Yesterday was Just This Side of Crazy!

Today feels like the day after Christmas to me.  I usually wake up on December the 26th feeling like a washcloth that is wrung out and pitched in the laundry basket.  All the anticipation of the holidays are over.  The gifts have been opened...all the secrets of the holidays have been shared. The food has been devoured and returned to the fridge to eat again for the next few days. It always leaves me with a non alcoholic induced hangover.

This is what I have today, a "non alcoholic induced hangover".  I have completely crashed.  There is no energy. My head hurts.  I am very much in need of sleep, if only my mind would shut up and settle down. This is not going to happen any time soon. I can tell because here I sit writing when I really want to be under the covers, sound asleep.

Yesterday was what I call, "one of a kind" days. It veered so far from normal that it seldom felt real.  It started off as a normal kind of day. Tommy and I had coffee, checked the news and weather. I got on the computer to see what I missed last night.  Tommy went to see Ben and then to Calwood to fill up the car.  While he was at Calwood, he bought 2 lottery tickets. Usually I scrape off one and he does the other.  I seldom win so I have decided that I am a jinx at this and now Tommy does the honors.

Very calmly he scrapes off one ticket.  I am not all that curious because we seldom win. I think spending $5.00 on a ticket that you know you aren't going to win on is silly.

He smiles, hands me the ticket and says, "check this out". I am reading a really good book, not wanting to be disturbed I begrudgingly take the ticket.

I look over the numbers and I see Tommy has won $50.00.  I get all excited and start to hand the ticket back to Tommy. Now I am all smiles. He says, "You better look again".  I do and see it is $500.00 instead of $50.  Now I am really excited!!!  I hand the ticket back to Tommy and he says AGAIN, "you better look again".  I shake my head because I really don't see the point. He had already won, there couldn't be more on the card, I thought that was against the rules. 

Man, when I am wrong, I am soooo wrong!!  I take the card again and look. There is the same number on the card at the beginning of the line as it was at the end of the line.  He had just won a$1,000.  We look at each other and laugh and yell, like two little kids who just found the  Mother load  under their Christmas tree!!!


He tells me to get ready, we are going to cash the ticket in.  He also won $15.00 on the second ticket. Good thing he did, because that paid for all the gas we used trying to find the Lotto in Jefferson City.


I spend a lot of free time with Carol and Punky in Jeff. City.  However, we go to the same places over and over.  I know how to get to those places, but have no clue about where the Lotto Building is located.  Neither does Tommy.  We ask the first of 6 people how to get there.  All of them knew how to get there from their homes. Only problem was, we weren't at their home, we were lost in the middle of BFE!! We follow every one's advice.  In the process we visit "Wardsville, Taos and Loose Creek. Pretty little towns but not a one had the Lotto Building. The only thing I can say for sure is when the weatherman gives tornado warnings for that area, I will know what he is talking about!  We have been there....several times....in one day!!


Finally after several hours of total insanity we find the place. Ironically, it is close to the restaurant, where Carol, Punky and I eat breakfast at least twice a month. Go figure!!!


We walk in and give the lady our winning card.  Tommy tells her our story and she laughs and says, "My goodness, why didn't you call the number on the back of your ticket, I know where we are" Well, just slap me up beside the head!!!!  Neither one of us thought of that.  Worse still the card was on the dashboard the whole time....right above my cell phone!!!


As we are waiting for our checks, there is another couple in there who had just won some money. They had already cashed their winnings in and bought more lottery tickets from the vending machines. I watched him buy 3,  $20.00 tickets and loose on all three. My hands got sweaty. I kept wanting to tell the man to stop before he looses it all. I kept my mouth shut and just watched. Finally, he tells his wife they have $80.00 left....enough for a steak and a tank of gas.  We wished each other well and left going our separate ways.


I was quiet for a few minutes. Tommy wanted to know what I was thinking. I told him I didn't want us to be like that other couple. He told me not to worry, since I wasn't lucky at gambling, I had nothing to worry about.!!!  That got him a slug in the arm.  Then he says in his best "Carter" voice, "Let's fill up the car and I will buy you a steak dinner"  Smiling...game on!!!