Jo and I have been on a bit of a journey together these past nine months. Journey number one � running. We both started running at the same time � and have run together in two races this summer. I enjoy the hell out of running � and I never would have begun it if it hadn�t been for her suggestion. Run a marathon? That sounds like a good idea. Well � my brain thought it was a good idea but my knees had a different idea. They are on the mend though and I hope to join Jo on the track again very soon.

Secondly � we have been doing the real estate gig � separately but together. She started her class a couple weeks before I did. We commiserated through the process � joked about the ridiculousness of the terminology (in the real estate business red could mean blue so you better know what you are talking about) and discussed how many dumb people were in each of our classes. In theory real estate can get you rich quick. However � it�s really not that simple. I learned before hand by working closely with my realtor. Long hours and a lot of work going in to being successful which is why I am just riding the back of someone else.

As soon as I have my license I already have guaranteed employment as a licensed real estate assistant. Which is great because I get an hourly wage, nothing terrific but enough to make it worth while, and a nice percentage of the commission from any deal that I touch. Nice bit o� extra cash.

In the beginning of the course the instructor instructed us to spend at least 2 hours studying for every hour we were in class. Was he nutz? Who in the world could study real estate for that long? I read (most of) the book and did the practice quizzes at the end so I was able to keep up nicely. However, I didn�t spend no 12 hours a week studying this crap.

During Monday�s class we had a finale review. The class was split into groups and we were given a list of every that would be on the test. Our task was to study this list. We split up the list and gave everyone a section to define and then we would all share our knowledge. The girl I was sitting across from knew her shit � so the two of us ended up discussing a lot of different concepts. However, there were many people in the group that didn�t have any idea how to explain even the most basic concepts. How in the world could they have been in this class this long and not have a basic understanding of this stuff? Most of it just common sense type stuff. We tried to ignore them � but most of the time they wouldn�t be ignored. However, having to explain a lot of this stuff to them actually helped me get a better understanding so it�s all good.

Tuesday evening I took one of the practice tests in the back of our book. I freaked out afterwards because on the IL specific section I got at least half of them wrong. A 78% overall score which is passing, but a little to close for comfort for my taste. I wrote down all the mistakes I made and studied them closely before the final quiz.

Last night was the final test. I was super nervous � and the teach was rambling at the beginning. I was two seconds short of standing up and saying �JUST GIVE US THE FUCKING TEST!� but I didn�t. I waited patiently. The test consisted of 150 multiple choice questions over the fascinating 45 hours of classroom time. For each question I was unsure of I made a mark on my scrap paper to sort of keep track. One hour and fifteen minutes later I had completed question number 150. I decided to look over a few things, but after nearly second guessing myself into a wrong answer I decided just to be done with it. According to my calculations, the lowest score I could have possibly gotten was a 79% which is passing. And that�s all that matters. So I marched myself up to the front to be graded.

I was the first one done. Which is always scary. After the teacher scored the first page of my test he looked up at me and said, NICE JOB! RELEF! Final score = 93%. Seriously! I passed with flying colors. Unfortunately I have to wait until September 21 for my state exam. 21 days to forget everything! But not to worry � I will do fine. �