Hey there y'all. Exciting news!
Yesterday I took and passed the exam to become a CPO, or Certified Professional Organizer. It's a rigorous standardized test that you can only take after accumulating a total of 1,500 or more paid organizing hours in a three-year period. I'm over 2,000 hours now so that part wasn't hard but I was terrified about taking the test. My last exam was...well, let's just say a long, long, time ago in a galaxy far, far away. (Okay, Miami of Ohio in 1985.)
The only saving grace was that you knew right after the exam if you had passed or not. As the test is only offered three times a year and I had to pay $450 to take it, I REALLY wanted to pass. So that's a huge thing off my "to do" list and as a reward I'm making new business cards with CPO after my name. Woo-hoo! It takes so little!
(I guess technically I should add that I'm not officially a CPO until I hear back from them. They randomly audit a certain number of people so nobody can use the new designation for about a month.)
Anyway, I'm in a good mood because that's over and spring is coming. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods.
Oh... and no surprise to most of you, I'm adding a new section to this newsletter that I hope will make you smile. It will be short and sweet (no more 40 line poems, but last month's jingle was cute wasn't it?) but I think everyone needs something fun in their day so I will try to provide a laugh. I'm calling it "The Last Straw" in honor of my grandmother who was always using that phrase about something.
By the way, I'm also the membership director for our NAPO Chapter but thought putting an MD after my name might be pushing it. :)