Round-up

Teacher Appreciation Week is coming, and we here at Out of Office are grateful for the teachers we had and those who are inspiring young minds now. To that end, we’ve pulled together some of our favorite projects for teacher appreciation gifts. We hope one of these ideas will be the perfect fit to honor your child’s special teacher for a year of fun and learning. And keep a look out for another great project coming your way next week from guest blogger Patricia! ...read more

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It’s that time of year, the much-anticipated holiday office party. It’s a chance to step away from the computer, meetings and projects to spend time getting to know your co-workers and celebrate the team’s accomplishments of the year.

Games are a great way to encourage mingling among departments and provide a fun opportunity to get to know each another in a casual setting. Here are some interesting ideas for holiday games:

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Guest blogger Kimberly Tobey is an organizational development specialist at FedEx Office. She enjoys cooking, running (she completed her first marathon this year!) and spending time with her boyfriend Chris. Today she offers some Hanukkah ideas for our readers. In Kimberly’s family, they celebrate what they call Chrismukkah, a combination of both Christian and Jewish traditions that represent their blended family.

With Hanukkah beginning tonight, I’m looking forward to celebrating these special eight days (also known as the Festival of Lights) with my family and friends. This Hanukkah, I wanted to find some new ways to celebrate and help teach others about what this holiday means. Here are some fun ideas I found online:

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Whether old or young, everyone loves a good party. Trying to plan the perfect one, however, is no piece of cake! Luckily, as I discovered while planning a birthday celebration for my son, picking a theme is an easy way to get creative ideas flowing for favors, food and décor. While his high-flying themed birthday party was a success, I now have a lot to live up to! I decided to poke around the Internet and share some other great birthday party ideas I’ve found to keep the creative juices flowing! 

And be on the lookout for a post from me soon on my son’s latest birthday extravaganza!! ...read more

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For many, Labor Day signals the unofficial end to the lazy days of summer. This might sound depressing, but I think the holiday should be a celebration of all the hard work we’ve been doing at home and on the job. Whatever your profession–nurse, teacher, mom, firefighter, lawyer – you’ve earned the right to celebrate!

No matter how you plan to mark the occasion, we at Out of Office want to help you make the most of your Labor Day. ...read more

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How – and where – we work is changing. I’m sure many Out of Office readers know people who work from a “home office,” which I’ve learned can be anything from a clearing on the kitchen table to the local Wi-Fi hotspot. You might even be a home-office-based worker yourself!

I know professionals who work in their pajamas, take their dogs for walks during lunch hour and have no problems getting through rush hour traffic to pick up kids from soccer practice or daycare (like one of my best friends). With all of this flexibility, who wouldn’t want to work this way?! For some, it’s ideal. And for others like me, it can be hard to focus on work when there’s so many distractions around the house (e.g., my dog Oreo anxiously placing his toy ball at my feet for a game of catch).

Truthfully, there are a lot of things to weigh when considering the telecommuting work style. I’ve been doing my homework, weighing some of the pros and cons, and wanted to share some of the great resources out there for people who are already taking advantage of a home/mobile office or those who might be looking to start.

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This is Part Three in our three-part series on celebrating the upcoming Fourth of July holiday in style!

 

With Independence Day coming up this Sunday, I can’t wait to celebrate with family and friends (and enjoy a long weekend, too!). I always look forward to seeing our Fourth of July fireworks, but this year I wanted to find different ways to celebrate the holiday. I thought I’d share some fun and festive ideas I discovered online:

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The summer has arrived in Dallas! Despite our hot temps, it’s one of my favorite seasons and I absolutely love spending time on fun, easy, summer-related projects. 

 

I know many of you are looking for ways to keep your kids occupied while school’s out, so I thought I’d share some of the great activities I’ve come across in my search for new ideas:

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At Out of Office, we like to think we’ve got a lot of great ideas to share with our readers. But truth be told, sometimes we can’t hold a candle to the creativity of some fellow bloggers out there in the world. So when we find those projects that make us stop and say “Why didn’t we think of that!?”, we just have to share!

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Is it just me or are you tired of looking at the same old stuff on your cube (or office) walls??? The only thing I’ve changed in my work space in the past six months is my wall calendar. And while I love the picture of my sweet dog Oreo, it has to be at least five years old. Sad, I know. So, I think it’s time to give my cube a makeover. I found the following resources on how to jazz up your cube. Check them out and let me know what you think.

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• In Small Spaces shares ideas for giving cubes some personality.<?xml:namespace prefix = o />
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• There are many photo databases out on the Web and the best part is many can be printed for your personal, non-commercial use. Add in a few inexpensive frames and your cube is well on its way to a total make-over! Try searching for images on your favorite search engine. Just be sure to read the terms of use.

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