What do I do now?

For the last 4 and a half years I have been a college student. For the last two years I have been going to school at night. Everyone I see lately says "I bet you are glad to be done with school." Uh...not really. I liked the consistency. I liked knowing that I will be going to school next semester and the next and the next... That has all come to an end and now I am at a place that I do not like being...the unknown!

I began looking for a job at the end of April. I am starting to realize that NO ONE leaves this town. Almost every position that my degree qualifies me for is already filled with someone who has been there for 20+ years and has only a High School diploma sometimes. Hey! There is nothing wrong with that except the fact that I want a good job too. It is still a tough job market and I am a little picky. I feel like I am in a position to be. Who wants a job that they are miserable at and for little money. My two biggest items on the list of musts is decent pay and "business days." That is hard to come by in this "smallish" town. So as I continue to look for a job with limited time to find one since Charlie will not be able to remain in daycare without me having a J-O-B; I am evaluating other options.

Option 1 - Take the summer off with the girls and begin school again in the fall. The Veterans Administration has a wonderful program called VRAP that I miraculously qualified for on my 35th birthday...woot woot. Not everyone is chosen, but I have my fingers crossed. They will send me a paycheck to pay for my tuition every month for 1 year while I am a full time certification student. My desired track: cosmetology. I have always been fascinated with this field. I love to play around with hair and make-up so I figured, "why not?"

Option 2 - Take the summer off with the girls and begin school again in the fall (I know...I must love school...lol). For this option I would use my husband's education benefits to start a Master's Degree program. I will not get a paycheck monthly just for going to school, but they will pay my tuition and I can keep my work-study job for a little income. I really do not want to use my husband's education benefits, but I gotta do what I gotta do to support my family.

Option 3 - Take the summer off with the girls. When they go back to school I can sit at home and craft or volunteer to get out of the house. I would continue to look for a job and hope that the right one comes along.

Being in limbo is so tough! I do not like it! Can you tell?