Snow?

I intended on writing a blog post about this for a while but didn't get around to it.  As I opened up Blogger, I can't believe it's been a month since my last post.

I'm sure you'll be relieved, but this post is about neither bread nor beer.

I've been looking forward to my first Christmas in 5 years.  Every year since coming to Japan I've had to work on Christmas.  WELL NOT THIS YEAR.  We are going to have a nice quiet Christmas watching movies and relaxing.  I wanted to cook a duck dinner, but the duck I ordered is neither here nor there right now.  Knowing my luck, it'll arrive December 26th...

This Christmas should also be a white Christmas (channeling Bing).  As I type this, there is a winter storm bearing down on us, promising to drop copious amounts of snow.  This is the forecast, but the reality of it could be quite different.  I wouldn't at all be surprised if it just turned into cold rain/sleet/snow/slush/lightning/thunder with no accumulation whatsoever.  If it turns out to be a white Christmas, it will be my first in - you've guessed it - 5 years.

The only other newsworthy item I can think of is an update on on the CPA preparation process.  I contacted the Vermont CPA board and see if I qualify to sit for the exam.  I found out that I can sit at any time with my undergraduate degree in accounting.  I was confused for a while and thought I needed to have experience working with a CPA (as in the person)  and the education before I could sit.  Turns out, I can get the experience after passing the exam.  This was good news for me since it can help me bolster my resume with a passed CPA exam in hand.

The other good news I found out is that with my educational background (150 semester hours) I *might* be able to shave some time off my required experience time.  This was really great news since that would be another positive thing to put on the resume.  As it stands, I believe the required experience time for Vermont is two years of work under a CPA (again, the person).

So with this news, Ayu and I talked and we decided the best course would be to splurge on an online CPA review course.  It costs well over $1,500, but I will also get 9 months of study time and a HUGE amount of study materials.  The estimated amount of study time is about 400 hours to pass the exam and I believe I can do that in time to sit for all four sections of the exam next October and November.

The countdown to my mother's visit is now at 4 days.  We can't wait for her to get here and are looking forward to doing a bunch of stuff with her.

A very merry Christmas to everyone!