Yet Another Busy Week

( Madison Wearing my sweatshirt. We were having a lot of fun wearing Daddy's clothes.)

Man what a crazy week it has been.

Monday I took the State Real Estate Exam. That went very well. I'm feeling quite comfortable that I passed, so obviously I'm real happy about that. I went back and did the math and all the evening and weekend time I spent studying and preparing added up to about 30 hours. I took 5 practice test and wrote countless pages of notes. I wanted to be over prepared, and I felt like I was. The test was a breeze. I should get the official results later this week or early next week, and I'll be sure to post them.

Monday night Madison met Santa Claus for the first time. Coleen, our neighbor across the street, had a Christmas party for all the little kids on the block and Santa Came to visit. The party was very nice, we had a great time. When Santa Came Madison panicked. She was screaming and screaming. She was afraid of him. After he sat down and the other kids were sitting on his lap, her curiosity overcame her and she ventured over to him. After he gave her a present, she became his best customer. She parked herself in his lap and would not leave. She kept telling her Mommy to "take another picture". I think she ended up in his lap at least 15 minutes.

Tuesday the president of my company and the sales manager both came to visit. We had a couple accounts that didn't get treated too well during the company transition and we needed to bring the big guns down to love on them a little bit. It went very well. They spend the whole day down here and we went to La Villa for lunch I introduced them to the Chris Combo sandwich. It's an award winning sandwich with a secret recipe. They were sufficiently impressed.

Wednesday was another busy day in the office. I was running around all day. Then in the evening we put together Nicole's computer desk and I set up her computer. That's right folks Nicole will be back in the digital world again soon. We will pass along her email address once things are fully up and running. We got her the HP Slimline 7620n. It is a very small computer, only about 1/3 the size of a normal tower. It has wireless networking already built in which is great. She got a 19" wide screen HD LCD display to go with it. Needless to say she is a very happy camper this Christmas.

While I was doing the computer desk assembly last night, we (Nicole) were watching our friends Joe & Mollie's little ones so they could go out on a date. Having three kids under 4 in the house was an interesting experience. Madison and Tytus are both in the middle of potty training. That kept Nicole on her toes. It is a lot of fun though. They both really love each other and enjoy getting together. For about two days before Tytus comes over, Madison asks constantly when he is going to get here. The kids all had a great time. Joe & Mollie went and saw the new Rocky movie and said they like it a lot.

Tonight Nicole and I are going on a date to celebrate my being done with the RE exam. We are going to go out Outback and go see The Pursuit of Happyness. I'm excited to see it. If you haven't heard anything about it, I recommend reading about the actual person it is based upon. Talk about an inspiring story!!!!

Took My Real Estate Final Last Night

Last night I took my Real Estate Principles class final. It went better than I expected. I was very tired yesterday morning and ended up taking a nap in the middle of the afternoon. That's a big deal for me, I don't usually take naps. After my hour long snooze I was feeling pretty rested and went to school a little early for some last minute studying.

After I got there I realized I left my calculator at home. In a panic I raced to the bookstore and spent $40 on a replacement. After cutting the thing out of it's bullet proof plastic case, I headed to the exam. Fortunately I made it to class on time.

An hour later I was done. I did much better then I expected to. If I got an A on the final, I should get a B in the course. I could care less, as long as I pass. Really this is just the warm up lap. The real test is the State Real Estate Board Exam next Monday. That is the test for the Real Estate license. The college courses are required by the state, but if you don't pass the state exam the courses don't matter.

Ah well, back to the books for another week . . .

Oh yeah and about the calculator, turns out I didn't even need it. None of the questions had any serious math in them. Nice, huh?

Coming Home on the Red Eye

I'm sitting inside Anchorage airport getting a midnight snack. The airport is very busy this time of night. The are a lot of red eye flights that leave at one or two in the morning.

I am excited to be going home finally. I can't wait to see Nicole and Madison.

Another Dark Alaska Morning

I opened the door to Charlie's office, where I have been doing all of my work, and snapped this picture. It is about 9:15 in the morning and still dark outside. The moon is full and for just a moment it poked through the clouds. It is a crisp and 'warm' 38 degrees outside. The road ice is melting a bit, and the roads are getting mushy. This is when you have to be really careful driving.

I really like it up here. I think if I could get things set up so I didn't have to sell my California house and didn't have to work any more, I could live up here at least half time. The pace is so much slower and the scenery so much more beautiful, I really do feel drawn to this place. Having such wonderful family here in Charlie and Dee only strengthens the pull north toward Alaska.

Things have gone well here. Everything I have needed to get done, has been done. Our homes are squared away and we made an offer on another home for an investor of ours. The time has flown by. I will be going home in a couple days and then getting back into the 'normal' routine. I am looking forward to being home. I miss my girls!