der Friday Five! The scenario involves winning the lottery:

1. Who do you call first?

My mom and dad, closely followed by a financial advisor

2. What is the first thing you buy for yourself?

I don't know. Perhaps a couple more bookcases. Perhaps some yarn. I wouldn't be a very exciting lottery winner - wouldn't blow most of my stack on something extravagant.

3. What is the first thing you buy for someone else?

Probably, something to improve my 85-year-old aunt's life. Or maybe money to help out at church.

4. Do you give any away? If yes, to whom?

Yup. To the local church I belong to, to my old high-school alma mater (private school), to the department where I did my graduate research, to the Salvation Army, to the Nature Conservancy.

5. Do you invest any? If so, how?

Yes, I would, and that is where the financial advisor would come in. I'd ask for something that was pretty unlikely to lose my capital, but that would pay me a little interest each year - enough to have some extra dough to blow on fun stuff.

I wouldn't quit my job to try to live on my winnings. That way lies madness.