Plan B

[ondreeuh]

(Hugs) to you Aubrey. I have also never had a long-term job and also don't like to leave the house. I send my dh to the grocery store and make the kids get the mail. I understand.

 

Could you teach for an online school? You can see available jobs at schoolspring.com. Just choose "online" as your category. There are lots of listings!

 

I hope something works out.

[HejKatt]

Haven't read all 10 pages (and growing..) of responses. First, a :grouphug: and fervent wish that things get better.

 

Secondly, a suggestion to look into HTML5 when you brush up your HTML skills. The Canvas APIs appear especially interesting.

 

I also look at some websites and check for the skills they're hiring for. For example, a user on this website directed me to EverNote for organizing, and their website looked so slick, I went and looked at their Careers section. They were hiring people proficient in using the Google Web Toolkit.

 

PM me if I've been unclear, and all the best to you.

[hoosiermom]

Aubrey,

 

I don't post a lot, nor have I read all of the previous posts in the thread. But whatever you do, please, please do not give up your writing.

 

And I understand the BP thing--very, very well. Please follow up on that referral. The rx may give you a very different outlook and make it so much easier to make a plan. Does your state have some kind of state insurance plan for low-income families? Or some drug companies offer free prescriptions to people in need. Is that a possibility for your and/or your husband?

 

I am a former public school teacher. There is NO way I would substitute teach for the going rate in our area which is $60-$75. However, I do work from home as a tutor. You might be surprised at how much you could make per hour. Seriously. I live in a very rural, low-income area. The parents of my students don't think twice about my rate of $20 per hour. I'm pretty sure I could charge more, and if I lived in a small city in our state, I could easily charge $40. I have a homework group of 2-3 students at a time that meets right after school for 90 minutes. I charge a slightly reduced rate, but it's x2 or x3. And the parents are thrilled when they pick up their kids at 5 p.m. and they do not have to deal with homework! I know there are a limited number of hours per week when public school students are available to be tutored, but I can work 4 hours per evening, plus Saturday if I choose, and all at my dining room table. During the summer I tutor as well. This summer I'm running a mini day-camp where I'll have small groups of students for 90 minutes each.

 

If you were in my area, I would pay you to meet with my daughter each week for writing, no question about it. If you supplement on-line teaching/tutoring with evening tutoring, and still have time for your writing, it just might work. You have a gift! If you absolutely need to re-train in another area, I understand that. Just don't sell yourself short with the talent you have at hand.

 

One other thing comes to mind--does Texas have state-mandated graduation qualifying exams? If so, they need people to evaluate the writing portion. It's not full-time, year-round work, but again it would allow you some income while still writing.

 

 

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: I wish you all the best!!

[Osmosis Mom]

http://curiosityacademypress.webs.com/

 

The dead history curric. RIP :nopity::lol:

 

You know, I would *kill* to get my hands on this curriculum. My ds 13 would LOVE this (as would the others). Do you take pre-orders for the whole set?

 

Forget about that RIP; we are homeschoolers who *need* this kind of medium for our sons and why, even for our daughters.

 

 

Seriously.

 

That said, Aubrey, you need to use your talents. People who sell books do make a nice living. Figure out how to get an agent and you could hit gold tomorrow. Even for public schools, this kind of curriculum could work wondrous with ADD etc. students.

[Pam L in Mid Tenn]

:grouphug:

:grouphug:

:grouphug:

and more

:grouphug:

[8circles]

I want this curriculum! Gimme gimme gimme! This cannot be RIP!!!!

Edited April 8, 2011 by momoflaw
removed link as OP requested

[nicholas82]

You sound like you are very wise, and what a blessing that your husband is on board with you, with these new ventures:)

I deal with anxiety/depression, so I can somewhat relate. I just went off effexor less than a week ago, and dealing with some nasty side effects from it (I'll never do effexor again)

Best of luck with these new decisions you and your hubby have to make:)

Rachel

[burleygirl]

I would be cautious about your husband going in debt and getting a law degree. There are a lot of unemployed and underemployed law degreed individuals struggling to pay their student loans. There was an article on the high school education board about this. I can't find it. Please google the employment stats for lawyers before going this route.

 

I do wish you all well in whatever decision you make. I am sure this is difficult for you and your husband.

[Sparkle]

If there's any way you can finish the curriculum and start selling it, I think that would be wonderful.

[FO4UR]

Unit 1 needs a few more maps & it's basically done. I was planning to start selling it this month & follow up w/ unit 2 early summer.

 

Remember the history kerfuffle last year? :lol: Apparently, I was inspired.

 

:svengo::001_tt1::party:

 

Get 'er DONE, and this will SELL!!!

 

I'm considering a pre-order...

 

BTW - The best advertisement is word of mouth and you have a bunch of friends here with BIG mouths! :w00t:

 

How can I say this another way???...Plan B could work, you have a "worst case scenario" of moving in with parents (which helps me breathe a bit better)...and I know the (what's the word?) defeat-ed-ness of barely buying groceries for the kids let alone having wiggle room to nurse a budding home business. But...what if Plan B is just a detour to the road you are on now? Atleast finish up those maps and get the the first unit selling...it doesn't have to make much...just enough to keep you until you can make unit 2...and even if it never makes a FT kind of profit, it's better than *now* and may be that extra nudge that makes dh's salary enough.

 

I, Paula - the stranger over the internet who always clicks when I see your name b/c I love reading what you write even if it's irrelevant to my life , am saying...I am giddy thinking about your history curric. I see how you write here, and I want *that* for my kids!

 

:grouphug: and get off of the forums now and go finish up those maps...I'm waiting with my big mouth to serve as advertisement in every way I can.:D

 

And...I remember that kerfluffle...:tongue_smilie:

[Kelli in TN]

Trying to type as lightly as a feather.

 

What are the long term employment prospects for someone with a law degree practicing law? I ask because I'd started to hear that law has been promoted for so long that there is a developing glut. I don't know if that is true, or if it reflects people who went into law thinking it was something it wasn't or if it is a regional issue.

 

.

 

My husband has 3 lawyers in his office. They are lower in the office than he is and he has a bachelors. They truly could not make enough money in law.

We are truly concerned as we have a daughter in college right now and she intends to go to law school after she graduates. It's not a sure thing anymore.

[Aubrey]

Ok, I'm finishing unit 1 over hot tea & cold meds tonight, but I'm deleting the link--if you quoted it, will you delete it, too? I don't want it on SWB's boards, ESP now. I don't think it competes w/ her stuff *at all,* but I want to play nice.

 

Going to bed now. Thank you, sweet ladies, for all the pms, prayers, hugs, encouragement. Dh came home medicated tonight, & wow. Life will be fine. He was SO happy, rough housed w/ the kids for over an hour, read the REAL Winnie the Pooh & a half dozen Pooh poems & put the kids to bed. Now he's making me more tea. Oh. Dear. My head hurts too bad to fix that.

[Guest pablowest]

Thanks Aubrey for that information about that Plan B. I really like to read about it. :D

[8circles]

Ok, I'm finishing unit 1 over hot tea & cold meds tonight, but I'm deleting the link--if you quoted it, will you delete it, too? I don't want it on SWB's boards, ESP now. I don't think it competes w/ her stuff *at all,* but I want to play nice.

 

Going to bed now. Thank you, sweet ladies, for all the pms, prayers, hugs, encouragement. Dh came home medicated tonight, & wow. Life will be fine. He was SO happy, rough housed w/ the kids for over an hour, read the REAL Winnie the Pooh & a half dozen Pooh poems & put the kids to bed. Now he's making me more tea. Oh. Dear. My head hurts too bad to fix that.

 

:hurray: & link removed. I can't wait!

[FO4UR]

Ok, I'm finishing unit 1 over hot tea & cold meds tonight, but I'm deleting the link--if you quoted it, will you delete it, too? I don't want it on SWB's boards, ESP now. I don't think it competes w/ her stuff *at all,* but I want to play nice.

 

Going to bed now. Thank you, sweet ladies, for all the pms, prayers, hugs, encouragement. Dh came home medicated tonight, & wow. Life will be fine. He was SO happy, rough housed w/ the kids for over an hour, read the REAL Winnie the Pooh & a half dozen Pooh poems & put the kids to bed. Now he's making me more tea. Oh. Dear. My head hurts too bad to fix that.

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

 

Please keep us posted!

[OrganicAnn]

If you plan to always stay in your current location, then I would try to figure out the top 5 best places to work. Then brainstorm where your skills education might be useful to them.

 

Teaching = training

Writing = policy writing, procedure manual writing, press release writing, newsletter writing, brochure writing, technical writing.

 

I think web design is a good choice too.

[weddell]

:grouphug:

 

I just wanted to add my thoughts on school for your dh (or you). My dh had a BA in anthropology (about as liberal arts as you can get). He was in grad school to get his PhD in anthro, but decided the life of a professor wasn't for him. He quit and looked for a job for almost a year with no luck. He was overqualified for too much but didn't have a professional degree for a particular job skill. At the time I was working full time and we didn't have kids, so we were in a fine position. He was getting really depressed about the whole thing and didn't really see an answer. I finally told him to go back to school. I said he should find a graduate program with a specific time frame and a specific job at the end. It seemed like a great relief to him to have a plan.

 

We were in Philadelphia at the time so there were plenty of schools to choose from. He was able to find several programs that required a BA, but NOT in a specific field. With his antro background he was able to do a program that was 2 years long and walk out with a masters and was recruited right our of school.

 

Here is the website for the program he did:

http://www.cis.upenn.edu/grad/mcit/

 

Here are some quotes from their website:

 

The MCIT program is for people whose undergraduate degree is not computer science. Candidates with an undergraduate major in computer science should consider applying instead to the MSE program.

MCIT students typically have undergraduate degrees and backgrounds in fields other than computer science. There is a good mix of students who enter the program with no prior experience in IT or programming and those who have some prior preparation or are already working in the IT field. They take the MCIT degree program to prepare for rapid entry into the IT industry, or to improve and strengthen their working knowledge as an industry professional.

 

Anyway, I'm not saying *this* program is the one for him, but rather that there are a lot of programs out there for graduate level work that activitely recruit people with no background in that field. I would find something that is 2 years or so long, with a specific skill. Accounting, teaching, computers, etc. Some perfect program is out there. :)

[Rosie_0801]

So I'm thinking some kind of web design--something concrete, practical, able to be done from home. I taught myself html a few years ago--what I learned is obsolete now, but I learned it easily & liked it well enough. I could learn something like this online for free & get certification online for under $100, so it's not like going back for another degree.

Send hubby to do a course to become a software tester. I'm told there are always jobs for them because no one wants to be one. Or you do the course. Or both of you. It is a good job for someone who is good with detail, loves footnotes and can correct other people's awful grammar. My dh doesn't know when to use there, their or they're, and he still gets brownie points for correcting documents. Oh, the course dh did was 3 days and an exam, which fortunately his company paid for. It is possible to study the course notes online and just pay for the exam. Maybe you can find a similar set up coz he says you can just about walk into a job with one of those tickets. And it is fine for thin skinned people if they can keep their skin on during the learning process because it is all about telling other people to fix things. And funnily enough, dh says they like hiring testers without technical experience because they have a layman's pov.

 

You guys really need to avoid more college if possible.

 

Sorry about the lack of proper paragraphs. I don't paragraph when I'm sleep deprived.

 

:hugs:

Rosie