Not a real green dress (that's cruel)
The other day on my internet message board, one of the girls was talking about some lottery with the ridiculously high prize of 325 million dollars. She asked us what we'd do if we won something like that.
I gave my typical goody two-shoes answers: pay off all of our debts, pay off my parents' house and get the roof fixed, buy MB's parents a house, pay for my sister's semester abroad (Spring 2008! Eek!), buy a house outright (with three bedrooms, an office, and room for a grand piano), sock away college funds for our future spawnlings, donate a few million where I work, endow a scholarship or two at my university (the least I could do, since my sister and I both got full rides there), and then hire an investment manager to take care of the rest so we could live off the interest.
But then, I kept thinking about it, and I've added to my list. MB and I would travel, both in the US and abroad. LOTS of traveling. We could buy a swanky hybrid crossover SUV thingie (enough room for camping gear AND carseats) and a canoe. I would get laser hair removal so that my legs would always be silky smooth. We'd get Kitters some mad bling, and maybe a really nice grille:
(Okay, not really. But isn't that hilarious and weird? Click the cat for the story.)
And, since I really am a goody two-shoes, I'd definitely give money to some environmental groups and some charities. Then I think we'd try to stay incognito and off the radar of the kind of fake friends that tend to crawl out of lottery winners' woodwork, and we'd do our best to raise our kids in a normal way.
How about you? What would you do if you won an obscene amount of money?
Also, I started to wonder where the phrase "goody two-shoes" came from, and (of course) wikipedia had an answer. Who knew?
it's kinda complicated, but let's suffice it to say that i would pay off ALL of the debt of my parents, brother and myself. plus, fix up my brother's house real nice, get him and the 'rents all new cars, a new house if mom and dad wanted one. there'd most likely be a firehouse in there for me, and maybe a "vacation home" condo in chicago, so i can get my urban living fix when i want. and travel, with friends and/or family in tow. especially a trip to ireland for my mother.
ReplyDeletei stole this idea from Omar (omarphillips.net)-- i'd tell everyone i'd won 162 million, invest the "secret" half and then spend the rest on people i love, buy a small but nice home and travel.
ReplyDeleteI'd finally pay off student loans and other debt, also travel a lot, and make a huge donation to a nonprofit I used to work for on the condition that the executive director be fired.
ReplyDeleteCadiz12 had a good idea, but I think winning that much might make the news.
I always wondered if after you win something like this, if you can request to be anonymous. I would hate to have to go public with that kind of information, not only for all of the people who would come out of the woodwork, but also because life as you know it would turn completely upside down.
ReplyDeleteI already told you my answer, which was a goody one too.
ReplyDeleteAlso? I would have a vacation and you and that Beatle would be invited. :)