Decision Time

My temporary job ended on the 2nd. Thankfully there was enough work to last four full weeks this time! But now I no longer have an excuse not to make a decision on my future.

Work or school?

The way I see it, I have a few options for either:

• I could continue trying to find a job in the town where I live now, though there aren't that many to be had. Thinking in terms of a future baby, finding a job where I live now would be ideal. All of my close relatives live in this town and my best friend is here too. Problem is, there are very few good jobs to be had here. On one end there are tons of minimum wage jobs, on the other end you need a bachelor's/master's in a specific field plus 3-5 years experience. In between are the jobs that nobody wants to do, like the one I quit.

• I could expand my job search to other cities or even other states. It could be an adventure or it could be a big waste of time and money. Would someone from out-of-state actually hire me? And pay enough so I could have an apartment? Would I find myself wanting/needing to move back near family when I have kids?

• I could start my own business. I can only afford to start a micro business and I've seen enough statistics on Etsy to know that I might never make more than a little spending money. Still, it is a possibility to make extra money - if only I could come up with a really great idea.

As for school:

• I could go to the local college I applied to last December. I'm beginning to think the program I started off wanting to do is really meant as a supplement for people with business degrees and not as a stand-alone degree. Otherwise they don't offer much of interest to me.

• I could go to another in-state college. Found a great vocational program in the town where I got my bachelor's degree but I'm not sure if I'd physically be able to work in this field thanks to an on-going medical issue.

• I could go to an out-of-state college. More options for degrees but then there is the dreaded out-of-state tuition. I'm really not sure I want to take out another student loan after I just paid off the last one.

So much to think about. All of the above descriptions are just tiny fractions of the pros/cons running around in my head. And best/worst of all - I only have a short window in which to make my decision before registration closes on school and before my resume begins to show too much of a gap.

What to do? What to do?