Passed my tests

I survived both my tax tests, which was a big relief to me. I got a 86% on my H&R test and a 92% on my state tax exam. (a lot of people fail) Its nice to have that stress out of my life. I had a few nights off before starting my H&R Block employee training. I still end up giving up my weeknights for training, but there is less homework. The training consists of learning how to interview clients and some of the financial products we offer to our clients. In some ways, the people part is more intimidating than the tax knowledge part. I'm sure after I get some real experience with clients, I'll feel more comfortable about the process. I officially start work in my office in January.

The Saturday I finished my class final, we went to Costco and I was able to miraculously snag a copy of Rockband Special Edition and a xbox 360. This game has been sold out nationwide for weeks, so someone must have returned it and they put it back on the shelf right before I got there. I've been waiting for this game to come out since May, when I first learned about it. So even though I wasn't shopping for it specifically, it was a wonderful surprise and a nice reward right after my final. The premise of the game is that you form a 4 person rock band, with 1 lead singer, 2 guitar players and a drummer. The Special edition comes with a microphone, 1 guitar, and the drum set as well as the game . I am absolutely in love with the drums, which you play with real drum sticks. Its actually pretty realistic, for a video game and they say that if you can play on the expert setting, you probably have the skills to play for a real rock band. I'm doing okay on easy, and practicing on medium. I got Mark to play guitar but he had to stop since he's been having some issues with carpal tunnel syndrome from his new job. Still trying to find people to complete my band, though I really haven't had much time to play. If you want to check out what the game looks like, you can check out http://www.rockband.com/

Last week Wednesday, we also made some time to go shopping for our tree. As I explained last year, getting a Christmas tree is probably my favorite part of the holidays. We wanted to go to a farm and cut one down, but because of my work schedule and all the rain, we decided to just go to a place where they sold cut trees. At the place we ended going to, the person helping us was actually the farmer who grew the trees, and she said that the trees available had been cut that same day. They were all beautiful and full, and it didn't take us long to find a nice candidate. They had special machinery that would "shake" the tree to get rid of any loose needles and bind it up so that it would fit in our car. We took it home and set it up. Since its such a fresh tree, the smell is considerably stronger than trees we have bought in LA or Hawaii. Even though I haven't had much time for doing holiday things, just having a tree makes me feel more in the holiday spirit.

My job at PSU is going well. I like the people I work with and the job is still interesting. I think it was great to have had those months of not working to rest a bit before working again. I realize now that I probably stayed in my old job a bit too long, and its great to be in a new environment with new challenges. Mark is also enjoying his job, he had his first big presentation last week Thursday and he did really well.

Other than that, we've just been busy working like crazy and learning our jobs. Haven't had much spare time, so I hope everyone is doing well. We'll probably spend Christmas with Troy, Valerie and Russell. I hope we'll be able to see some of our other friends like Anton and Rachel as well.