I’ve been thinking about getting a laptop for months now, and I finally bought one a couple of weeks ago. Best Buy was having a pretty good sale, and between writing, chasing H around, and some new courses I’m taking we kind of figured I needed to be a little more mobile. So, this was an investment in me. And my new endeavors.

Today was the first day of courses I’m taking online through Rutgers CCPD, paid for by a grant from the Dept. of Labor. First I’m taking a CIW course in Web Design, and after I finish that program up at the end of March (and hopefully take the certification exam) I’ll be taking a shorter course in Adobe Illustrator. I’m throwing everything I can think of out there into the universe to try and build this new post-teaching life I’m working on. Following all of the passions. I want to keep writing about things I love, I want to totally revamp my blog and web presence, and I want to see how I can build on my crafting experience by trying my hand at things like fabric design. I have wanted to learn Illustrator for years but never quite found the time. Now I’m making the time. And the web design course will give me all kinds of skills and foundations.

It’s all exciting, and a little terrifying. The day I ordered the laptop I waited until Adam was home from work to come with me to pick it up. It just felt like a huge manifestation of all these new challenges and risks. Like once the laptop was in my possession, I had to actually start earning it. And it just froze me.

Until I got the shiny box home, opened it, and got to work. I’ve got a lot of ideas, and I’m hoping it will be a good investment.