The ‘‘checkout chick'' has no plans to stop work but wants to build her dream home in Kaitangata and keep her runaround car for whitebaiting. Apart from that, life will change very little.
But life will be easier - much easier - thanks to the $1,262,435 win in Lotto's Easter draw.
Mrs Carson (51) brought up her three children on the domestic purposes benefit but decided to ‘‘pay back'' the taxpayer for their financial help over those years by joining the Order of St John and volunteering her services to sports groups in the district.
She has struggled financially for years and has always worked to keep her head above water.
Mrs Carson agreed to speak publicly because ‘‘everyone in Clutha knows anyway'' and she hoped that by being open, all the fuss would soon disappear.
She admitted the big win had not yet sunk in.
‘‘I think I'm still in shock, to be honest. It's a nice shock though,'' she said, laughing.
She buys Lotto every week and has used the same numbers for 16 years with little success. It took a friendly gesture from her son's partner in Auckland to change all that and make all her dreams come true.
She bought two lucky dip tickets from Paper Plus Sylvia Park and sent one to her mother in Christchurch and the other to Mrs Carson.
Last Friday, Mrs Carson took her Lotto tickets to be checked at the Balclutha New World outlet.
She initially only saw the first four figures and thought she had won $1200. It was not until the operator called the Lotteries Commission for verification that the size of her win began to dawn on her.
‘‘There was just complete silence at my end of the phone and then I said to Diane [the operator] that it was a million dollars. She started shaking when she saw the figure and she was just about crying. She asked me to come and sit down, but I think she needed the seat more than I did.''
Even though her win still ‘‘sounds and feels like a dream'', Mrs Carson has some firm plans.
She will stay in Kaitangata and wants to buy a section there - ‘‘I love Kai, it's my town'' - and have an architecturallydesigned house built on the site.
Her Toyota Corona car will be kept and used as her whitebaiting vehicle, while she will upgrade to a slightly more expensive car for her daily travels.
She has no plans to quit work, because she loves her job. But she wants to talk to her boss about cutting down to four days week so she can fit in her role as sports medic for the Kaitangata B rugby team this winter.
‘‘I'm single, a widow. If I was home alone, I would probably drive myself crazy. But I reckon I might cut back on a bit on the work, you know. I've got a lot more living to do, a lot more nice living.''
She also confirmed she has bought a ticket in Saturday's record $18 million Powerball draw.
‘‘You can never have enough luck.''
