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.