The big day

I spent most of yesterday studying for my state and national board exam for real estate.

This morning I got up at 6am, showered, dressed, grabbed a cup of coffee to go, and and was on the road by 6:45. I arrived at the testing center at exactly 7:30 and saw 1 of my classmates Melissa going in the building. I had forgotten she was testing the same day at the same time as me.

After checking in I was photographed and then instructed to removed my cell phone, wallet, and all contents from my pockets and to lock them in a locker with my jacket. The only thing you're permitted to take in the testing room is your ID to virtually eliminate cheating. The exam was 100% computer-based, 120 multiple choice questions. It took me just under 2 hours to complete the exam. The questions were worded in such a way that I had to re-read some of them 3-4 times to make sure I selected the correct answer. In some cases just 1 word of a 50-word sentence can change the answer.

Once I'd completed the exam and retrieved my belongings I emailed Spouse from the car. Just two words: I PASSED!

Once I got back to town I met Steven for $5. sandwiches in our typical Tuesdays with Murphy style. When I got home I found Spouse was there. He'd come home early after getting my email so we could celebrate. We tried going for a walk on the boardwalk but it was only in the 40s and the wind was too brisk, so instead we just walked around town and talked about my new real estate career.

Spouse thought we should have a celebration dinner at Fish On so we called and invited our buddies Steven & Thad to join us. They agreed and we met them at 6:30. Since our celebration dinner happened to be on Fat Tuesday, I started with a Mardi Gras rum cocktail. For dinner I had the creamy cajun penne with seafood and chorizo which was SO delicious! Spouse had the roasted salmon with bacon brussel sprouts.

After lots of jokes and good-natured teasing that included words like "mogul", "tycoon", and "Donald Trump Jr" the 4 of us shared 2 luscious desserts and coffee. The good old fashioned apple pie was served warm with caramel sauce and topped with cinnamon ice cream.

Oh. Em. Gee.

The big fat chocolate cake was topped with vanilla ice cream and came with a sliver pitcher of warm chocolate sauce to pour over it.

Absolutely decadent but perfectly appropriate for our celebration.