Lottery

I really thought I was going to win Powerball last week. I went to a big effort to by tickets: I traveled to Charleston (GA is a MegaMillions state) and then I sought out the biggest hole in the wall to buy tickets, ending up at the Vegatable Bin, a tin hut next to the shore that didn't take credit cards. I could just picture the press conference in front of this place.

Throughout this process, Jill, Joel and myself (my traveling companions and co-workers) agreed that if we won, we would share and that we would be honest in our lottery speeches. We would not lie and say, "I might go on a great vacation, but I'm going to keep my factory job and my 1970 Pinto. It's not going to change my life." News flash: Winning $340MM is going to change your life--that's why so many of the lottery winners go bankrupt.

In reality, I would not give a speech, I would just disappear quietly to my own private island (and not go bankrupt). But if I did give a speech, this would be it:

I couldn't be happier that I won the idiot tax. I never play the lottery, so I'm especially happy that I didn't have to play the same numbers for 50 years, working to buy my tickets. Thanks Quick Pick, and thanks to all the people who increased the winning to $340MM. I'm grateful.

I plan to retire to my private island; never to be seen again. The private island will be an adult Neverland with whatever toys and food and drink an adult could want. There will be a short invite list.

To those in my inner circle, I plan to take care of you very well, inlcuding a private plane at your disposal to visit me on my island. To those outside my circle, don't bother trying to make friends with me. In general, I don't like people, and now that I have lots of money, I will probably only like human-kind less.

Thanks everyone!

Shopping

Why is it that when you search and search to buy big item (painting, furniture, etc.), you eventually become frustrated and settled for something that isn't quite what you wanted but is close enough. But as soon as it is delivered, you find exactly what you wanted, and it's cheaper, but not cheap enough to warrant having 2 things that serve the same purpose. This is a true problem in the world, up there with world hunger.

My living room is painted khaki, and there is a brown couch against the longest wall, so the wall needs a large painting with some color. From the moment I moved in, I wanted a panelled painting to hang on the wall. I envisioned 3 panels with deep earth colors.

In 7 months of searching I did not find one panelled painting until the Allentown Art Fesitival while at Emily's wedding. It was pretty, but not exactly what I had pictured--it was 6 panels and pastel. The artist was really nice; the scene was Kueka Lake; and it wasn't too expensive, so I bought it. We even bought special frames, and Mike assembled the frames and hung it, and all was good. At that point, we were just happy to have something on the wall.

Fast forward to this weekend, I flip through a catalog--the wall hanging is there--3 panels with beautiful mustard yellow and maroon flowers. Perfect for my taste. Now I can't stand to look at my pastel painting.

Is it excess to have both????

A Summer of Interesting Pairs

Mike and I make an interesting pair, partly because of our age difference but mostly because of our wise-ass banter. Over a season of golf, however, we have met numerous interesting pairs.

We played golf with many father/son pairs, which I find touching because these pairs have ranged all ages. We played with a 45-year old father who was diagnosed with throat cancer and given 6 months to live 4 years ago and whose family lived in Biloxi and had survived Hurricane Katrina the week before we met him. His son was 5 years old and adorable. He talked during everyone's back swing and jumped on the green, but he was very cute--telling me 3 times that his grandparents gave him his 3 Snoopy golf clubs and that he missed them very much--they live in Dallas.

We played a sometimes entertaining round of golf with 2 friends (not friends of ours but friends with each other)--Hugh and Dale. Hugh teed off all holes with his cigarette hanging from his mouth, ala John Daly. Dale drank 12 beers on the back nine, tipping the cart girl, nicknamed "Sweetie," $5 each time she came by in a not-so-veiled attempt to hit on her.

We played golf with 2 reitred men who went to WestPoint together and had been friends for 40 years. One was a retired CEO of a large company. His friend was a gruff colonel who looked like he had been stricken with a fatal disease when he realized he had to play golf with a woman, but who warmed up to me, complementing my swing on the last hole.

Fortunately, everyone has been patient with me, and they typically enjoy the sarcastic comments between Mike and me.

No Balance

Over the past month, I have started numerous blogs, but I have a hard time finishing them. Today, I realized why: they are all in bullet-point format, so when I read them, they do not flow the way a story should; instead, they start and stop and are annoying to read. In high school and college, I was a decent writer; I paid attention to detail and wrote at least somewhat interesting stories. After 5 years of working, however, I have been reduced to bullet points and take-aways, even in my personal life, further proving that Corporate America takes over your entire life. Between blackberries, cell phones, and 12-hour work days, there is no sacred ground--I can't even format my own thoughts.

Girlfriends

Ever since I moved home I've become a little happier, a little more relaxed among other things. The one thing that is hard about having moved home is that I don't really have any girlfriends. There's something about them....you can't really put it into words. I love all of my sisters...but girlfriends are different. I miss my girlfriends....they're awsome.

So last weekend, I packed up the ION and headed east to CT to see them. 7 hours and a lot of coffee later, there I was, being mauled in the middle of the bar by my girlfriends. It was great. We proceeded to have such a fun weekend - full of some of the most juvenile behavior I have ever witnessed...and I haven't had that much fun in a long time. One day I'll introduce you to Pete the Potato - he joined us over the weekend and had fun too.

Sunday my friend came up from NYC to visit ... first time introducing her to the CT contingent but all went well & everyone got along as I hoped, and knew, they would. We watched alot of football and just hung out. It was the rejuvinating weekend that I needed more than I realized...we all needed it.

Here's to girlfriends....thanks for everything....cheers!

Conference Calls--Why?

The older I get, the more conference calls I have to be on for graduate school and for work, and the more useless they become. I just had a conference call to discuss to schedule a longer conference call to discuss issues. I wanted to start laughing and screaming, "You idiots!!! Just email me."

My Husband

Love is coming home to an empty house, but a homemade plate of a pork chop, rice and green beans for dinner (not leftovers either). Thanks, Mickey!

Deal Whore

This is what I have been reduced to ... Drawing this picture and begging my credit committee that this is a good loan based on location. Sam could've drawn it better.

Welcome to my world

I'd like to introduce you to the kind of people that I deal with on a daily basis:

http://www.snopes.com/katrina/photos/debitcard.asp

Thanks to Scott for our intoduction to the rotation :-)

Playing Golf--Small Victories

I made a commitment to golf this season. I decided that it was a great way to spend time with Mike and enjoy the good weather in Atlanta. But I decided that if I was going to play, I was going to play well enough to avoid embarassment on the course, so I have been taking lessons and trying to practice. Typically I hit my driver very well--pretty straight 175 yards to 225 yards, and I hit my irons terribly with a decent short game. Fortunately Mike is very patient, as he is a 10-handicap.

Today was the first time that I have played in 2 weeks and I haven't practiced, so my expectation was low. As is typical for anyone who plays golfing, I hit my irons the best I have hit them all year and could not hit my driver at all.

Hitting 3 pars was my accomplishment today, including a par 3, a par 4 and a par 5. On the 18th hole, I hit my driver, 5-iron and 3 putted for par. Mike laughed for most of the hole, saying, "Imagine what you could've done if you hit your driver well today."