I'm a funky diva kind of girl

Life is good.  Every day is a bonus, every moment precious, every hug a joy.  Son#3 is growing up.  We have a mouthful of no teeth, and quite a mess at meal times, the lamb *aww*.

Life is also good because my Virtual Assistant coaching has started (today!).  I thought I was done being a student, but there you are - assignments to hand in and lots of reading to do.  Mind you, it is all in something called eeengleeesh, which I am adapting to slowly.

Due to my new Blackberry, I have become a twitter addict, a great way to connect to people all over the world.  I've "met" other VAs, small business owners in France and in the UK, and am now being followed by about 70 folk, the delight.  I'm even finding crossovers from blogland so I'd like to say a big Hello! to @dotterel from Bringing Up Charlie :D

Can I mention one very special person I've met on twitter?  She is an amazing lady, bringing up three wee boys on her own and yet managing to run a business at home making the most lovely bags.  Really high quality, beautifully finished and swiftly posted, it was a sublime experience shopping with her.  What a gorgeous parcel too, using colour co-ordinating tissue paper and ribbon in the company colours - Anna, you are SO corporate!!  As I have an unashamed bag fetish, you can understand why I was drawn to the pink version of Gemma:  The flower detaches so you can wear it as an accessory - chouette!

Ok, I also bought a little make-up bag, which is so useful - here's why: my family call me Lady Baden Powell because I am always prepared for anything - whatever you need, it will probably be in my handbag... but I love handbags and change them always to suit my outfit... that means lots of changes... and my Lady Baden Powell stuff has to come too.  It all fits beautifully into my new little make up bag, and I can swop handbags a lot quicker.  This helps.  I'm very busy almost business woman after all.  Oh, and it fits my pink Gemma bag to a "T".

So here is your challenge, my dears, take a look at http://www.funkydivadesigns.com/ and guess which make up bag I bought!

VA in the making

If it isn't too late to wish you all a Happy New Year, I'd like to do just that, and may it be a prosperous, blessed and wholly satisfactory year for us all :)

The Virtual Assistant (VA) industry seems quite big, if you look on Twitter etc.  Tonight I have a conference call (get me!) with a company which trains and coaches VAs.  There is much to do, much to research, much to be frightened about!  However, this is what I want to do.  All the experience I have had in my working life seems to be leading me this way.  So, this is the time to be brave, and try to calmly take in all the information I need!

According to my boys, I'm not as old and uncool as I thought.  I'm enjoying listening to Radio 1 and have purchased the following cds recently:
21st Century Revolution - Green Day
Greatest Hits - Kiss
Rockferry - Duffy
19 - Adele
The Fame/Monster - Lady Gaga
Wonder how long it will last??

The OU sent me word that I have had the French Diploma awarded to me, but not conferred yet.  They also sent a welcome to the OU Alumni Association...  I'll have to change the "about me" section on this page!

Bliss to you, hugs and scones.
Dot xx

A Happy Houseful

The preparations have been neither frantic nor exhausting.  I have paced my preps, thankful that I have no studying to do, and Christmas day for 15 went so well, so stresslessly, even without the defunct dishwasher.  I delight in my lovely family, and also in the delicious BlackBerry I have just upgraded to - no, not a pressie from Hamish, it was free :)  Hamish got me a shredder for my office, amongst other things.  One of the nicest was the sentiment which he wrote in the book token card "Just a token of my admiration for a very accomplished scholar.  Well done and Merry Christmas!"  Aw!
With love, and best wishes for 2010,
Dot xx

Precious Time

I had the same formidable French teacher for four years in a row at school.  In need of some post exam results therapy, and also to fulfill a promise, I phoned him this afternoon.  Such a joy.  We haven't spoken since I left school over 20 years ago, although we were in touch by post before now.  His sage et sympa comment was that the examiner was "spiteful" for not giving us the opportunity to excel. 

How much, just HOW much do I owe to this dear old man?  My love of France, my accent (which he said I had maintained, voire improved!), the introduction to French culture, literature, music, books, the lot.  He really went above and beyond the curriculum with my A level class in particular.  I'm so glad to have been able to tell him how much he meant and still means to me.

So often in life we don't do things when we think about them, we procrastinate out of habit, busy-ness or even just laziness.  Things slip our minds and then, what happens?  Time and opportunity have disappeared.  The words of thanks or kindness go unsaid, the potential recipient no longer able to hear them: too late, too late.  Regrets and "if only"s prey on us, and there is no escaping them.

Especially at this time of year, I would urge everyone to take a moment to phone an elderly friend or relative, or perhaps just some friend you haven't spoken to for a while.  A few caring words demonstrating the caring thought can make such a difference, and not just to the recipient, to the giver also.  CB and I both benefitted from our conversation this afternoon.  Who's to say which was the giver and which the receiver of comfort and kindness?  Thank you, CB.

Today, tomorrow, throughout this season of giving, and in the new year, be a blessing, and find yourself blessed.

Results

The French level 3 results were published today.  I'm not whoop whooping.  The champagne remains on ice.  This is perhaps a bit silly, because I did pass.  However, it was a grade 2, which is fine as I am a non-native French speaker, but the old pride is dented.  I got terrible marks for two elements of the (awful) written paper, good marks for three elements, and great marks for the last one - style and register.  That means I write French like Eliza Doolittle at Ascot speaks English.  Still, the spoken marks were better: Two elements at grade 1, two at grade 2.  They don't average out the marks for the continuous assessment and the exam.  If they did I would have just scraped a distinction. 
So there we are, a grade 2 pass, but a pass nonetheless, and it is OVER.
Thanks everyone for all your support, kind words and encouragement.  Now I'm going to concentrate on Christmas, then in the new year the real work starts!  There is much to be done researching and setting up my home business - but I'm looking forward to it. 
A merry Christmas and a happy new year 2010 to you all.

Visitors - we got both kinds

Both kinds of visitors, yes.  Our welcome visitor is Blossom, all the way from Brittany.  Blossom is here for a week's holiday, but her week with us is nearly over now. 
The unwelcome visitors are the mice which have taken up residence.  Who could blame them for coming indoors?  It is baltic outside...  Actually, if they stayed in the bits of the house I don't go to (under the floor for instance) that would be fine.  It is when they scuttle across my kitchen floor in front of me that I object.  So, there has been much blocking up of holes and setting of traps, and I hope to have no further close encounters of the verminous kind in the near future.  Ugh, shudder.

Perspectives

Arggghhh.....all this waiting is driving me crazy!!  How long is this going to take????!!!! Yes, another ten days maximum apparently,  before the exam results are released, note that, released.  I bet they are just sitting on them, smiling smugly and enjoying the thought of agonised students desperate to know how they did!  There are words to describe such people...
All I am doing is getting ready for Christmas.  That is it.  It isn't exactly boring, but it doesn't require the same mental effort as a level 3 OU course (naturally that is a good thing, but still, I'm going stale here.)
On the up side, Blossom is arriving on Wednesday to stay for a week, hooray :)  Alex is just about to finish his exams, and Wee Murdo seems, finally, to be getting with the program without having to be harangued into action.  Poor old Innes now has braces on both upper and lower teeth, but is managing in general.
On the down side, Hamish is just about crushed under the weight of responsibility at work, and one of his close colleagues is going to be off for 6-8 months in 2010 for maternity leave, making it worse.  Pray for him.
I am mindful of dear friends and family fighting battles with cancer and other illnesses, and remembering loved ones who have passed away, which can make Christmas rather a trial.  My thoughts and prayers are with you and your families (esp. you, Maggie May). 
Put into perspective, waiting a few more days for an exam result isn't so very bad.  Today, may you find perspective in your life, and be able to be kinder than is necessary to all whom you meet: everyone is fighting their own personal battles, and a kind word in season can make a big difference to everyone.
Today I am grateful for so many kind and wonderful people - they are everywhere I go, and all it takes is a smile and a kind word to find them.  Blessings to you today.