When it comes to gambling, I am pretty conservative. Sure, I buy the occasional lotto ticket and can hold my own at playing black jack at a $5.00 table at the casino, but I am not an "all-in" kinda gal.
My husband on the other hand will play big to try to win big. At a casino, he likes to play the slots. I can't watch him play, I really can't. I have to walk away. One of our most memorable moments in Las Vegas last year was when we were walking the floor of the casino and just up ahead was a bank of $10.00 machines. I believe I quickened my pace to try to pass by them quickly. But his pace slowed way down, and before I knew it, he was feeding one of those machines!
"There goes $10", he said with a grin as he pushed the button. Nothing happened.
"There goes $20", he continued.
After he said "There goes $30", we smiled at one another and I walked away. I was perfectly happy at a quarter machine when I heard him calling for me. Seems he needed a few buckets in which to put many $10.00 coins into. He had hit and had won a couple hundred dollars.
As you can see, we differ in our risk-taking comfort levels. And that's okay. Yes, he may risk more money than I am comfortable with, but he usually does okay for himself. And he has proven that I can trust him not to gamble more than we can afford to lose. (Whew!)
At my husband's suggestion, this past week we bought a raffle ticket. This is no ordinary raffle ticket where you might pay up to $10.00 for a chance to win anything from a gift basket to a vacation. No, this was an expensive raffle ticket where the first prize is a brand new house valued at over $300,000. (There is also a vehicle to be won, and 38 different cash prizes.)
So yesterday we went and looked at the first prize as they were having an open house. Oh, it was so beautiful! I could be totally happy in that house. The problem however is location. Here are my reasons for NOT wanting to live there:
1. It's quite a distance from my husband's place of employment. He would go from his current 45 minute commute to an hour.
2. I can't imagine going from living in a middle-class neighborhood to an upper-class neighborhood. What would it be like? Would our new neighbors be too uptight, too "houty-touty" for my liking? I like down-to-earth people where possessions doesn't mean near as much as their families, relationships, and values.
3. When we do move in the future, the plan is that my mom will probably relocate to the same neighborhood as us. We like living near each other. The problem with the location of the raffle house is that there isn't a house nearby that she'd be able to afford.
If we win the house (which, let's face it, we probably won't), my ideal would be to sell it, take that profit and find something more "us". Not necessarily smaller (because I did so love the size and openness), but closer to husband's work, and a more affordable neighborhood for my mom.
So, cross your fingers and toes for us... we just might hit it big this time.
