if money were no object

I'm doing this blog/journal contest over at my 2nd favorite website in the world. (Second only to facebook and its ridiculously addicting games). It's comprised of a group of bloggers who take turns turning in a "leading" entry each day and then all the participants write an entry in response. Its geared to get you writing every day, writing about different things and stretching your "writing muscles" and to introduce you to a variety of other journals/blogs that you might not ordinarily read. I've done it before and I really enjoy it for all of those reasons. I've never "won" and honestly I don't believe I even have a chance when you see how well the others write, but it's still fun. Anyway, I thought I would share some of my entries here, kind of a "two blogs with one entry" type thing.

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If money were no object. Well, honestly, its hard to imagine anything more than I already have. I get to stay home with my kids with no pressure to bring any income to the table. My husband's business does so well that any income I could bring home just goes towards tax so its more beneficial for me to not work. That way we don't have to pay for childcare and we can play more. And we do get to play a lot. Just look at my hubby's "toys" (3 atvs, snowmobile & a fishing boat). I've traveled more in the the last seven years than most people in their entire lives. I've seen Mexico six times, Florida twice, Vegas enough times to be sick of it and many other spots within driving distance. I can buy groceries and clothes for our family without a strict budget, although I don't go hog wild. When my kids are sick I can take them to the doctor without a worry about what it will cost. We can go out to eat or have friends over without breaking the bank. We really are well taken care of (very blessed) and have very little want for anything.

BUT, if money really was NO OBJECT, I would do a few things differently: (these are in no particular order)

1. Hire a maid -- I love a clean house but I hate doing the cleaning. That would mean I could play more and the maid would do all the intense corner cleaning that I despise. I would still do my own laundry, I'm picky about that. A personal chef would be nice too, cuz I do spend a lot of time cooking, but I like to cook sometimes too, so it would have to be part time.
2. Put my kids in more activities, like swim lessons, kindermusik, whatever they wanted to do. I'd have more time to play with them if I wasn't cleaning!
3. Get a new car. I would LOVE something sporty.
4. Splurge at the scrapbook store, and I mean splurge! I'd buy that huge, beautiful scrapbook hutch I saw in the magazine that I've been drooling over and I'd fill it with all the fun stuff I could.
5. Go to Hawaii and Europe and Australia to start off....
6. Buy Erik a cabin in the woods like he's always wanted.
7. Get all my loved ones out of debt.
8. Hire a decorator to help me paint the rest of the white walls in the house.
9. Sponsor a bunch of kids from Compassion International and then donate a bunch of moola to all my favorite charities.
10. Put $ away for college for my kids and my nephews.
11. Buy a new treadmill. I'd really, really love a treadmill that inclined on its own.
12. Fill my kids' piggy banks with quarters.
13. Pay for a huge ol' family reunion, first on my mom's side and then on my dad's side. It would be so nice to see cousins & aunts & uncles that I haven't seen in ages. Then, I do it for hubby's family, too. Then, I'd do it for all my college buddies, and we'd go somewhere warm & tropical. :-)

Those things would all be nice to have, but they are all extras, the things I dream about having or doing. I could probably list even things that I'd love to see changed RIGHT NOW that can't be changed with money, things like relationships that need healing, people that are hurting, etc., but even with those "less than perfect" parts to my life, I'm really quite content with this spot that God has put me. He's done a perfect job of taking care of me. I have no complaints. :-)