Been down this road before

It's a big coincidence that Chris' wedding was in the Charlottesville area during Labor Day weekend.  Last year, Jeff and I had a long weekend sans kids and spent the day in Charlottesville celebrating our anniversary, which also occurs during Labor Day weekend.

Much of our time going to and from Charlottesville was unintentionally reminiscent our of road trip the year before.  For both trips, we decided in advance to travel on 95 to get there. It wasn't until the drive home when we spontaneously took Route 29 to get home, that we realized we did the same thing the previous year.

Another big coincidence was when we stopped for gas, went inside the station to get a snack and in the spur of the moment, asked for a lottery ticket.  The year before, Jeff got one and this year, I asked the cashier for one.   When we made our way back on the road, it all began to get very deja vu like and so much of our experiences traveling was exactly the same.  I guess we are creatures of habit and we went with our instincts, which didn't vary in the last 365 days.

It's funny, Jeff and I hardly ever play the lottery.  In fact, it takes my dad mentioning to me on the phone how big the jackpot is before I even pay attention to what is going on.  The size of the payout has to be making national news before I get a clue to get a ticket or two. 

But, there is something about an anniversary, birthday or a special occasion that makes you feel like something magical can happen.  Here's the moment when your life can completely do a 180 degree turn, turn it upside down and oh yeah, it's the start of another year of marriage.  The reason to play (and hopefully win) isn't to escape the current situation, but somehow turn it into a fabulous moment.  I hope what I am writing makes sense.

Just like last year, we started dreaming again of how the money would be spent.  It's fun to make plans and what a better way to kill 2 hours in the car.  Jeff figured in a lump sum payout, if we were the sole winners, we'd walk away with approx. 60 million.  Not a bad chunk of change.  Of course, we'd give each family member a million, put a few million in a trust for each of the kids (not to be received until they are 35 and have earned an B.A.), buy a new house, 2 cars, hire a personal trainer (this was my personal contribution to the plan), and try do good with a big portion of it.  It goes without saying that I'd cover the registration fees for all of members of The Rack Pack, and buy a vacation home on the beach (again, my idea).  Lastly, I told Jeff we'd have to put 10 million in a Swiss bank account to just sit there in case it got so out of control that we spent all the other money and didn't have any left.  That would be our little nest egg.

I am pretty certain that the money wouldn't change who we are as people.  I'd still have a hard time buying clothes at full price and spending lots of money on kids clothes when they grow out of them so quickly.  I'd still want us to have dinner together each night as a family and I am pretty sure I'd still be a stay-at-home mom.  :)

Towards the end of the discussion, we also decided we'd come up with a list of 50 friends and give them each some money to go have some fun.   And if another person also had the winning numbers?  No problem, we already figured out that scenario and decided we would do everything we came up with, just at half the amount.

As of right now, I am not sure what will bring us to Charlottesville again next Labor Day weekend, but since everything runs in 3's, it won't surprise me when we are driving home on Route 29, pointing out all the same landmarks we remember driving by before.  And when we stop to get gas, I bet Jeff and I will again get a lottery ticket and have the same lofty discussion all over again.  A year is just enough time that we forget what we discussed and our conversation is new all over again- with just a hint of deja vu.

And for those wondering, we did not win.  Not in the lottery anyway.