Jackpot...

 If you've watched the weather here in the States, you may have noticed there was a big old storm barreling towards the Northeast.  It started around 8pm on Friday night, ramping up around 5am Saturday, until finally spinning off into the ocean around 10pm that night. There was 70+ wind gusts, and white out conditions.

We, of course, were in the jackpot area where fun bands of snow, falling 3-4 inches per hour just hovered over us.

It was the first time in nearly 20 years I called in because of weather. One of my coworkers snapped this picture Sunday morning.  We weren't allowed of course to go in and dig out our trucks, because that would make a ton of sense.  Instead, it was left for our ONE Maintenace person to dig out over 50 trucks, clear the parking lot (front and back) and the main PO a half mile down the road. *sigh* Many post offices in our area made the call to keep their employees safe and close down.  Ours did not.  Eleven employees showed up. One drive of 10 minutes on local roads took 40 minutes.  Another 20 minute ride took 2 hours. Not a single piece of mail went out. 

It simply wasn't worth the risk for me, and I'm tired of management who can't understand that NOTHING Amazon sells is more important than my safety. 

We ended up with about 22 inches of snow.  With our close proximity to the ocean, the bottom 4 inches was widow maker snow, the type heart attacks are made for. The next 14 were heavier and packable. Topping off the last 4 inches, was light and fluffy snow that blew right back to where you had just moved it from. We spent well over 4 hours shoveling and snow throwing ourselves out. A young person's game, this snow removal stuff. Thankfully we had Sunday to clean up as well, and due to a well-planned appointment from a month ago, the Hubs and I were both off today as well. We finished off the access to the basement and the area where the electrician will be putting the outlet for the generator plug next week. A long overdue task on the to-do list, I had called him a few weeks ago, and he's been waiting on parts. While we did not lose power this storm, to be able to run the furnace with the generator will be a huge relief for the next time. Getting the basement clear was important to me because I have a sneaky suspicion that Maytag will be replacing the entire washer soon, as there seems to be an issue with the computer system itself, not just the melted agitator. 

After our appointment and snow clearing, the Hubs and I went to lunch.  We were discussing the hockey raffle from the previous post, because we just can't let it go. Somewhere between the endless breadsticks and chocolate dinner mints he says, Let's bank $400 and take $100 and get tickets. Then, that will be it. Done.

Dude, you don't have to tell me twice.

Driving home I think he had forgotten when we pulled into the gas station, and I gave him cash to go in. I also gave him the ticket I previously purchased to buy another since it was a $10 winner.

We bought 7 tickets total. Five of them hit. We won $75 on 4.  The last one was one of the complicated crossword ones that take forever to see that you're a loser. Thirty minutes later, scratch residue everywhere, I hear, I think I won $625.  I verify and agree. Of course, you can't cash that at the local grocery, so we got on the lottery website and apparently there's a mobile app that allows you to claim it electronically.  You just scan the barcode, and it deposits into your account. So, we set it up. Scan. Deposit... one thousand dollars.

Apparently, we had missed a scratch bonus.

To recap...

We threw $25 we never expected to see again at my nephew's hockey team fundraiser.

We won $500.

We then used that money to win an additional $1075.

Did I also mention that earlier in the week I got a check from a class action lawsuit, from a mass mailing notification that I had forgotten all about, for $340? 

The Universe is preparing us for something friends, I just know it.

In the meantime, I'm spending $50 of the winnings on a Superbowl sqaure, proceeds past the $500 per quarter winnings will support a friend's charity run of the Boston Marathon. 

What's the worst that can happen?