New Pictures of Emma Coming

Oh, P.S.--I tried taking some pictures of Emma the other night when she fell asleep on my sofa with her head on my tv remote. I haven't uploaded them onto the computer yet, but hopefully some of them turned out. I'm certainly not as good at taking pictures as my Uncle, the professional photographer, so they definitely won't be as good as any of the other ones you have seen before. He took all of them when I was at his house in September in his front yard. I wish I was that talented at photography...I guess it comes with experience and taking pictures constantly since age 12! : )

Driving, GMAT, Driving

Sorry for not updating yesterday. I think this will be long enough to suffice for both days!

I went to class all day and then drove up to Birmingham to spend the night at my Uncle's house. I got there and we talked for a while (we always do this--even on the phone--minimum hour and a half conversation) until we realized it was almost 8 and we hadn't had dinner. We ran into Springville (the actual teeny tiny town he lives in) and picked some fast food up to bring back to the house. After we ate, I planned on writing something, but the internet wasn't working properly. Anyway, I studied for the GMAT for a little while and then tried to go to sleep. I'm certainly going to have to make some adjustments to the upstairs before I move there in February to make my room feel less like a guest room. There's plenty of time for that though...

My alarm went off way too early (5:15) so I could get ready to drive to Hoover for my test. I left right at 6 and arrived by 6:45 for my 8 o'clock test. I really didn't know how long it would take, especially with rush-hour traffic, but I managed to avoid the worst of it. The testing center was very close to the Galleria, so I drove down to McDonald's and got some breakfast--I know, I know, not a very good meal, but it was the best I could do. I had planned on bringing a Slim Fast granola bar with me, but I've got a bit of a sore throat and anything crunchy = not good. So, I go back to the testing center which is in a really big office complex and decide to go in since I'm going to Suite 20, but I see a sign for Suite 400. I had no idea how long it would take me to find the actual office, but it was actually right off of the foyer I entered the building through.

They were ready for me to go on and take the test even though it was about 7:30 and my appointment was at 8, so I went on and got started. First you have to write two essays in thirty minutes each. After you finish that, you go on to the quantitative (math) section and then the verbal (English) section. There are optional breaks between the writing and math and the math and English sections, but I chose to skip them since I felt like I was on a roll!

Once I finished, I had to again present my right index finger to prove that I hadn't changed my identity since I entered the fishbowl room where I was subject to audio and video surveillance at all times. Did I forget to tell you that they digitally recorded my fingerprint four times and took my picture to make sure I was really who I said I was. Once that was over, I received my unofficial score report and collected my belongings from the locker I was assigned.

I scored well enough to get admitted to the MAc program, but I guess I'm a little personally disappointed because I didn't get in the 700s (the highest score is 800). I did score better than I had in practice tests though, so I guess I should be happy. This is random, but I did pretty poorly in the quantitative section and extremely well in the verbal section...to the extent that the verbal section is what saved me. The GMAT quantitative section has questions called Data Sufficiency where you are given a problem and two pieces of information and you have to decide if one, the other, both, both together, or neither are sufficient to solve the problem. That can get quite confusing, so I'm guessing I didn't do too well in that section. Also, I seemed to have a lot of Geometry on my test and I didn't like Geometry in high school, so why should I like it now. I'm not sure if I have ever been as happy as the day we finished proofs Freshman year at Bradshaw.

Anyway, I'm just going to be happy that I did well enough to not have to take it again. I'm going to talk with the program coordinator on Monday and verify this and a few other things, but I guess my focus now is on my application (due February1) and getting ready to move to Birmingham. I got a little excited when I was going down the mountain from my Uncle's and then getting on the interstate because today was my first morning commute...something that I will be doing daily starting in February. It's exciting to be "growing up" and doing "big people" things like going to work.

I'm so excited for my internship. Every day, I enjoy classes more and more (such a difference from my first 2.5 years of college) and learn practical aspects of my new career. I actually don't even dread doing tax returns any more (don't tell my Dad)! It's fun to take people's financial transactions for the year and try to find all possible credits and deductions. When we do returns in class using software, it's like a game plugging in information and answering prompts from the computer. I know this sounds really sick to most of you, but I am finding out daily just how much my personality fits into that of the traditional accountant. I don't know why it took me so long to figure out that I would love accounting!

I'm going to go to bed now. It's been a long time since I woke up today before the sun came up! My parents (I hope both of them) and my Grandparents are coming down tomorrow night for a short visit and I need to do some more cleaning before they get here. I've been needing to do a good cleaning for a while, but with all my tests lately, I just haven't had time to do any more than pick up. I also have to run to Sam's since I'm out of laundry detergent and need a few other things too.

I have a test on Tuesday too, so I better start studying. I also have Audit homework for Monday that I'm going to print out now so I don't forget until Sunday night, or even worse, Monday morning!

Emma and Katie signing out! Have a good night and a pleasant tomorrow! (haha, Mom)

Comments

I have this Statistics Counter thingy on my blog and there have been some new people from interesting places reading. Since this is not a public blog, I know people aren't just randomly finding me through a Google search. I'd love to see comments from people reading--particularly some of the new readers over the past few days! Don't worry that I'm mad about how you found me or whatever--I like knowing people are reading what I'm writing and that I'm not talking (writing) to myself!

Again, please feel free to leave a comment so I can know who's reading! Maybe, if we're friends who've lost contact, we can get in touch again! : )

Tests, Tests, and More Tests

Two down and one to go. I had Audit Monday, Tax today, and still have the GMAT Friday. Now I have to focus all my time on getting ready for it so I'll have a good score and won't have to worry so much about acceptance to the MAc program. Last year, the acceptance rate was only around 60%, so it's definitely not guaranteed that I will get in, so I need everything going for me that I can possibly control!

I'm not really watching the Election coverage. I'm already feeling kinda sick (sore throat), so I don't need that long drawn-out process to make me sick to my stomach. I'll go to bed early tonight and wake up to a new President who's hopefully John McCain!

Five Things...

I saw this blogging prompt...You can only keep five things you have. What would they be?...and I thought it would be interesting!

1. My phone--I live far away from family and friends and would want to have the ability to reach out to them at a moment's notice.
2. Comfortable shoes--I won't be choosing to keep my car, so I need comfortable shoes to get me where I'm going!
3. My computer's MyPictures folder--I have so many memories that I want to keep and remember forever--especially of sweet baby Winnie. She was probably the most photographed baby in history.
   
4. My Grandaddy's mantle clock--I don't really have this, but I would want it to remember my childhood day's spent at my Grandparents. Getting to wind this on Saturday night was a big deal since it was hands-off the rest of the time.
5. All the little notes my Daddy wrote me for days when he was going to be out of town--I think I have every single one he wrote in a photo album at home. It was a big deal to me to read my note every day. Looking back at it, I realize just how much time he took to make each day's note different and to make sure I remembered how much he loved me even when he had to be away from home.

Wow, that was harder than I thought it would be. I guess with our society being so materialistic, it's hard to pick just a few things to symbolize a lifetime. I can't imagine what it would be like to lose everything to a fire or other natural disaster and to only have memories to represent all of your experiences.

Study Sunday

Today has been full of studying. I have an Audit test tomorrow that I still don't feel prepared for. I'm reading my last chapter now (or I was before I got on this!) and then I have some problems to work for review. I also have a Tax test on Tuesday, but I think I'm just going to have to worry about that late tonight or tomorrow after class. I will have from about noon until bedtime to study for that test. Then, Tuesday night through Thursday night, I have to study for the GMAT as well as clean up my messy house. I really want to vacuum and mop the kitchen and bathroom floors, but that will have to wait! You wouldn't believe all of the highlighter-yellow stuff on my carpet from Emma playing with her tennis balls. (No, Daddy, it's not stains on the carpet, just fuzz that's too numerous to simply pick up by hand!) She also has made a mess on the kitchen floor around her bowls with her new trick of eating her food on the floor rather than in the bowl! : )

I'm heading to Birmingham after class on Thursday so I can take the GMAT at 8 on Friday morning. That's going to be such an early day since I will need to leave around 6 to arrive with plenty of time to spare! Unfortunately, I have to pretty much cross Birmingham to get from Springville to near the Galleria in Hoover during early morning traffic. This is such an important test for my future, so I can't afford to be stressed about getting there on time. I also need to remember to print out directions and pack my GPS so I can make sure I find the testing center.

Ok, no more study break! Back to the books...

Emma Update

Miss Emmie has a new trick! She has started turning her food bowl over and spilling the food out onto the floor for her to eat. Earlier today she did this, but some food was trapped under the bowl and she ended up pushing it around the kitchen until I turned it right side up again so she could get to the food!

She and I went to a couple of grassy areas yesterday. The first one was near the parking lot for Facilities on campus and she gave me quite a scare when she wanted to chase the Tiger Transit. She really wasn't in any danger, but she was not under my control. The second place was the new elementary school here in Auburn. It's just down the highway from my house and is situated quite a ways off the main road. Basically, nobody goes down there unless they have a reason. I took her near the playground equipment where there is a big grassy area and she played a little bit. She really liked the rubber-like material that is around the playground. It's quite bouncy, so when she hops around, she really bounces. I have to say, I liked that filler material as well. It was fun for me to walk on too! It really doesn't take much to entertain us, does it?

We came home after our adventure and Miss Emmie was quite tired. She slept much of the evening until it came time for us to go to bed. I tried to let her sleep with me, but she was just too wild and she had to sleep in her bed.

She's getting so much more cuddly! She spent a good bit of today in my lap relaxing. It seems like if she isn't chewing on something or running around being "psycho dog", then she's in my lap! I can't say I have any complaints about that!