Catch 22

Okay. I've been looking into what it will take to get all of my continuing education units necessary to maintain my licence and certification as a speech-language pathologist. I need 30 CEU's by Dec. 31, 2009. That means roughly 300 hours of work, or 6 hours per week for 50 weeks. That's a lot! So I found out from the certification people that if I do not work as an SLP during the period of Jan. 1, 2007 through Dec. 31, 2009 (which I haven't so far), I can apply for inactive status. This would mean that for the first year I return to work, I will be required to earn 10 CEU's to make up for the inactive period. But that's more like 2 hours a week instead of 6. Plus I would be making some money then to help cover costs of acquiring CEU's. They can be very expensive (for example, an upcoming workshop being held in Raleigh for SLP's for .6 CEU's would cost close to $300). Fortunately, there are free CEU opportunities through private companies that I can earn online. There are similar online courses I can take for low-costs as well. So here's my dilemma: do I wait to go back to work (as an SLP) until after Dec. 31, 2009 so that I don't have to earn 30 CEU's in just over one year? Or do I go back to work when the time is right, and get started earning CEU's so I can meet my requirement by the deadline? One thing is for certain. Given my lifestyle right now, there is no way I can complete all the online courses needed in blocks of time here at my home computer desk. I will need a laptop with wireless access so I can take it with me to places like dance class, preschool, vacations, my parents' house, (probably not the grocery store), etc. and work on it whenever I get the chance. Plus James and I could both access the internet at the same time at home. I guess I've got to do some research to see what it would take to get properly equipped and how much it would cost. Anyone have a good lead on a cheap basic laptop that could download photos and email attachments and provide access to the internet with wireless capability? I guess it won't hurt anything to begin acquiring those free CEU's right away. Even if I end up not needing them because I don't go back to work for another year. Sometimes the system is really screwed up.