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To begin, I just wanted to thank you all for your insight and support on the last post. I was immensely surprised at the kindness of you all--not a single hateful comment. How did I get so lucky to have such open, honest, AMAZING readers?! You all rock.


After sitting down and breathing many sighs of relief that my "secret" was finally out, I needed to figure out a plan. I knew now was the time to move forward in life--work towards something just for me. But what to do?

The Hubs and I discussed and discussed and argued a bit. Neither of us wanted to put our career efforts on hold. For both of us to continue (or in my case, start) doing things we loved, one of us would have to suffer. And we both feel like we've done that. The Hubs worked while I went to school. Granted, he had no clue what he wanted to do back then, but I still consider it a sacrifice. Then, I gave up everything I worked my ass off for in college to stay home with Noah and now Keegan. However, I somewhat expected The Hubs to be hired by now. It is said that it takes firefighters an average of five years to get hired, and it's already been almost four. Things weren't moving as quickly as I had naively anticipated.

So here we are--set on "stuck." Being a graduate student is all I have ever wanted to do. Why? Who knows, but I've always wanted to get there. Due to the fact that my doctoral endeavors are only suited to one university in the world, my only option would be to move. And moving would mean leaving behind a job and an abundance of free babysitters. Well since Austin (University of Texas-Go Longhorns!)is not in the future any time soon, I thought about widening my horizons. Maybe a Master's in Sustainability or in Non-Profit Studies from our local university. Maybe I give up all of my research dreams and just go to work. Maybe I try to burn this resentment and suck up being a stay at home mom. Maybe.

When I got down to the nitty-gritty, I know in my heart that none of that will suffice. My thirst for research will still be there. My interest in animal behavior will not wane. For my sanity, I have to move towards dreams.

So here's the plan as of today:

1. Study and take the GRE (Graduate Records Exam...basically the SAT to get into grad school) by August 2012. Gradate programs generally only take applications in December and most only admit for the fall semester. I'm SOL this year, so graduate school is at least a year and a half away.

2. Do a thorough literature review and form my hypothesis and study expectations. Since I'm no longer a student, I no longer have access to databases. Thus, I will be spending a lot of time at my nemesis-Arizona State University. I will have to hide the blue and red of the Alma Mater by stowing away in a library corner.

3. Once I formulate exactly what it is I intend to research, my *hopefully* future professor will be contacted to give me some direction. I hope that he will work with me to get some simple research started. I also have the benefit of my old professor and contacts through him to also lend a hand.

4. Finally, once I have it all set up and ready to go, the cat rescues will be contacted. My research subjects are cats. Yep, I may just be a crazy cat lady. In order to start on my research, I'll need help of local rescues. I may get started on this early as I eventually want to start/work with an animal rescue. Thus, it would be good to volunteer or intern on the administrative side of things.

5. If all else fails, and it's still taking The Hubs FOREVER to get hired out in Texas, I will work towards the Master's in Non-Profit Studies. At least this way, I will be completely ready to start my own rescue. Rescue first, research later? I may have no other choice.

6. And since this is not enough to keep me busy, I will also be offering locals my de-cluttering and organization services. For now, it will be free. If you're a local, central AZ resident and want some help, let me know. I could use the break.

There you have it. I've got some freaking goals. Now, since I've typed them all up and hit "publish" that means I need to be held to them. Feel free to harass me on a regular basis because procrastination will surely set in.

And again, thank you all for your inherent awesomeness.