Is it McTax time?

   It's funny how a New Year hasn't done much to change the same old problems. Happy birthday to my midlife crisis. Those that know me are aware that I have a background as a C.P.A. but I've recently been substitute teaching for my daughter's district. It's been good for feeling useful and bringing in a couple of bucks. As we enter the season of jingle bills, however, I am feeling the need to up my income. Since we can always count on death and taxes and morticians sound like even less fun than accountants, I'm going back to taxation (or at least trying).
  So far my efforts have been yielding precisely bupkus. My old coonections in the accounting world are apparently past ancient. This appears to be a question of commitment and managing expectations. Mommy articles will mention that when you first become a parent it's important to keep your hand in your old profession so you're not "stale" when you choose to return. What they don't mention is what to do if you weren't really interested in returning to said "old profession". I believe I also don't recall reading anything about being blindsided by a death in the family or having an infant with "failure to thrive" problems in the first year either.
    Once again, I am late to the party. What I was hoping for was to find was a small independent C.P.A. firm willing to hire a mom on a part time basis to help me bring in a few bucks and still let me get out in time to pick up my daughter from school. The problem was I managed to flounder through November and December just substitute teaching.  I was supposed to be launching a full court press to find something for mid February.
   This effort, such as it was, flopped. I tried to research H&R Block. I found out that you had to pay for their training, which I deeply resented (the paying part, not the training). I was able to stop by a local office and speak to a human. While they did say you had to pay for training, there was an exam you could take and weasel out of said training. I tried the exam and while I didn't pass, I was happy that someone at least told me about the opportunity. Job hunting is lonely and frustrating in that you get nothing in the way of responses and it feels a bit isolating.
    So here I am, somewhat whiney and underemployed. I need to remember that there's still a difference between underemployed and completely unemployed. I do not plan on giving up. We can't afford that. Cussing a lot, however, self pity, and wine, as well as whine are still on the list so far. Is there a normal time allotment for wallowing? I'll see if I can fit some gratitude in there, too.

   Plot twist/update: I've decided to"splurge" on the H&R Block class and grad school because nothing goes better with under employment than spending big bucks. Stay tuned!