couch, two huge bookshelves (for my adult romance book collection) and all my boxes of books. A theater room for him to watch all the anime and martial arts movies he wants on the big screen (theater or T.V.). A room to showcase all his Darth Maul paraphenalia. A desert landscape with palm trees and a landscape service to keep it all nice (because Steven doesn't do well with yard work). An area outside for him to continue his martial arts training. A shed for all his Star Wars paraphenalia (like the stuff they take with them when they do comic book conventions). And our house would be feng shui'd and decorated with items from IKEA, Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn, Cost Plus..and Costco Home (for Steven, of course, because the other stores would seem too trendy..excluding IKEA. He likes that place.)

4) Buy a new car. Nothing outraegous like a pimped out Hummer or SUV (you've got to be kidding. With gas prices nowadays, it wouldn't be worth it.) But I'd get me a new Volkswagen Bug (like the one in the June Bug post). And if necessary, when my business gets booming and I need to haul around boxes of books to festivals and whatnot, I'd break down and buy a small SUV.

5) Go on a major shopping spree. I'm not all that into fashion, so you'd never see me on Rodeo Drive buying $2,000 jeans w/ a $15,000 purse to match (or, in my case, shopping locally at Scottsdale Fashion Square--unless it's The Body Shop--which includes Neiman Marcus, Dillards and Nordstroms). I'm all about comfort. So, if you like Old Navy, Charlotte Russe, Rave, Wave, or Forever 21, then it's possible we'll be flippin' thru the racks side by side. Lately though, it's just been GoJane.com. Shopping online is so much easier than actually going shopping. I never really liked clothes shopping anyway. No, I'm not crazy or a freak of female nature. Maybe it stems from shopping for "unmentionables" with my Mom when I was younger (hated it, two snaps down). Or the fact that every year before school, we had to go shopping for new clothes and I would've rather been at home, y'know, reading or something.

6) Travel, travel...and did I mention travel? There are a TON of places I would love to visit, some of which are in the U.S. I'd hit the U.S. last, of course. Australia, Greece, Italy, Ireland, the Carribean islands, hell, any of the islands for that matter. Every month, for two weeks, I'd--we, I should say. After all, I'll be married-- we'd explore a different place. I think I would also like to buy land somewhere and build a house. Possibly retire there.

7) Quit my job. That would be a no brainer.

8) Grow my business. I would spend more time writing, to see if I could write full-time. I would attend more conferences, more writer's retreats, do school visits, etc.

9) Set aside money for "emergencies." See, Dad? Even though it may have seemed like you were talking to a brick wall, I heard you loud and clear.