Thanks, Dave!

I'm doing Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University with my Economics class this quarter. (Because, seriously, who really cares about supply and demand curves, anyway??) It has actually been a very interesting quarter so far. The kids have really enjoyed it, and they are just drinking in the information. ...and it's very, very practical. I am all about practical. (I'm also all about applicable. If I can't apply it, I don't get it. Trigonometry - tried it for three lessons and figured out pretty quick that it wasn't for me. Calculus?...ha ha...ha ha.)
The lessons have been convicting as well. I've decided it's high time I get serious about my financial future. Don't get me wrong - I'm not laboring through life chained to a mountain of debt. I'm actually pretty much debt free. A lot of the things Dave Ramsey says don't really apply to me, necessarily: I'm not married; I don't have a mortgage; I have no credit card bills; I'm not paying off a student loan; and I have no children for whose college education I should be saving.
...But I also have no retirement fund. It's not that I plan to never retire, I just never worried about it before. I always figured that by the time I was 25, I would have met Prince Charming - who, of course, would come fully accessorized with a house, a credit score, and a down payment on a mini-van - and then we could worry about the future. (I'm also of the opinion that little Charming and Charmingette should pay their own way through school...but that's just me...)
However, 25 has come and gone and never sends me post cards. Since I'm not getting any younger (or less single), I guess I better start preparing for the future. I want to retire wealthy. Really wealthy. Scandalously wealthy. I know what I have to do. I have a plan and I'm ready to implement it.
Publishers Clearing House.
Yep. That's right. A million a year for life. That should set me up nicely.
You can enter online every day, right? Dave Ramsey says if you do something every day for thirty days, it becomes a habit. Well, that's a habit I can handle. One day down, twenty-nine to go. I think I can do this... I'm feeling better about the future already...

The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated...

I started a blog post about a week ago. It's not yet finished. Every time I sit down to finish it, a major crisis explodes over my head. So, I've given up ...at least until next week. I can't have any more crises this week - my schedule is already full.
Fine Arts Competition is tomorrow. Stressed is such an inadequate word.
But I have a strategy for combating stress.
I make lists.
I make lots of lists.
The first item on my list is always "make a list." It's genius. Now, when I get to the end of the list, I can already mark off an item. Gives me such a sense of accomplishment.
You should try it. Seriously.
And now I can mark "update blog" off my list. This day is getting better already.