On my personal blog, Spinsters and Lunatics I've been doing a Christmas blog blast, including "Top 5" lists of various things, from Christmas music to Christmas foods. So I thought I'd bring that idea over here, with a million dollar twist.

Let's think about our Top Five "If I had a million dollars" Christmas wishes.

Now, here are the ground rules.

1. We know a million dollars doesn't get us as far as it used to, so you won't be able to buy your own 747 jet or anything like that. However, do use your entire million on each of the five--we're going for conspicuous consumption here.

2. Second, be relatively honest. Saying you'd give it all to charity? Unless you're Mother Theresa, nobody's buyin' that. So for our purposes, nobody is in need of charity. This is fantasy.

3. Third, this is a tax free zone and investment free zone. Don't try to figure out how much Uncle Sam would get. It's not like he's using the money wisely these days anyway. And investments and savings make for a boring blog. (I know--my first stab at this involved a lot of savings accounts and IRAs and put me right to sleep. This isn't real life, remember? In this game, we're going to pretend that we're debt free and have every basic need attended to.

4. Keep it clean. If you're going to spend it on making Gerard Butler your sex slave for a month, please don't go into any graphic details, okay?

Now, here's my top five list, in no particular order:

1. I'd travel the world for as long as the money held out. I'd love to go to the British Isles, to Australia, to all fifty United States (I've been to a few, but there are plenty I'd like to see). I'd visit a friend who lives in Zimbabwe, (because if we're dealing in fantasy, we're going to pretend it's a safe place to visit). And I'd visit the region of Patagonia, in southern Argentina, because it sounds like a fascinating place.

2. I'd buy a house or build a house with the biggest bathroom ever. I've never lived in a house with a big bathroom. Ever. I see marble floors, an enormous clawfoot tub, a separate shower, enough floor space that you could hold a cotillion there...

3. I'd take a few years off from my day job and write full time. With a million dollars, I could pay the bills while I wrote. I figure on a million, I could write full time for about ten years and still take care of my family. That would be heaven. (I know this kind of violates rule #3 I set above, but writing full time is a major wish of mine that circumstances won't allow for at the moment).

4. I'd pay for the trapping and spaying/neutering of as many stray feral cats in my area as possible. There are so many wild cats out there having kittens that either grow up to exacerbate the stray problem or end up as road kill. I've rescued numerous of these feral offspring over the years, but I'm just one person and I can't possibly keep up. So if I could put even a little dent in the feral cat population in my area, it would be a million well spent. (Does that violate rule 2 a little? I'm not sure I care. I love cats, and I really might use the money this way, if I had it).

5. I'd spend it on books, DVDs and CDs. The entire Dean Koontz collection. All of Dick Francis's books. I'd grab all of Jayne Ann Krentz's backlist I haven't read. I'd give Christina Dodd and Teresa Medeiros books a try, because they're both hilarious on Twitter. I'd buy full Seasons of my favorite shows, past and present--Scarecrow and Mrs. King, which I hear is finally coming out on DVD. All the seasons of Homicide: Life on the Street. Every Jane Austen adaptation available. All the great classic books I haven't read. (In this fantasy, we're going to pretend I have a huge house with a ginormous library and a big media room with lots of storage space).

So that's it. My million is spent, five times over. Now it's your turn. What would YOU do with a million dollars?

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