[jeff]

I was getting requests for a thread like this – so here it is!

Jeff Elliott, CPA (KS) | Another71 | NINJA CPA | NINJA CMA | NINJA CPE

[IwannaBaCPA]

@yankee: tough spot to be in. My in-laws are amazing and I would do whatever it took to be strong for them if they ever faced what your father-in-law is going through. You and your husband both are great for being there for him. Good luck with your exam! You CAN do this!!

@Allyson: I know, Gerard is my one true love besides my wonderful husband. I could watch P.S. I love You and The Ugly Truth over and over and over and…

I'm not a parent, but I don't think age should determine if your child is ready…your instincts should. If your child is prone to nightmares or is easily upset by that type of stuff, then no…otherwise the TV version is probably OK…

BEC: 79 - April 2011
FAR: 78 - May 2011
AUD: 81 - May 2012
REG: 79 - October 2012
Ethics: Passed - March 2013
I am finally DONE!

[kb24]

@yankee

I'm orry to hear about your father-in-law, but I'm glad you're OK with your break from studying. While it's important for us to make the exam a high priority, sometimes we have to recognize that family comes first. My mother was in the hospital for 3 days right after I began studying for BEC. I had to stay for several hours each day since she can't communicate. I took my books with me because I thought she'd be sleeping quite a bit since she was in an unfamiliar environment. Except for the first day, though, she was more alert and communicating better than I'd seen in months. My first reaction was concern about having enough study time, but I quickly realized that I'd been given a wonderful gift that I needed to appreciate while I had the chance. I could always retake the exam, but I might never see my mother like this again.

Good luck with your last day of studying tomorrow.

FAR 4/1/11 - 89
AUD 4/15/11 - 85
REG 4/29/11 - 80
BEC 5/13/11 - 85

[yankeeaccountant]

@Allyson,

Not great at all. Just doing. My in laws are at the stage where they eat dinner about 4:30…..yikes. Whenever we go out to dinner with them, it is like what time do you want us to pick you up? AWKWARD. Who wants to eat that early?! I think it is some weird tribal passage when you get into your eighties. My father in law was an attorney. I brought my books with me in case he had one of those lucid moments–maybe he could unravel contracts and sales for me? Well, not this time. BTW, I would agree with Iwannabe…..depends on the kid. For me, I remember my oldest wanting to watch Jurassic Park when he was 4. My husband was always traveling, so I had to make the decision myself, and I let him. It is a fairly scary movie for a 4 year old, but my son was like an old man at that age. He understood that the movie was just that: a movie. It wasn't real. He was able to separate the fiction and the movie. My youngest couldn't do that at the same age, so I didn't give him the same leash.

@Iwannabacpa,

My in laws moved close to us about 3 years ago, so they could be near family. My boys are older, but it has been great for them to hang with Grandma and Gramps.

@Kb24,

I can totally understand your vantage point. And how wonderful that you caught your mom in a lucid moment. Those are times to treasure. I am going to put on my seatbelt because I think we are on a bumpy ride with Gramps. Seems like things go in cycles, and he is off. Just got another call from my mother in law. He is out of sorts again. So, I may have to change plans today.

I am so appreciative of your support. I am hoping that some of your 4 hit wonder rubs off on me tomorrow. I got 2 79's on mcq's on Wiley. But I am still working on weak areas. I feel ok about mcq's…it is the sims that are worrisome. I will keep you posted on how it goes. 🙂

I hope yesterday was a better day..and today even better still!

[kb24]

Thanks yankee. Yesterday was a lot better in every respect plus I now have chocolate reserves in place if I need them.

You're on a roller coaster right now. You and your husband are in a tougher situation than I was since you're the “first responders”, but I know it makes all of you feel better that you're able to be there when needed. All of us lived several hundred miles away from Mom, and she didn't want to leave her home of more than 40 years so we had a lot of phone conversations with caregivers and made frequent trips out there. I was the one most willing to face up to the reality of some of the tougher situations which wasn't always fun. At times you have to see the humor in the situation just so you don't fall apart crying. Sometime I'll tell you about the trip that was so awful I worked hard to finish up what I needed to do so I could catch the last plane back to Houston before they closed the airport for Hurricane Ike. It was terrible at the time, but I look back on it as a very dark comedy. My mother now lives in a care facility that we'll feel fortunate to have found. The staff is wonderful, she loves it, and my brother and I are close by. She even has a boyfriend now.

Good luck with studying today and take no prisoners tomorrow.

FAR 4/1/11 - 89
AUD 4/15/11 - 85
REG 4/29/11 - 80
BEC 5/13/11 - 85

[rmm91909]

I am now dealing with the issue of my husband's family all going down to Cape Cod this weekend and them all wanting me to go. Don't get me wrong I want to go so bad and have been tossing the idea around in my head. Howecer the little angel on my shoulder is telling me I need to stay home and study for my exam on the 27th. But that little devil on my other shoulder is speaking loud and clear haha. The way they all look at it is “its just two days” but don't understand that those two days is equal to about 10 hours of study hours for me. O the joys!

[Minimorty]

How close to the 27th is your trip? If you dont mind your inlaws, I say go for it. Take the two days off and relax and rejuvenate. It may be hard to study thinking about all the fun your family is having without you.

[mla1169]

RM stay home and study, if your family is driving down to Cape Cod you must be north of Boston somewhere? Me too, I'll come hide at your place LOLOLOL! Or go with them and let me know where I can find a quiet and empty house.

KB, so glad after all your mom went through that she is happy now.

Allyson only you know your son, go with your gut instinct. If it tells you “no” then thats your answer.

Can I delegate an 8 page Mergers & Acquisitions paper that is due Sunday to anybody? Anybody? Would actually RATHER be studying AUD. Sad isn't it?

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[rmm91909]

@minimorty its this weekend. I would go but I if I don't pass BEC I can pretty much kiss audit goodbye in November because I need to take FAR in the next window too.

@mla yup north of Boston. I am in Haverhill but work in Wakefield. Where are you from?

[mla1169]

I live in Danvers, work in Beverly (for now) had a FABULOUS interview in Lawrence yesterday so I may be headed up that way every day soon LOL!

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[rmm91909]

That is great! We will be practically neighbors all around LOL!

[IwannaBaCPA]

@rmm:

I am having the same dilemma with my inlaws coming for a visit all next week. I have Wednesday and Thursday off from work and they have all these things they want to do…I need to study though and I already feel guilty having to explain that…they come maybe once or twice a year from 1,000 miles away, but my exam is less than 4 weeks away and I have already lost too much time due to lack of motivation…what the heck do I do?! I know that they will understand since they have already been very supportive, but I almost feel like I should just take the break and endure my punishment the week before the exam (I don't work the entire 7 days before my exam…).

BEC: 79 - April 2011
FAR: 78 - May 2011
AUD: 81 - May 2012
REG: 79 - October 2012
Ethics: Passed - March 2013
I am finally DONE!

[rmm91909]

It stinks! I know that they support my decisions too but I just feel awful that I don't get to spend the time with them that I would like to. My nieces are 2 and 1 and I feel as though I am missing out on them right now. I guess in reality that won't remember this time and when they are old enough to remember I will be around more. Your situation is a little harder where they are traveling from afar. Maybe you can indulge one day and study the other?

[IwannaBaCPA]

I think that is the plan, visit and study. I have my flashcards and I can watch my lectures in the evening when they are just hanging out…It isn't going to be perfect, but perhaps I can manage to get in some of both and then not feel guilty about either one…

BEC: 79 - April 2011
FAR: 78 - May 2011
AUD: 81 - May 2012
REG: 79 - October 2012
Ethics: Passed - March 2013
I am finally DONE!

[kperrucci]

I can't say it enough: It is so great to know that others are having similar troubles though this process as I am. My CPA journey hasn't been very long, and I truly hope I am done with the exams. However, even the short amount of time that I have been studying has taken its toll on my relationship with my fiance. He was injured in Iraq 3 years ago, and it's been a long road to recovery that will probably never truly end. He had planned to stay in the military as his life-long career. Since his injuries he has been trying to cope with the fact that his entire life plan and career was over. When he got a job offer to move out to NH for 3 years and work for a government defense contractor I supported him 100%. We both knew that this was his opportunity to try to transition into civilian life. He also wanted to go back to the Middle East, even if it was as a civilian. I was stuck in CA for school, but as soon as I graduated from undergrad in Dec, I would come out to NH for a few months at a time, spending time with him, studying, and taking exams. This was stressful and worked out fine, until he got the job offer to go to Afghanistan. He declined the job (without even telling me that he got the job in the first place) two days before I flew back out to NH from CA in June. He declined the job so he could spend time with me (something we haven't been able to do for about 5 years now). But, when he saw how much I had to study, he started to resent me. After I took REG, I adapted my study plan to make sure that I was only studying during the hours that he was at work, class, or studying himself. Of course the exam was still stressful….but, it definitely felt like we were beginning to get our life back. Now, he's just waiting for the call to see if he can go to Afghanistan in Sept. and maybe (I hope!!!) by then I will receive my final passing scores. I hope that my revised study plan did not make my scores suffer. This exam truly tests to resilience of the test-taker and everyone close to them.

Sorry for the long story, I'm just grateful that we have such a supportive community.

FAR 4/9/2011: 88 (Becker)
AUD 5/16/2011: 88 (Becker)
REG 7/1/2011: 82 (Becker)
BEC 8/3/2011: 91 (Becker and Ninja)

[mla1169]

Does anybody else find themselves UBER sensitive (maybe exhaustion, maybe stress) to things that normally would roll off your back? The other day I was watching the spoof etrade video where the baby loses everything the day the stock market dove 600 points. I was giggling so hard I had tears rolling down my face.

My dear sweet 11 year old daughter rolled her eyes and said “what you think is funny, everybody else in the whole world thinks is stupid”.

so momma spent an hour locked in the bathroom crying uncontrollably that my daughter would be so mouthy to me. I am SURE she talks to me like that often (what adolescent doesn't ever?) but suddenly it actually bothers me.

There should be a program like the witness protection program for CPA candidates, you get relocated with a new identity for the duration of studying.

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[Author]

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