Schenectady – Annette Cobb celebrated her birthday today with the New York Lottery as the newest millionaire on the Win $1,000 a Week For Life Instant ticket.

Cobb was at the grocery store shopping for Christmas dinner last month when she decided to put $5 into the New York Lottery vending machine and pick out some scratch-off tickets. When she got home, her husband Michael started scratching the tickets. When he scratched the word "life" three times on the third ticket, he told Annette "I know I just had my eyes checked, but I must be seeing things!" She took one look at the winning ticket and screamed.

Cobb is employed by the Gardner Road School as their school nurse. A 41 year old mother of two, Cobb said she plans to purchase a new car with her winnings since her daughter was in a car accident with her vehicle and the family is down to just one. She plans to put some of the fortune in the bank to pay for college for her daughter and son. She will invest the rest.

Cobb purchased her winning ticket at Wegmans located at 1100 Clemens Center Parkway in Elmira where the press conference announcing the winner was held today. The New York Lottery presented Cobb with the signature "big check" and a delicious birthday cake created by the Wegmans bakery department.

Win For Life is the most popular Instant game ticket offered by the New York Lottery and gives players 2 chances to win up to $1,000 a week for life. Cobb will receive her prize in quarterly payments of $13,000 less required tax withholdings each year for the rest of her life. Her or her estate is guaranteed to receive at least $1,000,000.

Since its inception in 1967, the New York Lottery has generated more than $27 billion in revenue to help support education statewide, including a record $2 billion in fiscal year 2004-2005 on revenues of $6.27 billion. For more information, contact the New York Lottery Press & Community Relations office at 518-388-3415 or email here.