Money

As much as we hate to admit it our world evolves around money.  My current job was fine when all I needed to do was to make a little extra spending money, but now that I need to support myself I'm not sure if my job's going to cut it.  I left Corporate America about 7 years ago when I got married. My boss hated me, I was hired by the previous boss and when the company reorganized my new boss's division closed and it was either come to our office or get laid off. He choose to keep his job and hated it and made everyone's life miserable. Once I got married I was able to get on my husband's benefits, we moved out of the area and I found a less stressful do nothing job. I was totally burnt out of Corporate America and working as an Office Manager and Human Resources Assistant. I was an admin for a few months till they laid me off due to budget cuts and have been bumbling around ever since.

I tried selling all sorts of stuff on e-bay and then I tried my hand in the local art scene.   Late one night surfing Craigslist I found an ad for an art model. All you had to do was sit for 3 hours while students drew you.  It seemed easy enough so I applied. I got the job and was really good at it and would model for several groups a week. I did that for about 6 years till it wasn't very fun any more. Art groups came and went and the really fun artists moved onto different things.  During that time I also became a painter. And painted and sold pop art of dogs and cats. My claim to fame was I showed in a downtown gallery and was part of the big Museums' Annual Art's & Craft fair for two years.  I had no real love for painting like some people I met, I just did it for the money.  I met my current boss when I was a model and used to model for his Wednesday night drawing sessions.  I was helping him run his studio for awhile and doing his art blog and personal website. Last year he lost interest in painting and got really into family history.

For the past year I have been helping out with his daily family blog and trying to keep all the pictures organized, and doing some dictation for him of his interviews with his family.  He keeps me pretty busy, but I don't make near as much as I did when I was in Corporate America and I don't have health benefits.    In the divorce agreement my ex agreed to pay my health benefits till the end of the year, then I'm on my own.   After signing a lease for an apartment that is way over my budget, I'm having second thoughts about keeping my job. I'm thinking that it would be a good idea to get back into the profession I went to school for and use the degree I worked so hard to get. In doing so quadruple my wages and get health benefits.  The problem is I'm not sure if I can hack it in Corporate America. I have been out of the field for so long that I've got no confidence that I could do the job if I even got it.  I had a horrible time in my field. I am way too nice and I look too young that I got walked all over. No one respected me and it was an emotional roller coaster for me. I'm not sure if I could do it again.  It was awful.  I remember the last girl who's place I took told me that I needed to put my foot down and be a bitch or they'd walk all over me. I now realize that I should of heeded her advice because they did just that, walk all over me and make my life a living hell. I don't look forward to that at all.

I love what I do, the flexibility of my job and my boss, but money is an issue.

So what do I do? Where is that rich dead Aunt when I need her?