Yikes! Apply for a Job?

It is 2005. I have applied for two fundraising jobs, one at RISD and another at Brown. The RISD position is approximately appropriate. It will depend upon who interviews me and who I would work with, but it might prove a good fit. The Brown position is well beneath what I would normally apply for, but what is normal? It might be a way for me to get into the workforce and into the department. Over the years I have noticed there has been considerable transition in the development office at Brown, so it might not be such a bad idea to try entering in a less visible place at first, be the short guy in the foxhole, and just look around. I have been out of the job force for so long that my references are more or less all gone. It is not going to be easy, finding something that is right. It is going to make a huge difference, when all is said and done. I feel like I am not only a "Mr. Mom" but like a homemaker, who after being outside the job force, is finally trying to enter the work force, insecure, prepared to hear age discrimination and insensitive comments about being "overqualified" and "not quite right for us at this time." Forward, Sir Charles. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!