Pomp and Circumstance(s)

My friend, Rhonda, recently made her "40 before 40" list....40 things she wanted to do before turning 40. This was the impetus for a discussion I had with my husband last night at dinner (dinner OUT with NO KIDS!).

I started rattling off some things I wanted to do before turning 40. He said "Wait, this is a list of things to do in the next 8 years? It sounds more like a bucket list." And I guess you never know..it could be a bucket list. Life happens. Cancer kills. Car accidents are commonplace.

But one thing in particular caught his attention. I said I'd at least like to have decided by 40 what area I will pursue a Master's in. It's probably too zealous to say I will have it by then, or possibly even have started it by then. But at 40, my kids will be 16 and 12. I'm thinking that's a good time to go back to school.

Yet when I said this, he said..."This one is key. I think this should move to the top of the list." When I asked why he's so interested, he replied, "Your Master's means better pay. Better pay for you doing something you already love means I might get to leave my hell-hole job and find something more gratifying." I asked if he wanted to go back to school and finish his B.S. instead of me going back for ANOTHER degree (I have two). He said that if he did that, he'd have to start at the bottom somewhere, when I've already been climbing. True.

A Master's will give me the added cushion to get him out, into a job he loves and wants to go to every day. And, he reminded me, I LIKE being a student - learning, reading, writing. So doing so won't feel an obligation to me. With these remarks, he his spot-on. He said he'd support me in every way, however he could through it. That we'd be doing it together. I believe him.

But then we woke up. We remembered that going to school costs money. LOTS OF MONEY. We'd be starting over with student loans, and paying them back at the same time we'll be getting ready to pay for our son's college.

So here I sit, thinking. Will I ever get the degree? What do I want to get it in? When will I start? How will we pay for it? Will it ultimately benefit our bottom line, or just make us more in debt?

No pressure.