And how much did we win?

Here's where it gets a little complicated.

I buy the tickets for what amounts to 90 days out (13 weeks). However, you can check your tickets at a newsagent machine for up to only 45 days. I think of this as sort of a hot dogs vs. hot dog buns dilemma. Since I was doing a lot of travel in April and May, I missed that first 45 day cut off. This meant that I had to wait until the end of 90 days to take them into the lottery office, where I usually redeem them at the end of the cycle. This time, they told me that the only way I could redeem them was to mail them to Schenectady. So, in July I did exactly that. sending off the tickets in two batches. I have received the check for one of the batches, a total of $51. I am still waiting for the next check, which I can only imagine will arrive soon. In the meantime, I will turn this around and re-invest for a few more weeks before we start collecting again. Technically, we have been out of the running for a few weeks, but the jackpot has been really puny for most of the summer, and I haven't felt too bad about this.