madameblogalot

feelings of inadequacy
always looming before me
inside my mind replaying
lessons lost or mistaught
under pressure every moment
remembering all done wrong
every thought casting guilt

With a sister living overseas, traveling abroad has become something I desire. We have been blessed to make a trip to see her four times. We were hoping to go again this year, but it just did not work out. Traveling to somewhere “exotic” is really thrilling. We loved our visits there so much that we have even considered living there for an extended amount of time. My husband could do ministry work and I could help out doing something, maybe even teaching English.

I learned about several programs that help prepare people to teach English overseas. I think it would be exciting and scary at the same time! I do think that it would be an excellent opportunity for my son when he becomes a college student. He has the right personality for it.

The program I looked at today has year long teaching positions in several global locations including Asia, Europe and Latin America. If you cannot commit to a year, then there are some locations that allow a six month stay. If that seems too long, they also offer a shorter volunteer program in which you Teach English in Thailand, Cambodia or Vietnam. This allows you to get a taste of the life and see if it is a commitment you want to make.

You can get the training and certification you need to teach English overseas. You get job placement or assistance. You do have to pay for the program itself as well as travel expenses, food, entertainment and other living expenses. You are expected to fulfill all commitments and act in a professional manner.

Learning to be a citizen of the world and helping our neighbors across the globe is in high demand these days. It seems as if people of any age could benefit from such an endeavor. All in all it sounds like a fantastic opportunity!

Today was my first parent/teacher phone conference with my daughter’s homeroom teacher. As she is attending a virtual school, we have never met the teachers. I have known for at least a week about the phone conference today, so I was ready for it. Or so I thought. The questions were fine, mostly she was just getting to know my daughter and her preferences and learning style. However, my phone started beeping at me during the conversation, letting me know it was about to die. I told the teacher that it was about to die and was about to plug it in to the charger when it did die! Right in the middle of the interview! I was very embarrassed! What a bad first impression. When we did reconnect, after a couple of tries, I did apologize and she was gracious about it. Still, I was very embarrassed!

There is lots going on around me. Lots of interesting topics being brought up. Some interesting ideas in books and movies even. And lots of life swirling on around me. In the midst of it however, I am completely drawing a blank on finding things to post on the blog. Even with life passing me by on all sides, it seems as if I am at a standstill for the moment, bored in a way (though bored is not the right sentiment at all), and not really having many thoughts to link together…

When fall is in the air, many people are not quite thinking of Christmas yet. But this can be a great time to order your holiday cards. First of all with the kids back in school, you can have a little quiet time to yourself on the computer, allowing you to make the perfect selection. You can spend time searching the wide variety of cards offered. There are Halloween, Christmas, religious, Hanukkah, and New Year’s cards from which to choose. There are cards available for many other holidays as well. And right now is a great time to order these. You can find 55% off through September! That’s another gift to yourself!

My daughter got her rough draft back from her fist assignment. She did really well! She got the 15/15 points with some good comments from her teacher: “Beautifully done! Great story! It was a joy to read.” She was very happy about that! The only editing comment the teacher made was to say that my daughter should have written “my brother and me” instead of “me and my brother”. My daughter knew that and wished she had not made a “stupid mistake”! I told her that after all, it is a rough draft!

In this day and age, nearly everyone needs to have good computer skills. My kids started early “playing” on the computer. I remember my daughter at age two and three sitting on my lap playing computer games. I thought then about getting her one of those large pre-school friendly mouses, but then thought that if she could use a mouse at age three, then she would be doing good!

She’s always been really computer savvy and never afraid to try new things. She even spends her free time on a Nancy Drew site making “scripts” using html codes! Whenever we see commercials for computer training and computer jobs, I think of her. There are tons of schools around here where she could train for a future career, or she may even use some type of online computer training to propel her to where she needs to be. I would not be surprised if she ended up doing some kind of computer job in her future.

My daughter submitted her first written rough draft to her online school today. It was rather stressful for her as the rough draft had to be typed, have things in proper order, voice, and person. It also had to have proper spellings throughout the piece. It was a very polished rough draft she sent in!

When I have trouble with something and need customer assistance, or if I am placing an order for something, I like to make sure I can talk to a real live person. If I have to go through lots of button pushing or leaving messages at the tone, I am not very likely to want to deal with whatever I had planned on taking care of. I think it is important and easier to take care of any situation if you can talk to a live person to help you out. Of course, I think that person must be able to help you or quickly connect you with one who can. So when it comes to dealing with businesses, I think even one which uses a remote answering service is better and easier to deal with than one which uses an automated system.

At Receptionist.org, they provide small to medium sized businesses with just such a tool. Because many of these businesses are having to down size and can no longer afford to keep full time staff such as receptionists, this remote answering service can be just the tool these businesses need to maintain customer service and communication.

The site, whose home office is in South Carolina with the remote site located in the Philippines, is user friendly and full of information on how to implement a remote site receptionist. Find out the advantages of hiring a remote answering service. Learn about the tips and trends in this way of conducting business. There is a blog full of information and an additional support community. You can find out about pricing and even get a free quote. You can get a free thirty day trial starting with 200 minutes.

Although an on site receptionist may be the best/ideal situation, many businesses are finding themselves in less than ideal circumstances. Remote Answering Services provides another option.

Better late than never! Here is my August Hit or Miss list:

The Bible of Clay: I started this book earlier this year and had a hard time staying in it. When I finally tackled it this summer, I did not do much back reading. Once I had the time to devote to reading it regularly, I really enjoyed the book. It is told in flashback as well as current time and involves twists and mystery. The story was good and I looked forward to reading it every day. I enjoyed it up to the last page or two. I did not like the ending as it left everything open, though I guess I can see why the author did it that way. Overall though, I would rate it as a HIT.

Phantom of the Opera, the movie: Since my daughter and I wanted to see the play again, when I saw this DVD at the store, I snatched it up. We watched it that night. We both really enjoyed it. It helped us to get the stage story a bit more. My daughter said the phantom in the film sings better than the phantom on the stage, so she liked it better. The music was great! We both called this a HIT.

Knowing: My son picked out this sci-fi thriller. I was a bit skeptical and as we watched through it; there were some pretty intense and creepy parts. My daughter ended up leaving before the show was over. The show brought out some really great themes and prompted great discussion afterward. We all (except for my daughter) called this one a HIT for the story, the acting and the special effects. We also enjoyed watching the special features on the DVD.

Third Coast Comedy: You can see my thoughts on this local improv show in previous posts. This was a HIT for all of us!

Bank on Yourself: This book was given to us by our college planning advisor. I did not read the entire book, I skipped most of the personal stories in the middle of the book as I did not feel like they applied to me. Perhaps this book was neither a HIT or MISS for me as it presents an interesting concept in how to save and recapture all the money you spend yet I am not sure how to implement it yet. Basically it is good for those who are willing and able to make monthly payments on items. We don’t nor can we afford to, so as of right now the information is not helpful. Perhaps one day…