Adventures in Unemployment

I am one of the many (9.8% of Americans - only counting people "in the system" of course) who are unemployed.

I am one of the few who doesn't want to run out and get a job. Instead, I'm taking the get my derriere to school and train for a new career route, in the hopes that things will be picking up enough that I'll actually be able to get a job when I get my A.A.S. and Certifications in a couple years.

How I'm going to pay bills in the meantime? Well, that's an unknown. I have a severance package, and I qualify for unemployment, and for the time I am actively in school I'll get a very small stipend, but it will barely be a drop in the bucket of what I was making.

So, maybe I'll try to build this up. Is there much of a market for people reading about a 36 (next week) year old with two kids who is becoming a full time student again?

Of course, I can always learn how to sling beer and try to become a bartender. :)

Does anyone else have any ideas for me?