Feelin' Lucky?

It was the day before payday. So, as usual, we were running low on cash trying pinch pennies waiting on Friday morning. Thursday afternoon Nick and I were discussing being more responsible with our weekly budget and not spending our cash on gas station stops getting sodas and snacks, etc. He said he'd try to do his part to be better, then I asked him if he'd pick up a newspaper on his way home since my Mom was featured in the Business section of The Chronicle. Nick stopped at the gas station up the street from our house on his way home that evening. He picked up a newspaper, then went to the register to pay. He had $8 in his pocket and couldn't resist the $5 scratch-off ticket calling his name from behind the glass countertop. So he bought it. On his way to the car he started feeling guilty about buying the lottery ticket since we had just had the talk about being better with our money. He usually would bring the ticket home, we'd scratch it together, then share our disappointment as we threw away another losing ticket. But not today. He didn't want to tell me he'd spent the last bit of his cash on the ticket so he scratched it off in the parking lot of the gas station. And it won. It won $1000!!

When Nick walked in the door at home, the dog was barking, Dalton was screaming and I looked like the day had definitely gotten the best of me. It was chaotic. He started confessing to me about spending his money on a lottery ticket and my state of irritation continued to intensify. Until he handed me the ticket. WHAT?!?! Are you kidding me? We actually won...finally? The stress of the day melted away as I breathed a sigh of relief. Funny how money troubles can make every other little stressor seem much bigger than it actually is. Once I knew we had that relief, none of the other little things bothered me anymore. We got some lingering bills paid off and stuck a chunk of money in savings and that was that. Here are a couple of pictures of the lucky lotto winner: