Drawing a blank again

   A writer must write, or so I'm told. It's  tough to write though when you can't think of a damn thing to write about. So far, I've managed to apply to 5 jobs online. They are gigs I can do, rather than sending things out to see if they'll get accepted. I admit I've been dragging my feet about applying to H&R Block this year to get a part time job. In a way, it's sort of admitting defeat for me, I would so much rather work for a small solo office so I'm not selling people loans. I should get more information to see what the actual day to day would be like. The other problem would be the hours I'd like to work.
    It appears that I do have a legitimate road block, albeit a temporary one. She is, as of this writing, ten years old and too much fun for humans in the morning, just like her mother. Currently there is no way in hell I can get myself ready for a job when our daughter needs a ridiculous amount of prodding to get her ass ready for school. Mornings, regrettably,  are part of life and this is yet another unpleasant task we, as parents, have to get her majesty to handle independently. I had to get help on this because it involves my arch enemy, electronics.
    We recently discovered, not surprisingly, that our little cherub is spending way too much time on her devices. This was not a shock, what did throw me was that the limits we had set were way off. We were also attacking the problem at the wrong end. Rather than worry about the mornings, we need to focus on the night before. I learned that once the screen time stops, it takes roughly 2 hours for a ten year old brain to calm down and get to sleep. Screen time needs to stop way before we need her butt in bed and we needed to make sure this allowed for the eleven hours of sleep she is supposed to be getting!
     During the week this is a bit easier because of the forced regimen of getting up for school. My concern is handling our little addict on the weekends and school vacations. Thankfully, since there are two of us and one of her, we stand a better chance of improving things. I said "improving things" because we have to conquer our addictions, too! It also takes a bit more energy, as an older parent, to resist the electronic babysitter temptation. The holidays are coming, as of this writing, do I put  video games on her majesty's list? Maybe one or two, but let's keep it down to a dull roar, shall we?

The battle rages on

     We are facing yet another summer. One would think that this would be a good thing. I am reminded of Linus telling Charlie Brown that he was the only person who could take a wonderful season like Summer (in my case) and turn it into a problem! There are upsides. I get to let our girl sleep in, and by extension, me too on Mondays and Fridays all Summer. This is because so far, I am unemployed this Summer. I have been looking for something that would let me work while our daughter was at camp but so far, I've struck out. I have no shortage of work to do, it's the getting paid part that's missing.
    I'm beginning to look into taking a course in grant writing while I'm not getting paid. Spending $1200 bucks doesn't sound very smart either but I'm looking at it as an investment. This midlife crisis will never resolve itself if I never address it. This is my first baby step. Looking counts, even if it doesn't feel that way. I have a friend who recently landed a regular gig as a columnist for a local paper. My heart is a little jealous even though my brain knows it took him a lot of work to get there. I haven't found my specific passion like he did and acknowledging that difference is huge.
   One course does not a transition make, either. It occurred to me that this is just one step. I still have more research to do to figure out what's next. Something tells me this will involve spending more money. I'm  also wondering if there's a way I can get someone else to pay for this. I need to contact the unemployment office and see if there is anything I can get in the way of help. We may be making three cents too much as a family with my husband's job, but if I don't ask, I'll never know.
   I got lucky in a sense and did more digging. I found a much cheaper class I can take online from my local community college. I plan to go for this one because of the fees and flexibility online. It also cuts the risk down a lot for me, too. If it turns out that I hate grant writing, I won't be at a huge loss. This is a bit scary because I'm approaching that whole this-is-where-you-pur-your-money-where-your-mouth-is part of the journey. I have taken CPE courses online before but never one this long. I also have no idea if there will be homework with this one, too. I hope it will be worth it. Either way I will come out of it having learned something so I guess there's that. Real tomatoes will be everywhere, too.