Personally, I don’t find the lottery, or gambling in general, as idiotic as some people believe it is. Because of my family I grew up loving bingo and scratch offs. Even those pull tab tickets brought excitement when we attended local fairs. These days I can’t even remember how many times I’ve traveled to Vegas… at least once, sometimes twice over the last seven years or so. For awhile a work conference took me there, so free flights, meals, and a room for me. Saved all of my money for blackjack and slot machines. 99.9% of the time I lost my budgeted allotment or more, but I thoroughly enjoyed all the interesting people I met at the tables as well as the fascinating mini win displays at the Willy Wonka, Wheel of Fortune, and Ghostbusters games.

Now back to lottery tickets in particular… This evening my hubby drove me to the local convenient store so I could buy numbers for tonight’s Mega Millions and tomorrow’s Powerball drawings. Seems silly to spend hard earned dollars on a 1 in over 300 million chance of scoring a jackpot, right? But every time I purchase them, a light, fun family (and sometimes friends) conversation is spurred. What would we do with all of that money?! One kid wants a “mansion,” another hopes for a vacation home on the beach somewhere, and the other wants to visit Legoland a whole bunch more. My husband and I would choose to renovate our current house, buy up the neighbor’s house, and let my sis and brother-in-law move in there. My Mom’s dream – to open a public golf course that charges nothing and offers free lessons to those who could not normally afford to play. I’d travel more, certainly blog more, and likely work only as a volunteer for non-profits. My husband would still keep a full-time job. Weirdo. Every time we talk our ideas become even more hilarious… like hiring Oscar Mercado as a cabana boy or opening an American Girl doll museum.

So when I hand the clerk those $10 or $20 bills, I’m buying the feeling of hope for that slight chance of hitting it big. Schrödinger’s tickets, I like to call them. We have not yet won nor lost since the drawing hasn’t happened. We choose to stay positive and become mesmerized by all that could be, if we won that dang lottery.