This Is How We Do It

Last Friday, after my last day at work, Amy and I went out and about in Asheville. We started at a wine bar and ate some appetizers and laughed and talked and also exchanged presents. You saw what I gave her on my post last Friday, but do you know what she gave me? A bag of socks.

At work I often wore black dress pants. Unfortunately, I didn't own any black socks, so I would regularly be wearing dark socks that just didn't quite match. Such as navy, or brown, or grey. Amy used to kid me that she would buy me black socks, but I would always say, "I'm never wearing black socks once I get out of this job, or any other ugly socks, either, so don't bother." So when I opened the gift from her I was very happy to see four pairs of bright, lively, happy, striped socks.

This picture is pretty much a representation of how I'm going to do things now that I am working from home:


Notice the old, ratty slippers. I don't have to wear shoes if I don't feel like it. Then notice the knee-high orange and red striped socks. Amy was worried I wouldn't want socks that went up so high, but I'm all for them. And of course, as always, my blue reindeer pajamas will be worn when I am at home. Not everyone working from home can hope to be so classy. By the way, I don't usually wear the pajamas rolled up to my knees, that was just so you could see my socks.

In other news, last night Mom and I went to see the Downtown Waynesville Christmas Parade. There is just something fun about the kind of hometown-parade you see here that you just don't see in the big cities.

For instance, this parade was mostly a series of advertisements for county officials, churches, local companies that sell golf carts or motorcycles, dance studios, etc. Most displays either involved a giant truck with some lights strung on it with a sign about who was riding inside or in some cases, kids from a dance troupe doing a little performance, or the high school marching band coming through playing a Christmas song. My favorite though, was the float that was made up of a Port-O-Potty covered in lights being pushed by a little motorized cart that had some sort of lit up animated figure waving from it...I couldn't tell what the figure was supposed to be...but it was brown. Who puts a portable toilet in a Christmas parade??? Who cares??? It was great.

Today I am going to visit a former co-worker and her young son. Now she can just be my friend, I'm not her boss anymore! I'm also going to a guided meditation tonight with another former co-worker, I am hoping a guided meditation will stimulate my desire to meditate at home. I'm currently reading Eat, Pray, Love, and the author, Elizabeth Gilbert, talks about the way she struggled with meditation but over time how she was able to sink into it. Of course, she spent four months at an Ashram in India, studying under a Guru, and I'm spending who knows how long at my house in North Carolina, studying under two cats, but hey, it could work for me.

Time to take a shower and prepare for another day of Just Living Life.

Unemployment Shunemployment

Three people have already asked me today how how I like being at home instead of at work. No, four, actually.

Sometimes I answer while jumping up and down with my arms above my head, sometimes while doing an Irish Jib, and sometimes I answer with a simple, giant smile on my face, but I always say, "I LOVE IT!!!!!"

I don't say all the exclamation points, but I think the people asking me understand my enthusiasm.

Last night I poked Anthony until he looked at me and then I said, "Look, it's a Sunday night and I'm smiling!"

This morning I got up and immediately went to the computer and started writing an essay to submit to Skirt! magazine and now, less than 7 hours later, I've already completed it, had my mom edit it, and sent it off. I love the Internet. I love writing! I am seriously cheating on my first creative love, visual art, but I just don't care.

I also had a life coaching session this morning and we ironed out a few goals for me to work on. My coach talked to me about self-publishing, which she has experience with, and about some reading I can do about creating multiple streams of income when I become a coach. I was hoping my multiple streams of income would be writing, life coaching, baking cookies, petting my cats, and napping, but hey, I'm open to other ideas.

I cannot express how strongly I know this was the right thing for me. I simply do not care that the economy is in the toilet - all I can do is live this life in a way that feels satisfying to my soul, and right now, this is the way.

The End! Free At Last! It's Over! I'm Done!

In case you couldn't figure it out from the title of this post, I'm done with my job! I spent 11 months there and tried my hardest to make it fit, but I just couldn't ignore my own intuition. I made it, I left my position on good terms, my boss took me out to lunch one last time today, all is well.
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Although I'm starting to have to try harder to ignore how scary this really is, I have never once regretted putting in my notice and deciding to start this new life. I am going to try to make a living doing what I really want to do, which includes the things that make me feel alive and excited when I even think about doing them!
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One thing I will truly miss about my job is getting to see Amy so much. Tonight she's taking me out for wine and appetizers and we're going to exchange presents. Amy refers to them as "Go Away" presents, which is fine with me. The reason I'm posting this so late in the day is that I don't want her to see what I made for her before she actually opens her presents:

This present is the most awesome, I think. It's a folder full of activities - I made her one activity for each week for the next six months! This is a word search for her to complete around her birthday:


This is a crossword puzzle about...nothing in particular. I'm not good at having a theme like the NY Crossword people. Maybe in my next life!

Here is a snowflake word search:

I also made quizzes, drawing assignments, and lots of other stuff that wouldn't photograph well.

This is her next present:

Remember when I made this and she asked me to give it to her, framed? For once her wish came true and I did something she wanted me to.

This was her last request:


Peanut butter cookies! These were fun to make and I always enjoy cooking for loved ones. She falls into that category for sure.

I'm going to sign off now, and when I'm back on Monday I'll be starting my first official "work" day in my new life. I have a life coach appointment set up to touch on my career goals and I hope to read, write, make art, pet my cats, nap, and stay calm about the fact that I have no income!

I'm so happy!

So Much Time

Yesterday, while I was training my replacement, I drew this. Yes, I had that much time.


He was actually working on compiling a big monthly report that I used to have to do, so I mostly was just sitting a few feet away from him, laughing silently to myself about his misfortune, while also being available to answer questions from him if necessary. It was only necessary a couple of times, so instead I poured myself into this project.

Well, that is until I took a break for the hour and 45 minute lunch I took with Amy! She asked our boss if we could take a long lunch since I'm leaving and our boss agreed. It was wonderful, we discussed my fears about my future, the ways she can help me with PR and my website in the future, how I won't have to wear any pants once I'm in my future job.

I was also fantasizing about the fact that my ultimate goal is to be permanently self-employed. Along with all the scary stuff about that idea, like having to pay for my own health insurance, being responsible for paying all of my own social security, having to come up with a way to make enough money to live, and no longer having access to free donuts, there are some absolutely wonderful things to look forward to. Like hour and 45 minute lunches any time I feel like it!

Today is my second-to-last-day and believe me, I am ready for the end. I've been trying to ignore all of my fears so far, since I know they won't do me any good. We'll see how long I can continue to ignore them once I'm on my own...

Other Bored People

Did you know other people exist who are bored, too? Also at my place of employment? I thought it was just me.

We currently have a number of decorated Christmas trees (and a Menorah) on display at work. Unfortunately, due to the economic downturn many of the trees were not sponsored and decorated this year, leaving a few empty ones.

Amy, who was in charge of coordinating the sponsors and getting the trees decorated, called me this morning and said "come down to the front entrance and bring your phone". She wanted me to take a picture of this:

The very bored employees of that work across from this tree decided to decorate it with what they had available: luggage tags, overweight luggage tags, baggage tape, and some really randomly-placed paper accessories that may have been made by heavily medicated preschool-aged children, by the looks of them. Here is a closeup of one of the "ornaments":

I'm very impressed by both their ingenuity and creativity. And like I said, their boredom.

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I'm also impressed that none of the people who work in the airport have committed suicide, or at the very least punctured their ear drums with a ball point pen, because the Christmas music that is playing is the most awful Christmas music ever recorded. Seriously, listening to the Alvin and Chipmunks Christmas album would be more pleasant than this canned-saccharine-sweet-pop crap.

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Thank goodness I only have two days left after today!!!

Training Day

You know that movie Training Day? The one where the rookie cop gets set up as a fall guy in a drug deal type thing by the guy training him and he (the guy training him, who is also the bad guy) ends up dead at the end? That's pretty much how my first day training my replacement went.

Okay, things were a teensy bit different, I guess. After all, I'm still alive. And as far as I know, I didn't try to get my replacement to do anything illegal today.

It was actually a really good day at work for me, because I was busy! Believe it or not, I really like having something to do; the only reason I turn to office supply art for entertainment is because I am usually bored out of my skull. My replacement is a guy, a couple years older than me, who is funny and likeable. He even agreed to go along with me telling my boss that the only thing I trained him to do so far was paint my toenails when she asked me what I was working on during our weekly marketing meeting. He also does a cool robot voice.

My day is also going well because I thought of a new book idea. I love it when creativity strikes, and although I have had many other ideas crop up since my last completed book, Office Supply Art: How to Not Die of Boredom and Lack of Creativity at Your Lame 9 to 5, this one feels like it might actually be written and completed by me. You know, as opposed to me bribing one of my cats to write it.

Because I haven't made any art or showed anything to you lately, check this out:


Remember how Anthony made all those mirror window things? This is ours to keep. He even put the anniversary card I made him and the sparkle/paint chip art I made in the mirror for display! And here's an entertaining picture of him with a sculpture when we went to Chattanooga:

We don't know who put the hoodie on the sculpture, it was there when we got there. Uh oh, my potatoes are beeping...you know what the means.

Work?

I hope today, which was a day off for me, is not representative of how I'll spend my days once I'm finished with work this Friday. Even though I'm not going to be working in an office, I expect myself to be working towards my goals of being a writer, artist, and life coach (and whatever else I decide to be) most days of the week, hopefully Monday through Friday.

Today there were a few bits and pieces of things I did that qualify as "work". I jotted down a few lines for a column, read quite a bit of a book related to finding my right life, did some homework assigned to me by my life coach, Barbara. I also took a nap and ran errands and am about to go for a walk at the lake (a cold walk, it's snowing here!) with my sweetheart.

I don't want to pressure myself to be any certain way once I have my days to myself, but I do want to stay focused and not spend my time off lounging around eating bonbons and watching daytime TV, because that is certainly not going to foster any grand career for me. Well, maybe if I did it wearing an elf outfit and posted it to Youtube? Something to think about.

I'm not sure how much office supply art I'll get to create once I'm back at work tomorrow, I'll be training the new person who is replacing me and somehow I don't think I should be training him to do things the way I did...namely staring off into space and drawing trees and making collages and reading. I'll post when I can, and maybe I can slip in some office supply art without my replacement noticing I'm doing it!

Time to get bundled up for my outdoor adventure...