Thanks for the squeeze! It is so reassuring to hear I'm headed in the right direction. And, yes, as devastating as this past year has been, I am looking forward to this whole 'reinventing myself' phase.

I know paralegal isn't the most lucrative of options, but having passed up law school in favor of family life way back when, it's the only thing I'm drawn to. I tried talking myself into doing some sort or web development or database management certificate, thinking that something with flexible hours would allow me to continue homeschooling, but I can honestly feel my life force draining in the CIS intro course I'm taking now. About the only useful thing my ex has done in the past year was to encourage me to do the paralegal program. (This is when his life-is-too-short-to-not-do-what-you-want motto makes sense!)

I'm very grateful that my local community college offers a paralegal certificate - and - has a two-term Worker Retraining grant available to 'displaced housewives'. Since I already have a BA I only need 7 classes, so the offer is too good to pass up. I'm signed up for 17 of the 35 credits I need over summer term, then at least another 10 in the fall. That'll only leave 8 credits for me to pay for out-of-pocket, which would be at most $1000. Depending on how this transition year goes with the kids, I'm hoping to do an internship in the spring or summer.

Also, my state offers a Legal Technician license, which is rather like a legal nurse practitioner. I'm making sure to take the prerequisites for that program now so that I have the option to pursue that down the road (requires 3000hrs experience).