To Work, or To Bueller?

I just might be the luckiest person in the world. I'm at the very beginning of a five-month vacation, thanks to a happy timing situation. The graduate program I entered doesn't start until early June - that is, a 122-day gift.

On 5 month vacation eve I was sure I could divide the time into daily 25/25/25/25, read/nap/read/nap segments, with interruptions to play in the kitchen, try to improve how well (badly!) I run in snow, romp with the dogs and kids in my life, spoil my Mom as much as she'll let me, spoil friends and neighbors a little too, maybe finish the house DIY project list, find great hole-in-the-wall food spots. If Ferris Bueller were a middle-aged woman, this might be his list.

It's Day 2+ and that plan still sounds pretty solid, but somehow it already feels like it's time to go back to work, in some shape or form.

Some of you are in a similar situation - displaced with a package to decide how to invest, or considering re-entering the work world, looking for the right or a different vocation (in addition to motherhood, or as spouse), looking to take the best next steps. And there's a time-gap between now and whatever you've chosen. Or are thinking about. So there might be some impatience. And even though the vocational question has been answered for me, I'm itchy, too. Some itchiness is good, I think. But I'm afraid that too much of it, or too much vacation, would send me into a little self-absorbed tunnel. (Lord....someone please tell me if I'm already there)

So, an insane question: to Bueller, or to work? I'm going to try to do both in the next 100+ days. Some work here, a Bueller Day (or two) there..... So with that in mind, here are parts of the revised 5-month plan. For starters:

• Just before Christmas I learned that we displaced workers can work part-time, without losing a bit of our full unemployment benefits. How great is that?! (if you want it). The "how to" information is hard to find on the PA UC Benefit website, but the local office shared the information. A fantastically helpful woman there told me exactly how much I could earn each week without sacrificing benefits, and walked me through a few other things. The number for this area: 412/267-1315. I just applied to the special needs school where I've volunteered awhile, and to a local running store. It helps to keep in mind that a part-time job doesn't need to be completely related to what you'll eventually be getting paid to do in your "real" job. Duh. But it took a little while for that to sink in.


• Volunteering is unmatched on many levels, but volunteering-with-benefits is even better. For example, in Pittsburgh, a volunteer within the Carnegie Museum network gets free admittance to all four of the museums, plus exhibit previews, and earns discounts on merchandise and classes. I hope to be "working" at the Science Center, but I'll get the Art Museum, Natural History Centre, and the Warhol in the deal. Amazing, if you're a geek like me. There are lots of opportunities.....a good friend of mine is a volunteer teacher at a local center, and earns credits for services there. It's an excellent way to satisfy a number of needs or desires, including frugal creativity (if that's one of yours, like it is for me).

So, these "fake" jobs, plus the original vacation plan. Lovely!! And, looking ahead to when I'll be back on a full-time schedule, I hope to take as much of this next five months with me as possible. Remember....Ferris, to Sloan: "The question isn't 'what are we going to do', the question is 'what aren't we going to do'". Or something like that.

Yes, I'm thinking it's entirely possible to be a working Bueller. Bueller. Bueller.