The owner and lead virtual assistant of StarLeaf Business Services, Samantha Mayfield CPS has recently earned the designation of Certified Professional Secretary.
The certification is awarded by the International Association of Administrative Assistants, a worldwide organization recognized globally as a leader in administrative excellence. To achieve the CPS certification, an administrative professional must first provide references from former employers verifying that they have at least three years of real-world experience as an administrative or executive assistant. Once their employment has been proven, they are qualified to sit for the test.
The CPS test consists of 3 major sections designed to test their skills and knowledge in the areas of Office Systems and Technology, Office Administration, and Management. Each section of the test gauges the admin's knowledge level on subjects as varied as PC hardware and software to ergonomics and proper business letter formatting. These in-depth exams have been developed and refined to accurately ascertain the skill level of the indivuals taking them and assure that the administrative professional is highly qualified and well-versed in the business administration field.
Ms. Mayfield not only passed all 3 sections of the test, her scores in management and office administration were more than double the minimum score required to pass. Through her nearly two decades of administrative support experience and now her certification as a CPS, she has proven that StarLeaf Business Services provides the highest quality of services to it's clients. You can rest assured that your business support needs will be handled professionally by a competent individual when you choose her as your virtual assistant.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Organic Gardening the Easy Way
My 3-year old son loves tomatoes. So much so that he befriended one. It was sitting there, red and ripe and growing plump, in our container garden, and he saw it, plucked it, and brought it home. Not to eat, mind you, that would be an atrocity. No, just to hold and pet and talk to. And carry around the house, and show us every five minutes. Yes, my son has an unusual affinity for vegetables.
The tomato is rather unremarkable in and of itself - how it came to be is a more interesting story. You see, we planted it in a box in our back yard. Why in a box, you ask? Well, my friend, let me tell you. If you're like us, and live in a relatively nice middle-class house in suburbia, you probably have a postage stamp sized yard, just like us. Our yard is not just small, it's disintegrating. Well, eroding is a probably the most accurate word, but thanks to the gophers, it collapses under our feet when we try to mow, so disintegrating it is.
Needless to say, between the creek slowly washing away what's left of the lawn behind our house, and the gophers doing their level best to undermine the foundation of our house, a garden was out of the question.
But where there's a will, there's a way. And let me tell you, my friend, I have a will. So I got my way. I got Earth Boxes.
"What are Earth Boxes?" you may be asking. Well, let me tell you, they're the answer to the problems facing folks like us with beautiful homes but no yards to speak of, who want a garden. They're extremely durable, ingeniously designed containers for gardens of any size. The boxes have a reservoir in the bottom to hold water, a plate with small holes in it to allow the water to flow up through the soil, and a nifty wicking design that pulls the water up through the soil like a sponge.
They work like this: you fill the box with soil, tamping it down firmly in the corners where there are open spaces for just this purpose - these corners act like wicks to draw the water up and distribute it evenly throughout the box. The screen on the bottom which rests on top of the water reservoir also helps pull water through the soil. Then a cover over the top keeps your plants from drying out (not to mention keeps weeds out!). Last but not least, a tube in another corner allows you to stick the hose in and 'fill 'er up!' whenever it gets a little dry. There are drainage slots along the top of the reservoir so you can't over-water. Ingenious!
The folks at Earth Box even include a diagram showing how many of what types of plants you can plant in your box, and I was just amazed to learn that you can plant anything from a little carrot plant to a crop of corn! (we actually have corn growing right now - its about 6 feet tall right now).
You can choose to purchase just the box, or a box with casters, or go nuts and get a box with soil, fertilizer, casters... everything but the plants! We opted for just the box, as I wanted an organic garden.
With organic soil as recommended by Earth Box, organic fertilizer, and some agricultural lime, we started our first container garden, and now we're beginning to enjoy our first organic produce of the season. The cost of the boxes will of course make it more expensive than buying organic produce for the first year or two, but these things are made to last, and in years to come, we'll be enjoying absolutely authentic, home-grown organic produce for just pennies per crop!
Check them out at www.earthbox.com - you'll be glad you did!
The tomato is rather unremarkable in and of itself - how it came to be is a more interesting story. You see, we planted it in a box in our back yard. Why in a box, you ask? Well, my friend, let me tell you. If you're like us, and live in a relatively nice middle-class house in suburbia, you probably have a postage stamp sized yard, just like us. Our yard is not just small, it's disintegrating. Well, eroding is a probably the most accurate word, but thanks to the gophers, it collapses under our feet when we try to mow, so disintegrating it is.
Needless to say, between the creek slowly washing away what's left of the lawn behind our house, and the gophers doing their level best to undermine the foundation of our house, a garden was out of the question.
But where there's a will, there's a way. And let me tell you, my friend, I have a will. So I got my way. I got Earth Boxes.
"What are Earth Boxes?" you may be asking. Well, let me tell you, they're the answer to the problems facing folks like us with beautiful homes but no yards to speak of, who want a garden. They're extremely durable, ingeniously designed containers for gardens of any size. The boxes have a reservoir in the bottom to hold water, a plate with small holes in it to allow the water to flow up through the soil, and a nifty wicking design that pulls the water up through the soil like a sponge.
They work like this: you fill the box with soil, tamping it down firmly in the corners where there are open spaces for just this purpose - these corners act like wicks to draw the water up and distribute it evenly throughout the box. The screen on the bottom which rests on top of the water reservoir also helps pull water through the soil. Then a cover over the top keeps your plants from drying out (not to mention keeps weeds out!). Last but not least, a tube in another corner allows you to stick the hose in and 'fill 'er up!' whenever it gets a little dry. There are drainage slots along the top of the reservoir so you can't over-water. Ingenious!
The folks at Earth Box even include a diagram showing how many of what types of plants you can plant in your box, and I was just amazed to learn that you can plant anything from a little carrot plant to a crop of corn! (we actually have corn growing right now - its about 6 feet tall right now).
You can choose to purchase just the box, or a box with casters, or go nuts and get a box with soil, fertilizer, casters... everything but the plants! We opted for just the box, as I wanted an organic garden.
With organic soil as recommended by Earth Box, organic fertilizer, and some agricultural lime, we started our first container garden, and now we're beginning to enjoy our first organic produce of the season. The cost of the boxes will of course make it more expensive than buying organic produce for the first year or two, but these things are made to last, and in years to come, we'll be enjoying absolutely authentic, home-grown organic produce for just pennies per crop!
Check them out at www.earthbox.com - you'll be glad you did!
Friday, May 22, 2009
The Method to my Madness
So at the risk of sounding unorganized, I have to tell you, I do sometimes get scatterbrained and seem a bit disorganized. But wait! Before you go, let me tell you about my secret weapon - Smartsheet!
See, I don't have to be organized or have an eidetic memory, all I have to do is put my thoughts, ideas, projects and plans into a smartsheet, and voila! Perfect recall, goals on-track, project status reports at my fingertips and my clients think I'm a master at Getting Things Done.
With Smartsheets you can track anything you want, set reminders, set priorities, get reports, sort, search and finagle the information just about any way you choose! You can share the entire sheet, or just one row, so that the folks you collaborate with can edit it as well. If you're a control freak like me, you can choose to just flaunt your smartsheet on a website but not allow anyone to change it.
But if you're feeling benevolent (or just lazy!) you can post your sheet as a form and let the users do the work for you! They see only a blank form, which they fill in, and their entries magically appear on your smartsheet. How cool is that?
Collaborating with a team? Send an update request on a row and get notified when it's updated. They see only the row or rows you send, not the entire sheet.
Best of all, you get two sheets FREE! That's right, not a penny owed. And it's secure! Really! Plus, you get to upload as many files as you want, which will also be stored securely. What more could you ask for?
Smartsheet is my ace in the hole and my one absolutely invaluable, essential can't-live-without resource. Sign up for a paid account at only $9.99 per month and get even more sheets (12 total) and more robust reporting options.
See, I don't have to be organized or have an eidetic memory, all I have to do is put my thoughts, ideas, projects and plans into a smartsheet, and voila! Perfect recall, goals on-track, project status reports at my fingertips and my clients think I'm a master at Getting Things Done.
With Smartsheets you can track anything you want, set reminders, set priorities, get reports, sort, search and finagle the information just about any way you choose! You can share the entire sheet, or just one row, so that the folks you collaborate with can edit it as well. If you're a control freak like me, you can choose to just flaunt your smartsheet on a website but not allow anyone to change it.
But if you're feeling benevolent (or just lazy!) you can post your sheet as a form and let the users do the work for you! They see only a blank form, which they fill in, and their entries magically appear on your smartsheet. How cool is that?
Collaborating with a team? Send an update request on a row and get notified when it's updated. They see only the row or rows you send, not the entire sheet.
Best of all, you get two sheets FREE! That's right, not a penny owed. And it's secure! Really! Plus, you get to upload as many files as you want, which will also be stored securely. What more could you ask for?
Smartsheet is my ace in the hole and my one absolutely invaluable, essential can't-live-without resource. Sign up for a paid account at only $9.99 per month and get even more sheets (12 total) and more robust reporting options.
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