Thank you to all the readers this year who have helped make this blog worth writing.  I know my posts have been less than in past years but I expect if you know what’s taken place in my life you’ll know that’s not unexpected. I’m hoping to pick things up for the new year.  In the meantime, read on, I have something special for you – or for your kids.

At this time of year we think about our kids and what will delight them, surprise them, and make them happy.

I recently became aware of a great service that shows a photo of Santa in your own home – so your kids can see he really did visit!

It’s called I Caught Santa. The site allows users to upload a picture of their Christmas scene and add a Santa Claus that looks like he was “caught” in the act, in “their” house. Imagine the look of wonder and surprise when a child gets a picture of Santa caught in their house. Parents can also share their photo online, print it at home, or send it to a store for processing. Why not pop over there right now?

Picture this scene.

You’re busy concentrating on something in the office or perhaps having a conversation with someone, but only half concentrating as you’re dialling a phone number to make a call.  The phone rings a couple of times, it’s answered and you finish the conversation you were having with the other person, or perhaps finish your train of thinking and then realise that there is a beep and you were listening (well, only half listening) to a voicemail message.  You leave your message and hang up.

A couple of days pass and you realise that person hasn’t returned your call.  How rude.  So you shoot them an email (or DM them via Twitter) and ask them if they got your message?

Their response is they didn’t.  The person you were calling checks their phone logs or voicemail and there is no message from you.  What did actually happen?

Chances are you rang a wrong or old number but because you weren’t listening to what took place at the other end after it stopped ringing you can’t even be sure who was on the voicemail message or if it was a blanket recorded message used by Telco services.

Ever happened to you?  mmm, thought so. I believe this happens to too many people and it’s a sign of busy-ness and trying to get several things done at once. Trouble is we end up causing delays for ourselves simply because we weren’t paying attention at the time we made the original call.

So, what are you going to do on your next phone call?  Listen did you say?  Thought so.

We often read about how someone starts out with a hobby and because they do that thing so well, others ask for help or assistance in that area and before they know it, that person suddenly has a business developing they hadn’t planned on.

In some respects that has happened to me.  I’ve adopted and explored things that clients asked me about in my Virtual Assistant business, and then became so absorbed by those things that they became activities outside of my business (such as blogging and social networking) and eventually they became new arms to my business and services I could provide for others because I had honed the skills needed.

My latest passion is photography.  Actually it’s been a passion for most of my life, since my early teens. I was always snapping pics of anything and everything.  As my own family grew up I recorded their lives and events which we have in albums or on the computer and stored away.  My husband tells me that if it hadn’t been for me, we wouldn’t have many family photos and that is most likely true.  But I’d never taken it much further than that.

Last January I shared how my husband gave me a new camera for Christmas and I was sharing some of those pics on my photoblog at that time. Well, I’ve taken it much further now and joined a couple of forums online (best way to learn is to mix and mingle with others who have the same interests) and also joined a local photographic society.  I’ve also signed up for a course and a photographic expedition coming up very soon.

My photoblog (pictured below) has now got a brand new look and is hosted on my server, with new pics being loaded on a daily basis.  I’m even entertaining thoughts of taking this passion much further and exploring possibilities as my knowledge increases and my photos improve.  Last weekend I was at a mountain bike race in Mt Beauty and took over 700 photos!  I won’t be publishing all of those online but you can see some here.

I have a sister going through a life challenge at the moment and I was thinking back to a time when I thought that my life was coming to an end too – not physically, but emotionally.  I didn’t know where I was headed.  I want to share with you the thoughts I shared with my sister, in the hope that it might encourage some of you too.

Late 1993/early 1994 before I began my business I worked for a pig of a man named George. He  had no respect for women.  I was engaged to be his Personal Assistant, set up his new office, help buy furniture and equipment and establish the business. He’d been flown over from another state by ‘daddy’ to establish an Eastern seaboard branch of their family business.

My thoughts were I would get 2 years experience in small business before branching out on my own but a few short months with George stripped me of all my confidence and I thought my abilities too. He was rude, demanding, lied, and was horrible. I’d drive into the car garage beneath the office building holding my breath till I could see if his car was there and then start breathing again when it wasn’t.  He’d accuse me of losing papers that I would find on his desk in a tray where I’d put them – he never apologised.  I was often in tears.

His wife was obviously terrified of him and I asked her one day why she put up with him. She was scared he would hear me – we only had a glass wall between our offices.  I ended up going to the doctor because I had all sorts of health problems and in the end the doc said to me ‘put up with it, or leave the job’.  So I decided to leave but when I went to give my notice the following day George told me that it wasn’t working out and he’d give me time to find another job. I told him fine, I’m leaving at the end of the week, I’ve got another job.  He was totally surprised. My new job?  My business.  I decided it was now or never and I’m glad I did.  I still wasn’t sure what or how it was going to happen but I decided that I didn’t want to find another job – I had to make my business work.

5 months later I bumped into a lady in an office downstairs from George’s and she asked me what we used to do all day?  I asked her why and she says there’s always yelling and screaming and George had gone through 5 more secretaries after me.  And here I was thinking that I’d not given it enough time to settle. He’d gone through 5 secretaries in 5 months – the amount of time I’d stuck it out with him. Do you think that lifted my spirits?

Use this time as a recovery time and a time for really exploring what you want to do with your life. What are your passions and dreams? What turns on a hot button for you? Is there something you’ve always wanted to do since you were a kid (doesn’t matter if there isn’t but it’s worth going back there to explore).

What I am doing today I have wanted to do all my life.  I didn’t know what exactly or how, but I always knew I wanted to run a business of my own.  I always knew I wanted control and didn’t want to have to answer to others.  I always knew I wanted to write. I just didn’t know what about, when or how. But it’s all come together.

Allow yourself to explore, dream, think, dare – let yourself and your mind go to places you haven’t allowed yourself for a long time.  You may find passions there to reignite and from that, new dreams and aspirations.  You may find you will gain new strength and courage and be able to  move forward and look forward to things again.

If you are going through ‘stuff’ right now and can’t see a future or can’t see a light at the end of your tunnel, then take heart. We all go through it and I do mean ‘through it’. There is an end where the light comes back on, the tunnel ends and you can start to see a hope and a future again.

Sometimes it’s those dark tunnels that really help us to turn corners in our lives and even though we don’t feel it at the time, it is often a time of real learning – about ourselves and about others.

I pray and hope that you will be encouraged to spend time thinking and exploring so you can move forward again – and I would love to hear about it!

lack of confidence, dark tunnel, self-confidence, life challenge

My husband spoilt me with a a brand new Digital SLR Camera for Christmas. It’s a Nikon D90 and takes lots of photos in quick succession (up to 100 which it buffers then saves to the memory card) so it now means I can take action shots without having to wait for my camera to catch up with me and be ready.  I found that most frustrating when out at Mountain Bike Races with my husband.

Anyway, I have a photo blog so I won’t post many photos here, but thought I’d share a small number with you, to give you some idea of what I’ve been doing.  If you click on the image below you’ll see an album of shots I have loaded at Facebook. This picture is of Shadow, one of our cats. Amazing what you find in the garden, isn’t it?

I’m thinking I might print some of these and frame them or see if I can put them on items such as mugs, cards, posters and such and sell them. What do you think?

Photography is something I’ve always enjoyed and I used to belong to a club many years ago – before I started my business.  I’m hoping to pick it up again soon.  As our children fly the coop and Graham and I become ‘empty nesters’ I find I want to spend more time outside and in the country.  And my new camera will become my constant companion – after all I have to show hubby just how much I appreciate his gift to me, don’t I?

“Your Home Business” profiles home based businesses that have been in operation long-term. It came out just this week.  Published by Switzer Media & Publishing, I was approached a couple of months ago asking for an interview as I’d been in business for almost 15 years, from a homebased office. I was delighted. Any opportunity to promote the Virtual Assistant industry is always welcome.  And I love that the VA industry has allowed me to work at home now for almost 15 years (in March) so I could be present for our family as they grew up.   A decision I’m always glad I made.

Below is the front cover and my article starts on page 56.  The magazine is available around the country by various newsagents.  They also have an educational website called BizThinkTank worth visiting.

Last week on my Virtual Assistant blog I wrote about the support VA communities provide through their forums.  Ironic because only one day later our darling Miriam, aged 24, died whilst her father and I were away in the country.  We rushed back home as soon as we heard.

I’m not yet ready to resurface to all the forums through LinkedIn, the VA communities and elsewhere. We have family with us from around the country and they’ll stay on for a few more days after Mirri’s funeral which will take place next Monday here in Melbourne, Australia. But I did want to let everyone know how much we’ve appreciated their prayers, emails of support, phone calls, cards, gifts and flowers from all over the world.  You have overwhelmed me with your love and support and if ever I was in doubt of just how many people really connected and cared through internet forums and groups, I’m in doubt no longer.

Miriam was my stepdaughter and had been in my life since she was 5 years old. She was a big part of my life and she leaves a big hole.  She was so vibrant, full of energy, lived life to the full, always pushed the limits – she was our tomboy who followed her dad around everywhere. She was his mate and they rode their mountain bikes together and did so much together.  It will be a long time before the pain and ache begins to subside.

I’ve spent the past few days scanning over 100 photos of Miriam and putting together a movie clip set to a song her cousin wrote and performs on his CD, which was written for someone in his own life sometime ago.

If you’ve tried to get in touch with me, please bear with me for another week or so as I’ll be tending to my husband and our family but I will resurface and be back amongst you all again soon.  Thank you all as you have shown me another reason why I love connecting with you all so much online.  And knowing that I’m home already has been such a blessing – having a ‘job’ away from home would be very difficult.

Great Good News!

The time has never been better for the professional woman with a book or product!    You see, we are asking you . . .  to give us  . . . an opportunity to purchase from you on Friday, June 20^th.

This is the day we are celebrating who we are as women – - as women who are “On the move and making a difference!”  Â

 June 20^th is the 2^nd annual celebration of Baby Boomer Diva Day.

Seize your moment and showcase your product for 15 minutes for the very low price of $10.   There are a few vendor slots left but they are going fast.

Also, there will be plenty of giveaways.Â

And you don’t want to miss our special guest speaker, Heidi Richards.  She will discuss how blogging can turn into $$$ for your business or product.

Again, join us from 10:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.  It’s going to be the most fun you’ve had online in a LONG time!  We are looking forward to meeting you!

To get more information or to sign up now, click link below:Â

keybusinesspartners@verizon.net

What do you think – would you vote for me?

Is your webcam on right now? Did you even have to look to answer that one?

I was participating in a Skype meeting the other day with a client and she asked me to switch mine on. I told her I was a mess and really didn’t want to be seen. It wasn’t that bad really but if I’m going to be in a face-to-face meeting I’d rather present as well as possible. When working at home I’m usually in jeans and a jumper or top of some sort, but my hair isn’t that neat, I don’t have makeup on and I look very homely.

I’ve always conducted my business professionally and if I’m going to face clients and others for business purposes I like to present professionally too.

It hadn’t occurred to me to switch off my webcam until a couple of months ago when someone called me unexpectedly on Skype (I usually schedule meetings) and I was suddenly faced with their picture and a smaller version of me and realised that I didn’t want people to see me as I am. I’ve now got the camera turned away from my seating position and it faces inwards to my shelving so if it is accidentally left on, I can adjust or switch it off without feeling embarrassed or unprepared.

Do you have any embarrassing stories of your webcam being forgotten and left on? I’m sure readers here would love to hear about it – if you’re willing to share!

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