Well Friday was the exam, and the only thing I can say with any certainty is that it is done. I finished and had an answer for every question. I will find out by Christmas what the results are, so, basically, it will make my Christmas or mean that I will be spending my spring studying for hours on end and lose all my Saturdays like I did this fall. Speaking of Saturdays, I was able to spend my first "free" Saturday of the fall with my family. Carrie, Nate, and I went to the Pumpkin Express Pumpkin Patch. I have never been to one before, but it seemed like something that would be fun to do as a family. As we pulled up it was rather out of place There were two story brick condos in the middle of Argyle, TX (an extremely rural town here in north Texas), and behind the condos was the pumpkin patch. When you first walk in there is a "haunted house" train depot and a miniature train, which Nate thought was super cool. The train takes you around the property, and let me say it is an extremely beautiful piece of property full of trees. Once we got to the patch there was quite a turnout, and there were quite a few pumpkins. Let me tell you, they are PROUD of these pumpkins. They waned $15 a piece for these suckers, not to mention you already had to pay $5 a person to even get there. Needless to say we did not purchase a pumpkin, but we took lots of great pictures. Somebody was nice enough to take our picture, and they turned out great. Be sure to check out the family site for the pictures.
This morning Mark and Anne came by and hung out with Nate and saw the house. Nate was giving smiles and had such a great time with Mark, and he really liked Anne's necklace (thankfully she was able to take it off before Nate could do any damage with his Kung-Fu grip). It was good to be able to hang out with them and for them to have a chance to hang with Nate. We all went down to Fort Worth and had lunch with their friends. Nate and Lindsay had a great time, and I'm pretty sure she could count it as a work-out. The entire time she was trying to hold him all he did was jump, and for those of you who have tried to hold him recently you know exactly what I am talking about.
We later went on to Leslie's house and hung out with her and Bonnie & Clyde (her two brittany spaniels). Nate had a blast with the dogs, but as soon as they figured out that he wanted to pet them and that he wasn't scared of them, they were not quite sure what to do. Bonnie would get close enough for Nate to reach out and touch her, and when he did, she bolted in fear. Of course Nate thought that was the most hilarious thing in the world.
After a good visit we headed home because Carrie had to get some work done. She has landed some freelance design work, and she has a pretty tight deadline. It worked out well that I was done with the exam, so I can take care of Nate so she can get some work done. I think she is really excited to have full creative license on the work, but it is hard to tell at this point because the deadline has her pretty stressed. Once it is done I think she will be really happy about the work. For now it is an adjustment to have so many jobs: full time mom, full time wife, full time family nutritionist and chef, full time art director/designer/CEO of her own design firm (and she hasn't even started her soap business yet). I am doing what I can to help out around the house and with Nate now that the test is done. I just hope I can help her not get overloaded with all she is trying to do. I pray that God gives me the wisdom to do what needs to be done, and that He continues to grant Carrie Grace to keep from killing me when my clothes don't quite make it into the hamper. Mom was right, after years of developing a bad habit, it is now driving my wife crazy.
