Oooh, Baby, I Like it Here in Dreamland!

Did you hear the news today? The MegaMillions lottery has jumped up again. Last night, it was a paltry $330 million windfall, but today it has jumped another $25 million for a grand total of $355. That's $224.2 million cash in a lump sum. Sure, you have to pay massive taxes, but it's still pretty damn sweet. Can you imagine?

I can. I'd buy a new house. I'd probably build- & not what you'd think. I'd stay here. I like this town. I have family here. I have friends here. There's a great school here. But I don't live in a great house... I don't need a mansion, far from it, but there are some luxuries I'd really like to have.

I want an open floor plan. I want a big kitchen with lots of storage space for all the kitchen equipment & a really cool cook top with lots of burners & a grill & a vent that really works & goes away when not being used... I want lots of counter space for the simple fact that I've never had any, & I've always needed more. I enjoy baking & cooking & I need space to do it. I want to be able to be part of whatever is going on while I'm doing that, not segregated from the fun because I'm working. And I want lots of task lights!

I want a recreation room that has all the video games in 1 place, kind of adjoining a real theater room. I think a swimming pool would be pretty great. A luxury, but 1 that lots of people have. I'm not so extravagant. I want a big bedroom with separate closets for my husband & me. Until we moved here, that's what we always had & that was pretty wonderful. I don't like sharing my closet. I'm neater.

The en suite bathroom would have a glorious shower. I don't care about those garden tubs. I kinda don't understand them. (They always put them in an area surrounded by windows, but I'm not keen on bathing in public. I don't care if I owned 100 acres & it would be just my family {& the gardener} outside...they don't need to see me getting out of the bath. Pull down a shade & it sort of cancels out the purpose of all the windows...) I'd like a big shower where I can wash my hair without bumping my elbows on the walls, where a curtain won't be blown against my legs, where if my sweetie decides to join me, we're both still under the spray....so maybe with multiple sprays. And a bench so I have something on which to rest my foot as I shave my legs, where I won't bump my head on the cubicle wall when I bend, for that's an issue I currently face.

I'm not really greedy. I'm not really showy. I'd be happy to know I'd repaid any debt I owed anyone. I'd put aside trusts for my kids to be sure their educations were financed & they had a safety net. I would for sure want a weekly cleaning service....seriously, no one likes scrubbing tubs & toilets. I'd still donate to causes I believed in. I'd try to invest wisely to ensure I'm not 1 of those winners who's broke in 10 years or less. I've been broke & it's not fun. I'd want to be 'comfortable' until they day I die.

;)

Aside from a few things upfront, we'd live pretty modestly. Hopefully we could travel well. I don't need to live in a castle. I just want to see one.

My kids asked if we could buy a house in the Caribbean or Hawaii or someplace & I thought, no. I wouldn't do that. We could certainly go there for a vacation, but I don't want to go to the same place again & again. I want to see too many things & go to many places.  

                                                                                                              I haven't been anywhere outside the US except Niagara Falls. It barely counts. And I know I've been blessed to travel as much as I have within the US. Some people never get more than a few miles out of the town in which they were born...

But I dream of travelling, going to Europe. Everywhere! I want to see it all. I love the old buildings & the history & the architecture & the scenery from the postcards... I want to see castles grand & ruined, cathedrals & palaces & museums. I want to drink wine & eat cheese (but I will pass on the blood sausages) & connect with the heritage of my ancestors. I want to go all through Ireland, Scotland, Great Britain, France, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Greece, Spain, Italy & all the in-betweens. 

I want to go to South America, the Europe of the New World. I want to go to the beaches of Polynesia. I want to see islands & mountains & cultures different from our own... I want to see Moscow & St. Petersburg. My husband wants to see Vikings. I want to see Morocco. He wants to see Japan. Maybe I could finally get my dream job- a traveller who chronicles her journeys...& maybe I could do it without leaving my family behind.I think 224.2 million dollars would cover all that. So I have my tickets. I have my fingers crossed. The odds are estimated at 1 in 176 million. I won't hold my breath but it sure is fun to dream....

What would you do?

Vegas, Baby

So in my last piece I told y'all I had a funny little story about my husband & his fear of heights. Maybe it's only funny to me, because I have no fear of heights. I have a little fear of falling, but not of being up high. It's a different entity. 

We went to Vegas for our anniversary. I wanted to go to the observation deck of the Eiffel Tower. I'd done it once during the day on a previous trip & was interested in seeing it at night. He agreed & we scouted through our coupon book & to find our 2-for-1 for the Eiffel Tower Experience. We headed over to the Paris & waited in line. As we entered the elevator, I saw this sign & it made me chuckle.

We take our souvenir photo & they took it 3 times! We were steaming up the camera or something. Every one was foggy or blurred, or maybe that was just us. We take the next elevator up to the observation deck & I go right out to outside, jockeying for a place to see out, to view the Vegas strip. I'm wiggling around trying to get a photo without the 'cage' safety mesh in the shot. Never did manage one. I check one side, then another. I watch the Bellagio fountains from a new perspective. The music was faintly carried up here & there, dependent on the breeze, but it was still a beautiful chorus. "Isn't that amazing?!" I say to my husband with excitement. He answers, "Uh-hmm."

Bellagio fountains (& cage)

I go to another vantage point. "I wonder what they're building there."

He lightly taps my hand, "Are you almost ready?"

The Cosmopolitan scheduled to open December, 2010

"Sure, I just want to get one of our hotel & see what else I can see." He answers okay, but something in his voice made me pause. I looked at him, really looked at him. He was pressed against the wall next to the elevator trying not to see anything, sort of pale. "Are you okay?"


"I'm just really ready to go down now."


"I don't get it, you're on solid footing. You're in a cage. You can't fall off."

view of the Strip with Ceasar's, Harrah's, Mirage, Venetian...

"I don't get it either, but I need to go, soon."



Then we get in line for the next elevator down. He has relief on his face & I feel antsy. I hate being packed in like a sardine with strangers.




So now when we do our dreaming of the some days & the one days & the if we ever get to go tos... I know if we ever get to go to the real Paris in France & I want to see the view from the actual Eiffel Tower, I'm on my own. If he couldn't take the 1/2 scale model in Vegas, he surely won't tolerate the full scale of the original. But I dream of someday.... I mean, if a copy is this beautiful...how grand is the original?

The Eiffel Tower at the Paris Hotel & Casino

I know that what happens in Vegas is supposed to stay in Vegas, but it's an innocent little story in the end.