Choice 1 - and don't laugh yet - is to keep everything the way it is and just retire from teaching. Same house, same budget, same way of life. 

At first glance, this seems impossible based on my projected retirement income. But that's only at first glance. 

Why is it that I want to retire? I'm tired of alarm clocks nine months out of every year. I'm tired of increasing demands on both teachers and students coming from pundits who haven't taught a day in their lives. I'm tired of teaching sixth graders skills and material that I encountered in college when they haven't been prepared for that level of work. Mainly - I'm tired. 

Next question - can I eliminate all of that stuff, including the alarm clocks, and add to my projected retirement income enough to make Choice 1 possible? 

Actually, I may have Covid-19 to thank for even being able to consider this! Covid-19 has made corporate America sit up and realize that not every employee has to be housed in a corporate owned or leased building. Many employees, and their production rate, actually thrive on remote work. Long before Covid-19, I worked from home as a National Training Project Manager for Ernst & Young. I traveled a lot, but when not traveling I was taking conference calls in my slippers and petting my dogs while converting training from standard to custom and/or virtual. I'm not a neophyte. 

A quick perusal of Indeed.com's website proves the point. Within five minutes, I found at least ten legitimate positions that are remote and provide decent income. No - it won't cover my current salary but these positions would provide enough that when added to my retirement income would make Choice 1 a real possibilty. 

Add to that my muse calling me. I've always wanted to be a writer. I've published non-paying stories and essays in small Internet journals and at one point in my corporate life, wrote a training publication for the American Society of Training and Development (now known as the Association For Talent Development). It can still be Googled and is listed on Amazon, although I suspect it is out of print. 

So who's to say I can't resurrect that dream? I'm not kidding myself. I no longer believe the Great American Novel is in my bones, but there are several short stories, early chapter books, and maybe even a few formula romances sitting in there somewhere. My writing won't be a primary income producer I'm pretty sure. (Circle back to Indeed.com and similar websites. Place the order for Writer's Digest and The Writer Magazine.)

Is Choice 1 viable? Right now it sure looks like it might be. After I get turned down for some juicy remote positions, it might not. 

For now, I'll take the uptick in both my ego and my outlook.