A whole two dollars, mind you. The Brit said, “Clearly this is a sign that you have to go back and buy more tickets.”

I know just how long the odds are of winning a state lottery, I do. You don’t have to tell me that I may as well crumple up the sawbuck and toss it in the trash. And it’s not like we’re basing our retirement on this. But I like a little flutter, and I enjoy dreaming of what we’d do with that kind of money. The Brit would retire, we’d invest the bulk of it in S&P funds and live off the interest for the rest of our lives, and we’d settle down to a quiet life somewhere pleasant where the Brit would build a workshop out back and refurbish antique computers and I’d write until I dropped dead over my keyboard.

Sound kinda, well … small? Yeah, but we’re talking about the state lottery, not one of the big multi-state deals (at my age I have no interest in winning that kind of money—it would be more of a detriment than a blessing), and the store where we buy the tickets only sells the cash option AND I have to split any winnings with my editor. So we’d have about enough for a very comfortable retirement with some nice trips.

In any case, I can spare a couple of dollars a week, and hey, someone’s got to win it. So I’ll buy some more tickets with my winnings and shove them in my purse like I do, then go about my day. But if any ancestors or forces for good are listening, I would not mind winning the next Texas Two Step or Texas Lottery, just so you know. Thank you.