Holiday Week

What a week this has been. I had a decent weekend but it was hard at the same time. Being Labor Day Weekend many of my friends were getting together for BBQs and parties. I was invited to several. I guess word had gotten around about my winning and suddenly everyone thinks I should be paying for everything. The check hadn't even cleared my bank this weekend. It wasn't until Tuesday that it cleared! I went to my friend John's house early. John is one of my best friends, we've known each other since 3rd grade. He told me we're going to need a keg for the party. I asked him why don't we just bring our own stuff like we normally do. He says to me "What will it break you to give your friends the hook up?" No it wouldn't break me but I didn't have the money yet and if he wants me to throw a party maybe we can talk about it in advance. Suddenly my friends are treating me different. They all showed up empty handed all mad that I didn't buy everyone a keg. This is what my whole weekend was like. Suddenly winning the lottery wasn't all it was cracked up to be and my money isn't even in my account yet! I was so mad that I spent most of the weekend alone. Some way to win.

Tuesday I met with a financial planner and a lawyer nearly the whole afternoon. We talked about thing I never even thought about like making a will and proper investing and how my life is going to change. They told me stories about past winners who lost everything and how I could avoid that. "Whatever you do, don't start a business with a family member." He said I could lose my money and my family. They suggested that I take $2,000 and leave town for a week or so. They recommended that I don't spend any more than that $2,000 unless I need to stay away longer. Where would I go? I'm going to just take off alone? I have a couple friends out of town but my friends that I've seen are treating me different.

That night I'm laying there watching a movie and I get a knock on my door. Its some lady crying. She starts telling me that she needs this operation or she may die. It was very sad. My lawyer and financial planner told me this would happen. I didn't know what to believe. I told her I was someone else and that Stan had left. I said I hadn't seen him in days and she left. I ended up falling asleep on the couch and woke up Wednesday around 10am.

I decided that maybe I should get out of town for a while. I have a friend in California who has always been a very good friend. He had a good job anyway so maybe he wouldn't expect much from me. I went to the cell phone store and bought a new blackberry and then ran over to best buy and got a laptop because my only computer until then was a desktop and I couldn't take it with me. I went to the airport and was able to get a flight out within the next couple hours. I arrived in California Wednesday night and my friend Brian was nice enough to pick me up.

This is the first time I've been out to the west coast. My friend Brian has been working and I've just been sitting out by his pool mostly. I guess I'll be blogging more but the last week has been utterly insane. I don't feel like a big winner. I'm in hiding, my friends are all mad at me cuz I wouldn't throw them a party. I never imagined things would be like this. I hope things get back to normal soon but for now I'm here in California.