Wednesday, November 12, 2008

The safer alternative.

Ben and I had an interesting conversation last night that made me go, "Duh!" But first, a little background.

I have been a stay-at-home mom since we got married almost 24 1/2 years ago. We had children right away and I have taught them all at home. All subjects, all grades, five times. I have loved every minute of it and wouldn't change a thing. I have a degree in finance, but that doesn't do much for teaching phonics, chemistry, and civics.

My last child is now in tenth grade, and my time as a stay-at-home mom is waning. I'm facing the inevitable question in life: what am I going to be when I grow up?

Before I got married I was office manager for a jewelry store, responsible for all the financial documents, tracking of income and expenses, stuff like that. I even went out to repossess a few pieces, and let me tell you, repossessing thick gold chains in North Philly is not my idea of a wise career choice.

So now I'm trying to figure out what I want to do. I've considered teaching, but I'm not certified in any state, even though I've been doing it for 18 years. I've thought about the business world, but that just sounds dull, boring, and meaningless. I've even thought about getting a nursing degree since the jobs pay well and are easy to get, but the truth is that I just don't want to be a nurse. I've hemmed and hawwed (is that a word?) and gone back and forth and round and round and come up with nothing.

But last night Ben said, "If I could have any job, live anywhere, do anything, you know what I'd do? I'd be a Mets radio announcer. I love my job, but Mets baseball is what I'm really passionate about."

I thought about that and I do understand it. Since I've known him he's been able to spout off the most random, trivial stats about Mets players. Pick a year, pick a position, he can tell you who played it, what his batting average was, how many bases he stole, how many rbi's, what his best pitch was if he was a pitcher, whether he was a righty or a lefty. He can predict what pitch the pitcher is going to throw next. It's incredible. He has all that data stored neatly away and can't remember his kids' birthdates. He is definitely passionate about Mets baseball.

So then he said, "You know what you're passionate about?" and he was kind of smiling here, "You are afflicted with a special malady. You love grammar."

God help me, he's right. I love reading something and correcting it. What kind of weirdo am I? So I started looking into proofreading and copy editing. And you know what? I started to get excited about it! To think that I could actually make money doing something I like! It's a revelation.

There are two courses I'm going to take at two different colleges in the next year - one is proofreading and editing, and the other is advanced grammar. At least it's safer than chasing down thugs in Philly.

Be thankful ~

Karen

3 comments:

Gwendolyn said...

I can't imagine the day when I'll be done. We plan to bring Alex and Grace home next year, and Owen will just be starting Kindergarten. Josie will be a senior, so I'll be finishing up with the first one and starting with the last one. But whenever I AM done with the homeschooling gig, I might go into nursing. Maybe. Or maybe I'll just consider myself retired! :o)

How cool that you thought of something so perfect for you, though! I could never edit anything, although I do so love to read. Grammar gives me a headache. LOL

Jennifer said...

I absolutely love grammar (and appreciate good grammar even more)....but have never been brave enought to admit it :) You go girl!!

Brother Ben said...

Can't believe you threw me under the MRAP on the birthdays. I TRY to forget my own. Does that help?