Artsy Accomplishments

Months ago I decided that I was going to take up painting, but like so many other things in my life I didn't really have time to enjoy this new found love of mine. However this evening I stayed home to finish what I had started... and three hours later TADA!!!! This photo is catching some weird glare... but believe me, up close and in person it would blow your socks off. I don't know exactly which art museum I am going to call first but I have envisioned it hanging next to American Gothic in Chicago perhaps. Or maybe my Mom would be nice enough to hang it up at her house. For some reason I feel strange hanging something that I painted up in my living room... like "HEY! Look What I did." Plus I think it doesn't give people a fair chance to hate it if they so choose to.

SO you might be saying to yourself... what in the world am I looking at? And like many abstract artists that have gone before me I will leave that up to your interpretation, however this piece has deep significance to me.

I think I am probably going to stare at if for a few more minutes and add a few more brush strokes for good measure... but I was just too excited that I had to BLOG it.

Silly Rabbit

SO today I got to thinking about my Time Management, and this imaged popped into my head.... Namely because a reference was made to it in one of the books I am reading called "The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands." Which I really like, because it cracks me up; in it Dr. Laura Schlessinger rips apart women for not taking better care of thier husbands. Chapter Two is called "The White Rabbit Syndrome." We all know the White Rabbit from Alice and Wonderland... he runs around like a crazy person carrying an oversize pocket watch and singing the following song:

I'm late! I'm late! For a very important Date.
No Time to say Hello! Goodbye!
I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!

This always kind of bothered me because how is it that he didn't have time to say hello to Alice but he sure had time to sing this little song. I mean he still could have been rushing but sincerely acknowledged her even if it was brief. In the book it talks about women being so busy with everythings else that they don't take time to have meaningful and intimate time with their husbands. (and I know you are probably thinking... "Tacy, Why are you reading this book?" and I will tell you although I am not currently married I take very serious that it will be a role I someday have... so that said, consider this a research project.)

To myself I was thinking, am I too busy singing the "I'm Late" song to have meaningful interactions with people. I think 95% of the time when people ask my how I'm doing, or what's new with me I talk about how busy I am. And I'm thinking to myself WHO CARES Tacy!!! Isn't everyone busy. I mean sometimes I feel like I spend way too much of my time complaining... do you see this vicious cycle, I am Wasting Time talking about being busy!!!!

So my new goal is when people ask me how I'm doing, or even if they need a favor I am not going to sing the I'm late/busy/tired/stressed/song.

ON another note I just learned this week (from the same book) that there is a condition called "Hurried Women Syndrome" a term coined by the medical community who listened to woman's complaints about their busy lifestyles. Sypmtoms include weight gain, moodiness and fatigue (sounds like PMS to me... but who knows I'm no doctor), due to the stress of putting too much on your plate... not accomplishing all of it and then feeling like junk becaue you "failed." So in connection with the above goal to not "sing the song" I am also trying to say no to more things... you should try it, it feels fabulous.

You don't know what you've got till it's gone

Although I am excited for my new life at college, I can't help but feel like there is a piece of me I left behind in downtown Minneapolis, on the ninth floor of the 510 Marquette building. I feel like I haven't had a chance to properly say good bye to all of those things that I am going to miss so much. So as part of my grieving process, here are my final farewells:

GOOD-BYE crooked name plate on the outside of my cubicle... that despite many different adhesive options I could never get to hang straight. And good-bye passersby who would constantly try to fix it... thank you for all your efforts.


GOOD-BYE bulletin board filled with fruit stickers, and Chinese fortunes. Most people felt the need to put important documents up for reference, but I had big goals to fill my whole bulletin board with STICKERS!!!!


GOOD-BYE desk drawer full of colorful sticky notes of passwords and secret things. GOOD-BYE to my pink, blue, green, orange, yellow and purple highlighters... sharpies, pens and all of my other favorite desk supplies.

GOOD-BYE reflective elevator ceiling that I used to look up and sneak in a little wink at myself.

GOOD-BYE to my smiling desk buddy Ryan, who also ended up quitting at about the same time I did.

GOOD-BYE Nhia... I miss seeing you everyday, and when we used to ride together to the U of M after work. However this isn't good-bye for good... we still have to have that big photo shoot!


GOOD-BYE e-mails from complete strangers who were thankful my completing something for them. Those delightful one to two work replies that somehow made the monotonous data entry that I did for 90% of my day. "THANK YOU!!" "YOU ROCK" "AWESOME JOB"

GOOD-BYE to all my bus buddies on the 25 to downtown.
GOOD-BYE 11th floor lunchroom and all of the crazy characters who hung out there.
GOOD-BYE fat fat paycheck that I loved so much. Luckily I saved many of them!

I will definitely miss it all, well except for the cranky brokers calling me to complain about their statements being wrong, oh... and I wont miss staring at my computer all day, or typing thousands of account numbers into the system each day.

Did you all ever have jobs you hated to leave?

Soggy Shoes

I'm a college student! Sara felt it completely necessary to take a picture of me on my way out the door for my big first day of school. I was really excited to start the school year, and also a little nervous... you know first day jitters.

It was a little cloudy out when I left, but in my excitement I left the house with out a rain jacket or umbrella. The bike ride takes about thirty minutes and I was only five minutes away from campus when I got caught in what I would like to refer to as Hurricane Buford (that's the street I was on when it happened). It was the kind of rain that fell sideways at like 20 miles per hour. It was raining straight into my eyeballs so I pinched them shut, barrelled down the final hill into campus hoping that no one would hit me. And then I looked down and my wet self and I began to laugh.

I continued to laugh as my soggy shoes sloshed down the halls of McNeal Hall, and I was imagining all of the other wet people who I would meet and how we could all be instant wet friends and have a good chuckle about this. However to my great dismay all of my classmates were already quietly waiting in class... BONE DRY. Everyone turned and looked and me as I made my way in searching for an available spot... I am sure some were wondering if I was a member of some sort of Fully Dressed Swimmers Association. Finally I found a spot and saw that the girl next to me looked at me a little shocked, to which I smiled and simply said, "It's raining outside."

It all wouldn't have been so terrible, however I had to be at campus for four more hours before I could come home and change. And I am not sure if you have ever been soaking wet in an air conditioned building, but I was so cold I considered starting a small fire with my text books for warmth.

On the bright side I am well known among my Nutrition peers... I have already had a couple people come up to me this week and ask, "Hey are you that girl who was soaking wet on the first day?" Ummmm ya that's me, just call me soggy shoes.