Germs of a plan

I need a plan. M's legal issues are still up in the air and if he has to go away then I need a way to pay the bills. Sure, I might be able to get a minimum wage job that pays my way but corrodes my soul (thank you, The Smiths, for the line). Or I could try to come up with the financial aid and take a one year (August to August) $5,000 program to become an LVN. That is what I am hoping I can make happen. The program is local with the community college I attended way back when I was just a kid, doing all my very important theater work. I loved it, but it wasn't exactly a practical major. So now I am considering, at 38 (though I'd be 39 when the classes began) going back to school. I just hope I can find the financing.

We had M's boys last weekend. We hadn't seen them since the beginning of December; while I don't really care if it's that long between visits, M does and he was thrilled to see his boys. I was glad that we got to finally have our Christmas with them and I was able to take down all the decorations after they left. Homeschooling still seems to be doing quite well by them. Their mom made a brave and very smart choice, I think. They are in Boy Scouts and 4H so they still get to be around other kids for the socialization aspect they would otherwise miss out on by not being in school. I don't think it would be right for all kids, but with these two it really seems to be working.

Things I love:
My new Stir Crazy popcorn popper. M had an air popper that we'd used for years, but he always had me add so much butter that the advantages of air popped were lost.
(Man, blogger makes it hard to switch out of bold... May have found new hosting site, but have to see how they handle pictures.)
Things I hate:
Neighbor kids who insist on playing in my yard all the damn time. What is wrong with their own yards? And why is all the screaming necessary?
Things I don't understand:
My cats. I would love to understand what goes on in their brains sometimes to make them act the way they do.