5 Best Statements of the Year...A Look Back

So I heard A LOT as a teacher. Much of what I heard consisted of back-handed compliments. (Don't you just love those?!) I've been thinking through this past year and wanted to share some of these statements/conversations with you. I think I have them ranked pretty well from 5 to 1. Enjoy, and be glad you didn't have some of my jewels!

5. "Your shirt is really busy." (Said by a female as she made a disgusted face. My response? "Why, thank you! My son really likes it!" This was when Hayden was about 3 months old and really liked the contrasting shapes and colors.)

4. "Ohhhhh, you straightened your hair today." (Said by same female after I had worn my hair curly for a few days. She obviously didn't like the change!)

3. I put together a slideshow at the beginning of the year to introduce me and my family to my students. There's one picture back from our dating days. At least one male in every class remarked, "Wow, Mrs. Ainsworth, you were really hot back then!" Sigh.

2. Another female checking out a picture of me and David on my desk. Again, from dating days at Bellingrath Gardens in AL. Again, when I had a ton of time to work out. Her reaction? "Oh, Mrs. Ainsworth! You were so...." "Skinny?" I asked. "Well, I was going to say 'pretty'...but you still are! No, really, Mrs. Ainsworth!!" She was grasping and trying to get the taste of shoe leather out of her mouth.

And FINALLY...
1. Said just last week by a male student. He was commenting on how big another teacher is (who isn't at all!) and then he looked at me and remarked, "It's okay you're fat, Mrs. Ainsworth, you've had a kid. It happens." Sheesh.

So that's why I'll be getting up at 5 AM to go to the gym! Night, everyone!
May 7th graders be better!

Security Gland

We are making great strides with our steps toward financial peace. We are about halfway to Baby Step 1, and that's only in 2 weeks. It has to be God! No way could we be paying all of our bills and still living and still putting money into the bank. It's tight, and yet we have money left in the bank! I'm so proud of my husband: he's taking his lunch and we're eating at home even more than we were. We've scaled back in other areas and we're visiting banks and making changes to things we never should have done in the first place!

But through just the 2 weeks we've had of FPU thus far, one thing has really stuck out to me. It comes from Dave Ramsey's book, pg. 144, of The Total Money Makeover: "God wired ladies better on this subject that He did us [men]. Their nature causes them to gravitate toward the emergency fund. Somewhere down inside the typical lady is a 'security gland,' and when financial stress enters the system, that gland will spasm." AMEN!!!

C'mon, ladies, think about it. You know we have a security gland. I know I do! It really affects my relationship with David, even when I don't mean for it too. But I can't believe how far we've come in two weeks. We still have some tough roads and choices ahead, but we're tackling them head on. If we keep this up, maybe we'll rebound and be so much better off faster than I could have dreamed. It's only because God is blessing, I know!

FPU

My husband and I are embarking on the adventure of Dave Ramsey's "Financial Peace University." I'm overwhelmed and anxious and way excited about it. We're learning things we knew years ago; doing them was another matter entirely, which is why we find ourselves where we are currently. That all sounds pretty depressing, I know. But it's not! I'm so thankful to have a game plan and to have stick to it and to be held accountable by a group. Money is a completely sensitive issue, but we're not in this boat alone! (Nor are we as bad as we could be, so I know we can get out of this mess.)

I foresee us in the coming months not living paycheck to paycheck, not merely trying to survive like so many people right now. That gives me such hope! It's not fair to Hayden and our future children for us to squander so much money. If I can make it through the next 3-6 months of getting on the right track, I think I'll find my attitude completely different and ready for the next year and the year after that and so on. We can be debt free soon! It's going to take a significant amount of prayer, willpower, discipline, and maybe even some heartache. Gosh, I LOVE stuff! It's amazing what I've talked myself out of since we found out we were pregnant and since (you know, you start going, "Oh, we need a changing table, so I don't really need new shoes or that purse or that 'whatever'."), but I think I'm about to talk myself out of even more! Would I love a new this or that? Absolutely! Is it vital to surviving today? NO!

Granted, I know this is all easier said than done, which is why I'm laying this out here. I can't tell you how thankful I am that we're doing this NOW, so that Hayden can see us model excellent money habits, and so that he starts off on the right foot as well. I'm also amazingly blessed to have a husband who's in this with me and who is ready to commit to the steps. I want to be completely different in so many respects when I go back to school in the fall. I must be a different person or I'll never make it!