Real Estate, in some form, would be WONDERFUL for your talents and interests!

I used to sell real estate and loved it, except for the 'cold-calling' aspect. With real estate sales, you get to use the following skills:

Persuasiveness, tenacity, helpfulness, writing AND you get to do a lot of singing and dancing. HOW much you make is entirely up to YOU!

I like Kay's idea a lot. I'm a writer (and a singer - and I love to dance), and friends in real estate have told me I'd be surprised what an asset writing skills can be in the business. Plus in real estate sales you'd be "on," in much the same way you'd be on stage. Somewhat less obtrusive, perhaps. :-)

Why not do something parttime to 'audition' it? If you like writing, the obvious choice would be to be a stringer for your local newspaper. Doesn't pay a whole lot, but you could probably work at it parttime, around your 'regular' hours on your job--do that for a couple of years, and you're status is going to change drastically. You'll be eligible for Medicare at age 65--so that needs to be considered.

Back to the newspaper thing? I'm a year younger than you, and have been a columnist for our local paper for about the past 3 years. It's a LOT of fun, and I just love seeing and being involved in the workings of the paper. I've met some great people, and have even had a couple of my columns picked up by other papers (a real feather in a columnist's cap!)

Why not write up a sample column--something you're interested in--be it local news, politics, arts, etc--and have a chat with the editor(s) at your local paper?

Otherwise, why not look into the apprenticeship programs at your local community college. DD didn't go the apprenticeship route, but many in her major did--and most of the students in her major (opticianry) were 50's-60's somethings who were looking to start a second career. By going as an apprentice, they were able to work and make money while they took the classes required to become certified in our state. There are loads of apprenticeship programs--paralegal would be a field where your writing skills could be a real asset.

Good luck

Yes, I did have a real estate license for a while when I was managing property. I worked very briefly (got one listing from a friend) for a smaller firm while I was managing property. There was no training other than handing me the phone book. I think I would have to quit my job in retail in order to try it again, because there is no pattern to my schedule, and I don't even get it until nine days before. That makes it hard to plan anything or commit to being anywhere--one of the reasons I feel so trapped. Taking a second (even part-time) job is nearly impossible. I do remember feeling out of my league. It seemed as though my area was saturated with real estate agents, all better-connected than I. Back in those days, my car had no air conditioning, so I bought another one (a Renault station wagon, of all things) in which to chauffeur potential clients. But as it turned out, I never chauffeured a one. The car overheated, got a cracked head, and had to be gotten rid of! I appreciate the input, though. And I thought your trying to tie it in to singing and dancing for me was very humorous and sweet.

Now I do like the idea of apprenticeship. There are two community colleges in my area. My 45 credit hours are with Indiana University, which recently discontinued all asociates degrees. So I was 15 hours from an associates but am now 75 hours from a bachelors. At nearly 64 and working full-time, I think it would be a long haul (with a long time before payoff) to get to 75 hours. So one of your suggestions was for me to find out if either of the local community colleges offer an apprenticeship program in journalism and enroll in a journalism course?

Blogger! Did you know that The Pioneer Woman makes almost $1 million per year from her blog?

The kicker is always going to be accomodating my schedule in retail. The college course could be online, though, right? What does an apprenticeship in a field like journalism or paralegal look like? My dad was an electrician. This is how I picture an apprenticeship: you go to class but are also on the job and are a go-fer for a while until you can be trusted ith more. Having an affiliation with the community college could put me in contact with people in a position to hire. That appeals to me a lot. Although I know (casually) a lot of people (mostly because I have been in the work force for so long), I don't have a specific career direction and don't know whom to ask for help (or what to ask them!). Whenever my sister comes to visit, though, she says I should run for mayor; because it seems that everywhere we go I know someone. She loves to tell the story of how, when she took me on a cruise, we were standing on the dock at Antigua when some strange guy came running up to me, hugged me, and planted a big one on me. (He was an acquaintance from ballroom dancing back home). So my contacts are enthusiastic ones, they seem to like me, etc. I just don't know how to translate that into opportunities for career change.

Big thank-yous to all who have responded. I am so new to this that I don't know how to respond to you other than to keep adding to this thread. If I mention your username, Fun2BHere, do you receive acknowledgement? I was looking into the blogging thing earlier today, because it is writing. I didn't quite understand all that was involved: hosting, domains, all that. There were a lot of different entities to consider dealing with: WordPress, FatCow, etc. I am not the most tech-savvy person in the universe. I didn't get it, but maybe I will someday.

Makeupmaven, it looks like the book I've linked below might be a great way to get an overview of blogging. Although it's old and I'm sure some things have changed, the basics are probably still the same. The good news is that you can buy a used copy for under $5 including shipping, not much of a risk.

Here is a link that might be useful: Book