So.... I'm not a millionaire.

Like many others today, I did not become a millionaire last night at 10:59pm EST when the Powerball lottery numbers were drawn for the $550M jackpot. Shocking. I know! The odds were so in my favor!

The odds, from Powerball's site:

	Powerball - Prizes and Odds
	Match Prize Odds + Jackpot 1 in 175,223,510.00 $1,000,000 1 in 5,153,632.65 + $10,000 1 in 648,975.96 $100 1 in 19,087.53 + $100 1 in 12,244.83 $7 1 in 360.14 + $7 1 in 706.43 + $4 1 in 110.81 $4 1 in 55.41 The overall odds of winning a prize are 1 in 31.85. The odds presented here are based on a $2 play (rounded to two decimal places). Why isn't the chance of winning $4 at 1 in 35? Click here for FAQ.

I knew the jackpot was pretty high so yesterday, when one of my coworkers came around and asked if I wanted to enter the pool with $10, I said sure why not. Eight of us went in so we ended up buying 40 tickets and guess what! None of them won anything!

But that's okay.. I'm rich in so many other ways. I don't need millions of dollars. I only wanted the money so how rich I am financially could match how rich I am spiritually, emotionally, etc. Well.... $550M, was really worth $320M net... then divided 8 ways.. $40M would have been a nice start to match how rich I am financially to how rich I am in every other way.

• I have my wonderful friends -- too many to name! They're funny, they're supportive, they keep me active.
• I have my wonderful family -- my parents have raised me to be someone they can be proud of and I can be proud of. They are always supportive. My sister is one of my best friends. My brother is my fellow adventurous spirit. And I cannot forget my siblings-in-law. The perfect matches for my siblings. Gotta love seeing those I love happy!
• I have my wonderful job -- working at a place I never imagined I'd work. For a professional sports team? Crazy! I still remember my thoughts when I saw the job opening when I was searching.  I was chatting with one of my best friends at the time on Yahoo Instant Messenger, and going through my job postings emails, and thought, wow they're hiring. Ha, they'd never hire me. And she said something that was very true - "They'll definitely never hire you if you don't apply." Truer words have never been said! You have to go for your dreams. You never know when you'll actually snare one. Every day is different... I never know who I'll run into in this building. I never know what swag I'll get! The organization culture is very close and friendly. My coworkers are all great and easy to talk to and easy to work with. And most importantly, I know I'm appreciated. And I appreciate that!
• I have my health. And I have a game plan to make that health even healthier!
• I have my kitty. My goofy kitty who is always nudging her face against my Kindle, annoying me because it's hard to read when she's bumping it, but it just means she wants my attention.
• And last. And very certainly not least. I have my boyfriend. My awesome awesome sweet boyfriend of 1 year, 2 months, and 13 days (no that's  not creepy... I just did the math right now, I don't wake up every day with that count updated in my head). Some days I cannot believe I met him and he fell in love with me. Me! He just gets me. And supports me. And surprises me. And makes me laugh. And I can't wait to continue our life together... even if he does leave his dirty socks on the floor. Not all the time. I think just when he wants to remind me he's human. Or when he wants to annoy me.

So there we go. A little belated "what I'm thankful for" post. Hey Thanksgiving was last week but it's still November! People on my Facebook are still posting their days of thanks posts every day. (Only two more days of that...)

Still... my cut of the $550M jackpot would have been nice to add to that list!

In other news.... one of my friends is taking his (hopefully!) last exam for the CPA certification tomorrow. We'll be partying it up with him tomorrow night in celebration now that he can end his studying quarantine! Chris is going to make a cheesecake for his parents who are getting back from China tomorrow evening. I am going to try a curry recipe using a sauce mix his parents gave us awhile ago. I'm hoping it turns out close to how the curry is at Tokyo Bowl in Clear Lake. We've been there a few times with his parents. So tasty!!

I am almost finished with my Christmas shopping. I need to buy a few things -- to Bed Bath & Beyond I will go! With coupons in hand! Then I need to see where Chris is on his shopping.

Got an interesting email last night from Pinterest: Texas Parenting Magazine invited you to start pinning to the board, Texas - Food and Recipes. I was very surprised and a little freaked out at first. It's like getting a parenting magazine in your mail. Or worse. Anything about menopause. Um, hello, last I checked, I don't have children -- I'm not interested in anything Parenting related!!! But I left the email marked as unread and came back to it this morning to check out the board: Texas food and recipes

Um. Yum. So I accepted the invitation. Don't read too much into things, it just means 1) I have lots of awesome food on my Pinterest board and 2) I'm in Texas.

I already have my first contribution to the board! I was pretty excited when I saw this pin: Crock Pot Cinnamon Almonds but when I clicked on it to see the original recipe, it doesn't say how long to cook them. Um that's a little important... So I did some searching of my own and pinned this one: Slow Cooker Cinnamon Almonds. With cooking level and time, yes! And the recipes are exactly the same, ha. So I will definitely be trying that recipe this holiday season! Expect updates when I do.