How much to take on?

I've got an interesting dilemma. When I quit my previous job, I let friends and fam know I was looking. I had planned on the job hunt taking a long time - several months at least, and when a couple of friends asked if I'd be interested in some part-time editing work while I looked, I said "Sure!"

I imagined myself waking up, stretching, puttering, then heading out to a coffee shop and working for a couple of hours on the part-time stuff and doing my job-hunt stuff. It was going to be a leisurely and pleasant life for a while before I jumped back into the full-time fray, rested and ready to go with the throttle pushed back up.

Well, as you know by now, it didn't happen that way. Within a week of my last day at my previous job, I had landed a new job. I will be throttling back up in approximately one week. Not much in the way of leisurely coffee shop days, I'm afraid. Lost in the frenzy of interviews and offers was the part-time editing thing.

You see, I filled out the paperwork to do that job but then had trouble getting the email to return the paperwork to go through. It still hasn't, though the employer is still interested in me getting it to her. So, here's the question. Do I take the unexplained computer problem as a sign that I should let that go - tell the lady I've gotten something full time and let her search for someone else just looking for part-time work? Or should I send it in, let them make me an offer, and see if the part-time stuff might be doable in addition to my new full-time job?

I've had a part-time job for forever, but I've been weaning myself off of it for the last couple of years. I wanted more social time with my friends and was tired of working so much. As my salary got to a decent level, the money wasn't as much of an issue. On the other hand, this editing thing doesn't have set hours, so as long as the workload was low, I could do it at my convenience and still make extra money.

And while money is less of an issue, it isn't a NON-issue. What with being single, the entire burden of preparing for my future and retirement rests on my small shoulders, so every bit can help. Social Security won't exist for my generation (big thanks to the Baby Boomers who haven't bothered to prepare for their own retirement and will be sucking the meat from my paychecks in the next 30 years). And the government picks away the retirement savings I do set aside (I read something this morning about how the government tax structure means that almost all of the employer match on my 401k will be stolen away by the government in taxes). So, perhaps, a little part-time work on my own schedule wouldn't be bad to keep on tap.

I don't know, though. If it's too much, I don't want to do it. As I said before, I don't want to spend all of my waking life working. I want a life. So, what do you think I should do?