My Lucky Day

Today was my lucky day.  I won a TV!

My husband's family holds a memorial golf tournament every year in honor of his late cousin.  Fifteen years ago, his cousin died in a helicopter accident during a training session with the Marines.  The golf tournament raises money for a scholarship in his name and for various other military charities.

There was a raffle and I won the grand prize - a 32 inch flat screen TV!

Please excuse my photo crasher.

No, I did not buy her dentures. I think that's just her tongue.

Tada!

Sweet Albina

Little sweet Albina: 

If I could give you a home, I would.
If I could I could afford to take you, I would. 
If things were different, I would bring you here. 

You deserve a family.  You deserve all the love in the world. 

Maybe someone else will see this.  Maybe your next mommy & daddy will see this wonderful post and bring you home. 

Excuse Me, Mr. Trump....

Today was a very unimportant day in politics.  President Obama released his birth certificate thereby proving that he is, in fact, a natural born citizen of the United States.  Clearly, this is the biggest issue in this country and I'm so happy it was straightened out.

We can all thank Donald Trump for accomplishing such a monumental feat: 

Following the White House's release of the long-form certificate, Trump told reporters in New Hampshire that he is "very proud" of himself for helping to bring the release of the document.

"I've accomplished something nobody else was able to accomplish," Trump said. "I'd want to look at (the birth certificate), but I hope it's true so that we can get on to much more important matters."

- CNN, 4/27/2011

I think I know the more important matters to which Mr. Trump is referring:

Reference: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1025610/A-step-step-guide-gravity-defying-Donald-Trump-combover.html

Reference: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1025610/A-step-step-guide-gravity-defying-Donald-Trump-combover.html

Mr. Trump, can we please see the birth certificate for your toupee?  If you insist that your hair is a natural born citizen, please show me a certificate of authenticity. 

There must be an amendment in the Constitution that excludes presidential candidacy based upon outrageously bad hair, right?

Snores

3:46 AM

Darkness.

I watch the clock as it changes.

3:47 AM

I lay between them.

My husband to my left and my dog to my right.

The silence is broken by simultaneous snores.

It's like a band - an orchestra.

3:48 AM

I look over at my husband.

He sleeps peacefully.

I run my hands over his back.

"Remember this," I think.

Soon the band will be a solo.

Just me and the dog.

One snore.

At least while I'm awake.

3:49 AM

I close my eyes.

I listen to the music of my family.

I try to imprint it deep into my brain.

This moment.
This sound.
This warmth.
This love.

I smile and I drift off to sleep.

3:50 AM

Three snores.

The Caregiver's Package

This past October, my husband and I were married at the lovely Harraseeket Inn in Freeport, Maine.

(Photo from Harraseeket Inn website)

It was an amazing fall day made more wonderful by the fact that we got to say our vows in front of our family and friends.  The staff at the Inn was absolutely fabulous and our day was everything that we ever dreamed of and more. 

Unfortunately, this upcoming deployment means that my husband and I will not be able to celebrate our one year anniversary together. This is definitely saddens me.  You only get one first anniversary.  Well, you could theoretically get more than one if you get divorced and remarried, but hopefully that's not in the cards.  This week we got something in the mail that will help make up for the fact that we might not get to celebrate on the right date.

The Harraseeket Inn is a privately owned, family run business and it feels that way.  When you stay with them or do business with them, it feels like you are the only person that matters.  Their attention to detail is extraordinary and their generosity is enormous.

A couple of months ago they announced that they were giving away a "Caregiver's Package" for 2011. It was created for nurses, EMTs, firefighters, police officers, and those enlisted in the military.  They asked for nominations for a deserving recipient.  Given the fact that my husband is a paramedic, firefighter, nursing student, and veteran who was soon deploying overseas AND we are a "Harraseeket Couple," my mother jumped at the chance to nominate us.

Guess what?
We won! 
So what if there was only one other nomination and we ended up in a tie? We still won!

Yesterday we received a gift certificate in the mail for a free overnight stay, breakfast, afternoon tea, and dinner.

I can't wait to use this whenever we choose to celebrate our first year of marriage.   It makes the circumstances feel so much brighter.

Thank you so much, Harraseeket Inn.

4-8-15-25-47-42

One hundred and ninety million dollars. 

That's what each of the two winners of the most recent Mega Millions will receive.

This got me thinking about what I would do if I won this much money.

I don't know if this makes sense to anyone else, but I'm actually afraid of buying lottery tickets and I tend to shy away from it. This is not because I have some horrible, all-consuming gambling problem and am scared I will end up spending my entire life's worth on the lottery.  It's not as if I sit all night at some sketchy party boat/casino with a cigarette in one hand, scotch in the other, and pull the lever until I get tendinitis in my elbow.   The closest I have ever come to gambling is the old nickel slot machine that my grandparents used to have in their condo. I would stand on a stool on the green shag rug, pull nickels out of a plastic cup on the table, and feed the coins in one after another. Sometimes I would have a horrible run of luck and would go completely and utterly bankrupt.  Thank goodness there was a key to the back of the machine and I could instantly refill my account.  Once in a while I would jump for joy - "JACKPOT!!" as a handful of nickels dumped on to the floor.

   (This is the current extreme makeover slot machine. In another life it was green and yellow with cracked glass and didn't have quite the same magical sheen.)

I don't buy lottery tickets because I don't want that much money.  Perhaps I'm crazy.  That much money changes people.  It changes your life outlook, it changes your relationships with your friends and family...it just changes everything.

Don't get me wrong here - I like money.  It is important to me have a nice house, enjoy some traveling, and pay for the educations of my future children.  I consider myself extremely fortunate that even with the nauseating sum of student loans that loom over my head, I will one day be able to live in a very comfortable manner.

$190,000,000? No thank you. 

Plus, those numbers were too darn close to the numbers on Lost and just think of the bad luck that came from that.

If for some weird, inexplicable reason a winning Mega Millions ticket just happened to fall out of the sky on to my lap, this is what I would do:

1. Get a lawyer.  There is absolutely no way I would show my face on national television accepting that check.  I'd send my lawyer to do it for me and attempt to stay as anonymous as possible.

2. Hire the best financial planner around.

3. Pay off my student loans & pay back my parents for all the financial support they have given me over the years.

4. Put away enough of it so that my future children, grandchildren, and nieces/nephews can get whatever education their little hearts desire.

5.  Buy a nice house, but nothing that would be so big that I would have to use an airport walking escalator to get across it.

6.  Invest a couple million for the future.

7.  Give the rest of it away. Anonymously.

What would you do if you won $190,000,000?

The Year Ahead

I don't usually do New Year's Resolutions.  I've never truly understood the purpose of promising that I will exercise more (which I won't), eat better (I can't help it if I love all things pastry), or get more sleep (let's face it, I'm starting medical residency - not going to happen).

But, 2011 brings big changes.

This year I will:

• Honeymoon in Costa Rica
• Watch my big brother marry my fantastic new sister-in-law
• Match into a residency program in Emergency Medicine - fingers crossed!
• Graduate from medical school.
• Work my first day as a doctor.

This year I will also hug my husband goodbye as he leaves for an overseas deployment.

2011 is certainly a bittersweet year and it's full of uncharted territory.    

My 2011 New Year's Resolutions:  Get out of bed.  Take things day by day. Spend time with my friends and family. Support my husband, tell him that I love him, and show him I am proud of him. Work hard and learn something new every single day. Look on the positive side of things. Use my experiences to make me a stronger woman.

Just breathe.