Nicki's Lair

[Error: unknown template qotd]
Ohhhh, have I thought about this one!

• Pay off my debts and Miriam's, mortgage included
• Sell donate my gas-guzzling vehicle and replace it with the most fuel efficient vehicle I can find that will accommodate 2 or 3 largish dog crates in the back
• Invest at least half of the million; use it as necessary for unexpected expenses -- for my household and/or to help my parents
• Get a moped for commuting/solo trips and learn to ride it. Or maybe a Smart Car, not sure about this
• Get a puppy
• Get a tattoo of a compass rose with my favorite Dar Williams quote snaking around the outside of the symbol
• Visit my sister in Hawaii, my friends in Alaska (bring Miriam along for that part of the trip), and littlemissgriff in Texas -- not all at once, necessarily, but during the next year
• Redo my kitchen
• Fix our busted central air conditioning system
• Go to the dentist and get everything taken care of that needs it
• Without a mortgage or a credit card payment, I can start investing for retirement out of my paychecks and I can make the charitable donations I always want to make but often don't

ETA:

• Look for a new job! Without debts, I can take something that starts at a lower rate of pay and work my way up again, so it's worth looking

[Error: unknown template qotd]
"This whole life I remember has led back unto itself
and never turned me into someone else."

-- Dar Williams, "The Hudson."

Don't feel like talking about what it means to me, except to say I first heard it when some things were changing in my life and I was terrified by the prospect of both my future and my identity shifting around me. The song is about life and death as a cycle, the change of seasons, New York City (and green_maia , if you catch this, it therefore makes me think of you, a bit). The whole song resonates with me, and that line most of all.

If you look it up on a commercial lyrics site, there are some obvious mistakes -- Dar is a first-class lyricist; she writes metaphor, but not nonsense. Therefore, ( full lyrics are under the cut. )