It was worth getting dressed. Kennedy, a custodian at Mountain Island Elementary School in Charlotte, had just scratched a "Merry Money" instant lottery ticket and won $200,000, or $136,000 after taxes.

She walked back inside the Wal-Mart gas station in Belmont, where she bought the $10 ticket, and asked the clerk whether she was reading it correctly.

Kennedy, who lives in Dallas, N.C., called the school, said she wouldn't be at work because she had to go to Raleigh to collect her winnings and said she would be back Wednesday.

Then she called again and said she would be in Monday.

With the money, Kennedy plans to pay off debt, help her son Michael go to college and replace her '99 Camaro, which she'll give to her daughter, Amanda.

Kennedy regularly plays the lottery but increased her ticket purchases recently, spending $500 a month the past two months, she said.

"Bad habit," she said, "but it paid off."

She won't be such a steady customer now.

"I'll slack off," she said, "and play sensible."