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Sep
30
JB and I were watching some awful show called “Million Dollar Yachts” the other day, which featured, as you might guess, obscenely expensive yachts. One ship included copious amounts of the world’s most rare blue granite, another had custom-carved whalebone accessories, and one owner had built some crazy custom golf course thing that allowed him to send ball after ball flying into the ocean in an attempt to hit various targets, while his crew stood by in a separate giant boat in order to determine each player’s score.
Can you even imagine being that rich? I was all hung up on the golf balls, like wait a minute, isn’t that kind of environmentally fucked? Aren’t golf balls the ones that have a center filled with radioactive space dust, or something? Or at the very least isn’t it possible a marine animal could choke on one? Come ON, wasteful millionaire guy, think of the ball-gagging dolphins!
Every now and then when the Powerball gets up to some ridiculous, unlikely number like $184,032,682,931,085.14 JB and I buy a ticket and launch into a pleasant, meandering, days-long conversation about what we’d do with all that money. It’s basically the polar opposite of those grim Well We Still Can’t Reduce Our 15-Year Refi Loan Like We Had Planned Because the Seattle Housing Market Took a Big Steaming Poo and Thus Our Mortgage is Like Getting Reamed With a Giant Pointy Stick Each Month discussions which result in us combing through our budget yet again and wondering if there’s anything we can skim off the top, like maybe those expensive-ass children.
What would you do with a giant mega-mountain of cash? I mean, you know, aside from donations, helping out family/friends, savings, school tuitions, college funds, and all that responsible stuff. Here’s the big things from my list:
• Quit my job, pronto. Sorry, job. I like you, and I love my coworkers, but your commute sucks and let’s be honest, if I didn’t need the paycheck we probably wouldn’t have a whole lot to talk about.
• Build a generously-sized but not mansion-huge house in Oregon, with two-story log cabin-style front windows overlooking something beautiful.
• Have vacation property in Bend, and a beachouse somewhere tropical.
• Buy a super comfy motorhome, so our family could spend weeks at a time traveling around the US
• Hire an awesome trainer to kick my ass 4-5 days a week.
• Start a business.
• Find the perfect babysitter for a weekly date night and pay to keep her on permanent retainer.
What about you?
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Loving, Lately
JR Watkins Vanilla is my new favorite body lotion. Love the smell, love the way it feels, love the awesome label design.
I may have mentioned it once or twice, but Breaking Bad is the best thing that has ever happened to television EVER. You should watch it right now.
Bob Book Series
Riley has honestly learned to read as a result of these little box sets. Cannot recommend enough.
This applesauce bread from Allrecipes is superfast, supereasy, and the kids love it (I leave out the spices).
Buy all the photography equipment I have been lusting over on a regular basis, including a new camera, fancy lenses, and lighting accessories.
Find a space and rent a STUDIO!
Buy an actual house in a Chicago neighborhood that we really love. Andersonville, maybe. With more than one toilet, an office for each of us, bedrooms for each kid plus us, and a guest bedroom.
Buy an other house in Halifax somewhere.
Go back and forth between houses whenever we damn well feel like it.
Go back to school in photography, or writing, or both.
Dump that fucking Beetle and buy an actual GOOD car.
Spend weeks every summer travelling to various places around the world.
P.S. I was going to post more, but the baby pooped in the bath and I was called for assistance. Perhaps we would hire a special “poop-bath-cleanser” maid!
I’d build a house somewhere… pretty. I don’t know where, exactly. And I’d buy my sister a house outside of Brooklyn because hey, guess what, Brooklyn stinks. Like literally, it smells sort of condensed soup / old armpitty.
And I’d travel with The Boy and The Baby, and… yeah. That’s all. I dunno. Just chill. Isn’t that what we’d all do? Chill. Make dreams come true. Whatever.
I would buy the place I work at and get rid of the ashole boss. I would re-do management and make more then me happy. Then I would go on a nice long happy vacation and come back to a better place to work.
Retire, build a house in the mountains, spend time with the kids before they leave home. Party like crazy after they leave home. Die with a smile on my face on the up stroke. :-)
Damn, I am not ‘Anonymous’ anymore.
Retire, build a house in the mountains, spend time with the kids before they leave home. Party like crazy after they leave home. Die with a smile on my face on the up stroke. :-)
Start a scholarship fund & pay back all the scholarships I got out of high school (sort of like pay it forward, but paying it back?).
I won’t lie, I’d buy a big penthouse loft in the Pearl District in Portland.
So now of course THIS inquiring mind would like to know what kind of business you would start!
Put money in the bank. Check the balance every few days to make sure we weren’t hallucinating or something.
Tell Hubby he can tell work they can kiss his overworked ass.
Add a second story onto our house (what the heck, we like it here) and build/buy a big-assed house on the lake.
Sock away enough money so each kid could not only attend the college of their choice for at least 4 years but also buy the fucking college if they wanted to.
Throw a big party. Throw a big party; invite everyone we hate. Show them pictures of the lake house. Don’t invite them to the even bigger party at said lake house.
Buy approximately 10 acres of land somewhere local; donate it to our local Boy Scouts Council. Let the boy scouts/venturers clear and build a scout encampment. Give a mental middle finger to the other scout camps that are at least an hour away.
Invest a big chunk of money for the future.
If my grandma is still alive buy her a bigger house in FL, one with carpet that repels pee smell. Make sure my Auntie M is comfortable. Make sure my sister and her family are comfortable.
Yeah, yeah, make sure my mom is comfortable. She doesn’t deserve it but how can I teach my kids to love us in our old age if we don’t show love to our own parents in their old age?
Get my FIL out of debt, make sure his gold-digging, non-bill paying wife can’t get her mitts on any of his money.
Go on a honeymoon. What, it’s only 13 years late! Better late than never.
I would do exactly what you were doing only I already have a motorhome, I just need a cabin. And travel taking all the kids and grandkids with me. And employ the whole family at the animal adoption-shelter-rescue that I would open as a business. All animals are welcome. My hubby on the other hand says I would buy an island and I would be king!!! He is the only person that I know that could truly spend his entire winnings in a day.
Quit my job in a New York minute.
Buy an old house in the Irvington neighborhood of Portland and do the whole green remodel thing but leave it looking and feeling true-to-period.
Build an aquatic facility in Portland to house my daughter’s swim team.
Like Jessamyn, buy a decent car.
Hire people to do all of the household crap I hate. Treat them like humans, pay them a fair wage and buy them and their families some good health insurance.
Travel with my daughter. And my mom.
Master the things that are on my “I wish I could list”, like sewing, cooking and knitting.
Two Words: Personal Chef
I love this game.
-Buy a home with a kitchen that can fit more than one person at a time. Preferably overlooking a body of water.
-Go back to school and get a masters degree in the study of rhetoric.
-AND/OR Buy a piece of property in the Seattle area and make it an awesome event space.
-Buy a boat
-Quit my job with a quickness
-Hire a personal chef to cook healthy, yummy meals
OH, and I’d travel all over the world with my family and friends.
Buy a house with a great view in San Francisco, and then travel a lot.
Hubby and I have the same conversations. He buys a ticket every other week so I guess our odds go up a bit. At least that’s what I like to tell myself ;)
* I would take my family and a few other families with children the same age on a LONG cruise (probably Mediterranean) We would bring along a few nannies to help with the kiddos too
* I would keep the nanny and hire a personal chef and housekeeper. I also will steal the trainer idea.
* We would buy a vacation property in Summit County Colorado. I would live there with the kids in the summer and hubby would fly into Denver on the weekends to be with us.
* I would learn how to play the guitar and resume piano lessons. I would also love to learn a foreign language so perhaps some sort of immersion program.
* I would also seriously look into adopting a child. Although Hubster would probably nix that idea.
Pay off my debt, all of it: car loan, student loans, mortgage.
And then experience the freedom that is being able to do whatever I want with every dollar we bring in each month.
Well, except for the paying taxes thing. But every OTHER dollar.
My husband would immediately quit his job. We would build a couple of houses in various locations (thinking one in Colorado, Alaska, somewhere tropical). We would probably spend most of our time traveling and experiencing the world and the rest of our time would be spent in the company of our family and friends…oh, and the full-time staff of trainers, cooks, maids and pool boys. We’d probably write, read advanced copies of every book we desired and age well together.
We always joke that we have the personalities to live the “independently wealthy” lifestyle. We have no big career aspirations, no desire to run the world. We just want to spend our time hanging out with each other, our kids and our families and screw that whole ‘working’ thing.
I would buy my dream beach front Cape Cod home. Pay for my kids college tuitions. Get a good financial advisor and get a plan(am showing my age…which is 46). Travel to Italy and Hawaii.Have lots of social gatherings with family and friends.
Ditto the log cabin and ditto the super comfy motorhome, oh and also the trainer.
I would probably still live in New England but I would have a huge horse farm with people to take care of said horses.
I LOVE THIS GAME!
1). Uh, yeah. Quit my job fo’ shizzle.
2). Buy a not too huge house around here and make it all enviro friendly–THE WORKS. Vacation property up in Michigan or Wisconsin.
3). Scrap our current car (only one) and get two: one Prius and one SUV Hybrid.
4). Hire a trainer so yeah, I’d actually work out.
5). WEEKLY MAID SERVICE OMG.
6). New wardrobe.
7). Weekly massages and bi weekly mani/pedis.
8). Travel in Europe with Bryan. Theo will be with grandma.
Oh I could go on and on but man this is fun :-)
I LOVE this game. I would pay off all my bills, and get my sister out of debt, buy her a nice house and set her up with a studio for her art. I’d maybe start a business of my own; river outfitters or some kind of hippie store. Pay off my house, fix it up, sell it. Buy something a touch bigger out in the middle of nowhere. Hide out from the world. And NEVER EVER answer another tech support question again in this life or the next. :)
Quit my job.
Pay off our house.
Buy a log cabin in Tahoe (just something small with a nice hot tub.)
Travel the world.
Shop at all the clothing stores I have been dreaming about ever since that first stupid Vogue I saw when I was 11. See also SHOES.
Get everyone I love together every year some where tropical and warm and have a freakin’ good ass time all on me.
Buy my husband season tickets to every sports team he likes and LET him go ;)
I am sure I could think of more but that is a nice start, no?!
Get all my best girlfriends together, give them each a chunk of money, and go shopping like we mean it. Buy nothing on that trip for the kids.
Let my daughter buy one thing totally 7-year-old dream worthy. I dunno. A real pegasus fairy pony or something like that. I’d do the same for the boy if he could talk yet…
Tell my husband to quit his job and go do what he really wants to do…design and build wetlands wherever he wants.
Give each of my immediate family members a chunk of money and let them spend it however they want to so there isn’t any jealousy.
Take a year and go visit all of our friends all over the world that we haven’t seen in forever because they have moved all over the world.
Do some other responsible stuff and then…buy a big a$$ diamond ring cause I want one.
Almost exactly the same as yours – weird. Big, but not super ostentatious house; motor home b/c I love road trips; I adore Bend, OR (where I first confessed to my now-hubby while we were on vacation that I lurve him) so an anniversary cabin there….
Except – no business for me and instead a super fast, pretty car.
Totally quit my job because as good as it is comparatively, it’s not thaaaat good.
Spend the first year off catching up on missed sleep, lazing around reading, going to the spa, exploring parts of the city I live in and never have time to visit. Basically just be as lazy as possible until I’m recovered.
Buy a sound-proof penthouse in Coal Harbour with breathtaking views of Stanley Park, the North Shore Mountains and English Bay. (They only cost $7-million!)
My penthouse would have its own swimming pool and infra-red sauna.
Arrange to have all my organic raw meals prepped and delivered; factoring in my exact calorie needs.
Hire a personal trainer who can work me out in my own deluxe gym.
Hire a registered massage therapist who would visit me once or twice a week.
Have some plastic surgery to subtly improve my appearance (I know…totally shallow and I wouldn’t do this before sending two elephant sanctuaries and other charities huge cheques.)
Work as a volunteer 3 months of the year at PAWS elephant sanctuary, paying them for the privilege. Ditto for the Thai elephant sanctuary.
Audit university courses of my choosing.
Do some eco-friendly travelling where I can learn stuff (because I get bored lying on beaches).
Hire someone to follow around that spoiled asshole and fish all of his golf balls out of the water.
Travel like a MOFO. I’d schlep my family all over the world starting like day #2.
Retire.
Buy a cozy home on the side of a mountain with wireless internet.
Help my kids. My son is fighting depression over a long-ago sexual molestation, and has finally given up and is on meds and going to therapy, but it’s charity therapy, bi-weekly, and I’d like him to get counseling like three times a week and get well fast before his life is half over. My younger daughter is married to a total ass who controls every cent, and I’d like to give her money for a house so she could kick him out of the one that’s in his name only. My older daughter – well, she’s a realtor. Enough said.
I want to travel. I have a friend in France, we began as pen pals 38 years ago, now we are e-mail pals, but she’s closer to me than any friend I have, because of the anonymity we tell each other everything. We were moms to toddlers when we met, we are grandparents now. I want to go meet her. And while I’m there, I might as well spend a few days with that friend on the coast of Spain.
I want to buy a fantastic computer. I thought I had when I got this Alienware, but it isn’t and I didn’t and I’m thinking about a Mac.
And I want the nicest, most luxurious hybrid RV and I want to get in it and flip a coin and really see this country.
Custom made shoes and bras.
Mmmmmm. I love thinking about this.
I would buy land and build a awesome house with a huge garden and have swings for chilling everywhere, buy my sisters and mom homes and pay off friends mortgages, pay off student loans, adopt another child, get massages…and then I would invest the rest into “Clean Water for Haiti” and a kids orphanage in Ti’Mache, move to the Island and set up a birthing and child wellness center for Haitian women and launch a school for kids, and spend the rest of my life doing work I believe in and that make a difference to those around me…also? I would buy the best camera and art supplies up the yazoooo.
I know I’d be expected to buy cool camera equipment – and I would – but my first big thing would be to buy a chunk of land and start a housing development to build all the designs I’ve had kicking around in my head and on paper for the last few years. I’ve even got the name picked out for my community. I’m so sick of the ugly-ass housing that gets built around here.
Yes, I also would quit my job. And I’d buy a house. But just a house. Because a modest one here in San Francisco will set you back a cool million. And I’d get a car. And put lots away for kiddo’s college. I think I’m too practical…Except that I’d get a pedicure every single week.
I would quit my job for sure and start my own business, a photography business with a studio and the whole nine.
Travel. A LOT.
I’d hire a nanny, personal chef, housekeeper, pool boy (for the kick ass pool I’d have out back in my kick ass yard of my big (but not extravagent)house, and a personal trainer.
And I know this sounds completely vain, but I think I’d lift and tuck some things – if you know what I mean.
I’d buy land. And possibly have a few ‘vacation’ homes scattered throughout the US.
Oh, this is funner than I imagined…I could go on and on. But I won’t. So tell us, what kind of business would you start?
Quit my job, donate a ton of money, and build a totally environmentally awesome nearly off the grid house. Also the phrase masseuse on retainer comes to mind.
Make sure my family is comfortable/pay off debt then…
-Buy the place I work at and overhaul the whole thing. Hire people I enjoy working with and treat them well so they enjoy working. I like my job and would continue working :)
-Invest a bunch of money into my hometown so it can go back to what it once was.
-Build a nice, but not huge, house in my hometown.
-Build a nice and big house in Ocean City, New Jersey.
-Give my aunt money to start a bakery.
-Adopt a kid or seven.
Oh, I love this question. G & I talked about this the other day when the Powerball got up to like 260 hundred million gajillion dollars. After doing all the responsible stuff, we would:
-buy this house:
http://www.ackergill-tower.co.uk/
-travel travel travel travel travel
And probably not “work” another day in our life. I’d probably be interested in doing some sort of non-profit foundation, if I ever got tired of laying around the Aegean.
Well, once the responsible helpful family and finance stuff was done…
-Buy an apartment in Italy, so I can see my family there more often.
-Buy a nice little house with a yard here. Somewhere safe.
-Build a custom library off that house for myself, full of cozy nooks and crannies. (And a secret passage. I want a secret passage).
-Travel!!
-Buy all the wonderful film equipment I want and need, and make my own movies instead of working for others. Employ a lot of young people doing it.
-Makeover! I’m not a big clothes horse, but that’s because I’m always broke. I could learn.
Never fly coach again, EVER.
The only reason I might start a business with my money is so I could employ people to do just about nothing and pay them a huge-ass salary. I’m thinking family, but, you know…share the wealth and all that.
I do think I’d set up trust funds not only for my kids/nieces/nephews but for other family members as well so they wouldn’t blow it all in a hurry and a) want more and/or b) have people take advantage of them and take it all away from them. I’m not really a control freak – it’s just easy for others to take advantage and my family – we can be a tenderhearted bunch.
I would travel – I love the RV idea except I don’t want to have to drive it myself and I don’t want to hire someone else to do it. So I’d probably just get something comfortable (Infiniti anyone?) and stay at Marriotts (or something similar) across the country.
I want a nice house but not crazy big – mostly because I don’t want to keep a big house clean and I don’t want strangers intruding so I have to keep it manageable for me and my daughters. Besides, we’ll be traveling a lot and won’t be there to enjoy it.
I’d homeschool my daughters. :)
I’d send everyone who every showed me kindness a big check. :) (and part of me would like it if everyone who was an asshole to me or my family knew that they screwed themselves with that move – but wishing that seems karmically ill-advised, so i won’t really wish that)
I did buy a lottery ticket today, so you never know.
I hate working. As someone else said – I have the personality to be happy with never working again – just hanging out with the ones I love. And reading and writing a lot. And watching lots of movies. Yes, I’d have to have a home theater with movie popcorn.
kim
I started debating whether I would want to get a PhD in history first or an MFA in creative writing, and then I realized that I am the biggest nerd on the face of the planet.
Pay off our debts, of course. Then I would buy my parents their own home, and one for my brother, where he could have a great big yard for his dogs. I would surprise my in-laws by paying off their mortgage and giving them a huge check to thank them for all they’ve done for us over the years. I’d set up a college fund for my niece.
I’d renovate this apartment in Quebec City and give it to my friend who lives in a craptastic building with crazy neighbours and a fire alarm that goes off every week. I’d then buy the penthouse apartment in this building and use it as a pied-à-terre, and move back to Montreal. I’d get a nice luxury condo in Westmount or something. I’d also get a place in Barbados or New Zealand.
My husband and I would retire (in our 30s, hell yeah!) and we’d travel for a while. Then we’d do whatever we wanted– learn to paint or play an instrument or whatever.
I’d have tons of books. More than I could ever read. Books in every room.
I’d have 10 cats.
I’d give back. I’d fund schools and make endowments and start scholarships. I’d donate money to the literacy group I work for. I’d open an animal shelter, and hand it over my friend the vet to run. I’d start affordable housing projects in Montreal and Quebec. I’d volunteer.
Move our house to a non-murdery location and then add a story, dig out the basement, put in central air, and hire a gardener. Then find some sort of childcare situation that doesn’t involve either parent so I can stay at my work-for-peanuts job because I love what I do. LAME!
Never fly coach again, or maybe even get a timeshare in a personal jet. It’s a long, pain-in-the-ass trip between Israel and Oregon, where my mom lives.
Get a full-time personal assistant, nanny, and maid. I love cooking (most nights), but hate cleanup. And if I never had to deal with bureaucracy ever again I’d be so thankful.
Build a great home gym, hire a trainer.
Build a house near a river in Oregon, someplace gorgeous like the Metolius.
Travel with my family and stay in different countries for a few months out of every year- spring in Paris, winter in Patagonia, etc.
Make sure our parents could retire super comfortably.
Donate huge amounts of money to any scientist doing research on how to solve the Darwinian fail that is children’s sleep. I don’t care what it involves, drugs, implants, genetic modification, just FIX IT.
Buy a tiara.
Sundry what kind of business would you start?
The lotto huh? I’d dangle a SHITLOAD of money in front of the university that fired my dad and tell them the only way they’re getting enough money to pay off the stadium is to name it after my father… yeah, I’m not bitter about that or anything.
Then I’d pay off my parent’s lake place. Buy myself and DJ one next door. Pay for my sister to do some kick ass internships that she can’t do because she needs to work to pay for college.
Pay for our house,etc.
But really, I want to start a company that does adaptive reuse and historic preservation. But does it the RIGHT way. And unfortunately that requires a lot of capital…
Quit my job and become a photographer full time.
Buy a small but cute old place in NYC or DC. Travel most of the year.
Create a college fund and post-college trust for my nephew.
As anonymously as possible help out in significant ways good people I know who are struggling (paying off mortgages, debt, medical bills, etc.). I think that would be so amazing to watch, the difference it would make in their lives.
I am LOVING these, keep them coming!
For the folks wondering what kind of business I’d start, I don’t know for sure — but imagine the flexibility of free-flowing capital, and the fact that making a living wage from it (or earning money while it was starting up) wouldn’t have to be the primary goal. Whee!
My sister and I were doing this very same kind of dreaming the other day! So much fun.
Yes, I’d quit my job. And tell hubby to quit his too. Then I’d yank my kid(s) out of school, hire an awesome tutor who would travel around with us (via private rent-a-jet) and educate them while we saw the world.
I’d probably stay in my current house since we just built it, but I’d get it all landscaped, have an outdoor living space put in with an outdoor fireplace & kitchen, probably add a small guest house, buy furniture and finish various projects. Oh heck, I’d probably just have a designer come in and help me achieve what I attempted!
I’d buy a great 5th wheel trailer so we could drive around the country exploring. I’d buy a decent boat for fishing and some Sea-doos for playing on the lakes.
I’d also buy a small cottage somewhere on a beach so that I could leave the rainy, dreary Pacific NW in the winter and retain my sanity.
I’d probably eventually go to culinary school so that I could throw really awesome dinner parties and make killer pastries.
I’d finally read the enormously nerdy long list of books I want to read. I’d get weekly massages and pedicures. I’d probably steal the hire-a-trainer idea. I’d probably adopt a kid or two. I’d have fresh flowers in my house at all times.
And I’d pack up all my girlfriends and take us all to a tropical resort for a 2-week getaway, full of relaxation, spa treatments, shopping, eating and kid-freeness.
1) Quit suckiest job ever!
2) Open Soup Kitchen that serves 3 meals a day and offers private areas to shower and use the friggen toilet.
3) Travel
4) Travel
5) Pay off my house, my sisters and brothers house.
6) Open bakery business.
Ah, I wish. My Mom and Dad have friends who won $15 million in an Indiana lottery last year. While it wasn’t as big as a Powerball win, it was a respectable lump sum even after taxes.
When we heard that news, hubby and I daydreamed about what we’d do if we ever really hit the jackpot. We’d buy a house in Sunriver and another home in Palm Springs. Summer in Sunriver and winter in P.S. with a few trips to Bachelor for skiing. My husband loves music and is a great guitar player. We’d have space in both homes for him to set up mini-recording studios and he’d freelance with bands to record and mix their music. I’d love to volunteer my time at hospices. Ah, it’s fun to dream!
FUN!
Pay anything off that is lingering.
Help out any friends struggling.
By a Hasselblad.
Go to culinary school.
Get Pete set up with his own shop.
MAYBE pay the kids college tuition.
Travel, travel, and travel.
Travel.
1. Pay off my house.
2. Flatten my house and have a larger one built on the same property made to fit me and my family.
3. Pay off my parents house so they wouldn’t have to worry about a mortgage and my dad’s medical bills.
4. Put money away for my dad’s eventual medical care needs (Parkinson’s)
5. Take a long family vacation.
6. Get all the camera and crafting supplies I have always wanted (which would go in my OWN PERSONAL office designed for my photogrpahy and crafts in that new house mentioned above)
But only half of those are selfish…:D
Oh, and maybe I’d add on that personal trainer thing you mentioned…I could use someone to kick my ass into shape.
Donate heavily to my home town HS fine arts program with the stipulation that if a single red scent winds up in any of the athletic programs, they have to pay me back immediately with interest.
Oh I love this game! Hubby and I play every so often, it’s always interesting!
1. Lift/tuck/lipo (Lazy? Why, yes.)
2. Totally stealing the trainer idea!
3. Purchase land and build a new facililty for our local Montessori school. (I’m not a Montessori mom, but their school shares the building with my kids’ elementary school and the sharing is getting a bit complicated. Also, the parking lot is A ZOO. Nobody likes. Plus, neither school can expand while they’re sharing the facility.)
4. Fix up my ‘97 Ford Explorer, because I really, really like it. But I’d make it a hybrid. And paint it pink.
4. Build dorms at my local college. Because it’s 2009 and they don’t have any.
5. Get my RM Certificaiton. And then…
6. Start my very own records management company. Because my community desperately needs it–most of the businesses around here are stuck in the 80’s records-management-wise and that’s SO, SO, SO dangerous. I’d do educational seminars, customized DIY records program how-to-guides, and actual, hands-on assistance.
7. Buy hubby a boat, because it would make him happy.
8. Help out family/friends with mortgages/college/pay off debt/etc.
9. I thought really hard about setting up college funds for my kids and I think I would do that, but I would set it up so that they couldn’t access the money until they’d completed their AA degrees (or trade-equivalent, an apprenticeship?) and proved that they were serious about that particular career path and also proved that they were getting good grades.
1. Beautiful, but not ostentatious, house at Newport Beach. My husband loves it there, and that would make him extremely happy.
2. Another house somewhere else, too (I’m not sure Newport Beach is a good place to raise kids!) And I would have or build condos or guest houses close by for my mother and mother-in-law to live in, or stay in while visiting. That way they could see the kids without making me crazy.
3. New cars. Not Ferraris or anything, but nice cars that we love. I would love a convertible BMW…mmmm…
4. Quit my job and stay home with the kids. I hate my job!
5. Maid service!!!
6. Boob job/tummy tuck (what? 2 kids does a number on you), and a personal trainer.
7. Pay off the houses/debts of people I like.
8. Go to Donors Choose and pay for everything. I love that site; the things people ask for touch my heart: chairs for their classroom, balls for the youth center. I would love to help them out with all the many small things so many people need.
My list looks a lot like you.
1.) QUIT MY JOB. I hate it. I would probably get a part time job somewhere cool like a winery or volunteer a couple days a week. (I am NOT cut out to be a full time stay at home mom, and my kid LOVES daycare.)
2.) Build a home we would stay in forever. A great basement for my kids, etc.
3.) I would feel more comfortable having more children. Right now, I doubt we’ll go beyond 2.
4.) A nice lake house somewhere.
5.) I’d buy my kid some really great toys that he will most likely never get otherwise.
6.)I think I would find some family like my own and pay off their ridiculous student loans.
Buy up as much wild land (forests and wetlands and animal habitant)as I can get and I would give it back to the creatures that live there. I would hire the best lawyer I can find to figure out a way to guarantee the land will NEVER fall in the hands of developers.
1. finish seminary.
2. buy a motorhome, pack up dog, cats, friends, go on a tour of the US. See everything we want, come home when we are done.
3. Buy my dad the 2-seater Benz he has always wanted and get Mom to figure out if there’s anything she wants–it would probably be funding for some of the volunteer work she does.
4. Buy myself an Escape hybrid or some other similar small “truck.”
5. Buy a house in my Rogers Park neighborhood in Chicago. Make it big enough that I can set up the little “wouldn’t it be great if we all had rooms in the same house” dream I have with some friends. Build a kick ass garden and back yard space with plenty of hang out areas and flowers.
6. Pay for Sprout and Sprout 2 to finish college. Set up a trust for my teenage god-daughter.
7. Buy a kick ass mac computer to replace my PB G4.
8. Personal trainer/personal chef.
i could go on and on with this game.
Oh, I’m sorry, is there some sort of discussion going here? Because I can’t shake the image of a dolphin in a ball gag. Oh, you crazy S & M dolphins with your freaky blow holes. Heh. BLOW HOLE.
Oh I love this game.
1) Do all of the remodeling projects we’re spacing out on the house we’re buying. We really like the house we’re closing on this month, and I don’t think we’d choose a different location.
2) Quit. My. Job. I love what I do, and I’m lucky to have a job, but after 15 years of doing this, I’ve come to the conclusion that I really rather be doing something else altogether.
3) Which brings me to #3. I would go back to school to study nutrition and psychology and specialize in helping women build a healthier relationship with food.
Wow. That’s the first time I’ve actually wrote that out and articulated that. Maybe I shouldn’t wait till I get money and go for it anyway.
Okay, I’m with Anne. The Dolphin in a ball gag had me cracking up! I have such a dirty
mind.
Once we did all the responsible things, helping family, etc. I would like to travel
the world. I’ve only been out of the US once
and that was just to Mexico. My husband
dreams of a huge RV and traveling all over
the US, stopping at anything that catches
our fancy.
I would like to go back to school and finish
the art degree I started 25 years ago. I might not ever use it, but I’d like have it.
We have this same conversation every time the
lottery gets huge.
There would definitely be a house with some land, but there would also be scads of people to look after the things I find too difficult, tedious, or unpleasant to do myself. They’d include: a landscaper, an interior designer, a house cleaning service, a personal shopper/stylist, a great financial advisor, a personal trainer, a nutritionist… Oh, the people I’d employ!
Finally fix all the things we need done on our 100 year old house. We might just want to stay there even though we can afford something bigger.
Buy myself a new pair of sweats. My old ones are getting ratty.
Hire someone to clean my house. Weekly. And make dinner every night.
Give some to charities I always wanted to donate money to, but never had the extra cash.
Send my friend who has cancer and no health insurance a big, fat check.
The best part about a windfall like this would be that neither my hubby or I would ever have to work again. No more Army, no more shitty office job! We could build our dream house in Oregon or Washington (or both…) and have a hobby farm and an art studio, and maybe have our own business too – environmental consulting, and/or a gift shop & art gallery in Port Townsend or Cannon Beach. But mostly, I’d love to just have the time to do all the little things I daydream about while I sit in this damn cubicle.
Figure out the necessary steps to imitate Lorelai Gilmore’s setup. Job that allows me to wear fun, slightly business-y clothes but I don’t actually seem to do anything except chat in the kitchen with my on staff gourmet chef and leave for long stretches of time to go to a restaurant every day and have a sprawling house in a lovely hamlet. Oh yes, and because Stars Hollow doesn’t actually exist (sadness!), whatever tiny, ridiculously expensive New England town I end up in, I’ll just sponsor all the fun events. Starlight Festival, anyone?
I love thinking about this.
I’d do the boring stuff like pay of my debt, my immediate family’s debt, the debt of my close friends so they can do what they want instead of worrying about insane student loans, set up trusts, investments, etc.
THEN. The fun stuff. I’d set up 2 charity foundations, one in the US and one in some developing country. The US charity would maybe help young girls from low to mid income families with college expenses… or maybe music education? Not sure. Overseas I’d like to help developing countries become industrialized in a green and socially responsible way. I’d spend my time working with the charities. I’d also give money to political groups in the US so stuff can actually get done. *coughhealthcarecough*
For myself I’d hire a personal trainer, chef, HOUSEKEEPER (I despise cleaning), gardener (love plants but I kill them). After getting into kickass shape I’d get a bit of cosmetic surgery done (tucks, lifts). I’d travel A LOT – all over the world. I’d buy a home locally and also a vacation home someplace tropical.
And in my house I want the largest closet known to man.
OMG I love this game! Ok after all the responsible crap like pay off debts and set up college funds for kids/nieces and nephews
1.Quit my job and tell hubby to quit his
2.Vacation home on a lake
3.Sell this house and get one with a bigger and nicer yard..although in the same area..I love where we live
4.Knit…like tons…and never worry about the cost of the super nice and pretty yarn
5.Culinary School…I am a good cook on my own..but think it would be neat to do culinary school..unless I got there and hated it..then I would drop out
6.Cleaning staff
7.Personal trainer
8.I’d take a ton of time to travel and get to know our friends to the North. Canada seems like such a lovely country.
9.I’d get season tickets for Hockey and Football…along with the transportation to said games as we live half a country away from our “hometown” team.
10.I’d get a new car. My lovely purple ‘98 Prizm is reliable..but nothing to look at!
Man that was fun!
I love daydreams about winning the lottery! My husband is not a daydream type of guy, so I usually do it on the walk from work to the subway.
After all the responsible stuff, I am totally with you on quitting the job. Nice co-workers, decent salary, not a pressure job at all, but the hour-plus commute on the crowded NYC subways sucks (other than the uninterrupted reading time), and honestly, I’d rather be learning or doing things for fun or the benefit of me and my family than working.
So, after quitting the job, I’d buy a nice two-bedroom apartment in Manhattan, near Central Park, and then a house in the mountains of Colorado (home to me, and I miss it). Hubby might push for a beach house somewhere, or we’d simply rent something whenever we got the urge.
After that – travel. I want my son to experience as much of the world as I’ve been able to, and there are so many places I still want to see.
Enjoy the daydreams!
I LOVE this game! We’d definitely take our extended families on a long vacation–maybe take over an island or something. I think one of the hardest things about winning so much money would be feeling like there were so many deserving people and causes to give it to. But, it sure would be fun!
Quit sucky ass, soul killing job, but not before telling bitch of a coworker who LIED about me to everyone in my department including my bosses to eat a radioactive golf ball and here, let me help cram it down your throat. Ahem.
Build new house, not huge, but comfortable, so I could have a sitting area in my master bedroom for reading and still have enough room to walk around between my bed (which will be king sized, of course) and the bathroom. Have his and hers walk in closets. I’d have an office with state of the art computers for photography.
I’d finally work on becoming a writer with publication aspirations.
I’d make sure my piece of land was big enough for a big ass garden so I could grow a lot of my own food. And having quit my job, I’d have time to cultivate it.
We just bought a new camper, so I don’t think I’d change that, but if something happened to it, I’d definitely upgrade to a motorhome.
I’d put my kids in private school.
I’d find a charity to glom onto. Maybe two. Something to do with underprivileged kids.
I’d buy a place in Hawaii. And a large two story cabin in Colorado with an incredible view.
Maybe I’d open a knitting shop, selling yarn and patterns.
But honestly, I think I’d find a way to do the things that make me happy, things like learn to paint, writing, gardening, doing stuff with my kids, knitting. All the things having a sucky ass job takes me away from. I don’t need to be surrounded by expensive things (though a couple things like that would be nice). I just want to be comfortable. And not have to clean, so I’d have a live in maid. And personal chef.
Oh no, I don’t need things. Just a maid, and a chef, and a couple houses. God, could I be more hypocritical?
This is a very common fantasy I employ while I’m running. It gets my mind off of how much time I have left, and for some reason jazzes me.
I, too, would start a business! Among other things.
@Jessamyn
You have me frothing at the mouth. All the “L” lens money can buy. I’m struggling on which 50mm lens to buy, the $350 Canon 1.4 or the $475 Sigma 1.4, but man that $1500 1.2L really looks nice.
Upgrade the 50D to a 5D Mk2. Buy every accessory known to man, even those completely unneccesary ones like the $700 wireless file transmitter for those who are too lazy to hook the camera up to a USB cord for 2 minutes.
And screw renting a studio, just build one in the backyard.
Ooooh, I love this fantasy!
I would also quit working full time, but would probably work about 15 hours a week pro bono offering my services to a women’s shelter or something similar (I’m a psychologist).
I would get at least two full-body massages a week.
I would move into a slightly bigger, slightly nicer house.
I would spend even more of my discretionary time gardening, and would design a really gorgeous outdoor space.
I would take banjo lessons and Spanish lessons.
I would travel a lot to places on my wish list, like Ireland, Spain, Italy, the Galapagos Islands, Thailand, and, ummmmm Vancouver?
I would also buy an oceanfront house in Oregon–my favorite place in the world!
Delicious fantasy! :-)
Is anyone here a marine biologist???
Common, I can’t believe even my husband (Tony) didn’t go there.
-I would support Tony buying all those camera accessories he so dreams of, and build his studio.
-yes quit my job
-maybe even help my husband start his own photography business
-concentrate more on writing
-Pay off the house, because I actually love where we live.
-RENOVATE the house. Bye-bye ugly 1970’s kitchen!!!
-Buy property on Cape Cod
-Buy property in Myrtle Beach abutting a golf course and fully equipped with his and her golf carts in the driveway.
-Hire a full time cook
-Hire a full time maid service, and therefore never wash a toilet a fold a load of laundry again.
Ah, Capitalism, how I do adore thee.
The sea was angry that day my friends….like an old man sending back soup at a deli.
Call us crazy, but 10% to charity.
Pay off our student loans. And the house.
Stay where we are- we love our town- but gut the house and do every single amazing renovation we want.
Travel! I mean, we can’t LIVE in the house while it’s being redone, right?
Sock away immediately for all the kids college.
The hubs would be able to quit his evil, soul-sucking job and go back to school just for the hell of it. I’d be able to hire a cleaning service and a part time nanny so I wouldn’t have to drag the kids around to work with me. (I already get to do what I love- I know, lucky me.)
And that’s really it. I would just like the opportunity to live debt free and have time with the hubs.
Oh wait.. trade in our current Rutgers season tickets to the luxury box seats. Hell YES, go RU!!
I’d change my phone number and then buy an existing home in Carmel, CA. I don’t think I’d build new b/c the environment needs that as much as it needs, well, golf balls in the ocean.
1. Get out of New England faster than a toddler throws a tantrum when Spongebob is over.
2. Season tickets to a baseball team that plays somewhere WARM
3. Houses all over the place, for me and immediate family
4.Oh yes, personal chef, trainer, child care
5.Shiny jewelry and cars
6. Philanthropy to education and animal welfare
I think about this question a little more often than I should probably admit to…
1. Quit my job. Instead, start up a massive, nationwide personal enrichment/sponsored apprenticeship program for floundering 20-somethings who would have no specific career direction, but would desperately like some. (what? I’ve been there, and it sucks.)
2. Spend every summer volunteering at “Hole in The Wall” Camps throughout the country.
3. Buy an enormous house in Cape Cod, or in the Hamptons, and throw the trashiest, most midwestern parties I can create. Real Housewives most definitely NOT invited. NASCAR and 40’s, anyone?
4. Take a world MotoGP tour to see all the races in a season – would make my BF’s life.
5. Buy that tri-gold pave ring set I’ve been eye’ing at the Van Cleef & Arpels on Michigan Ave.
6. Put away millions for each of my family members, so they can live comfortably off of the interest.
7. Personal chef, housekeeper, accountant, lawyer. All on retainer. All mine. All the time.
8. Make friends with Kimora Lee Simmons
9. Buy real estate in Eastern Crete, the islands off of Vancouver/Washington, London, Florence, and a kick-ass home base here in Chicago. Of course.
My office does a $5 buy in whenever the Powerball gets REALLY high. That being said, to make myself feel better about not contributing, I googled the odds of actually winning (found here: http://www.durangobill.com/PowerballOdds.html)
I wish I could afford to even DREAM about winning….
“think of the ball-gagging dolphins!”
Me thinks this is giving me a much different mental image than what you intended.
And, I would be non-stop traveling with my lotto winnings the second the check hit my hot little hand.
We might not tell anyone about our windfall and leave them wondering when they get the note from the bank that says their mortgage is paid in full. Of course we’d have to hire someone with hacking abilities to find out loan info; that would cost some.
We would continue to work and we would pay our babysitter what she’s worth.
We would buy the house here (CO) that we’ve been lusting after and also a summer home in Alaska (Anchorage area) with lots of windows.
Mr. Soup and I play this game too, although we never buy lottery tickets, so I doubt we’ll ever win.
First off, pay off all of our debt and both of our parent’s debt.
We would then buy a huge chunk of property and build a house. This house would be specially built for our tallness (I’m 6′, he’s 6′4). We would also buy a house on the same property for both my parent’s and his mom if they wanted it.
Horses! We’ve always wanted horses….some day.
We would also proceed to take a month long trip to the British Isles, bringing my parent’s and his mom along.
Spiff up our computers and I would get the full camera gear workup. We would then proceed to work on building our own business.
Pretty sure my boyfriend and I do this every single week. We actually already have a plan. If we won we first call everyone we know to tell them how lucky and cool we suddenly became. Then we call our jobs and QUIT. Immediately. Even if we found out we won at 3am on a Friday night. This is me not afraid to leave a message. Bye bye jobs!
Then we pack, call the little Olympia airport near our house and book a private jet. No matter what time it is. It will be taking us and our dog, (because when you are a millionaire you don’t have to make your poor dog ride in the belly of the plane in a crate) somewhere tropical.
On our flight, and subsequent three week vacation we’ll iron out the remaining details such as pay off debt, pay off the house, buy vacation property, get motor home, pay off parents homes, get new cars, etc.
Maybe this weekend will be the one…
Obviously, both of us would quit our jobs. Immediately.
We’d buy a massive apartment on Central Park West.
Also buy a home elsewhere — I’m torn between a villa at the Four Seasons on the Big Island of Hawaii or a summer home on Nantucket. Oh, wait. Lottery win — both!
Write a book.
Get a share in a private plane so we wouldn’t have to fly commercially AT ALL, EVER EVER EVER.
Hire Paula Radcliffe or someone of her ilk to be my personal running coach.
Travel, travel, TRAVEL.
Start a foundation/non-profit focusing on Vietnam to improve prenatal, maternal and early childhood care, to involve women in economic development, to fund medical grants and educational scholarships for impoverished families and to enhance conditions in schools and orphanages.
Open a combination bakery and children’s book store that would sell Danish treats that my grandmother used to make and would have lots of fun, bright play areas and quiet reading nooks.
Oh, yes, and buy an apartment in our same building for my parents and any visiting family to stay in whenever and for as long as they please.
Quit current jobs (although hubby might want to stay in his?) and do something we enjoy for a change, regardless of income.
Pay off all the debts for everyone – student loans, car loans, mortgages, etc., in the family (his and mine).
New cars.
Totally expand/remodel and WINTERIZE the beach house in Maine and live there during the “warm months”.
Buy a house along the Big Sur coastline and live there the rest of the year.
Annual retreats to someplace warmer than Big Sur coastline and Maine.
Sock away/Invest the rest for kids college, retirements/nest eggs because you know thats how much it will cost down the road.
How is that for starters?
Did you know they have eco-friendly golf balls for those millionaires? They dissolve in the water within 48 hrs. Saw it on a millionaire show once.
I would:
Quit our jobs and start our own business
Hire cleaning lady
Buy home in mountains and on water somewhere
Travel my ass off!
Donate BIG to cancer research
Buy motorhome, boat, new cars/trucks
The possibilities are infinite!
I love these conversations. You learn so much about what people really value. Time to spend with your short peeps. A place to keep everyone safe and warm.
I would buy a house big enough for my 2 kids, an almost-step kid, and perhaps a cat. An SPCA cat. I would keep my house clean, because I wouldn’t work anymore. I would travel with my hunny and see things I haven’t had the chance to. I would set my kids up with lessons in anything they wanted. I would let Libby audition for commercials, because I would have the time to drive her there, and the crap-load of money it takes to start.
I wouldn’t buy anything big. But I would make our lives big.
i’d fuck with Walmart… buy them out and then shut down all their evil stores. Although they are cheap (we all love cheap), I still think they’re evil with all their child labor and shit.
Then I’d hire Batman to go after all the slimebags that are inhumane to animals – and I’d ask Batman to torture them for a while – let them taste their own medicine.
After that I’d seek assistance from the mob to go after all pedophiles – and do with them what they will. “no mercy,” karate kids.
I think that about does it. I’d then sip on a margarita and marvel at all my good deeds.
Yipee!
Okay, so, I would:
Pay off my friend Mary’s house so she could go kayak or whatever most of the time but I’d still have a place to stay close to Jazzfest.
Pay for my friend Megan’s wedding and get a kick ass band!
Husband quits job, duh.
Houses in Hawaii and New Orleans
Super cruise for friends and family aboard a Clipper Ship in the Caribbean.
I’m sure I’d donate a TON to worthy causes and or start my own, but I need to research more on that – will have the time once I win
Get a PONY! And a Kelly bag. Husband gets some sort of ridiculous car.
Oh, big piece of land somewhere with like 8 dogs and room for the pony.
Set my parents up in their retirement – send them to both Alaska and Hawaii.
Buy up a bunch of land and not develop it.
pay off all my debts.
buy myself a lovely home – not too big, but just right, in the dc suburbs.
buy my parents a house to retire in, in the in a place of their choosing.
buy my sister a car and pay for her to finish school.
buy myself and my husband a new car.
buy a beach house in outer banks, nc.
put $ aside for my children’s education.
put aside $ for retirement.
quit my job.
have another kid.
hire a nanny.
hire a trainer.
GO SHOPPING.
travel.
Tell my bosses to suck a bag of dicks. Make that two bags of dicks. Flip them the bird.
Pay off everything.
Fix the legacy of the DIYer that used to own this house (electrical in the shower WTF!).
Have all the crap adobe dirt removed from my front and back yards down to 8 feet. Replace with sandy loam. Landscape.
Travel through Great Britain.
Set up a family foundation to create no-intrest loans for relatives to go to college, keep track of the family tree and create a photo and document archive.
Have family reunion and invite all 1800+ members of my very extended family. Charter planes to bring the ones from Great Britain and Australia.
Finish AS degree (after only 14 years). Get masters at UCSF. Not work two jobs while I’m at it.
Buy land. As much as I can in as many places as I can. Conserve what is conservable. Wait for developers to buy me out on the rest. Only sell to developers who are building attractive things.
Buy giant empty lot 10 blocks from my house. Turn into community garden.
Tell my bosses to suck a bag of dicks…from Barbados.
“ball-gagging dolphins”
HAH!!!!
Also:
Get a nice humongous loft in some awesome city (Seattle, Portland) with a huge terrace so I can be outside without coming into contact with Nature. Furnish awesome loft with all that furniture I covet but can’t afford at Room & Board. Have a bathroom I don’t have to share with ANYONE. A bathroom with a fireplace and a television and a wet bar and trashy romances.
Travel extensively and eat at all those yummy looking places on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.
Have a ridiculously expensive purse.
Oh, first the responsible stuff, blah, blah, blah, inlcuding setting up an endowed think tank for poverty issues.
Then!
I would build a wonderful, gorgeous, sustainable cabin in the Absaroka mountains in Wyoming on, oh, 1,000 acres or so, and have the most amazing kitchen ever. And I would hire a team of conservationists to manage the 1,000 acres as a wildlife refuge.
On part of the property I would have camp sites set up so that family/friends could come out AT LEAST once a summer and we could have reunions. I could see ALL of the nieces and nephews grow up. There would be fishing and permanent horseshoe pits and BBQs and a bonfire. It would be awesome.
And I would travel and travel and travel.
Thanks for asking. This put me in a great mood.
Oooh! Fun!
My husband and I would both quit our jobs in order to work full time on our own businesses (jewelry line me, record label/music publishing him).
We’d buy a Neutra somewhere in Silverlake and restore it.
I’d get myself a decent car already.
We’d FIANLLY GO TO DISNEY WORLD.
And we’d buy a little house for vacations in Conwy, North Wales where we were married.
1. Build a new house of just the perfect size – big enough for us and the stuff important to us, but not so big that it costs out the nose to have some one help me clean it on a regular basis.
2. Hire someone to help me clean it on a regular basis.
3. A condo or townhouse in the same subdivision as aforementioned forever house for visiting family so that they can visit more often and spend longer periods of time when they do come.
4. Vacation condo in Park City and house on the beach near Charleston, SC.
5. Sure, a trainer but more importantly, someone to come to my house to do hair and makeup every morning. I’m one of those people who only really feels on top of my game when I’m “done.” As a WAHM, this is a constant struggle. And I don’t even wear much makeup, but to have someone to take care of this pesky task would enable to me to hit the ground running every day.
6. In addition to college funds, house funds for my children. Imagine what they’ll be able to save and do for their kids with that sort of head start in adult life.
7. Set up a foundation and spend my time evaluating worthwhile charities to fund.
Two words: WEEKLY MASSAGE.
Sigh.
Pay off the mortgages.
Tell hubby he can quit his job and volunteer to his heart’s content. (I married a boyscout)
Update the kitchen and the bathrooms
Get a friggin’ live in massage therapist. So I could have a daily massage. Or just my feet if I felt like it.
Put new carpet in the bedrooms.
Get a new computer for hubby.
Go on a month-long vacation to someplace beachy and warm. Find some place where we can bring the dogs so I don’t have to worry about them being left behind.
Hire a chef.
This is fun. Thanks for the fantasy coffee break.
Hmmm….ok, I would probably quit my job, then go volunteer at different places.
Pay for original songs to be written for me, then produce my own CD, so I had full artistic control.
Buy my round house from Oregon Yurt Works, and find a cliff with an amazing view of the water, that I could hear everyday, and walk down to as well. Or better yet, have an exact duplicate of the house from “Practical Magic” built, in the old craftsman style, built to last, in the same type of spot. Heck, why not both! And the houses MUST HAVE gourmet kitchens for baking in!
Travel to all of the places I’ve wanted to go to: Ireland, New Zealand, etc., and NOT do it tourist style. Do farm works in New Zealand and work my way acroos the country. And in Ireland, take my time visiting as many of the old shrines, Brighid wells, etc. that I could find.
Go back to school for pastry making and baking, and also for writing children’s books.
Get good gear and a trainer and really train hard for a full length triathalon. Am starting up shortly for my first, thanks to you making it look so fun. ;}
Go to Romania and adopt a baby or 2, to share my home and life with! :)
Oh my gods, I LOVE that daydream conversation! The lotteries here tend to cap out at between 25-50 million (umm, Canadian), but we still talk about What If it were way more.
The Boy’s answer is usually “Wait how much money? Like an obscene amount? Dude, I’d buy a hockey team. Not NHL, maybe, but like OHL or AAA.”
My answer involves…
- hiring a personal massage therapist on a permanent twice-a-week house visit
- quitting my job
- Opening my own two-screen theatre in my town which would show indie movies on one screen and Whatever The Hell I Felt Like Watching That Night on the other one
- buying a small farm (maybe three acres or four), a cow, some chickens (don’t ask me how that works with the theatre; I don’t know either)
- Baking all day long, whether I have people to feed or not, on my shiny new awesome marble countertop.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kschendel and check out the Kitchen Project set. Oh wait, we already did that. Ok. I’m confused, but you DID say a giant mega-mountain of cash.
Ok, for real? We’d fix the driveway, which is starting to look like the poster child for Driveway Sealers of America. I just replaced most of our computers, but I’d buy a new SPARC box (for Ingres development) just because. We’d travel to at least the top 5 places on the list. (Iceland, Chile, return to China, Slovenia, Kenya or South Africa.) And then, if we haven’t managed to spend most of it yet, we’d give it to a charity or foundation.
Because letting them inherit money is the worst thing one can do to one’s children. IMHO.
oh, I forgot to add a big ass BOAT so we can travel between the two places.
Totally unrelated, but thought you’d like to see this:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33130861/ns/us_news-weird_news/?GT1=43001
A zombie disaster plan for The University of Florida that actually got linked to thier website. My husband loves zombie stories and sent me the link.
Buy my own island in the Caribbean.
another zombie link for you:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/10/02/zombie.love/index.html
I have this fantasy daily…
Quit my job…finally stop waiting around for the severance package that I know is coming and just tell them to take a flying leap.
Stay home with my kiddos while they are still little.
Travel a lot! Spend months at a time with my out of state family. I love them and miss them so much.
Restore old houses as a hobby.
I’m only 31, but I have been ready to retire for 5 years already. Working is for the birds.
How fun–especially in this economy–to dream.
My goals if I had a BUNCH of money:
1) Quit my job
2) Pay off everything & quit worrying about bills
3) Take care of my family: Pay for kids’ college & set up trust funds so they are set for life. Pay off my sisters’ houses & my parents’ house. Take care of my husband’s granny & brother. Give each of these wonderful people some “crazy money” to go do something fun.
4) Buy property & build a nice house here in Bend (we’re in a typical neighborhood now).
5) Buy property & build a nice cabin in the Sawtooths in Idaho as well as NE Oregon (near Joseph) and, what the heck, someplace tropical.
6) Hire a nanny who can do home-schooling and travel the world for a while.
7) Start some sort of philanthrophic organization. Not sure what yet, but I’d pay someone to help me figure it out! :o)
Quit our jobs, buy a John Madden style motorhome with driver that hauls a SUV and travel N.A. Go to baseball games everywhere, watch entire playoff series of NHL teams, pay off my siblings student debts, get my parents to retire, get a house, coach a hockey team, join a hockey team.
Go into space like that backstreet boy did and experience zero gravity.
“ball-gagging dolphins” made me choke on my sammich – All I could think of is The Gimp from Pulp Fiction. Except, you know, with a dolphin…
My lottery winnings would go for a little “maintenance” on my bod – tummy tuck and boob job. After of course I built a church or something…
Go back to school! And never leave.
You always ask the best questions, and having a vivid (eternally hopeful) imagination, I’ve thought of this quite a lot.
1) Buy a vintage car, like perhaps a 1969 Stingray, or a Judge, or something I can feel dead sexy driving around in. I’d also buy a Jeep Wrangler for off-road mischief.
2) I, too, would like to build my dream house on the Oregon coast. Near Seaside.
3) Wardrobe. An entirely new one, complete with fancy ass shoes & bags and accessories, so that I can look pulled together for the rest of my life and never have another sweats/bedhead moment in the supermarket when my ex walks in.
4) Lastly, travel. Lots of travel. While dream house was being built, I’d be carousing Europe and Asia and everywhere else I’ve ever had a yen to go.
oh, ya, love this, maybe one day it will come true!
1. pay off all of our debts as well as our family’s debts (duh).
2. Make sure all of the kids got the college education they deserve, because, um, ya, even though your parents are stinking rich, you will go to school and have some sort of a career!
3. Put in a people mover from Burnside Circle to the top of the hill at 4-H Camp. This is a fantasy all adults who have ever spent any time dragging their butts back up the hill to camp after campfire has ever had. That is one hell of a climb, getting worse with each year that passes.
4. Build a very large vacation log home on the shores of South Lake Tahoe. Room for everyone to come and have a white Christmas!
5. Go on a vacation for at least 4 weeks and take all family and friends with.
6. Pay someone to invent a pill for my dogs and my kitty that would make them live forever and not get old and decrepit.
7. Go on a shopping spree and take my girlfriends with me and NEVER look at a price tag, no clearance shopping allowed!
Of course I would donate to my favorite charities for sure.
oops, almost forgot, buy a classic (at least 60 foot) Cris Craft Boat and have a dock and dry dock on Lake Tahoe.
You know, I hate that I don’t get to check my blogroll every day. I extra-hate it when one of my favourite bloggers posts not one, not two, but THREE posts on which I would like to express opinions, but then I feel weird about posting comments, like, a week afterwards. Bahhhh. Here goes.
Re: h1n1 immunizations: I’ve been having the EXACT same thoughts. How on earth can we even begin to comprehend what the long-term effects of a vaccine might be, at this point? Someone mentioned infertility. Shwoo…. that’s a big one. In 30 years, if my daughter is infertile, do I want to look back at this winter and wonder if that was my fault? NOT SO MUCH. “Oh, Gwen, honey, I’m so sorry you can’t ever know the joy of being a mom, but remember when you were 2 years old and didn’t get the flu? That was pretty thoughtful of me, right?” UGH.
Next: that decision-making tool is a great one. I’ve never seen it laid out like that before, but I guess that’s kind of the process I go through. What’s the worst that could happen (if Gwen gets the shot): completely unknown, possibly long-term life-altering side effects that may not even manifest for decades. What’s the worst that could happen (if Gwen doesn’t get the shot): she could get the flu. Umm … huh.
And oh, the windfall fantasies. My husband and I do this all the time. We rarely play the lottery, but the fantasies are pretty much non-stop. Other than the typical stuff – pay off debts, build dream home, start taking both family and child-free vacations – I think my more unusual wishes are to finish my degree (I’ve been taking a BA through distance ed for what, like 10 years now, because I work and parent and volunteer andandandand and fit school in ’somehow’ round the edges), and adopt a child. Don’t want to go through pregnancy again, OR the breastfeeding minefield, but give a child who needs it a loving home? Sure. Sign me up.
* QUIT JOB and maybe give all of my supervisors the finger.
* Fix up our old, tiny-ass house into a really nice 1st-time home and sell it at a price that would be a dream-come-true for some struggling family (making sure we only sign with people we feel deserve it).
*Buy/build a nicer home w/: large master bedroom in quiet corner of house, a study/library, unsqueaky floors and doors, lots of natural light, accessible & appropriately spaced outlets (you have no idea how big a deal this is until you don’t have it), about 3 other bedrooms for future kids and guests, state-of-the-art kitchen & bathrooms & water-heater & water-softener & water-filtration system, wrap around porch, large lot outside the city, a separate art studio/guest house, and hire a killer professional organizer.
*CLOTHES! SHOES! HAIR & SKIN PRODUCTS! JEWELRY! FRAGRANCES!
*Loads of vacations to places all over the world like Europe, tropical islands, etc.
*Dive back into the art world and find what I love. Maybe go back to school for fine art and get a degree. Maybe become an artist who shows her work in galleries.
*Start a business w/ hubby based on both our artist talents that might include: graphic design, poster art, illustration, silk-screening, etc.
*Have another baby. :)
Well….as I type this, I’m sitting in a beautiful condo on Makena Beach, Maui. It belongs to our friend, who winters here. So DEFINITELY first on my list, Condo (NOT timeshare) in this complex.
I would buy back my STUPID Yukon from the person I sold it to, for a lot more money than he paid me for it. I would then volunteer said Yukon (biggest piece of crap car OF ALL TIME) to any organization who would charge people, for charity benefit, to beat the holy EFF out of the Yukon with baseball bats, sledgehammers etc. Only stipulation? I get the first swing.
My hubby is Mr. Outdoors, and loves to hunt and fish. We’d have to find a cabin in Eastern Washington somewhere of his choice, definitely.
I would pick up another camera body so that I wouldn’t have to juggle lenses when shooting a wedding. And I suppose that I would get more serious about my photography business, and build a studio. I’d also get a big, fat Mac with the huuuuuge monitor screen for home photo editing.
We would stay in our current house because we love the neighborhood and our property. We just remodeled the kitchen, so wouldn’t knock down the house, but I would add some more square footage and a nicer master bath.
I’d pay off our debt. Every cent. We’d enjoy the hell out of no car/truck/house payments for several months before inevitably going back into debt for a new truck or something, lol.And of course we’d secure our retirement plan, and our son’s care fund. But that’s not the fun stuff to reply with, lol.
So this is after all the responsible things right? Being debt-free with a whole debt-free family… ok got it.
1. I would rent the whole entire cruise ship for the Alaskan cruise, invite all of my family and friends to come and go see the beautiful glacier with my loved ones.
2. Buy a full functioning ranch, by ranch I mean very large home on very large property with animals in some distant pasture. Somewhere beautiful, maybe Montana.
3. Buy everyone I know a nice car or truck of their choice. So when I show up in mine, no whining from anyone.
4. Send my husband and brother to Europe to see all the things they are always talking about and that I do not want to see due to flying across oceans.
5. Do some really fun crazy things like take a fully loaded credit card to a grocery store and tell the manager that for the next hour all purchases are on me, but don’t tell the customers until checkout. I figure within an hour the store would be filled with people who heard so time to duck out to another place like walmart! Holla! and not let the customers know who bought their stuff.
6. Be a suprise benefactor in various places randomly. How cool would it be to show up at a random house closing for a family of modest means and after they sign the paperwork, they get their deed paid in full and their downpayment back? And no one to tell them how or who? That would rock.
7. I would indulge in a chef, a housekeeper and a nanny. Yes I would. Ok and a trainer for my obvisiously lazy ass.
8. I would find a cobbler, and have my shoes custom made, so they didn’t hurt me! I would own more then one pair of shoes!
9. I would find out what 1200 thread count sheets felt like.
10. I would get all the things we cannot afford now, like my husband his glasses, and new furniture etc.
11. I would send my in-laws on the most awesome vacation of their lifetime. completely indulging them, you know what I would hire people to go with them to attend to their needs even! They deserve it.
12. I would sleep better at night, cus I wouldnt have to worry how to keep lights on, buy groceries, get the kids school supplies, etc.
two chicks at the same time
I am old enough to have pondered this at some length. The first thing I would do is to pay for storm shelters/safe rooms for all of the nursing homes in my county.
Like most people, I would like a new home. On land that I already own, but one far more efficient, and all on one level. (Told you I was old!)
Help meeting creature comforts sounds good. If someone cooked for me, I’d eat a more healthy diet I’m sure. Massage on a regular basis would be wonderful. I’d like to watch someone else mow and pick up limbs and cut firewood.
Have someone clean out the pasture, build a pond. Oh, this list does go on and on. I’d like to set up some sort of endowment to help families who adopt special kids. Those folks deserve more help than is currently available to them.
I know I’m late to the party – but thanks for this bit of fun.