Entries from January 2008 ↓

It seems like now is the time I am getting ready to do some extra work on some school papers I am trying to put together. It sometimes seems so difficult dealing with the reams of paperwork just about every school wants to throw at teachers. I find myself buckling under the weight sometimes. I have come across one way to keep track of it.

I keep 5 stacks of papers on my desk, one stack for each day of the week and I deal with it when I can. Ok, I know that isn’t the answer you were looking for, but many of us do it.

How do you stay organized under the onslaught of massive paperwork?

It is kind of sad the passing of a great leader, especially when it is a leader who has done a lot to help people around the world. I may not be Mormon, but I think the passing of the Gordon Hinckley is a sad day for people around the world who can see the good things made in this world thanks to the work of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I see a lot of good they have done in helping people both spiritually, emotionally and financially.

I remember there work back in my hometown in the Philippines where they would help people who didn’t have food enough to eat and how they would open their church to activities. Not to mention the humble way the missionaries would go door to door sharing their version of the Gospel. I appreciate much of what they have done and I hope the Mormon Church continues its work under new leadership.

I think our family just might visit the local Mormon Church this Sunday to learn even more about their work and express my condolences in person to followers of their late leader.

Being a family on the go, we never have had a photo album for very long. They are very bulky and easily fill up boxes or even suitcases when we make a move. Most of our photos are kept in shoeboxes or worse. I have decided lately that enough is enough and I have embarked on a family scrapbooking project with the kids.

Basically, a few times a week, my husband, my kids and I will all sit down on the floor of our living room to make scrapbooks. The scrapbooks are very personal and have the goal of telling a story. So far it is working very well and the kids are even getting into the act. I thought they might be a bit young but they love helping out with their scrapbooks.

Has anyone tried family scrapbook nights?

I like to make easy dinners when I am pressed for time. I have come up with 3 easy dinners that I like to make when I find myself short on time and I need to make food fast for the family. These are nutritious and filling meals that don’t require a lot of prep time or effort.

1) Mac and Cheese with ground beef. The easy part of this is to the boil the beef alongside the noodles. It cooks the beef and since Mac and Cheese is so easy, you get a hearty meal in no time at all.

2) Ramen Noodles with Tomato Sauce. Ramen noodles cook up so fast and easy. They are time pressed cook’s best friend. Adding a little tomato sauce to the noodles creates a cheap and easy spaghetti. You can even add a bit of canned corned beef and you have something that is very close to the real thing.

3) Super Scrambled Eggs. Fry up some ground beef to start off with and then put it aside. Cut up some bell peppers and cheese if you have them. Next, open several eggs into a bowl, add a bit of milk and whisk them. Add in the cheese, bell peppers and ground beef to the bowl then put it all in a skillet and start cooking it up. Delicious.

There you go, three easy dinners.

I am right now trying to come up with some TEFL activities for kids. I am trying to figure out some games with them to teach them vocabulary. I think I have a a few together so I will post couple of the ideas I have and after I try them out with my students, then I can post the feedback here.

1) Word Bingo. I have made up some bingo cards with pictures on them. I will be calling out the words and the students have to find the picture. The first one to get bingo wins!

2) Tic Tac Phrases. Kids have to guess letters in order to guess a phrase. If their team gets it right, then they get an X or O on the board.

I have been trying to think of a home business that I could run alongside my teaching to earn some extra money. It’s tough trying to come up with a business that is unrelated to my teaching and is a business that can come along with me wherever we go. After a lot of thought, I came up with Three Easy Home Businesses.

The criteria I set was that it had to be a business I could take with me wherever I go and it had to be a business that could be started on the cheap. Here are my three easy home businesses.

1) Handicrafts. Handicrafts can sell no matter where I am. I could come up with my own designs on some simple handicrafts. I could sell them over the net, but I could also sell them locally where ever I am. The plus is that the whole family could be involved in the production.

2) Writing. I like to write. I could sell my writing online on different webmaster forums. The pay is ok as I have done some of it. It may not pay a lot, but it could be lucrative as a sideline and better than taking on students.

3) Marketing. I could work to market products for other people. I could do it using the web or even locally. The idea is to contact people in the local area and offer my services. Something like a full scale web promo package. It could be good.

Anymore to add? Any comment?

We were recently given a bunch of canned foods by my mother in law. It is great having a large selection of canned foods and I have started expanding the variety in my cooking. Included in the collection of cans is several cans of evaporated milk. It got me to thinking about the utility of this form of milk packaging.

Evaporated milk is milk with 60% of the water removed. This means you can pick up a can of evaporated milk and add water to reach one quart. It may not taste as great as fresh milk, but it does provide the nutrients the kids need in milk.

This was always a big issue when leaving in more isolated places. We couldn’t get fresh milk and UHT milk was very expensive. Fortunately, evaporated milk was always available in a can so we would get our milk that way. We could keep the re-hydrated milk in the refrigerator for a few days and the kids could get the milk they wanted. We overcame some of the off-taste by adding chocolate syrup to the milk so it would be a chocolate drink.