when I win the lottery

I stood in my bedroom today, looking at 7 piles of laundry. Whites, lights, mediums, darks, really, really darks, reds, and towels. Each pile was about 2 feet high, and sadly, I had just done about 4 loads on Sunday. God, it was depressing. How can 5 people - one of whom weighs less than 20 pounds - generate that amount of dirty clothes?

And then I thought about how much it would freaking rock to win the lottery, because I wouldn't be standing in my too-small house, with my wild kids in the next room, while I prepared to split the next 8 hours doing laundry, running my own business, fixing dinner, and trying to keep the house at a liveable standard of cleanliness while my husband worked. NC is finally getting a lottery, uh, I mean, an "education lottery." (Because apparently if you slap "education" on the front, it makes the gambling less sinful.) We will be dumb with the masses and buy an occasional ticket even though the odds are like 1 in 465,395,220,946 that you'd ever really win enough money to make a difference in your life. So OF COURSE I compiled a list in my head of all of the way that winning millions of dollars would improve my life, and what I would do first if I ever won a significant amount of money. Here is my list:-)

1) Have another baby. Not because I think that it would be a girl - because it wouldn't, and honestly, after 3 boys I'm ill-equipped to handle the emotions of a girl who would probably have inherited my propensity to be, shall we say, a wee bit on the moody side. But because I would love just one more baby. Everett has been such a little joy in our lives and I'd love to go through babyhood just one more time. And if we were rich, we wouldn't have to worry about the expense of sending 4 kids to college.

2) Hire a nanny, housekeeper, and a laundry manager. Really. My life is a little out of control on any given day, and I think these people would keep me sane. The housekeeper especially. OH, and a cook. How could I forget a cook? That might actually be the best one of all, since cooking is the bain of my existence.

3) Originally I thought maybe a little plastic surgery would be nice, but a gym membership would probably be a better use of my money. And hell, with a nanny at home taking care of the kids, who doesn't have time to work out?! (I realize how particularly sad this one is, since I really COULD afford a gym membership right now but I'm using my I-haven't-won-the-lottery-yet excuse as my reason for not actually doing it. Pathetic.)

4) The really obvious stuff. A bigger house, another car that would hold all four (ha!) kids, a beach house somewhere, completely full college funds for all of my kids, vacations every year to great places where you could travel by land since I am terrified of flying.

5) The camera stuff. Oh, the camera stuff. And the most kick ass, old warehouse, natural light studio you'd ever seen.

6) Charity. When you're regular folk, charity is a fabulous idea. But when it comes down to it, there isn't a whole lot left over at the end of the month. I do my share of giving to charities by donating to silent auctions, but lets face it, I'm not the difference in a kid getting a hot meal or not. I'd love to make a difference. I'd love for my kids to know that the whole world isn't unlimited Bionicles and Thomas trains, and that sometimes people need a hand. A little perspective never hurt anyone. And really, not everyone is born into this country with an exactly equal chance of success. Period.

I'm sure I'll think of a bazillion other things I'll do with my millions of dollars. When I win;-)

(Oh, and the picture today is from my friend Val, who is also a photographer. We swapped sessions a few weeks ago, and she took some precious studio shots of my little man. I'll share more soon.)