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| I’d have a barn full of roping horses and pastures full of cows |
A billion dollars. Actually, $1.5 billion. That’s a lot of clamshells.
A friend of mine purchased a Powerball ticket for last night’s big jackpot and inquired whether I had as well. Negatory, I replied. Not because I have anything against Powerball – I have purchased tickets in the past and am a fan of scratch-off lottery tickets. I honestly never gave thought to buying one because winning the lottery is not something that would happen to me, I’m fairly certain.
But her question prompted the conversation of “What would I do if I won?” One and a half billion dollars could really have a monumental impact of my ranching and rodeoing aspirations and that
conversation sparked this blog post.
1. If this cowgirl won the lotto, I’d first pay off my student loans and the ranch mortgage. Equipment, land, cows – those are all expensive pawns in the ranching game and not having the burden of those payments would be a huge relief.
2. I would buy more land and stock it with cows! Paying in cash is a no-brainer and I don’t know a single cowboy or cowgirl who would say “no” to more land, if the opportunity presented itself.
3. Seeing as I’m from the rodeo side of things, I would be filling the barn with two solid, FAST barrel horses and several roping horse prospects to keep me occupied. Who am I kidding, I’d build a bigger barn, too.
4. Since I have all those horses, I would obviously need a new truck and a much larger trailer to roll down the rodeo trail. Oh and a new outdoor arena with lights and an indoor arena (with heat).
5. What’s the point of having all that money if you aren’t going to share? I would definitely be showing love to my family, friends and my community. Family members would receive large monetary gifts, new school gymnasiums would be built, band uniforms purchased. Actually I’m thinking a very large donation to educational grants is going to be in order as well as a large lump to my alma maters; K-State and FSCC. And my girlfriends are all getting new boots and a trip to Vegas for the NFR!
6. INVEST! I don’t want to have to juggle the 8-5 anymore so investing that money to get me through the next 70 years, in addition to setting up trusts for my future children and grandchildren, is an absolute must.
7. Large donations to the leading organizations for breast cancer and Alzheimer’s research. Too many people have suffered.
8. Two words: Owner’s box (of the Kansas City Chiefs)
9. I don’t know how I would do it but I want to help solve the world’s food waste and hunger problem – so I would invest money in research and technology to address these highly critical issues.
10. There’s a whole wide world out there and I’ve only seen a fraction of it – I would like to set my boots on the ground in several more countries.
Those would be my Top 10 priorities if this cowgirl won the Powerball lotto last night. What would you do with all that money?
Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~