Not having any classes for a couple weeks is strange. There is this gap for a couple hours everyday where I wonder, 'shouldn't I be working on something?' It is fantastic, but I can't help but wonder what happens to this feeling after I graduate? I lost my 4.0 gpa this semester, but I was taking some tough classes and it was my first tax season, so I get some slack. Also, grades were still pretty darn solid, so no issues there. I won't be going to grad school, so as long as I get a C, I'm good, right?Further, I've talked with my bosses and adviser at Davenport and we've come up with a pretty good plan for my next 2 years. I want to purchase the Becker CPA prep exam course online thing by the end of this summer. It's expensive, but it is all-encompassing and I get it for 18 months; meaning it is critical that I pass the 4 CPA exams in that 18 months, not too bad.
If I start preparing for the exams by the end of summer, I plan on taking the most difficult of the four exams in December before tax season kicks off. This will give me a solid 4 months to prepare for the most difficult test, and I think that will be fabulous. After I pass the first, I want another 4 months to prepare for the second test, meaning I'll take that around April or May. Assuming I pass the two most difficult exams, I'll take another 2 or 3 months to prepare for the final 2 exams, which I would then plan on taking next summer. And there you have it, Charlie Eaton CPA! Very loose, and a lot needs to happen of course (I've got all my classes scheduled to be able to graduate next Spring), but we are excited for this little chapter. Further, I'm taking 4 online classes this summer, so if I'm not riding bikes or at work, chances are I'm at Starbucks pretending to do homework.
Everyone knows I think, but I bought a house! I don't close for another couple of weeks, but based on what I know, everything is going super smoothly and it looks like things will be finalized without much hassle. A lot of the older men in my life (again, no offence) have asked questions about this decision and I won't go into the details here, but I am super super super excited to begin building some equity in a fantastic little house in the Westnedge Hill neighborhood, and I'll hope everyone I know will stop by at some point to have some drinks with me and chat! Ethel has been fantastic, I texted her last Tuesday morning and we made an offer Wednesday and it was accepted that evening! I was able to get pre-approved for a mortgage without any co-signers (if you haven't started building credit yet, lets chat - Betsy and Em) I've got big plans for this little place, I figure it's a 5-10 year house, I'll sell it, and it'll be a down-payment on another house for me, fantastic!
I know you all came here for the bike stuff. I've strained my hamstring. I don't exactly know what that means but it hurts. I rode a couple weeks ago out to Gobles and back and ever since there has been this pain on the back of my knee. I've been able to ride through it and still be pretty fast, but it has been there for a while. After enough concern from my parents, I went to the Borgess walk-in something and they took some x-rays and felt around and decided my hamstring was strained. Word on the street is, I don't ever stretch so that is why this happened, but goodness it isn't super comfortable and it is slowing me down enough where I need to give it some attention. So, we are going to stretch, drink a lot of water, and eat healthy. I've said this before? (: Best Pedal Thursday night ride of my life last Thursday though with the problem hamstring. I was able to go as fast as everyone else up all the hills, which I'm never able to do. I know it is all mental, but I think this may be a turning point for me. Let's hope I can do it again next Thursday.
I raced today over in Ann Arbor after having skipped the Yankee Springs Time Trial on Saturday for a couple reasons: 1) I waited too long and couldn't pre-register online 2) weather was questionable 3) my mountain biking skills are laughable. Anyway, this was my first road-race since I crashed hard in Detroit last July (really?) and it went well. Not great, but well enough to be excited about next week. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but some guy took off by himself at the very beginning. I then got up to the chase group of about 6 of us. A couple laps later, I saw a couple guys from our group take off in an effort to get up to the solo leader. I saw them leave, but didn't do anything. So that leaves 4 of us in this chase group behind 3 guys in front of us (the leader had waited for these other 2 to catch up) and our group never really worked together. We ended up lapping the field but at the end of the race, the 3 leaders also lapped us. So it was a crazy finish, as the leaders come around our group at the finish while we are coming around the rest of the field, everyone was done. I didn't realize this, but once the leaders finish the race with the correct number of laps, everyone else is done too. So I didn't really have a go at the 4 other guys I was with because I was under the impression we still had another lap to go. Looking back at this race, I think I need to do whatever it takes to make the break-away. I for sure have the fitness, especially after I can get my health back to 100%. We'll get them next week.
3/16 Waterloo G&G, Grass Lake, MI (Gravel) 34th Overall (221) / 4th AG (6)
3/23 Melting Mann, Vandalia, MI (Gravel) 61st Overall (255) / 17th AG (31)
3/30 Dirty 30 Gravel Grinder, Saranac, MI (Gravel) 81st Overall (215) / 9th AG (24)
4/6 Lowell Classic, Lowell, MI (Gravel) 27th Overall (239) / 8th AG (15)
4/13 Barry Roubaix, Hastings, MI (Gravel) 216th Overall (1342) / 6th AG (18)
4/28 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series, Ann Arbor, MI 8th Overall 4/5 (35)
5/5 Fort Custer Stampede, Battle Creek, MI (Mountain) / AA STS
5/11 Hammond Region Riot, Hammond, IN
5/25 Twilight on the Square, Akron, OH
5/26 Newark Center Classic, Englewood, OH
6/1 Deaconess River City Bicycle Classic, Evansville, IN
6/9 Dirty Donut, Martin, MI (Gravel)
6/16 Vuelta a Porta Sheldon, Grand Haven, MI (?)
6/22 Athens Brick Criterium, Athens, OH
6/29 Port City Crit, Muskegon, MI
6/30 Great Lakes Classic Road Race, Marne, MI
7/13 Detroit Cycling Championship, Detroit, MI
7/14 Corktown Crit, Detroit, MI
7/28 The Divide (Gravel) / Muncie Grand Prix, Muncie, IN
8/10 Rose City Crit, Jackson, MI
8/18 Gaslight Crit, Grand Rapids, MI
8/25 Debaets-Devos Crit, Detroit, MI
9/8 Uncle John's Dirty Ride, St. John's, MI (Gravel)
11/2 Iceman, Traverse City, MI
Good stuff this week, right? Super exciting times for everyone's favorite Associate Accountant, as always, get a hold of me if you are having any issues with the IRS or other taxing agencies (: I'd love to help. There is so much more I could add, but I'll leave it alone. I was planning on doing two races this morning, but my leg had other ideas (: probably, shouldn't have done the one, but it'll be fine, right?
I can't believe it is already Monday.
Cheers! CE
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