Quote Originally Posted by Crankin View Post
Emily, I guess that's why I waited until we could live on DH's income quite nicely. Although I can't say I didn't have passion for my former career. There were times I felt trapped and bored (mostly because I knew I couldn't quit my job, when none of my other friends had to work), so I found the passion by taking on new roles like mentoring, changing jobs (very unusual for a teacher), or investing my passion into the fitness field (where I burned out after 10 years, as opposed to 30 for teaching). I think I got bored by the schedule of teaching... days so highly structured, over which I had no control. While I loved leaving work at 3 or 4, I have found that what i craved was flexibility. I have found I like having control over my schedule, not having to constantly work in a group to mediate decisions, and to have a choice in what kind of setting I will work in. I found that I don't mind working long hours or at night, as long as i have free time elsewhere during the week. While I thought I was ready to retire, with all of my sports activities, etc., I found that staying home was isolating and boring. It dawned on me, that I just needed a different way to work, in a field that I knew I could succeed in. I was interested in a lot of quasi-medical fields, but they all required way too many undergrad requirements, in addition to the graduate training. Plus, I was never good at math when i was younger and i am sure that hasn't changed. My degree has taken a year longer than most of the other programs in the same field (3 yrs. vs. 2), but I knew this was the right program/school for me. The key for me, is that even though I will be almost 60 when I get my license in a couple of years, is that I can continue being a therapist as I get older, on a part time basis, as long as I can talk and write! And i have found that this is a field where my age works in my favor. It doesn't hurt that my co-workers think I am at least 10 years younger than I am, but I have found that my life experiences have helped me a great deal in this field. I could not have done this when I was in my 20's.
DH won't be retiring for at least 8 more years, maybe more. Until then, I don't want to have too much time on my hands.
I think what you are doing is great and have followed many of your career comments on other threads. It makes perfect sense in your situation, since being retired without one's spouse can indeed be a lonely, isolating thing, and you've found something you really enjoy. Nothing at all wrong with serial careers; in fact, they make a lot of sense and keep things fresh.

Our situation is reversed in that my DH was laid off during the telecom bubble burst of 2001 and basically just retired after that as there were NO jobs out there for him, and we were debt-free and could live on my salary. Since then he's been waiting for me to join him so that we could have fun and adventures. I've been the bread-winner, which has necessitated staying put, no job changes, no leaving to go back to school, etc., as we needed the paychecks and benefits my job provided. Having a house husband has some really nice perks, so it actually worked out well for us, as he was very burned out on being in an office, preferred the variety of retirement, and picked up lots of the cooking, shopping, cleaning, laundry, dog care, etc.

Now, though, I'm just so ready to join him so that we can spend time together pursuing our non-technical interests. If he were still working, I'd probably have left my job at least 5-7 years ago to do something completely different. Kinda like GLC!

Sorry for the hijack, GLC...back to it!