$104 per Year

I play the Super Lotto often. Not every week, though in the past couple months I have been doing it more and more consistently. I ask myself why, the chances of winning are so slim, but there is still a chance.

I'm going to let you in on a secret. Not a deep, dark one, but it is the thing that is driving my life right now, so it is very important in my life. I have this dream, that one day soon, P and I will win some money. We don't need the $43 million jackpot, just enough to buy a house free and clear. Not a huge house, but enough space for the kids, and an office, and a backyard. Not a brand-new one, but a solid shell that I can remodel with eco-friendly floors, paint, maybe solar panels if we won a decent amount.

If we didn't have to pay the mortgage, we could invest our salaries in retirement funds, college funds, and maybe a hobby for each of us. And then later in life, if anything happened and we couldn't work, we'd have the equity in the house to live on until things got straightened out.

It's a fanciful dream, and it will probably never happen, but that's what I wish for. I wish we could have the freedom to take a shell of a house, and turn it into our dream home. I wish we could work for more than that weeks' food, and the bills that have piled up. If we hit a big jackpot, I would want to buy an apartment building, fix it up ego-style, and make a living doing something I love, with the building as a side-job. I don't want to be rich, I want to be comfortable. I'm okay living on less, but I worry about the future. And I wish with all my soul that Boogie could grow up with a back yard.

One day, I'm going to get her one. I promised her.