New Chapters

After I got laid off at MHC, I took some time to just . . . do nothing.  My severance package and PTO cash out was pretty generous, so I wasn't in a super big hurry to find something new.  I decompressed and got some cleaning and organizing done around the house, I went to the gym, I played Overwatch.  And then I filed for unemployment in AZ, which was denied because my wages were reported in WA (that was a whole dumb thing), and that got approved.  And then I edited my resume (after not touching it in like 7 years) and added MHC to it.  And then, finally, I decided it was time to start looking for a new job.  (I honestly don't know why/how I was so calm about it, but I really was . . . My gut feeling was that it wouldn't take me too long to find something).

Anyway, I've been active in AAPC since I moved up here (I'm actually chapter secretary at the moment, for the second year in a row), and one of the things we ask is for members to let the group know about job openings.  And as I was getting ready to start my job search, I remembered that another AAPC member had been announcing a coding job for quite awhile, working in the physician's practice area of a local hospital.  It's really weird because the very first time she announced it, I thought it sounded really interesting, and for a minute I wondered if it was time for a change.  But I decided against it.

Well, the job was still available, and I found it on Indeed and applied.  I figured since it had been open so long I had a good chance, even if I wasn't quite as experienced as they wanted.  Within like . . . 2 days of applying, they asked for a phone interview, which I did.  And then I had to do an in person interview, which took forever to schedule (it's a long story, basically the dept. currently has an interim director who is based in Virginia, at corporate headquarters, and she is only in Olympia like once a month for a few days).  My phone interview was January 13th, and my in person interview was on January 21st.  The in person interview went SO well.  I just had so much confidence going in.  I truly don't know where it came from, because I was pretty anxious like . . . until I walked into the building.  And then, I don't know what happened, but . . . it was awesome.  The interview ended up lasting a little over an hour, and when I left, I just felt like . . . yeah, this one's mine.  Very much like how I felt after my MHC interview. 

I officially got an offer on January 29th/30th, and on February 4th I went in and did new hire paperwork/drug testing/background check stuff.  I didn't get to start until February 17th, because the hospital only has new hires start every 2 weeks, and every new hire has to do a whole day group orientation.  There were only 2 other people in my group so that was kind of cool.

So far it's gone really well.  After the first day in my department, I was just pumped.  I like my job (some A/R, some coding, eventually a lot of auditing/provider education), I love my boss, and my office mate is my AAPC friend who actually announced the job!  I'm currently working from home again because of the pandemic and it hasn't been bad, but I do miss the office.  The system and processes are very different than at MHC and it's been an adjustment for sure, but in a good way.

AND while I was looking at job listings online, I came across one for a sleep clinic called ISC.  Jenny had applied there before because a couple of her coworkers had left ORS for ISC because they pay and benefits were better.  She never got a call back the first time.  But as all this was going on, things were getting bad at ORS.  Like Jenny was basically doing the work of 3 people and hadn't gotten a raise since just after she started, and she was still making minimum wage.  The owner of ORS just "doesn't do" cost of living raises--he only believes in merit raises.  And she was already doing 3 jobs so . . . what else could she possibly do to go above and beyond?  The ISC ad posted when I was looking for work said they were urgently hiring, so I let Jenny know.  They called her back really quickly, and she got the job!  She actually started at ISC on February 11th.  She's SO much happier there and so glad to be done with ORS.  Even moreso considering that if she was still at ORS, she'd be the only biller because 2 people have quit, AND the supervisor is on indefinite medical leave.

So we both got new jobs, and we both got raises (Jenny got $3/hour, I got $5/hour).  I definitely feel like I was ready for a change, and as much as I loved MHC, maybe getting laid off was a good thing.  I feel like I'm finally in a truly adult job, and I like working somewhere local.  And with our new combined income . . . I don't really want to say much and jinx it but let's just say homeowner-ship is no longer completely out of the question for us.  I mean, it's still going to be awhile, because my hours got cut because of the pandemic, and I have some new fun medical debt, but STILL.  Once things get back to normal . . . fingers crossed!

Lots of Good News From Work

So this week was one where things just kept going my way at work.  In particular, two really exciting things happened.

First of all, the issue of my raise got resolved.  We got our pay stubs emailed to us this past Tuesday, and when I looked at mine, I noticed that my raise wasn't on there.  So I emailed our financial controller and let her know, and she in turn told me that she hadn't known about my raise because, apparently, our HR person (who is one of my former billing co-workers) didn't get the paperwork to her.  Which was irritating, but not a super big deal.  My boss sent the paperwork to her and a little while later, the financial controller called me to her office.  And she basically told me that the raise my boss gave me in my eval was inadequate, and that my boss was only allowed to give me a specific percentage raise.  So it's now corrected, and my new pay rate is exactly in the range that I was expecting when I went into my eval.  I was so excited to get the raise I deserved, I've put in the work and time and now I feel like something came of it.

Then yesterday, the billing department had a meeting (we're going through some pretty significant changes personnel wise right now, so we were meeting to talk about all that).  As we were walking in, our practice manager said to me something like, "So, I hear you're going to be moving this year?"  So I told her that yes, I was planning to move out of state in September.  I was really apprehensive saying it because I wasn't sure how she was going to react, but I was super pleasantly surprised when her reaction was, "Are you interested in remoting?"  I was like HELL YES!!!

This means that if the hospital deal goes through, I get to keep my job and work from home as a full time coder after I move.  I am so unbelievably happy about this.  Being able to keep my job would be amazing, because I wouldn't have to job hunt from a different state, I wouldn't have to start over somewhere PTO wise, I wouldn't have to leave a company I genuinely love . . . AND to be able to work from home is basically my dream.  It also means that I won't have to pay back anything for my coding class since I won't be quitting, which is freaking awesome!  And the icing on the cake is that the practice manager brought it up.  The thought that I might be able to keep my job if the merge happened had crossed my mind before, but I figured I'd really have to fight for it and negotiate it, so to have it pretty much just handed to me is like . . . perfect.

Obviously the caveat is that if the hospital deal doesn't go through, a second coder isn't really going to be necessary, so if that happens I don't get to keep my job.  So at this point, I'm just crossing my fingers and hoping and praying and wishing that the hospital deal goes through.  I should know by April so . . . here's hoping!

PASSED!!!!!!!!!!

I passed my CPC exam!!!

I found out while I was at work today via the AAPC website.  I immediately called my boss, who was very congratulatory and sent out a company wide email congratulating me.  So that was exciting.

I'm still in shock.  I honestly thought I was going to have to retake that test.  Like . . . I really didn't think I'd pass on the first try.

Granted, I barely passed with the minimum score for certification.  But as my boss pointed out, people hiring you don't ask for your score, they just look at your certification, so who cares?  I freaking passed!  I think I'd have done better if I hadn't rushed, but I was so consumed with finishing before time was up that I definitely went faster than I needed to.

I'm so happy!!  And SO proud of myself!!  My co-workers were all very proud as well, and that felt good.

Also, today is ICD-10 implementation day and it's already a disaster . . . kinda glad I'm on vacation!

And on that note, Jerbs and I are getting ready to leave for SLC so I'm off to finish packing!

CPC Exam

So I took my CPC certification test today.

I honestly have no idea how I did.  Like . . . I really just don't have a strong feeling either way.  I don't feel like I did super awesome, but I don't feel like I bombed either.  If pressed I would say that I probably didn't pass and am going to have to take it again.

Let's see.  It sucked to get up that early on a Saturday.  The test environment was a little bit cramped, so I couldn't spread out as much as I'd hoped I'd be able to, but whatever.  The AAPC is apparently very serious about preventing cheating and stuff, so it was a very interesting experience.  The test was split up by CPT section, so that was nice, since all the practice tests weren't and I wasn't expecting it.  There was also a whole section on anatomy, which I definitely had not studied in preparing for the test, so . . . yeah.  I'm sure that section of my test is a complete disaster haha.

I finished in 3.5 hours, which is pretty fast, so I don't know if that's good or bad.  I definitely think I was rushing because I was so paranoid about not finishing in the time allowed, and I overdid it a little.  But by the time I was finished, I really didn't see the point in going back because I'm just not someone who really changes their mind on tests like that, so I just handed in my test and left.  The lady next to me wasn't even half finished and seemed to be really struggling, and I felt bad for her.  It kind of made me realize how lucky I am to be getting hands on experience in this field, and how lucky I've been to have my boss there to guide me, since she just passed her exam 6 months ago.  (Almost exactly).

Now I just have to wait.  Test results show up on your account on the AAPC website before they're officially mailed to you, so I'll be logging on regularly the next few days to see how I did.  I hope I find out before I leave for SLC on the first so that I'm not thinking about it during the wedding weekend, but I'm not sure that'll happen.

I'm crossing my fingers but not getting my hopes up.

Busy And Maybe A Little Burnt Out

This whole two jobs thing is kinda kicking my ass.

Don't get me wrong, I like having two jobs.  I enjoy both of them and it's nice to not be worried about money all the time anymore.  But the past couple weeks I just have felt . . . burnt out.

My real job at MHC is just insane right now.  I'm working on two different special projects, plus DME, plus all my normal duties.  And Medicare is being quite a bit more awful than usual lately, which is just awesome.  And today was stressful because a co-worker opened a spam email and it turned out to be a massive virus, which led to all our servers being offline for like two hours.  Which meant I could do basically nothing.  It was incredibly frustrating.

I'm currently in the middle of a billing cycle at job # 2, which means that tomorrow will likely be a 12 hour day.  And that half day Friday was an 8 hour day.  I don't mind but I'll admit that this job is a bit more . . . involved than I was originally expecting.  I was told 6-8 hours of filing and clerical work a week . . . I didn't expect to be running billing cycles and making collections phone calls.

I don't know.  I feel like all I do anymore is work.  And I guess there's nothing wrong with that, really, because I don't have kids or a spouse or really anything that demands a lot of my attention outside of work.  There are just days when it's very, very exhausting.

But every time I start to get frustrated or annoyed or whatever, I make myself remember what it was like to be unemployed for 2 years and struggle with finding work, and I tell myself to suck it up.  I want to excel at both of my jobs.

So that's about it.  Two weeks from now I have a long weekend (I'm off on Monday, the 18th, and my sister will be here that weekend for the Climb to Conquer Cancer) and I am counting down the days to that.

Finally A Good Night's Sleep!

I went to bed at 11:15 last night.  11:15!  That's earlier than I go to bed on work nights.  And let me tell you, it was glorious.  I slept straight through the night until 6:20 in the morning . . . 7 continuous hours of sleep.  I don't remember the last time that happened!  My awesome night of sleep was the result of a very long and very busy day.

Back in October my boss sent me an email about this one day conference type deal that was happening in Cottonwood, which is about an hour from Flagstaff.  It was just a few speakers, and in particular there was a speaker from Medicare coming to talk about coding and whatnot.  Our CEO requested that my boss invite someone to go with her, and she invited me.  So I said I'd go, and then nothing was ever said about it again.  Like, nothing.  And as the date got closer I just kind of assumed we weren't going for whatever reason.  Then this past Thursday my boss was like oh shit, that thing is this weekend!

So Friday night I stayed up too late and went to bed at 1:30 AM; then on Saturday morning my alarm clock went off at 4:30.  It was very unpleasant.  But I dragged myself out of bed, got ready to go, and drove over to MHC in the snow (it was coming down pretty hard).  (I have to say, I love having an SUV.  I felt so much better driving that in the snow than any of the other cars I've had).  Thankfully my boss drove to Cottonwood.

The conference was good.  There were 3 speakers: a heart surgeon who went over ICD-10 stuff, an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in hands and didn't talk about billing/coding at all, and then a Medicare medical director who talked about ICD-10 and Medicare.  It was all actually very interesting.  I definitely learned some stuff that'll help me out in the future and I'm glad for that.  Medicare is such a complicated insurance that I think really knowing it will be a good thing for my career in this field.  And the conference ended an hour early, so we got home an hour early, which was awesome.

I took a little power nap when I got home and then Jerbs and I went out to dinner and then did some shopping.  We got home a little before 10, and I spent almost an hour just lying in my bed before I realized that I wasn't actually going to be able to stay up.

Anyway, that was my Saturday.  As much as I kind of didn't want to go to the conference I'm glad I did, because I learned a lot, and of course it never hurts to make a good impression on my boss, right?

Now on to my usual Sunday crap, yay.  I'm excited for this coming week, though, because it's only 3 days of work followed by 4 days off!  Can't beat that!

Today Was A Good Day

Today:

--Told the PR/marketing director at work about my English degree and offered my help with any writing/editing type tasks she might have going on.  So now I get to write the official press release for our new nutritionist, and if that goes well, I'll potentially get to do more writing projects in the future!  I'm so freaking stoked!!!  I know it's not much, but still, I'm really excited.

--My boss asked me if everything was OK since I've been late almost every day since I got my car.  I was honest with her and told her that I just don't do well with mornings and I have a hard time getting the timing right and all that.  So now my work hours are 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM.  Hell.fucking.yes.  I love having a boss that's awesome and understanding!  And I really don't mind staying later, since I usually do anyway, because I hit my stride in the afternoon.  Seriously, I love my boss.  I don't want her to leave.

--It poured down rain on both sides of town for a good hour, and it's still cloudy out.  Which meant an amazing, cool, beautiful afternoon and early evening.  Such a great break from the ridiculous heat we've had the past week or so.

--The rain left some perfect running weather when it stopped, so I headed for the lakes by our house and ran 1.42 km (I've decided to measure in kilometers, since it's more impressive, and that's all my stupid pedometer apparently measures in).  I suppose I can't really say I ran, because I more jogged with some walking bits thrown in, but still.  The point is I WORKED OUT!!  So good for me.  And at the end of the jog when I was thinking that I really hadn't done much and feeling a little disappointed with myself, I asked myself if I'd have been able to go that distance, at that speed, at this altitude, a year ago.  And the answer is definitely not.

Speaking of a year ago, yesterday marked one year that I've been back in Flagstaff, and I'm sure there'll be a long drippy entry about that soon.  Because I need to talk about it.  I also have to do my weigh in entry but for now, I just wanted to record some happiness.

Work Update or Why I Love My Job

I'm mostly writing about this because I want to remember it.

This is the first time since my very first job (when I was 16) that I actually love my job.  I really do.  Even though I'm still not a fan of waking up so early in the morning, I don't dread going to work like I used to.  Some days I'm not thrilled to go to work but it's a gigantic step up from where I've been in the past.  And even on the days when I'm not particularly excited for work, I don't have that sense of literally being unable to go in or searching desperately for an excuse to stay home.

My work is a little tedious some days, and a little dull, but something about it makes me happy.  I'm at a point where I feel like I know what I'm doing in most cases, and there's something kind of oddly satisfying about figuring out what's wrong with a denied claim and knowing how to re-bill it.  It's even more satisfying when the claims I correct get paid.  In the past month(ish), I've gotten my Medicare collections list down to 18 items . . . it started at 54.  I'm pretty impressed with myself, and my boss mentioned the other day to all of us that the clinic's A/R is down, and I know for a fact that I contributed to that.  It feels good.  This week one of our billers, our practice manager, and our billing office manager are all out (two on vacation, one for a family emergency), which leaves just me and two other billers running the office.  It's stressful but at the same time, I'm enjoying the opportunity to kind of show that I can take on a heavier workload when I need to.

Far and away my favorite thing about MHC is my co-workers.  There is a tremendous sense of community and of family there and it really kind of amazes me.  I've been there just a little bit over 2 months now and I already feel like I'm a part of that family.  I love it.  Right now one of my co-workers is dealing with some family drama and she has essentially had to adopt her 3 week old niece on very short notice.  This past Friday we threw her a surprise baby shower, and it was so sweet.  She completely had no clue (how we all managed to keep it a secret I don't know, but we did and I'm impressed) and it was obvious how touched she was.  And I just loved that everyone was involved with it, from our CEO (who wrote her a check and bitched about not having enough space to sign in the card) to our newest front desk person (who started last Tuesday), who came to the shower and congratulated my co-worker.

I remember feeling like everyone at Hastings hated me, and it sucked.  But at MHC I actually feel well liked. Everyone calls me Jess, our CEO has his own special nickname for me (Green), and I've had a lot of very personal conversations with my co-workers.  I like that a lot.  I like that there's a good balance of being friends and being co-workers: I can listen to them bitch about whatever they need to bitch about but still ask them questions about claims and stuff like that, and I respect them in both instances.

I feel like this job has done so much for me.  It's made me financially stable, which has been a huge weight off my shoulders and off Jerbs' shoulders.  It's made me feel more confident, more capable, and more useful.  It's helped me to regularize my schedule, particularly where sleep is concerned, which has been good for my mental health.  It's given me a gym membership that I'm actively using.  It's given me friends and a few good connections within the community.  It's teaching me a skill that I'll be able to use wherever I go in the future and that makes me really, really happy.  And if it weren't for this job I wouldn't have gotten Max . . . and I love Max.  (Even Benji seems to not mind Max, which is amazing).

I think this is where I'm supposed to be right now.  I really do.  I'm so grateful to have found MHC when I did, and I'm very glad that they liked me enough to hire me even though I didn't have billing experience.  I never realized how big a difference having a job I liked would make in my life, but now that I have, I hope I never have to go back!

From Email to EMPLOYED

That's right!!  As of today, I officially have a JOB!!!!!

I'm going to post the whole story, because I'm just that freakin' excited.

Back at the beginning of December (or at least that's about what I figure based on email) I sent my resume in response to a Craigslist ad for a medical billing position at a cardiology clinic.  I figured that with my front desk experience I at least had a decent shot at it.  But I never heard anything, and at the time I was applying for job after job after job, so I pretty much forgot about it.

So fast forward to December 19th.  It was late at night, and I randomly decided to check my "professional" email (aka my email address that actually has my name in it, which I use on my resume and for more professional than personal stuff).  I check that email very, very rarely, since all that usually comes to that email are mailing lists and newsletters.  Well, that night, I had an email from a woman (the practice manager) that was in response to my resume for the billing position, thanking me for my interest in the job and asking me when I could come in for an interview.  I was thrilled, and I emailed her back right that second.  By the next afternoon she'd emailed me back, and the following day (Friday, Dec. 21st) I went in to interview with her.

It went incredibly well.  She mostly told me about the practice and the doctors, went over hours and benefits, asked me about my experience in medical office, and all that.  I felt completely at ease with her, and at the end of the interview she told me she wanted me to meet the business manager for a second interview.  The problem was that it was a Friday, and on Friday the billers and the managers only work until noon, and at the end of my interview it was already 11:30.  The business manager was on vacation the next week, which meant that after the 21st, she wouldn't be in the office until the 31st.  And naturally, the clinic would be closed on the 1st of the year--which meant I'd have to wait until the 2nd or 3rd of January for my interview.  That was a little crappy, but oh well--I was just happy to have had an interview and to have been asked back for a second one.

I left felling really, really good about the whole thing.  I thought the interview had gone as well as it could have, I thought I'd come across really well, I thought the practice manager and I clicked well, and I just had a good feeling about this one.  I felt like . . . yep, this one's mine.  I was feeling superstitious so the only people who knew about the interviews were my family, Jerbs, and Theresa.  (My mom said she had a good feeling about it too, which gave me a confidence boost).  I literally didn't say a word to anybody else, and in the time between interviews, I prayed, crossed my fingers, and wished on every star, eye lash, and 11:11 I possibly could.

I waited as patiently as I could until the 31st, and called their business manager to set up my interview.  She asked me to come on the 2nd (a Wednesday).  I got to the clinic on the 2nd and the practice manager, who did my first interview, took me back to the conference room to introduce me to the business manager.  To my surprise, the business manager had brought the three other members of the billing department to sit in and ask questions as well--which at first totally unnerved me.  As the practice manager left, though, she patted me on the shoulder and wished me luck, which was just really sweet.

Well, the second interview went fantastic.  All 4 women asked me questions, and they seemed to love a lot of my answers.  And it was pretty clear right away that my personality would mesh really, really well with all of them.  It was seriously the best interview I've ever been on.  It was a great blend of serious questions and telling them why they wanted me on their team, to just sharing stories about working in medical offices and laughing.  It was awesome.  Again, I left with a really, really good feeling.  I was just really sure that I could work well with the people I'd met, and that I'd fit in well with their staff.

The business manager said she wanted to decide by the end of the week, and by Friday I hadn't heard anything.  I was so disappointed, but I still had a good feeling about it.  I didn't hear anything on Monday either, so I checked my email again, just in case.  Well, I had an email from the business manager.  It was basically a link to this website and I had to take these 4 little assessment things--they were just like those personality things that are on every application, so I did those, and the following morning, I left a voice mail for the business manager letting her know those were done.

I heard nothing during the rest of Tuesday, and nothing on Wednesday.  I was starting to panic a little and then, this morning, at around 11 AM, I finally got the call.  The business manager apologized for not calling sooner and said she'd been sick and mostly voiceless, told me the results of my little assessments indicated that I'd be a good fit for them, and offered me the position!  (And told me how much it paid, which made me even happier).  I just keep thinking of all the interviews I had up till now, all the disappointment in not being offered those jobs--but it was for good reason, because I ended up right where I was supposed to, I think.

So I went in this afternoon and picked up an official application and signed off on allowing them to do a background check, and as soon as that comes back clean or whatever, I get to start work.

I am beyond thrilled.  I can't even describe the relief I felt when she told me I got the job.  Relief and gratitude.  My hands were shaking when I hung up the phone and I actually started crying.  I am so, so grateful for this opportunity.  For so many reasons.  I'm so happy that I can stop being a burden to Jerbs, that I can start to take care of myself, that I can just not be constantly panicking about money, that I'll have something that makes me feel not useless.

Honestly, I owe a lot of it to the clinic.  One of my jobs as a receptionist was posting charges and payments to patient accounts--which at most medical offices is something the billing dept., not the front desk, does.  It was aggravating at times, but knowing at least a little of the billing side of things definitely worked in my favor.  Plus working at the clinic taught me what questions to ask, if that makes sense: I asked at my first interview about the services the clinic did and their scope of care, what insurances they were contracted with, what medical software they used for front desk and billing, how much of their records were EMR, etc. I think asking things like that made me look interested, serious, and knowledgeable.

I think this is going to be a great thing for me.  I already really like the people I'll be working most closely with.  And I love the clinic itself.  It's a cardiology clinic that opened less than four years ago (I remember when they opened, because I was at the clinic at the time, and they gave us a ton of their info. pamphlets) and in four years they have grown tremendously.  They started out with four doctors and two administrators and now have a staff of 54 . . . I guess 55, counting me!  They have a big scope of care, because they have not only cardiologists, but a psychologist, a nutritionist, an electrophysiologist (who comes up from PHX once a week), and a full sleep clinic.  They co-own a fitness center (which is right across the street from them, so yes, I'll definitely be joining when I can).  They do satellite clinics in Winslow, Page, and Sedona.  It's an incredibly successful practice, and I'm excited to be working for them.  I've never been so excited about a business I'm working for.  I love how many services they offer in the name of heart health--who would have ever thought that psychology and sleep studies were necessary in cardiology?  It's innovative, and I like that a lot.

Plus, I'm glad I'll get to learn medical billing, because that's a skill that'll come in handy.  I'm really looking at this as a career move, not a job.  Because as much as I want to use my degree someday, I would probably be OK doing something like medical billing as my career, because I have plenty of ways to indulge my lit. nerdiness elsewhere.  There's a lot of potential in medical billing, and I really believe that it'll make getting a job wherever I move to a lot easier.

And that's that.  I'm so happy, and this is the best way to really start the year that I could imagine.  My friend Bridget once said (in a comment on this blog about another job interview, actually) that it was about time for me to hit my "up and over" phase.  I think that's a perfect way to describe it.

So up and over I go.

Graduate School

So here's the deal.  Since my current degree probably won't get me a good job--at least not in AZ--I figured that I'd go ahead and go to graduate school.  At this point it's only a thought, not 100% for sure.  But I'm torn between 3 programs that all have different career paths.  Here are the pros and cons of each.

Option A: MA in General English
This is a 36 credit hour program that would basically result in me having a more advanced version of the degree I have now.

PROS

• This is the subject matter in which I am genuinely interested; I LOVE English!
• Short program; I could finish it in 3 semesters easily.
• Would be advantageous in seeking a job in publishing or editing.
• As far as editing jobs go, most require experience; however a higher degree usually compensates for not having experience.
• Can be done completely online, so I could still work full time, and if I moved before I finished school it wouldn't be an issue.

CONS

• I don't actually know how useful this degree would be in job seeking or how I'd use it after I graduated.  Granted I could research that more while I was in school but it's risky.
• Acceptance into this program requires 3 letters of recommendation; as I didn't really stay in touch with any of my professors from my undergrad, those would be a challenge to get.
• I'm not sure if I need a higher degree to end up working in editing or publishing.  I can freelance edit for experience and references and work from there.
• What I really want to do is write creatively and I don't actually need a degree for that.

Option B: MA in Early Childhood Education

This program is 36 credit hours and . . . well, it's an education degree.  With it I'd be able to teach babies through . . . I think 2nd grade?

PROS

• This one has a very clear job plan and a very clear career path.  No question about how I'd use it after graduation or whether I'd use it.
• I could work anywhere in the country (because I'm not planning on staying in AZ forever).
• Offered online, so I could still work full time and location wouldn't be an issue.
• Short program; probably 3 semesters.
• Summers off.  I know that is a totally ridiculous thing to point out (especially if you're a teacher and are reading this) but honestly, working as a teacher would give me summers to focus on my writing, and I like that--because whatever I end up doing I still want to be a novelist.
• My first job ever was as a gymnastics instructor working with younger kids, and I know that if I go into education this is the age group I want to work with.
• Easy application process--no letters of rec or anything like that.

CONS

• I don't actually know if I want to be a teacher.  I've never been a huge fan of going into education, and I worry that I'm only doing it because I want a career of some kind, and that I'd hate it.

Option C: MA in Counseling

This is a 60 hour program and at the end of it, I could work as a LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor).

PROS

• Obviously this is something close to my heart.  As someone who deals with mental illness personally I would love more than anything to help others going through it.
• My own history would lend me empathy; I could relate to my clients/patients better.
• I could get a job anywhere.

CONS

• Despite my desire to help others with these issues, I almost feel like, I've spent so much time fixing myself, I don't know that I really want to spend the rest of my life fixing others.  Selfishly, I'd rather continue working on myself, if that makes sense.
• This is a long program.  I'd probably be in for three years.
• Not offered online.  I'd be locked into either Flagstaff, Tucson, or Phoenix.  This also means I wouldn't be able to work--at least not full time, anyway--while I was in school, and that's a little scary.
• I don't know what the admissions requirements are (because the NAU grad website is complete crap now).
• I would not be able to start until Fall 2013.

OK, I think that's everything!  If you know me, please give me advice, and even if you don't . . . I'd like advice from you too!  And after you read this, feel free to vote in the little poll on the right.

Again, like I said, I really am up in the air about all of these, and while advice and poll results won't be the absolute deciding factor, I would love love love some input from outside of my own mind. :)