Class Wrap-Up

Hello my lovely Bleaders...here I am, still breathing.  ;)  Let me apologize since this has turned from an infertility blog to a CFP blog.  Sorry, until I take my test this month (yikes, it's this month) and get my score in January, it will be on my mind a lot...and that means could very well end up on your minds.  Once we pass this point, it will be mostly infertility based again, I swear!

Since I took you along to class with me on Wednesday and Thursday, and then bailed on you on Friday and Saturday, I guess I better wrap-up how the rest of the week went.  I'm only giving myself a 30 minute break, and then it is back to the books.


Thursday night, I had looked up more questions to practice with from various sources online.  I looked up where I took my "undergrad" if you will at the College for Financial Planning and they had a bunch, but I couldn't discern which would help me most, so left them a voicemail, hoping to figure it out Friday morning before everyone left for the weekend.  On my way to class on Friday, they called me back and after some bantering back and forth about what was the best option (at $75 a pop for books) it was determined that I had already paid for the books that I was looking at online  and when I asked why I hadn't received them yet, was told they are only sent upon request!  What a load of huey!  Anyway, requested they be sent immediately and saved myself $150 in the process.  Great start to Friday!  Glad I asked a question!

Friday class progressed a little bit quicker, but we definitely had set-backs.  I blame Father-of-twins.  It was now becoming ever apparent that he didn't know a whole lot...quite frightening when some of the stuff was really easy things...at least to those of us who had actually been putting effort in.  Father-of-twins also showed up in slacks and dress shirt, as apposed to his previous two days of shorts, t-shirt and flip-flops.  Oh, and the ring finally appeared, which he consistently played with ALL DAY LONG.  Then it came out that at 4:15 he had to head out to a wedding.  Okay, not so bad, maybe get through more stuff without his silly questions.  We were also given a 60 question Assessment test to do (preferably that night) and return to Prof Steve the next morning for grading and help figuring out what to study.  OY...8 hours of class, then 2 hours of test.  I had smarted up a little bit by this point and when I got my Starbucks, I also got lunch at Subway next door, so didn't have to run out in my 30-min gap.  Father-of-twins left exactly at 4:15 and we got through some information in his absence, but Prof Steve still got off track somewhat.  Dashed out at 5 pm on the dot, and stopped at the Greek place I had eaten at on Wednesday (because it was that good, and mostly healthy) for a greek salad with chicken, and I did splurge and get fries...they were worth it!  Back to the hotel to eat and have a little break, pack most of my stuff up, then TV off, computer off and to testing we went.  WOW, was that hard!  I remember the subjects when they are in front of me being presented, but rifling through the files of my brain to find the answer during the assessment test was hard.  I was very honest with myself though and when I went back after I had finished the test and looked up formulas and stuff, I wouldn't change the answer.  Hey, better to get it wrong on the assessment than on big nasty right?!  Finally, finished about 9:30 pm, called J to say goodnight and climbed into bed to read a bit (or until about 11 pm - very good book - Last Night at the Chateau Marmont by Lauren Weisenburger - same chickie who wrote The Devil Wears Prada) and finally called it a night.  Had to be up really early on Sat to finish packing and check out of the hotel. (Also want to send a shout-out to my girl Suzanne, who has been so awesome at making sure I was still breathing during my whole class schedule...thanks lady, those emails did me A LOT OF GOOD and I'll do the same when you are taking the class!)

Saturday morning, up at 6 am...yes, 6 am on a Saturday is not happy.  But we opted to start class a little earlier at 8 am instead of 8:30 am so we could make-up for some lost time.  Got everything loaded up from the room, and out of the hotel by 7:15 am or so.  I stopped at Starbucks, then Paradise Bakery (to get lunch for later) and then got to class about 7:45 am...plenty of time.  Doors weren't even unlocked yet.  Prof Steve showed up a couple minutes before 8 am and we were off, sans Father-of-twins.  Prof Steve had left him a message telling him we were starting earlier, but as we discussed before he left for the wedding, it was an open bar, so who knows what went on.  He strolled in right about 8:30 am and said he had gotten the message, while he was driving to class.  So much for extra study time for him.  I felt pretty good about myself because I had found (the night before after my struggles with the assessment test) a different way to do one of the formulas, that was actually easier (from previous classes) than the one Prof Steve gave us.  So showed him that and he was impressed.  As was I, remembering an easier formula, than a far more difficult one that gave us the same answer.  YAY ME! 

Let me interject one thing here...I am a University of Arizona (U of A) alumni and grew up hailing to them.  Saturdays in the fall are college game days.  I had worn my U of A t-shirt, knowing there was a game that afternoon.  Father-of-twins walked in wearing an Arizona State University (ASU) shirt, and I immediately deducted smart points from his IQ.  I know some of you don't live in AZ, so I'll explain a bit here.  U of A and ASU have a longstanding rivalry.  HUGE RIVALRY!  We're talking when we play each other, at whatever school, the riot police are there just in case.  Relationships have failed due to this rivalry - I did date one ASU alumni and well, we aren't married are we?  (Although we still heckle each other consistently!)  In fact, my previous boss (whom I ABSOLUTELY ADORE) is an ASU grad (somehow she managed to get out of the school with her brain intact - unlike so many other graduates...need I remind you of this SNL skit...)



Anyway, rivalry is huge and I was none to pleased when I realized I would be spending my game day with 2 ASU supporters (Father-of-twins and Prof Steve)...then I learned I would not only miss part of the game, but ALL OF IT because it started at noon, not 3:30 pm like I had thought.  ARGH!  Oh well, here for a reason right...much more important than a football game.  Well, let's just say that there were lots of slams going back and forth all across the room about U of A vs. ASU, and U of A ended up beating UCLA, so that made me happy....at least I could rub it in right? 

We continue through the afternoon and about 2:30 pm, Father-of-twins reminds Prof Steve that he has to leave at 3:15 pm.  We all inquired why and he said, "I have tickets to the ASU game!"  That sent me reeling.  Really, we're gonna give up 2 hours of the last day of this $1,000 course to go to an ASU football game?  WOW, let me say again...ASU doesn't have some smart fellows.  (The one smart thing he did manage to say was that he "hates people of our generation with the entitlement factor" so I will give him points for that.)  Turns out he didn't even go to ASU, just moved to Phoenix and became a supporter...oy, I could go on and on here, but don't want to digress too much.  ASU did end up winning, 42 to zip, heck of a game right?  Good reason to leave class?  NOT!  Father-of-twins left and we wrapped class 2 hours later.  I got in the car and zipped home...an hour and a half, all the while blogging in my head about the week's events.  Chatted with J a bit, and then my Mom and decided to meet my parents at a place close to both our houses for dinner to download the week's events and have me some good MEXICAN food.  YUM!  Finally got into my house about 8 pm, with J towing in all the bags and settled down for a glass of champagne, hey, I deserved it!

Sunday was spent reading in bed and catching up on DVR...literally, that is all I did!

So now, a brief commentary on my thoughts of the class and if it was worthwhile or if another class would have been better. 

I believe this class was worthwhile, but was another one more worthwhile?  I couldn't tell you. I didn't take another one.  I chose this one (after much debate and price checking) because it was close-by and didn't have a bunch of people in it.  I wanted more close attention and I did get that, and will continue to get that as I continue to prep.  I feel that if I was in a larger class, we might have gotten through more material, but my questions may have gone unanswered and that would stress me out more than I am already.  This class was the only one in the state of Arizona, and I would have had to travel to California, Colorado or even back East for another class which means I am not only messing with a time change, a flight, and a car rental, but a larger class.  Would I have gotten more out of it?  Maybe, maybe not.  Would it have been more structured, quite possibly.  Whatever the case, I will say that I felt more confident walking out of the course than I did walking in.  So, that's a good thing.  Now it is up to me.  No one else is going to take this test for me...that's all me.  So here I go.............................................................

Thanks for listening, and bear with me if I don't blog as much over the next 3 weeks (aaaaaaahhhhhhhh!) as I like, there's a lot going on right now.  After the test, I'm good to be back and even took a little vacation to restore myself!

Thanks for your support Bleaders and have a great week!