I've chosen a field; well sort of.

I've been thinking about an advanced degree for the past three or four months. My first choice was a Masters in Social Work, with a desire to work with foster children and adoption. I was very close to registering for classes, but I just couldn't pull the perverbial trigger. Being an adult student puts even more restrictions on your choices. When you're 18, your biggest obstacles are whether or not you can get into the program you want and can your parents pay for your education. Let's add family, work, and more complicated finances to the mix. Clearly, you're not going away to school (no matter how much you'd like to), but grad school, even at the smallest schools, is not cheap.

The program I was looking at would have required one year of taking pre-requisites. Grad school part time means three years. The school I was considering didn't seem to have many classes at night, and that would be a problem for my work schedule. I had to look for other options.

I'd looked at every local college, except the one which is a mile from my home. A small Catholic university with a good reputation, I took a look at their website and found they had a Masters in Counseling. Counseling and social work are under the same umbrella of working with the public and helping them with their problems, offering referrals, etc. So, I called and made an appointment with the head of department that same evening.

When I told her I hadn't been in a classroom for twenty-five years, she joked and said, "Well, that has been a while!" Later, she told me the oldest person in her program was 66.

Second Career

With the economy being what it is, three kids who need a college education, and the ever increasing costs of living, I've been seriously thinking about going back to school. It's time for that second career! For the past twenty years or so, I've basically been at home with my kids and running a sewing business. Staying at home was very important to me, and it still is. Our house and lives just seem to run better when I'm at home. But reality has a way of hitting you in the face about some things, and it's almost impossible these days to make it on one and a half incomes.

So these are some of the things I've been thinking about: a Masters in Social Work, a Masters in counseling or an alternative teacher's certificate. There is a method to my madness. During my years at home, whenever I did venture out, it was in the capacity of helping others. Aside from helping out in the kids' schools, I've mentored children, taught adult education, tutored and managed non profit programs. I love helping people, so maybe I should get some kind advanced degree or certification in a field where I could continue to help and make a nice salary as well.

Picking a second career is the easy job. Trying to navigate today's education superhighway is not. With one daughter in college, I already know the hoops one has to jump through to get into school these days, and it's been just as annoying as I thought it would be. If you've been out of school for more than twenty years, schools ask for information that doesn't even exist anymore, like immunization records. I haven't a clue where they are, but rest assured that if I haven't contracted measles by now, it's not likely to happen. This is New Orleans, and those records could have been swept away by flood waters on more than a few occasions. What if they ask for your old test scores? You can't get any of that stuff without a PIN number. Guess what? There were no pin numbers in 1980!

Which schools do you look at; brick and mortar or online? I'm a little worried about the accreditation credentials of some of the online the schools. Most are accredited by some board, but if these boards are not recognized by the US Department of Education, potential employers may look at you sideways. After you've poured thousands into an education, imagine not being able to get a job in your field.

Speaking of thousands of dollars, how are you going to pay for your education? You're already tapped out because your oldest is already in school, and now you have to decide if you want to take on more debt in hopes of a larger payday in the future.

Research all your options. Talk to other moms who are juggling family, work and school. Will a couple of years of total insanity kill you or make you stronger? If after looking at all the options and realizing how much less time you''ll have to yourself, you still think you can do it, jump right into the deep end. I hope you can swim!

Do You Blog?

When I decided to jump into the world of cyber journalism, the young lady who designed my website, of course, suggested I run a blog as well. I was already overwhelmed with the idea of managing a website, much less a blog. I only realized what blogs were during the last Presidential campaign. Everyday, I would think about my blog in cyberspace, sitting empty, not having one idea of what I should posting, but like everything else, you've just got to get out there and learn.

I teach an adult literacy class, and you would be surprised how many 60 and 70 somethings want to come and learn computer skills. They want to be able to surf the net, send emails, and communicate the way their children and grandchildren do. If they're not afraid, I shouldn't be either. The point of www.momsnagpad.com is to connect with other women and moms so we can lean on and learn from each other, and hopefully take resources to make our lives richer and our dreams a reality.

Spring Cleaning

In my house, it really should be called "Spring Sprucing". Lots of home improvement projects culminate for the beginning of June. Our youngest has her birthday party then, and of course, I've got to have the perfect house by then. Usually I get close, and I'm pleased with the results, but we folks with Type A personalities are never really happy with our surroundings until House Beautiful does a spread. Anyway, this year, there's yard work, hopefully getting a new swing set, restaining the front doors, putting up a new gate.......no wonder my husband has a headache. I genuinely enjoy this kind of activity and would gladly spend two uninterrupted weeks in my home trying to achieve them. I guess this is what happens when creativity meets with perfection: genuis or insanity! What projects do you have going for the summer?

A Pet for Our Youngest

The Obamas finally got their new puppy, a Portuguese Water Dog. I've never heard of the breed, but the puppy is pretty cute and I hope the family enjoys it. Our soon to be six year old has basically been promised a puppy for her birthday in June. I love cats, the rest of the family hates the idea of a dog and my little one can't pass a canine on the street without stopping to pet it. This is one of those times when you have to pretend you really want your kid to be happy and give in. But what dog? We need something bigger than a chihahua, but smaller than a lab. It has to have good energy for our little one, but not so much it drives the rest of the family crazy. It has to be a sturdy pup, because its new owner is pretty strong. It has to be trainable, because I'm not the kind of pet owner who lets an animal tear up the home. Any suggestions?

One of my favorite past times is watching reality shows about different types of families. I love to watch Jon and Kate, 18 Children and Counting, etc., but I also love the HBO show "Big Love". I admit I didn't know much about polygamy before the show, and it was hard to believe that they are trying to mainstream this lifestyle in regular suburban neighborhoods. My only views on polygamy included dirty old men chasing teenage boys off compounds, so they could monopolize all the teenage girls for themselves.

My family is not average, so I guess I have a soft spot for those who buck the trend a little. As long as the women and children are not being exploited in anyway, I'm of the belief that you should live and let live. I don't know how accurate the portrayal of the Hendricksons' life is as it concerns polygamists living in the United States, and the separatists who try to make us believe that taking child brides helps to build a celestial family can talk till they're blue in the face. Forcing a teenage girl into marriage is exploitative and disgusting.

I had one of those days when I was feeling completely unappreciated by my husband and daughters. On those days I take to my bed and say very little to them, and that's when they know something's wrong. For the next hour, I'll get that uncomfortable stare from the hallway, my family wincing as they ask the ridiculous question, "What's wrong, Mom?"

Sometimes, it just gets to be too much. After twenty years of marriage, I should expect that my husband can pick up on some of the clues, but you'd be surprised how dense men can still continue to be about these things. I guess I have to be married to him for thirty years before he figures out that a dirty house makes my skin crawl. (This is another issue all together and maybe I do need some therapy for OCD. No, I just like a clean house!)

The kids....well, they're just kids. Nineteen, 16 and 5, and unfortunately they're doing just what they should be doing; bitching, whining, and wailing. Guess there's not much I can do about that without sporting an orange jumpsuit and sharing a really ugly dorm room with a convicted felon.

I know I'm not alone. So, like a good housecleaning, I had it out with just about everyone and cleared the air. Now I realize in the long run, my house will never be a clean as I want it to be, but for right now, I'm feeling a little bit better.