Glad to hear that, askye!

That's great, askye!

Nice living room, Scrappy!

Jessica, the restaurant is really a viable thing if you can find investors. But, speaking as someone who has worked in a small private eatery for the last almost three years, you would really need to identify why the restaurant is failing now, and how you would change that.

Plus, what everyone else said about crazy hours, etc. That said, there's a lot of joy to be had in creating a space where people love to come and eat, and you develop a lot of really awesome relationships with regular customers.

Jessica, the restaurant is really a viable thing if you can find investors. But, speaking as someone who has worked in a small private eatery for the last almost three years, you would really need to identify why the restaurant is failing now, and how you would change that.

So Much this. The restaurant I'm at right now is losing money because it's big (like a city block long), and it's set up to be a dinner house. The current dining trend is away from old-school white tablecloth, especially for lunches, and so our business is suffering. There's not much that can be done about it except trimming shifts to the bone.

Jess, take the severance package. You won't get any happier by waiting it out.

I'm in the same boat, including the need to figure out what I would do besides what I do now.

I'm going to buck the trend, and tell you if one of your goals is to spend time with your kids, stay the hell away from owning a restaurant. My father was never around--he woke up after we went to school and came home long after we were in bed. We got Sunday mornings with him, because the pizza shop didn't open up until 4. When we got our liquor license, we started opening at 11 on Sundays and that was the end of that. He was late or absent for games, dance recitals, doctors' appointments, and anything else that you could think of. It has given us a great life and in January we'll have been in business for 37 years, but it has also taken away a lot. My dad is still up there every day at age 78, my sister is physically falling apart and doesn't get a day off now because we can't find people who want to work, and even though I managed to avoid getting sucked in full-time, I still get the call to help when employees don't show. I run the social media and handle the website because I'm the only one that has time to do it (I really don't, but what am I going to do?), and I fear making weekend plans in case I have to cancel. Instead of handing out candy tomorrow night, I'll be working at the shop. We get slammed on trick or treat night, no matter what.

If we want to eat together as a family, we have to eat at the restaurant. My sister is constantly crunching numbers because the price of ingredients is skyrocketing, but we can't raise the prices too high or we'll lose business. We've been robbed five times, twice at gunpoint.

On the good side, we've made some wonderful friends and our customers are usually awesome. We're into our second generation (and a few third) generation of customers from the same family. We've been part of the lucky few that have made a successful go of it. For a long time, it was truly a family affair because all four of us helped out. Even when we were at odds, it was fun. We could never leave work at work though, and it has made for tense moments outside of the restaurant that frayed family ties.

I'm in the same boat, including the need to figure out what I would do besides what I do now.

Buffistas Inc. Our products are high-end luxury snark, virtual smiting of enemies, and wise advice.

Glam, what size shoe do you wear? I may have a pair I never ever wear (...I really need to dig everything out of my closet and remember what I own and should wear, also)

Am I a snob if I think I'd be giving up something important by looking for something that's just a *job* and not a career? Why, at age 39, am I still completely blank about what I want to be when I grow up? If I went back to school, would that help, or would that just make me 20 years older than everyone else I'd be competing with when I got out? What would I even go back to school for? Am I having a completely normal midlife crisis, and should I just wait it out?

I was in the same position, having the same worries at your age (lololol - like I'm a granny now at 47). I think it's normal to get to mid-career and feel this way. Take your money and look around. I would say I'm more in a "job" than a "career" right now and I'm good with it. I make decent money, have low stress, and enough time for my family. You have a great job background and will land somewhere that works for you. Just keep on looking until you get there. I landed in a few jobs that were meh, but kept my eyes open until the right opportunity popped up. Wishing you quick success!

I recently came to the realization that I would Have idea about Step 1 or Step 2 and need to skip right to profit.

I want to be retired. My parents' lifestyle is GREAT.

Buffistas Inc. Our products are high-end luxury snark, virtual smiting of enemies, and wise advice.

Seriously, though, with our collective brain and creativity, it seems like there should be some kind of business we could open.

And Maria makes great points about restaurant life. It really depends what kind of restaurant it is, and what kind of hours you would be expected to keep. But it's also really hard to keep up with rising costs and staffing, etc.

::hugs Maria, just because::

I would also like to be retired, and devote my days to writing and reading, between bouts of tea drinking and cake sampling.

I kind of feel like I'm getting too tired or in too much pain to really do my job well, but I can still do a half-assed job of it, so I'm not at the point of "I can't work anymore" and probably won't be there for years, but I definitely do feel like I'm not really doing as well at teaching as I should be or as I could be. And I'm just exhausted by the end of the day and on the weekends. I am feeling somewhat better since getting my wheelchair, though -- not quite as tired or in pain as I had been before.

I wish that tutoring was a viable career. I like working with kids one-on-one so much better than teaching in a classroom, and I know that I'm better at it, too, but even if I was able to build up a private practice with rich kids whose parents can pay a lot, that still leaves health insurance as the big question. The university health insurance is fabulous -- in the two and a half years that I've been here, they've denied exactly one claim, and it was for a topical pain relief cream that just cost me $25 out of pocket (and barely worked, anyway.)