Recent happenings....

It's been awhile since I posted, but unfortunately a lot has happened.  Some good, some bad, some things that will have an impact on my future.  Feel free to sit back and enjoy catching up!!

There has unfortunately been more death in my family.  First, we lost one of our cats.  She was approximately 8 and a half years old, and we'd had her since rescuing her from a shelter at 12 weeks old.  She was the perfect cat, a combination of loving and playful, and she always enjoyed jumping into a lap and just sitting there purring while someone was petting her.  She was vocal, and she was waiting at the door when she'd hear my car pull into the driveway.  She had several qualities that reminded me of a dog.  We miss her a lot.  We had her cremated, and her remains sit on a bookcase in a pretty little box with her name on it.  A couple of weeks ago, my grandfather passed away.  He was 83, and had lived a full life.  He had stopped eating, taking his meds, and refused liquids of any kind a week before that.  He had decided it was his time to go.  He missed my grandmother dearly.  She passed away nearly 5 years ago, and I was surprised he lasted this long without her.  She was his everything.  While we knew it was coming, it was still difficult to go through, and hit my mom especially hard, being her dad.  He had spent the last couple of years in an assisted living facility.

In the days after the passing of Boots (our cat), my wife was unsure if she ever wanted to get another cat.  A short time later, she decided the cat we still had was lonely, as was she, so we went to the local animal shelter and adopted a cat.  She was about 1 year old.  Unfortunately, she was downright mean to our other cat.  She constantly hissed and growled at her, and was very aggressive at defending her food, to the point of not letting the other cat eat.  We took her back, and spent more time with the cats they had available.  I spent several hours in the open cat room for a couple of nights, and we took the time to get know a little black cat.  He interacted well with the other cats, and when they would hiss at him, or even occasionally growl, he just walked away.  He was quite playful and even jumped in my lap on one of my visits.  We adopted him and named him Ace, and he's fit in to our family quite well.  He in a little more playful than our other cat likes, and his claws are dangerous weapons!  He is getting front-declawed this coming Wednesday, for the sake of everyone involved!

Work has been going well.  Steady, I'm learning more every week, and I'm taking on new responsibilities as well.  I am still looking for a true accounting position.  I enjoy payroll, but it doesn't pay as well as a true accounting position would pay, and accounting is what I went to school for and want to do.  I am also studying to take the GMAT, so that I may enroll into a Master's Program.  I initially took a pretest to see how much studying I needed, and it estimated my score at 470-490.  The average to get into the school I'm looking at is 553, so I had some studying to do in order to get my score up.  After studying most weekends for the last couple of months, I took a practice test today, and the estimated score was 610, so that bodes well for me.  Unfortunately, I waited too long to select an exam date, so rather than a late April testing, I'll be taking it in late May.  It still allows me too enroll for the fall, but it cuts it closer than I'd like.  I'm planning to start this fall, and it'll take 2 years as a part-time student to finish the program.  A Master's Degree in Accounting will offer many more opportunities for me, and at a higher rate of pay as well.  If I truly want to have an opportunity to move out west, as I'd like, this will be a necessity.

Thanks for following along with my update....I hope to keep you informed of my school and work doings and, with any luck, my progress toward the Master's Degree!