Garfield Thundercats IV

As many of you know, I'm a HUGE Vikings fan. Training camp starts Thursday (thank goodness I'll be done with my tests before the football season starts) and I'm already getting really excited - - about 3 months ago.

Pre-season is alright, probably lasts too long IMO, but it is kind of a cool time of the year because the possibilities for everyone's team (except for the Lions) really do seem endless. Every year, I feel as though we have the best team we've had in awhile and I'm always left with heartache, but I guess that's what makes being a fan so great. One year, all that excitement might actually become a reality.

We have tentatively set our Fantasy Football draft for August 29th. My last test is August 26th, so that will give me two full days to focus on football and draft strategies. I mean, I'm already a pro : ) so I don't need as much time as some of my enemies (I mean friends).

I'll be picking 6th this year and it's really a crapshoot trying to figure out who's going to go where. However, I really like my position this year because I'll be picking in the middle of every round. Also, if I'm not going to have the 1st pick, I don't want anything in the top 5. In all honesty, I don't really see a big difference in a lot of the players between 2-7 and I'm going to get a great player without having to wait too long in the 2nd round. Anyway, the 1st round isn't where you win, it's all about who you get in the middle and late rounds that might become this years next big star (I got All Day in the 6th round 2 years ago!).

I get really, really, really into this stuff. I'm warning you that I'm going to write about it a lot. It's one of my favorite things to do. I have to limit myself to one league though...two would just lead to a slippery slope.

My two roommates each are in my league, so it'll be fun battling them throughout the year. I also live about 100 yards from two other guys in the league. It's going to be a great year for the Garfield Thundercats (my team name). I'm hungry for the trophy, I made it to the semi's last year and I've improved every year I've played. The Thundercats are going all the way...just like the Vikings!!! Ha!

Also, if anyone following my blog knows how to get a hold of Brett Favre, tell him to make up his mind already!

FAR Tomorrow

I have Financial Accounting & Reporting tomorrow. I've been studying for it nearly the last two weeks so I think I'm ready to give it a go. It's widely regarded as the toughest exam because it covers so many different topics (Government to Pensions to all the Financial Statements), so it's tough to know what's going to be tested the most, you just gotta be prepared for everything. I won't be the first to take "The Beast" and I certainly won't be the last.

I know I've put in the time, now I have to deliver.

In the words of Leroy Jenkins, "Alright guns up, let's do this!"

(if you don't know what I'm talking about click on this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkCNJRfSZBU )

Hope all is well with everybody!

Some Pics of My Apartment

Haven't posted in a bit! I probably won't after this one for another 8 days, so you've been warned. I ended up getting a new car since my last post, a 2004 Chevy Impala SuperSport Super Charged (Indy Speedway Edition). I love it, the only problem is I don't have anywhere to drive right now. I might take it home in a few days to put myself in a different studying environment (I don't know if I can study in my room for 14 days straight). We'll see. I'll put up a few pics pretty soon.

Speaking of pictures, I took some pictures of my apartment and I'm going to put them up here. Check out on the right hand side, I created a link for my pics!

Back At It Tomorrow

Fresh off my first test, I was able to have a pretty relaxing 4th of July weekend. I went home for a day and got some stuff I didn't bring down when I moved in, watched the Twins lose in 16 innings (although an enjoyable game to relax to), went to Rau's and spent the entire day outside on the river and playing cards waiting for the fireworks to start. I haven't been outside for that long since school got out and I got a little burnt, but it was great to get out of the city and back to a more rural setting.

Bad news though, my car broke down on the way back to my house. I'm not sure what's wrong with it yet, but it sounds like it might be the fuel pump. I'm not sure how much that will cost, but I think I'll find out tomorrow. I had a really good time looking at some cars with my dad and we seemed to come to an agreement as to what I should be looking for (I've been planning on getting a new car for a bit now). I was planning on giving my car to Charlie (it's the perfect car to have at college), so I'm hoping it will be alright for him to use. Charlie was nice enough to give me his car for the week, although I guess he really didn't have much of a choice!

I start my 3rd review course tomorrow: Auditing. This is only a 5 day review, but there is sure to be a lot of material covered as it's the longest of the 4 tests (4.5 hours!). I'm going to start getting into review mode for FAR tomorrow night after I finish all my auditing homework because I don't know if I'll be able to review everything unless I start tomorrow. FAR has been labeled "The Beast" by many aspiring and current CPA's and I'm going to treat it as such (seeing as it does have my two least favorite concepts: leases and pensions). I will be taking my FAR test on July 21st, so I've got 2 weeks starting Tuesday to get it down. I've been reading a lot online about other peoples' experiences online and some say they dedicate 3 months to study for it. I don't have that luxury. (Editor's note: Besides, who would want to do such a thing?).

Other than all that, my life is great. I'm comfortable where I'm at, all my first and second bills have been paid, my family is doing well, and I'm about 400 pages into The Pillars of the Earth. Vikings will be starting camp soon and we'll probably have a new QB. I'm not really sure who that will be though. Some guy they call Pharv.

There's another reason I need to finish all these tests now. Fantasy football. It's almost here, and I take it about as seriously as anyone I know. We've already got the divisions and draft order set. During football season, I don't do anything on Sundays. Especially if my team loses.

14 hours

In 14 hours, I'll be sitting and taking my first CPA exam ever. I'm experiencing just about every emotion you can with something like this. I'm excited, nervous, anxious, and most of all ready to give my first test a shot. I did one more practice exam tonight (and got an 84 out of 100), so that is VERY good news. I still have 4 or 5 hours I can use tomorrow, but I think I'm about as confident tonight as I have been through the last month.

I won't know my score for 6 weeks or so...

But hopefully tomorrow I'll be 1/4th of the way to my CPA!