I do have some interesting skills, I just don't know how to put them together yet.
I type at least 50 wpm, I've taken several tests to prove it. I'm quite good at spelling and rarely even need to do spell check. I taught myself Adobe Photoshop when I was 13 and can do web graphics and some HTML/CSS coding. I'm a little rusty at the coding but it comes back to me pretty easily when I use it more often. I'm good at writing and proof-reading, I know Microsoft Word and Powerpoint. I have good organizational skills.
The problem is filling in the gaps. I don't remember how to use Excel, at least not the newer versions, definitely not formulas. I don't know the rest of the Adobe Suite such as Illustrator and I'm not good with a graphics tablet and pretty awful at drawing anything realistic, I'm more of a flourish and doodles type person. I don't know how to use InDesign at all and I really wish I did because visually I can do page layouts, I just don't know the technical aspects. This is where going back to school would really help me, if I could.
The biggest problem is less to do with me being patient but more to do with my husband and his side of the family staying patient with me. I've known my husband for 4 1/2 years and I had been out of a job for 2 or 3 years already by the time I met him. He just thinks of me as lazy mostly because he's never really seen me work. I did volunteer for a few months during the fall last year and he saw that but it's not enough for him because it didn't pay. Right now I'm trying to be the best housewife I can be for the time being, I cook and clean and try to keep busy around the house. I've babysat his relatives but they don't pay me so I only do it when they absolutely need me, I told my BIL and SIL they cannot just drop their son (who is 13, mind you) at our house and expect us to watch him at the drop of a hat. Anyway I think you get the idea. I'm going to have to try to get myself more well-known around here and I'm thinking maybe volunteering some more someplace else might not be a bad idea to start.
I did have my own business selling digital scrapbooking kits I designed online. I barely made more than about 8 bucks a MONTH and after doing it for 2 years I finally decided to call it quits because my husband just saw it as me sitting around and playing and barely making any money for all the efford. I did have people advertising for me and I did self-promote as well but most designers in that field barely make anything, at least not enough to support a household. I thought of putting it on my resume but I'm not sure of how it would look. My resume looks good right now but it basically looks like a crazy quilt or something: a few months at a credit union as a file clerk, a few months as a student worker in an office, a few more months as a student worker at a library, many years of being a catering assistant, and volunteering as a cashier and shopkeeper at a used clothing store. *shrug* I'd rather not put the JW stuff down because then I would have to explain myself too much and I don't like talking about it with people face to face. I'd rather let the past stay in the past and move on with my life, you know?
Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it everyone.
