Feelin' Confident

I wrote my Finance 1 exam tonight. Once grades are released and my transfer credit for Stats is processed, I will only have to complete my Level 3 business case, and then I will be done to the end of Level 3.

There are 5 levels, plus some extra university courses.

I have felt really insecure about tonight's exam in the past couple of weeks. My brain has not been functioning well of late, and I haven't absorbed a lot of what I have read. There was a great deal in this course that I didn't know. And my only hope was that a majority of the questions would be on the very few things that I actually knew.

Much praying has been done about this exam. Not just by me, but by a whole lot of people. I feel very grateful that I have such good people in my life.

I went to write the exam. I have a really hard time walking, and I had to take the elevator to the second floor, being unable to do many stairs. I was in a fair bit of pain by the time I made it to the room. The room wasn't open, and I joined the other students waiting on the floor. Getting back up was rather problematic, but I managed.

I opened the exam paper. I read through the entire exam. And I found that only 8 marks were being awarded to questions about things I swear I have never heard of before. The rest of the exam was focused on the materials that I actually knew. Miracles do happen!!

Now, even with that, there were some questions that I struggled with. I'm sure I made some careless errors. And at some points, I did have to guess at the answer since I couldn't remember my own name at that moment. I took my time. I completed the entire exam. I even attempted to answer the questions about which I had no clue.

There were a couple of tense moments. I had to sit up for a full three hours in order to write. And I was in some degree of pain for most of it. I got a bit nervous when I started having contractions partway through. I think my exam moderators noticed and got a big freaked out. But the pains eased up as the exam wore on. At the end of the day, I made it home in one piece. No blood, no preemie baby, no foul. Right?

Two months of waiting for marks release. But the exam is over and done now, and I don't have to think about it anymore. And when all is said and done, I am pretty sure I passed.

Yes, I am pretty sure I passed. Despite the fact that I still can't tell you what they mean when they say "yield", since no one could actually clarify that point for me. We students have been struggling with that one for months, but no one would answer. So we all had to guess. What fun. Believe me, that point was brought up in the course evaluation. Maybe someone will even read it.

Max and Ruby

Yesterday, J and I went to the Mom, Pop, and Tots Fair at the Agricom. We went with K&K and their little girl D. Obviously, T could not attend. L&P also could not go, since L was studying and P broke his ankle earlier in the week and can't weight-bear yet. So K&K made arrangements to take their little girls, I&G, along with all of us. We three parents loaded the four kids into two wagons, and off we went.

A good time was had by all.

J had his very first pony ride. He picked the biggest pony on the lot. It was a big, black pony. J quite enjoyed riding him. He also liked the petting zoo. He petted two bunnies and a little black goat, but really spent most of his time chasing the animals about in their pens.

There was a live "Max and Ruby" show as well. If you've ever watched Treehouse on TV, you will no doubt be quite familiar with "Max and Ruby". The kids didn't seem to really get into the "Max and Ruby" show, and they were more interested in playing.

Or so we thought ...

Today, J and I went over to K&K's for D's 3rd birthday party. G took J out on the back porch. I was not permitted to see what they were doing, and had to hide behind the garage to hear this little exchange:

G: Ok, J. This is the stage. And we're gonna do a Max and Ruby show for my Mommy. You be Max, and I'll be Ruby.

[Pause]

G: Max, what are you doing?
J: I'm not Max!
G: Yes you are. Max, what are you doing?
J: I'm not Max! I'm J!
G: Well, you can be J-Max.
J: Oh. ... I'm J-Max?

I think that was about the time when G gave up. J hasn't quite got a good handle on imaginative play as of yet.

The Peanut Song

J sits down to eat his peanut butter sandwich. In a singsong voice, he says:

"Peanut sat on the railroad track.
His heart was all a-flutter.
Around the bend came the number ten
Toot! Toot!
And now he's peanut butter."

J apparently learned this little tune at daycare. He sings it often. Cute!

Stomach flu

I have the stomach flu.

How, you may ask, can I tell that it's the stomach flu? How, you may logically wonder, can I tell the difference between the stomach flu and the typical pregnancy type nausea and vomiting that I have experienced throughout the entire pregnancy?

The answer is this. J has it too.

I got sick with it yesterday. J developed the same symptoms this morning. Now, we wait for H to get it too. Our family believes in sharing. Since H is the only fully functioning member of our household, he really can't afford to be sick. Therefore, he is required to catch this bug as well. It's important.

I should be preparing for my exam. It's next Monday, and I'm not at all ready for it. But I'm exhausted and nauseous, and my head hurts. I sure can't concentrate on exam prep.

I think I'll have a nap instead. I'll worry about the exam another day. Hopefully, I'll be ready to write next Monday. So far, I'm not doing so well in my practice exams.

Just get that 53% and move on.

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On another note, I am still trying to figure out what key I keep hitting on my new laptop that seems to change certain keys to French characters. It only happens when I'm online. And then I have to close Explorer and go back in. As soon as I do that, the keyboard appears to reset itself. I have no idea how it keeps happening.

I feel less than stellar today. Can't figure out course or computer, and am losing focus.

G'night.

Everything I need is on EdNet

I'm preparing for my exam. As previously stated, the doctor has tentatively given me permission to write the exam with the rest of my class on March 10. And so I am studying away, trying to prepare for the exam, which is in about a week and a half.

I don't have a great understanding of a lot of the materials. Review must be extensive. At least I have no shortage of time. But I'm easily exhausted, and I can't study for a very long time in one stretch. I lose concentration, and that's the end of that.

I'd really like to listen to my exam review audio lectures when neither H nor J are at home. That way, I can listen to the exam reviews on my laptop without disturbing anyone or being disturbed. It's either that, or I don't listen to the lectures at all. And that would be ill-advised. The lecturers usually have some exam strategy that is very helpful.

So I was going to listen to some of the lectures today. But I can't. Because the association, using its usual poor judgment, has decided to take the EdNet website down for maintenance today. The website where everything a student needs is kept. No alternate places are available. So we'll just take 'er down! A week and a half before exam week! Brilliant!

I could do the end of module self-tests. Except that these are also on the EdNet site and, with the entire site out of commission, I can't gain access.

I can run past exams, because I have thankfully already printed them off. And rest assured, I have been running them. But I've reached a place where I have a question for my tutor. And I can't ask it, because the tutor support forum is also on the very same offending website. If I keep going, I will lose my place and never find it again. And then my question will never be asked or answered. And I will be no closer to understanding calculation of the WACC, which typically comprises about 15% of the past exams. So yeah, kind of important.

Sometimes, I really hate this.

Beatrix Potter had really bad PMS

She must've. I see no other explanation.

I wanted to get J "The Peter Rabbit Library". I absolutely loved these books when I was a child. And my mom, remembering this, had thoughtfully bought the first 12 books back when I was in highschool and saved them for someday when I had children. She gave them to me when I was pregnant with J. But she didn't know that there are a total of 23 books. And I have spent some time trying to find volume 2 of the set that she bought back in the '80s. I've been close a couple of times, but things happened and through no fault of my own, I never got the books.

I finally found the correct set. From the correct publisher. From the correct year. In the correct little box. In excellent condition. In California. But it was over on the abebooks site, and the seller was happy to ship it here. I was so excited!

The books arrived today. J now has the complete set. Most of the books are quite delightful, but they do have their moments. And some of the books leave one wondering why Ms. Potter was such a cranky-pants.

Below is an excerpt. Each paragraph is a separate page in the book.

The Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit

This is a fierce bad Rabbit; look at his savage whiskers, and his claws and his turned-up tail.

This is a nice gentle Rabbit. His mother has given him a carrot.

The bad Rabbit would like some carrot.

He doesn't say "Please." He takes it!

And he scratches the good Rabbit very badly.

The good Rabbit creeps away, and hides in a hole. It feels sad.

This is a man with a gun.

O ..... kay. That seems ... rather out of place, doesn't it? What are we learning here? That if we are impolite, bully nice peers, and take things that don't belong to us, someone will shoot us?

I can just see the author. She has a deadline to meet. She has a case of writer's block. She is grumpy. She goes to a nice park to get inspiration. She sees two children playing. One child takes the other child's ball without asking. The other child starts crying. And it occurs to the very angry author: "If I had a gun, I'd shoot you myself, you horrible little imp!"

Thus, a children's book is borne!

The man does not actually kill either Rabbit. He is apparently blind. He mistakes the bad Rabbit for a funny looking bird. And he shoots at him, but ... well ... being blind and everything, he misses. But he scares the bad Rabbit very badly, and his tail and whiskers fall off. The good Rabbit watches the bad Rabbit run off. And that is the end of the story.

So it is something of an unusual story. Probably not a suitable bedtime tale for J. But I feel certain that H and I will laugh heartily at it for quite some time!!

Shopping with a J

I always knew work would need their laptop back. I had hoped that it would be after the baby was born, but I kind of knew that was wishful thinking. The timeframe is just too long. The office has expanded, and new people require the equipment. My laptop needs to be updated with some new software so that it can be reassigned and returned back into circulation.

In my absence, I've been using the laptop primarily for school. My schooling is work-related, but not as work-related as actual billable work. Billable work takes precedence. And so, my employer has contacted me and asked for return of the company laptop. It's more than fair. They've actually been really good to let me keep it for this long. It needs to be returned ASAP, as their supplier has had some delivery delays and the situation is fairly desperate. They're good to me. We'll get the laptop back to them right away.

Unfortunately, we now need to make some alternate arrangements for my own sanity. I'm on bed rest, as you all know, so I can't sit up at my primary computer. I can't imagine what I would do with no computer access for the next several months, but the only access I'm permitted consists of using the laptop while lying down. And I can't adequately prepare for my exam with no computer.

H and I discussed it, and we decided that we needed to get a personal-use laptop computer. We'll need one in the next year or so anyway. And for the time being, I desperately need it to preserve my sanity for the next few months. Fortunately, they're on sale right now.

H was outfitted with a list of requirements, straight from the accounting association's website. And after work today, H picked up J from daycare, and off they went to the store to pick out a laptop computer.

They arrived at the store before 6:00. H found a knowledgable staff member to help him. A reasonably priced, appropriately discounted, completely suitable laptop was selected quickly. Score! H and J would be home in plenty of time for dinner, and J would make his regular bedtime.

And then, it was time to pay for our new computer.

H decided to use a credit card.

And that's when the shopping expedition turned. It went something like this:

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The security code on the back of a credit card is an added security feature for telephone and online purchases. But the store has a rather silly policy of requiring entry of the security code on the back of the card, even for in-person purchases. Sadly, the code is worn off of the card. So the cashier spends some time unsuccessfully trying to guess it.

After trying to ring it up seven times and receiving seven consecutive "declined" messages, he gives up.

H calls the bank to try to get the code. Runs through a million and one security questions, and eventually gets the code. The bank then advises that all of the "declined" attempts were actually put through as "preauthorized holds" by the bank, and the card is now maxed out. So now, even though H has the security code, he still can't pay for the computer. The bank advises that, unless this is remedied, there will be a hold on our account for 5 business days. That will put us past the "sale" date, will cost us a significant amount of coin, will prevent us from using the card in the interim, and is obviously completely unacceptable.

The store spends the next two plus hours trying to resolve the situation with the bank.

The bank requests a letter on the store's letterhead stating what happened. The store has no letterhead. Will a letter signed by the store manager do? The bank will check and call back. Yes. Yes that will do.

What does the letter need to say? The letter needs to list off the charges and the authorization numbers. But the store has no authorization numbers, since the transactions all showed up as "declined". Will the bank release the numbers to the store? No. The bank will not release the numbers, but requires them nonetheless. The store calls its own bank, hoping to get the authorization numbers. But the store's bank obviously has no authorization numbers, since the transactions were "declined". The store calls our bank again and begs on bended knee. Can our bank, please oh please, just release the numbers? Please? Yes. Yes they will.

The letter is drafted. The letter is faxed. The bank spends about half an hour fixing the problem. The bank calls back. The situation has been remedied. The card will work now.

The laptop is finally paid for.

Throughout this 2-hour ordeal, J behaves like an absolute angel. He drinks some orange juice. He plays with an inactivated debit machine. He plays nicely with some other children. He converses with other customers, and tells them all about his bears, and his rocks, and his racecar bed, and everything else he can think of. He almost makes up for the fact that he "hit his friends" at daycare today, and had to "spend some time thinking about what his hands are for" as a result. *Sigh!*

**********

After the situation was resolved and the computer appropriately paid for, H loaded J back into the van and started to drive home. That's when J decided to be especially entertaining.

J: Look!

H looked back at J. And he saw that J had pulled off his boots and socks, and was now wearing his mittens on his feet - a difficult feat, considering that his mittens are attached to his coat sleeves.

They got home. J trudged right through a puddle and got his pants all wet. He came in, and H promptly removed the wet pants. J ran into the living room to see me.

J: Look! I'm naked!

J had a nice, albeit late, dinner. And he had some chocolate as a reward for being such a good boy at the store. H also bought J a Backyardigans DVD, which he will get to watch tomorrow.

But for now, it is time for J to sleep. It is well past his bedtime.

Night night, little man. Sleep well.

Jungle Cats

Ordinarily fierce, the lion can be tamed with considerable ease. With very little coaxing, it even permitted this leopard to ride on its back.


Of course, it subsequently attacked. Poor little leopard never saw it coming.

J's first lunar eclipse

J loves the moon.

Some of J's favorite books have historically featured the moon quite prominently. "Goodnight Moon", "The Goodnight Gecko". He will often quote "Noelle the Bulldog" at sunset ... "The sun said good-bye and the moon said hello in the starry night sky".

J always looks for the moon up in the sky, and gets very excited when he sees it. If the sun and moon are both out together, he always points it out. And when my parents were in Hawaii about a year and a half ago, they actually took a picture of the moon so that J could see that it was backwards in that part of the world. Of course, that really lost something in the translation ... flip the picture over, and there's no difference. But they tried.

J loves the moon.

Tonight, J saw his very first lunar eclipse. H took him out at around 7:30 tonight, so that he could see the earth's shadow crossing over the moon. And then they went back out closer to 8:00, so that J could see the moon, all red, covered by the earth's shadow. We told our little future astronomer all about what was happening to the moon. He just sat there, cuddled up in H's arms, staring up at the moon and smiling happily.

J was quite enthralled. He didn't want to come back inside. Much convincing was required.

I understand there will not be another lunar eclipse for 3 years. I really like the stars and moon too, so I briefly got up off the couch and took a quick look. The sky was wonderfully clear, and the eclipse was quite spectacular. I understand J's reaction perfectly.

If his interest in all things celestial persists, we may need to get him a telescope when he's bigger. That would be pretty nice, I think.

Once Upon A Time

J has an activity book. It was given to him by Memaw when he was a baby. He still quite likes it. It's filled with animal pictures and different pull-tabs, and it plays music and makes a variety of noises.

J got home from daycare today. He ate a nice dinner of lasagna ... bribed with promises of chocolate. After his dessert was done, he ran into the living room, activity book in hand:

J: It's bedtime. For you. (Points at Mommy) And you. (Points at Daddy) But not for me! Time for story. (Opens activity book) Once upon a time, there was an elephant and a panda and stars. The end. (Closes book) Now go to sleep.

H: Can we snuggle for a little bit?

J: Yes. (Climbs up on couch and lies down next to H) Oh wait! Time to get a sippy cup of milk! (Climbs down and runs into the kitchen)

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Yesterday, H and J went to Ikea to try to catch a doorcatcher special. I am impressed that they managed to get it, and they returned home with the much sought-after table and chair set for J. Now he has his very own place where he can sit and colour, paint, play with play-doh, etc. It's a very nice table and comes with 4 chairs. J helped H to assemble it. Took much longer that way, but I think H enjoyed spending quality time with his son.

Yesterday evening, K&K came by with D. L&P braved the cat dander and came over with I&G for a visit. Dinner was provided by our good friends, and much fun was had by all. J, D, I, & G all played together, and J's new table was put to good use. Life is good. I'm glad we have good support from our friends and family.

We had intended to show K&K and L&P the progress in our basement. But by the end of the evening, we had forgotten. We'll have to show them another time.

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Basement development is coming along nicely. But it is astounding how much things cost! I was sure we budgeted high when we set our basement budget, but it appears that we actually budgeted low on most things. Every time a bill arrives, I hyperventilate a little bit. I'm sure we'll be okay. I just hate spending money. I'm not used to it, and it makes me panic and shudder.

The framing is almost completely done now. Most of the plumbing work is done, as is most of the electrical. The shower is installed (shower head, tap, and doors are still to come). The first batch of drywall has been delivered. Flooring is already paid for and just needs to be picked up. The fireplace goes in on March 11.

There's still a little bit of framing to do (a closet and some work around ducting). The sink, cabinet, toilet, vent fan, and mirror still need to be installed in the bathroom. And then we have the remaining electric, drywall work, a suspended ceiling, a built-in bookshelf, the trim and finishing work, instalation of flooring, painting. I think that's about it. I hope so, anyway. With me unexpectedly on disability, our finances have taken a slight downward turn, and it's harder to cope.

All temporary. I'm aware. But it's still not a lot of fun to deal with.

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On the subject of my ongoing disability, we had an ultrasound and obstetrician's appointment today. Things are good with Baby. I must continue on bed rest, of course. I'm 26 weeks along now. Baby would not cooperate for ultrasound pictures ... he was busy sucking on his toes and covering his face with his hands. No cute pictures of Baby's face this go-round. But that's ok.

The goal is just to make it as close to term as possible. Thus far, things are looking good, as long as I continue with the bed rest. We do what we have to do. As things stand right now, I may be able to write my exam on March 10. I hope so ... deferring it is a bit of a headache. And I don't really want to prepare for an exam in the next sitting, when I'll have a newborn baby. Not convenient.

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The course I'm currently taking isn't going too bad. Thankfully it's distance ed - I wouldn't be able to go to class in my current condition. Even as it is, I'm behind on readings. But I got 99% on my midterm assignment. Woot! And I've done well enough on the quizzes too. I need something in the realm of a 53% on my final exam in order to pass the course. Aside from the business case assignment, which I hope to complete this summer, this is my last foundation level course. Still a long way to go, though.

I wonder how we'll manage once we add baby #2 into the mix. I'm sure we'll find a way to make this work. Someday, when I get my designation, there will be much rejoicing.

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Anyway, that's enough typing. Nighty-night. It's bedtime. J says so.