Lesson to learn

BEFORE cashing the check, as in, the next day when I’ve learned I’ve won:

Go to work as usual, take ticket with me UNSIGNED
Use work photocopier to photocopy the ticket and my drivers’ license and other IDs and my actual face if possible in order to prove it’s mine if there is ever any question. Place items in various positions so I have multiple varieties so nobody can say, “Oh, that’s Photoshopped”.
Go to the bank, get a safe deposit box. Put UNSIGNED ticket and copies of the photocopies in there.
Spend remainder of day researching lawyers and financial advisors in my area. Make appointments for that week.
Appointment day:
Call in sick to work.
Meet with legal and financial team.
Set up a blind trust.
Establish various financial accounts to receive distributions.
If all of this is in place within one day, have lawyer(s) and financial peep(s) accompany me to the regional lottery office (I have the address already) where the ticket is then signed and claimed (however that’s done through a trust).
Find out the date of expected distribution.
I’ll pretend I’m a secretary so I can hold up one end of the big check for publicity photos alongside my legal and financial team. I live in a state where I can stay anonymous. I’ll just sort of partially hide behind them.
Continue to go to work for the next couple of weeks as usual. But,
Give my two weeks’ notice two weeks prior to the distribution date.
Spend those two weeks tidying up things at work so the next person who fills my soon-to-be-abandoned position has an easier time settling in than I did.
AFTER CASH DISTRIBUTES—things I plan to do with my life:

Pay off any and all outstanding debts (they are few and small)
Make necessary repairs and upgrades to current home.
Hire people to help me sort and organize things.
Make sizable donations to specific organizations and institutions
Spend the next year traveling to fiber conferences and just in general, so I can figure out where it is we’re going to live (the cats and I)
When we figure out where to land, buy or build a home. Big but modest—I don’t need marble floors or chandeliers (impractical anyway). What I do need is a cat-friendly space that’s easy to care for (even though I’ll have Staff) and relax in, and an art studio. Massive studio. Size of a 3BR ranch house. Fully-outfitted for all forms of fiber arts.
Since it’ll be on acreage, build a small stable if there isn’t already one there. Bring my old retired horse there, and buy one or two younger ones to enjoy.
ENJOY LIFE. Help people (sometimes) and animals (always) whenever I can. Make art. Ride horses. Smell the roses. Watch sunsets. Sleep in. See the world. Spend a month at an ashram. Attend every major fibers conference every year (or every other year for those that are like that) and live my dreams.
Write a book outlining how to ditch the day job and live your dreams. With or without a lottery win.