Today was a wonderful, full day. It started off with my friendly pellet stove repair man coming by about 8:30am to have a look at my stove. It's been making noises lately that I don't like and figured that the motor on my fan could be 'going'. He thinks it just needs a good cleaning and oiling so will be by Friday morning to do that. This means I will have to get up early to turn the stove off so it can cool down before he gets here as it must be cool for him to work on.
I was on the schedule tonight at Toastmasters to be the Greeter & the Grammarian, give the Joke, chair the business meeting (I'm the club President) and to give a 5-7 minute speech as well as to be Timer throughout the meeting. I had been trying all week to think of what do do my speech about and yesterday came up with an idea that just wasn't really working, though today it 'jelled' and came out as a fairly good speech. It would have been much better if I had it written a few days ago so I had more time to practice it rather than just a couple hours, but it is what it is. Due to many people moving away for work, our club has gone from around 21 people to 7 people this year, so each of the active members must 'wear many hats' to fill in all the spots on the evenings agenda.
Usually on Tuesdays I am at the pool for a good part of the afternoon, doing Aqua Therapy then some swimming &/or soaking in the hot tub, but not today. I had to get the speech written & practiced, do up the agenda for the business meeting, read over the basics of Roberts Rules of Order in preparation for the business meeting, find a Grammarian word and print out the word with it's meanings, find a joke and familiarize myself with it in order to 'present' it rather than 'read' it.... etc. etc. so I didn't have the time to spend in town. To make up for this, I got onto my recumbent exercise bike and peddled for 30 minutes while studying the speech I'd written, then had my shower & got ready to go out. I've decided that since I don't seem to be able to give up the 'bad' foods or change over to more healthy, sensible foods, I must exercise more to make up for bad eating. I still must work on changing eating habits, mind you, but the 'work outs' are a good thing. More work to be done tomorrow.
Tampilkan postingan dengan label Toastmasters. Tampilkan semua postingan
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Selasa, 09 November 2010
November 8
Yesterday I went to town for x-rays on my left wrist, then went for blood tests for my diabetic check up that is coming up soon. By this time I had to run to get a cup of tea to take with me and off I went to my appointment with the orthopedic surgeon that did the reconstruction on my shattered wrist nearly 2 months ago. He brings up on his computer the x-rays done at the hospital as well as those done at the x-ray place downtown. It was interesting seeing what the metal plate & 9 screws look like and where in my wrist they are. He said to now start doing physio therapy on the wrist and go back to see him in 2 months. He also said it will be 6 months before things are back to normal if they ever get back there.
I went to visit Joyce then Tuggy phoned and wanted me to meet him at A&W, so Joyce & I went and had lunch with him. He was on his way to his doctor for more tests as he's not well & they're not finding out why or what to do about it. I had planned to go to Aqua Therapy, but by this time it was too late to get home for my swim suit and such, so I went to Joyce's for awhile longer then headed home to try to write a speech for tonight at Toastmasters. I had finally come up with an idea what to speak about... or had I? It just wasn't working.
During the evening I watched House, Lie To Me, & Hawaii 5 O on TV. While watching House I got on my recumbent exercise bike I had a workout. The timer quit working part way through so I don't know how long I peddled on it, but do know I did it for a fairly long time. Once in awhile I stopped for a short rest before starting again, and did this for the greater part of House.
I went to visit Joyce then Tuggy phoned and wanted me to meet him at A&W, so Joyce & I went and had lunch with him. He was on his way to his doctor for more tests as he's not well & they're not finding out why or what to do about it. I had planned to go to Aqua Therapy, but by this time it was too late to get home for my swim suit and such, so I went to Joyce's for awhile longer then headed home to try to write a speech for tonight at Toastmasters. I had finally come up with an idea what to speak about... or had I? It just wasn't working.
During the evening I watched House, Lie To Me, & Hawaii 5 O on TV. While watching House I got on my recumbent exercise bike I had a workout. The timer quit working part way through so I don't know how long I peddled on it, but do know I did it for a fairly long time. Once in awhile I stopped for a short rest before starting again, and did this for the greater part of House.
Selasa, 02 November 2010
Thinking about time.
Time sure has been flying for me and it's hard to believe it's almost 8 weeks since I was in the crash. This Friday it will be 8 weeks. On October 27 I went to a movie with a dear friend I hadn't seen in many months and here it is already a week since then, though I was thinking it had been 2 weeks, so time is getting mixed up for me. Anyway, it's been quite some times since I was last to a movie at a theater and was surprised to find out that you no longer buy your theater tickets at a desk when you enter the front door, then if you want popcorn etc you go line up to get those things. Now you go in and line up in the 'treat' line to get tickets and your treats all at the same place. I can see where this would increase chances that people will purchase snacks to eat during the show... even if they hadn't been planning to do so before they got there. I really enjoyed the movie and Pat's company.
I spent time today working at cleaning my home. I've been doing this lately, trying to get it back to where it once was before I let it go. It sure is starting to look better in spots. Oh so much more to do... and it seems to take a lot of time to accomplish a little bit. I can only do small amounts at each go due to having a broken wrist and back problems. I am now laying on my bed resting my back so I can go to Toastmasters this evening. I have to be there early as I am the Greeter... and the Table Topics Evaluator and the Speech Evaluator #2 as well as one of the 2 Timers. Our club was a good sized group last year, but many people moved away so now we are a very small group in need of new members, and those of us that are left do several jobs each Tuesday.
I spent time today working at cleaning my home. I've been doing this lately, trying to get it back to where it once was before I let it go. It sure is starting to look better in spots. Oh so much more to do... and it seems to take a lot of time to accomplish a little bit. I can only do small amounts at each go due to having a broken wrist and back problems. I am now laying on my bed resting my back so I can go to Toastmasters this evening. I have to be there early as I am the Greeter... and the Table Topics Evaluator and the Speech Evaluator #2 as well as one of the 2 Timers. Our club was a good sized group last year, but many people moved away so now we are a very small group in need of new members, and those of us that are left do several jobs each Tuesday.
Kamis, 26 Agustus 2010
Learning
I really enjoy learning things. I wish I had realized this when I was a teenager in school, when my parents were paying all the bills and I had a fresh young mind just waiting to be filled with knowledge. Instead, I got married after grade 10... I was only 17 years old. How dumb is that!!! Now that I have been 39 years old for several years, and divorced for many more years than that, I think I am still too young for marriage, though not too old to still learn things. I don`t think that at this time I would go for Online Graduate Schools, but I do know that I learn lots of things through reading a lot of books and from taking part in life as well as going to Toastmasters. Not that I would ever knock any way of learning and certainly not of getting a certificate in something that interests you, just that I think we all must gain our knowledge in different ways at different times. I have taken my GED so have my grade 12 equivalency and at this time in my life don`t even feel I use most if any of what I learned there. I`ve taken many spiritual type courses and loved those though currently am not taking any classes. It`s been a fabulous summer and now is getting close to time for going back to Toastmasters after the summer holidays. I look forward to it and also I am sad to see the end of summer so near.
Minggu, 20 Juni 2010
An Incredible Weekend
What did you do this weekend?? Did you work? Maybe you did some gardening or reading, maybe just sat around watching tv? Or even dreamed of some Samsung product that you would like to have. I did not of the above.
On Friday, as I talked about in my last post, I took my motorcycle skills test and passed so am now legal to ride without a supervisor and at highway speeds. I had planned that if I passed, and I was sure I would, I was going to drive my trike to the Toastmaster Officer Training on Saturday. It was so cool to ride down there, I really enjoyed the ride. When I pulled in I didn't see anyone though there were a few cars there. It was 9:15am so I had lots of time and decided to ride back about 2 blocks to the Mac's store and get a tea. One cool thing about riding a trike instead of a bike is that I was able to carry my tea back to the College in the box on the back. When I got back to the College, Pat & Suzanne (form my Toastmasters club) saw me ride in and came to greet me, Pat with camera in hand telling me to stay put while she took a photo of me in full gear with my trike. It will be interesting to see the photo. Nell, from my old club also came over to greet me. It was awesome to see Nell again as I haven't seen her in some time and always liked her a lot. There were people there from a very long way away and it was a very interesting day. From 10-11 everyone was in the same room then split up into different groups in different rooms, depending on which workshops everyone was taking. 11-12 I was enjoyed a question & answer panel where 3 very long time, very 'high up' Toastmasters were on the panel being asked questions. It was very interesting. 12-1 was lunch break, lunch was included in our $20 fee for taking the training. The rest of the day I was in the President Training class as I am the incoming club President. Throughout the day I wrote around 12 pages of notes. It was shortly after 3pm when the training was over and Pat, Suzanne & I went to a local park to visit Pat's daughter, Kelly. After that we headed home, them in Pat's car and me on my trike.
Today, Sunday, I rode to town to Sunday Service at the Centre for Spiritual Living. It was nice to see people I hadn't seen in awhile and nice to get a really warm welcome. Many people took time to go see my trike and most were very impressed. After that, I had the feeling there was something I had wanted/meant to buy when next in town, though couldn't remember what that was so I just came home. I watered my raised bed gardens and gave Reba fresh water out in her run, then went to feed the birds and discovered what it was I needed to buy in town... I was totally out of bird food. I gave them all some spray millet and rode the trike to town to get a big bag of feed for them. It was such a beautiful day and I didn't want to just come home, so I decided to ride out to Tuggy's. He was happy to see me and while visiting we did some stuff on the trike, tightening bolts and such that had loosened with the vibrations of riding such a machine. My cell rang & was Don wanting to know if I wanted to go riding. I told him I was out at Tuggy's (they both live in the same small town, so only a few miles apart). Don (on his Harley) stopped at Tug's when he got that far, Tug's other friend Bucky came by on his Triumph motorcycle. After sitting around visiting awhile, we left Tug (his trike is broken down just now) and rode in to town where Don & I went to the bar for a bit (I drank my usual tea). Then we rode in to Vernon and had a bite to eat at a pub just outside town after which we rode in to town so I could fuel up my trike (was on my reserve tank at this point) then rode to my place. We just sat down in my back yard when it started to rain so Don left to make his 30 minute ride home. He called when he got home and said it was a wonderful ride home, the rain stopped just a couple kilometers from my place.
It was a really incredible weekend... my first as a true 'biker'.
On Friday, as I talked about in my last post, I took my motorcycle skills test and passed so am now legal to ride without a supervisor and at highway speeds. I had planned that if I passed, and I was sure I would, I was going to drive my trike to the Toastmaster Officer Training on Saturday. It was so cool to ride down there, I really enjoyed the ride. When I pulled in I didn't see anyone though there were a few cars there. It was 9:15am so I had lots of time and decided to ride back about 2 blocks to the Mac's store and get a tea. One cool thing about riding a trike instead of a bike is that I was able to carry my tea back to the College in the box on the back. When I got back to the College, Pat & Suzanne (form my Toastmasters club) saw me ride in and came to greet me, Pat with camera in hand telling me to stay put while she took a photo of me in full gear with my trike. It will be interesting to see the photo. Nell, from my old club also came over to greet me. It was awesome to see Nell again as I haven't seen her in some time and always liked her a lot. There were people there from a very long way away and it was a very interesting day. From 10-11 everyone was in the same room then split up into different groups in different rooms, depending on which workshops everyone was taking. 11-12 I was enjoyed a question & answer panel where 3 very long time, very 'high up' Toastmasters were on the panel being asked questions. It was very interesting. 12-1 was lunch break, lunch was included in our $20 fee for taking the training. The rest of the day I was in the President Training class as I am the incoming club President. Throughout the day I wrote around 12 pages of notes. It was shortly after 3pm when the training was over and Pat, Suzanne & I went to a local park to visit Pat's daughter, Kelly. After that we headed home, them in Pat's car and me on my trike.
Today, Sunday, I rode to town to Sunday Service at the Centre for Spiritual Living. It was nice to see people I hadn't seen in awhile and nice to get a really warm welcome. Many people took time to go see my trike and most were very impressed. After that, I had the feeling there was something I had wanted/meant to buy when next in town, though couldn't remember what that was so I just came home. I watered my raised bed gardens and gave Reba fresh water out in her run, then went to feed the birds and discovered what it was I needed to buy in town... I was totally out of bird food. I gave them all some spray millet and rode the trike to town to get a big bag of feed for them. It was such a beautiful day and I didn't want to just come home, so I decided to ride out to Tuggy's. He was happy to see me and while visiting we did some stuff on the trike, tightening bolts and such that had loosened with the vibrations of riding such a machine. My cell rang & was Don wanting to know if I wanted to go riding. I told him I was out at Tuggy's (they both live in the same small town, so only a few miles apart). Don (on his Harley) stopped at Tug's when he got that far, Tug's other friend Bucky came by on his Triumph motorcycle. After sitting around visiting awhile, we left Tug (his trike is broken down just now) and rode in to town where Don & I went to the bar for a bit (I drank my usual tea). Then we rode in to Vernon and had a bite to eat at a pub just outside town after which we rode in to town so I could fuel up my trike (was on my reserve tank at this point) then rode to my place. We just sat down in my back yard when it started to rain so Don left to make his 30 minute ride home. He called when he got home and said it was a wonderful ride home, the rain stopped just a couple kilometers from my place.
It was a really incredible weekend... my first as a true 'biker'.
Jumat, 11 Juni 2010
Reba's First Ride
After doing one last bit of work on the brakes yesterday, it was time for a run around the yard. The trike is now ready to come home!! After I did a few 'check out the brakes now' turns around the yard I let Reba come for a ride. She had no issues at all about hopping into the box. I got in and called her, she ran over and hopped right in. I got out and closed the tail gate then for safety tied her in... she will always wear a tie down, something like wearing a seat belt. She is never not secured into a moving vehicle. As I knew she would, Reba loved her ride and is not quite the Biker Dog!! She had a big smile on her face and was not at all afraid as some people thought she might be.
During the process of 'triking' my bike, not only did Tuggy & I become good friends, Reba & Tuggy did too.
Reba is comfortable enough in the box that when she was waiting for me to finish taking photos and go for another ride, she even sat down to relax. I think if she could she would drive this thing herself. She is 'quite the dog' and so very well suited to me... always up for a new adventure. I can see a speech in this story... Yup, I am a Toastmaster!
~Click on photos for a larger view~
The man that built customized my Yamaha XJ650 Maxim, changed it from 2 wheels to 3... and the dog the work was done for. I could have ridden it with 2 wheels, but Reba couldn't have.
During the process of 'triking' my bike, not only did Tuggy & I become good friends, Reba & Tuggy did too.
Reba is comfortable enough in the box that when she was waiting for me to finish taking photos and go for another ride, she even sat down to relax. I think if she could she would drive this thing herself. She is 'quite the dog' and so very well suited to me... always up for a new adventure. I can see a speech in this story... Yup, I am a Toastmaster!
Selasa, 01 Juni 2010
Weather and Yard...
I was beginning to think one might have to travel to Florida and rent one of those orlando timeshare places in order to get some decent weather, then today surprised us all (even the weatherman, I'm sure) when it was clear, sunny and fairly warm (high of 22 degrees Celcius) though it had been forecast to be raining again as most days have for some time now. The forecast for tomorrow keeps changing so I guess I will have to wait to see what it's like, though I am hoping for another day like today as my plans are to go to where my trike is and go for a ride. In 17 days I go to do my Skills Test, so guess I better get skillful.
Today I wasn't feeling quite as splendid as I like to feel, so I stayed home instead of going to my Aqua Therapy group. I really do need to go do the exercises in the water as they do help me a lot, though I don't seem to make it there every time. Oh well, there's always next week. Dan came by this morning and helped me move 2 more bathtubs into my back yard. We put one into place though the other one not yet. I need to do a bit of clean up work before putting the tub in place and filling it with rocks and soil. Now to find more rocks to haul home... hmmmm. My raised bed gardens will soon be all in place, filled, planted and growing. I also moved a rack to the back yard to hang plants on. It's coming along fairly nicely and I know I will enjoy it out there this year.
Now I'm off to get ready and go to Toastmasters. I am wearing several hats there this evening as many of our members are away. I will be the Grammarian/Ah Counter, the Table Topics Evaluator, a Speech Evaluator, and give the Closing Thought as well as supply the Snack for this evening. Tim Bits and Tea... yummmy.
Today I wasn't feeling quite as splendid as I like to feel, so I stayed home instead of going to my Aqua Therapy group. I really do need to go do the exercises in the water as they do help me a lot, though I don't seem to make it there every time. Oh well, there's always next week. Dan came by this morning and helped me move 2 more bathtubs into my back yard. We put one into place though the other one not yet. I need to do a bit of clean up work before putting the tub in place and filling it with rocks and soil. Now to find more rocks to haul home... hmmmm. My raised bed gardens will soon be all in place, filled, planted and growing. I also moved a rack to the back yard to hang plants on. It's coming along fairly nicely and I know I will enjoy it out there this year.
Now I'm off to get ready and go to Toastmasters. I am wearing several hats there this evening as many of our members are away. I will be the Grammarian/Ah Counter, the Table Topics Evaluator, a Speech Evaluator, and give the Closing Thought as well as supply the Snack for this evening. Tim Bits and Tea... yummmy.
Rabu, 05 Mei 2010
Trike and Truck
Last week we (Tuggy & I) worked at over coming a problem with the back brakes on my trike. His nephew, Vic, took a look at it after we had changed all the brake lines and spent many hours trying to bleed the lines with no success. Vic is a mechanic and he said the problem was with the brake peddle Tuggy had manufactured. It wasn't pushing the shaft far enough into the master cylinder. So on Sunday we made some big changes to the peddle mechanism and got the back brakes working really well. Cool!!! Now it was finally time for my first lesson... just as soon as Tug took the trike for a little spin to make sure all was working well before he let me on it.
First, we pushed it out of the shop into the yard... then to start it took some time and we had to boost it with my truck. There had been a strange sound in my truck for the past few days which turned out to be the alternator... and now it made some crunching, grinding sounds and that was it... it quit. By then, the trike was running so Tug went to ride it and made it maybe 2 inches... the drive shaft "calved". It just twisted apart at one of the welds. The welder Tug had to the work is very expensive as it turned out, and very incompetent.
I was able, after we pushed the trike back inside, to drive my truck home where it stalled when I was backing up the hill. Thankfully I was nearly at the top so when it wouldn't start with a dead battery I was able to roll down the hill and let out the clutch, thereby 'jump starting' it.
The next day, Monday, I got an alternator from one of the auto wreckers in town, thanks to Dan driving me in to town. Then Tuggy came in as Dan is not a mechanic and had no idea how to change it over. He and I (mostly him) took the old one out and put the 'new' one in... and when I started the truck and checked my gauges I saw it wasn't charging!! We figured this meant there was a problem with the alternator so I called the auto wrecker who said they didn't have another one like that. The next day, Tug called saying he'd found another one, that a friend of his has a smashed Ranger we can get the alternator out of. So he came on Big Red (his trike) and picked me up as well as some of my tools and off we went. Turned out the front of the truck was smashed in so it was a really big job to get to the alternator though once we finally got to it, it was easy to get out. We brought it back here and put it into my truck... and it wasn't charging. No way could we have 2 bad alternators, so we drove it to an auto electric place and had it tested. It turned out that both the alternators were good, and there was a fuse that was burned out. It cost me $40 to find this out... and about 15 minutes.
I returned the first alternator to the auto wrecker and got my $60 back, then took us for burgers. It was a long day and well past eating time, lol. So... in the end the cost was: $10 to Tuggy for gas, free alternator from his friend, $40 to get them checked and replace the fuse, $15 for eats = $65 and I'm back on the road. Could have been a LOT worse.
I actually really enjoyed the time spent ripping apart that guy's smashed truck to get to the alternator and think if my body was in a bit better shape I'd see about working at an auto wreckers taking vehicles apart. Today I really am paying for the fun though. I was in so much pain this morning that I could hardly move so went to the Rec Centre to soak in the hot tub then to the Chiropractor for a treatment and I have to go back on Monday for another one. Medical covers part of these treatments though I have to pay a user fee of $12 each, then after 10 treatments medical coverage runs out and I have to pay $25 per treatment, so I hoard the things, trying to stretch them out as well as I can over the year. I am better now, though still stiff and sore.
Due to the 'down time', I was unable to get to my Volunteer work at the Food Bank this Monday morning, or to Aqua Therapy Monday and Tuesday afternoons. I even forgot to go to Toastmasters on Tuesday evening as I was so busy with getting all that done and got home around the time I would have had to be leaving to drive there... and only had relaxing my sore & tired body in my mind.
On Tuesday, before and after Tuggy was here, I did some sewing which I will tell about later. For now, I must get off here as sitting here typing is becoming rather painful. Time to go to bed me thinks.
Nite nite.
First, we pushed it out of the shop into the yard... then to start it took some time and we had to boost it with my truck. There had been a strange sound in my truck for the past few days which turned out to be the alternator... and now it made some crunching, grinding sounds and that was it... it quit. By then, the trike was running so Tug went to ride it and made it maybe 2 inches... the drive shaft "calved". It just twisted apart at one of the welds. The welder Tug had to the work is very expensive as it turned out, and very incompetent.
I was able, after we pushed the trike back inside, to drive my truck home where it stalled when I was backing up the hill. Thankfully I was nearly at the top so when it wouldn't start with a dead battery I was able to roll down the hill and let out the clutch, thereby 'jump starting' it.
The next day, Monday, I got an alternator from one of the auto wreckers in town, thanks to Dan driving me in to town. Then Tuggy came in as Dan is not a mechanic and had no idea how to change it over. He and I (mostly him) took the old one out and put the 'new' one in... and when I started the truck and checked my gauges I saw it wasn't charging!! We figured this meant there was a problem with the alternator so I called the auto wrecker who said they didn't have another one like that. The next day, Tug called saying he'd found another one, that a friend of his has a smashed Ranger we can get the alternator out of. So he came on Big Red (his trike) and picked me up as well as some of my tools and off we went. Turned out the front of the truck was smashed in so it was a really big job to get to the alternator though once we finally got to it, it was easy to get out. We brought it back here and put it into my truck... and it wasn't charging. No way could we have 2 bad alternators, so we drove it to an auto electric place and had it tested. It turned out that both the alternators were good, and there was a fuse that was burned out. It cost me $40 to find this out... and about 15 minutes.
I returned the first alternator to the auto wrecker and got my $60 back, then took us for burgers. It was a long day and well past eating time, lol. So... in the end the cost was: $10 to Tuggy for gas, free alternator from his friend, $40 to get them checked and replace the fuse, $15 for eats = $65 and I'm back on the road. Could have been a LOT worse.
I actually really enjoyed the time spent ripping apart that guy's smashed truck to get to the alternator and think if my body was in a bit better shape I'd see about working at an auto wreckers taking vehicles apart. Today I really am paying for the fun though. I was in so much pain this morning that I could hardly move so went to the Rec Centre to soak in the hot tub then to the Chiropractor for a treatment and I have to go back on Monday for another one. Medical covers part of these treatments though I have to pay a user fee of $12 each, then after 10 treatments medical coverage runs out and I have to pay $25 per treatment, so I hoard the things, trying to stretch them out as well as I can over the year. I am better now, though still stiff and sore.
Due to the 'down time', I was unable to get to my Volunteer work at the Food Bank this Monday morning, or to Aqua Therapy Monday and Tuesday afternoons. I even forgot to go to Toastmasters on Tuesday evening as I was so busy with getting all that done and got home around the time I would have had to be leaving to drive there... and only had relaxing my sore & tired body in my mind.
On Tuesday, before and after Tuggy was here, I did some sewing which I will tell about later. For now, I must get off here as sitting here typing is becoming rather painful. Time to go to bed me thinks.
Nite nite.
Rabu, 24 Maret 2010
Dropping Pounds
Many people believe in using weight loss supplements, and that's okay as everyone has the right to their own opinion. I have, in years past, tried this method and for me it didn't work, though for others maybe it does, I don't know. I only know that for me, there is only one way to go... eat less, move more. Or at least, less calories in, and burn more calories. Skipping meals doesn't seem to work, but eating smaller portions and/or eating low calorie foods does seem to help a lot. In my TOPS groups, I have been learning to substitute low cal for high cal... like yogurt instead of sour cream, broth soups instead of cream soups, etc etc, as well as no butter on bread or toast when using something like jam or peanut butter. You don't need it all and leaving off the butter can save you calories.
I have recently been voted in a Assistant Leader in my TOPS club. Should be an interesting year. This program is working for me and last night at Toastmasters, I was given a nice compliment... in a humorous way. I had worn a red blazer that looks great on me and it was too hot (wool), I was sweating so had to take it off. Underneath I had on a nice blouse and was wearing black slacks and black heels. Sheila told me that I am now slim enough to start tucking in my blouse, I don't have to wear it out any more. I like that and will now tuck them in.
I have recently been voted in a Assistant Leader in my TOPS club. Should be an interesting year. This program is working for me and last night at Toastmasters, I was given a nice compliment... in a humorous way. I had worn a red blazer that looks great on me and it was too hot (wool), I was sweating so had to take it off. Underneath I had on a nice blouse and was wearing black slacks and black heels. Sheila told me that I am now slim enough to start tucking in my blouse, I don't have to wear it out any more. I like that and will now tuck them in.
International Speech Contest
I competed in a Toastmaster Speech Contest in my club last night. While practicing my speech in the afternoon I sat outside in my truck as it was far too nice a day to sit in the house. Sitting there with the door open, I saw a mosquito fly into the cab with me. This is the first one I've seen this year and it is very early to have these nasty flying blood suckers around, though this year everything seems to be a month or more early. I was wondering if giving it an effective diet pill would help it to 'waste away to nothing'... and take it's friends and family along too.
As for the contest, I came in second. In our area each club gets to send 2 speakers & 2 evaluators on to the area level, the next phase of the contest. I have a LOT of practicing to do if I hope to win there. Only one from each area goes on to division.
As for the contest, I came in second. In our area each club gets to send 2 speakers & 2 evaluators on to the area level, the next phase of the contest. I have a LOT of practicing to do if I hope to win there. Only one from each area goes on to division.
Rabu, 13 Januari 2010
Tuesday January 12th
Today it was Aqua Therapy again. In the morning, before going to town, I did get a bit of housework done here... just the tip of the ice burg is cleaner now. I was later thinking I might do a "You Might Be A Hoarder If...." series of posts.
After Aqua Therapy, hot tub & shower, I went to my Dr. appointment. About a month and a half ago, I had some 'spotting'. Having had a hysterectomy some years ago this is not as it should be. I couldn't get in to see my Dr., so went to a Walk-In Clinic (we have 3 or 4 of them in town). The Dr. there took a scraping and sent it to the lab. It took about a month to hear back, then almost 2 weeks ago (on a Friday I believe it was) I got a phone call from them saying "Don't panic but..." Apparently there was some kind of problem though she wouldn't tell me much over the phone, just told me to go see my own Dr., assuring me that a copy of my visit records & the lab tests had been sent to him. I phoned to make an appointment & found out that my Dr.'s office was closed for several days, until the following Wednesday, due to them moving to a new location. I had to wait to make the appointment, then nearly another week to go in today to see him. Well.... after sitting there for nearly an hour while he ran around with a repair man, talking about things that need fixing, he finally gets around to talking to me... only problem was, he couldn't find anything about this in my files. Did they loose the papers that were sent to him?? Were the papers ever really sent?? No way of knowing. So now what? He is having his receptionist call the Walk-In Clinic to have them fax it over, then once he looks it over she will call me to let me know if I need to get in there right away or at my convenience. Oh hell, it's been a month and a half now, guess it's a bit late for 'right away'.
Tonight I went to Toastmasters. I was the Chair & the Toastmaster this evening. In my 'old' club we did one or the other, though in this club we do both in the same night. I didn't do the greatest job, not as good as I know I can, so didn't get a good evaluation at all, and on top of it all I was late getting there. It's a good thing we don't pass or fail these things, after tonight I wouldn't soon be handing out graduation announcements. Oh well, guess I could have done a lot worse too. I learned lots anyway.
After Aqua Therapy, hot tub & shower, I went to my Dr. appointment. About a month and a half ago, I had some 'spotting'. Having had a hysterectomy some years ago this is not as it should be. I couldn't get in to see my Dr., so went to a Walk-In Clinic (we have 3 or 4 of them in town). The Dr. there took a scraping and sent it to the lab. It took about a month to hear back, then almost 2 weeks ago (on a Friday I believe it was) I got a phone call from them saying "Don't panic but..." Apparently there was some kind of problem though she wouldn't tell me much over the phone, just told me to go see my own Dr., assuring me that a copy of my visit records & the lab tests had been sent to him. I phoned to make an appointment & found out that my Dr.'s office was closed for several days, until the following Wednesday, due to them moving to a new location. I had to wait to make the appointment, then nearly another week to go in today to see him. Well.... after sitting there for nearly an hour while he ran around with a repair man, talking about things that need fixing, he finally gets around to talking to me... only problem was, he couldn't find anything about this in my files. Did they loose the papers that were sent to him?? Were the papers ever really sent?? No way of knowing. So now what? He is having his receptionist call the Walk-In Clinic to have them fax it over, then once he looks it over she will call me to let me know if I need to get in there right away or at my convenience. Oh hell, it's been a month and a half now, guess it's a bit late for 'right away'.
Tonight I went to Toastmasters. I was the Chair & the Toastmaster this evening. In my 'old' club we did one or the other, though in this club we do both in the same night. I didn't do the greatest job, not as good as I know I can, so didn't get a good evaluation at all, and on top of it all I was late getting there. It's a good thing we don't pass or fail these things, after tonight I wouldn't soon be handing out graduation announcements. Oh well, guess I could have done a lot worse too. I learned lots anyway.
Kamis, 10 Desember 2009
Duh... What's Up, Doc?
Another busy week in progress. I've stayed away far too long and forget most of what I've been doing. Oh well... here's some anyway.
Friday December 4: Made a trip out to Falkland to pick up a part for my trike & take it to Tuggy. We spent some time looking at trikes online, seeing some of the vastly different looks & styles of trikes. Then I came back to town & met Don for dinner. I met him back in mid October through mutual friends, Stacia & Lucky, & I had told Stacia that if he asked for my phone number she could give it to him. I guess he must have asked. We sat in Denny's Restaurant eating & talking for about 5 hours. Had a good time.
Saturday December 5: Hmmmm.... I know I did something, just can't think right now what it was. There is a possibility I may have stayed home that day... or not.
Sunday December 6: Went to the Centre for Spiritual Living for the Service. I am doing the Book of the Month for December, so I read a small sampling from the book I chose, The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. I also told a bit about the family we've 'adopted' for Christmas. A single Mom with 2 young daughters, what they need, what they like, sizes, things like that. The service was followed by Pot Luck Lunch. Wow, so much food and lots of people stayed to eat it. Fabulous!!
Monday December 7: Went to Aqua Therapy at the Rec. Centre, then soaked in the hot tub & had a nice shower. Went to the Chiropractor for a treatment, stiff sore neck = headaches. Hoping it is last one I need for this year. Did some work on my speech for Toastmasters tomorrow eve.
Tuesday December 8: Dan came by and brought in some bags of pellets for my stove as I didn't want to pack them after getting a chiropractic treatment. Unfortunately, he brought in the wrong ones, 3 of 4 bags that had gotten rained on so the pellets were partially/largely ruined, turned to sawdust. He didn't realize this would be a problem. It is. I didn't notice until after he had gone.
Phoned Don to wish him a happy birthday. He sounded very happy & impressed that I'd bothered. Well hey, he told me on Friday night when his birthday was, so what the heck. :o)
Graig came by to look at my place as a possible location to park his motor home become trailer to live in. He decided it would be too hard for the tow truck driver to get it in here. I think he's a bit 'off' on this, but okay. We had a nice visit and talked about a writing project that we may be undertaking together in near future. That would be awesome. He and I seem to work well together, inspiring each other to new & greater ideas & heights in our writing. Then we both went to the Rec. Centre to the pool... him to water walk, steam room, hot tub... me to Aqua Therapy & hot tub. After that, he offered to buy me dinner, so we went for Chinese.
For the evening I went to my Toastmasters meeting, our last until January. I'd not had much time to work on my speech, so I read more of it than I like to, much prefer to not use my notes, or if I have to, just use them a wee bit. Oh well, it was what it was. This was a 5 part project about Negotiating.
1- pick a partner & together decide on a scenario to roll play.
2- give a 4-5 minute speech on the Negotiation process so the audience will understand what it's about.
3- give a short introduction of my partner & the scenario we will be roll playing
4- do a 3-5 minute roll play
5- hold a 2-3 minute informal discussion about what could have been done better/differently to better accomplish the goal of negotiating.
I also gave the Toast for the evening. I almost forgot about it, then driving out there remembered and, in my head as I drove, I prepared & rehearsed the Toast.
I got on the computer & don't really remember what I did, maybe Reba took over my body. I do know though that I didn't come to bed until 4am. I texted Wendy just before I turned out the light. She was already up, starting her day.
Wednesday December 9: Got up around 11am, prepared to go to the Centre & do my usual Wednesday job of creating the Sunday Programs. I discovered that the water pipes were frozen, so this took priority over the Programs which I can do another day so long as it's before Sunday. I cranked the furnace up high so it would send heat down under my mobile home and turned on the cold water tap in the bathtub. I talked to Dan on MSN & we decided I'd go to Canadian Tire and buy a Heat Tape, he'd come over & go underneath to install it. When he got under there he found there was already one there though it had been removed from an area where a plumber had done a repair. He fixed this up and plugged it in. This has been under there since before I owned this place, this is my 2oth winter here & I've never used it, it's been bitter cold lately though we have had colder & my pipes haven't frozen, the pellet stove doesn't send heat down below though this is the 4th winter I've used mainly this source of heat and until now have had no problems. So what is the problem now? Well, there is a piece of blue Styrofoam type insulation board covering the hole to the underneath and this had somehow gotten knocked down, so was wide open. A cat perhaps? Could be. Guess I need to do something there to stop this kind of thing from happening again.
I went out this evening with Wendy to the Army Navy Air Force club. Met lots of nice people and enjoyed my evening. On the way home I went to Superstore to get groceries. Once home I grabbed my laptop & came to the bedroom. I didn't want to turn on all the lights out there & wake up the birds. It's healthier for them to get their proper sleep and all too often they don't due to being in the living room.
Since this is so long and I have a big day tomorrow, early-for-me morning, I am not going to add the Gratitude List tonight. Will tomorrow though. I have much to be grateful for and I am very grateful for that. I am also very grateful that somewhere along the line I learned the power of gratitude.
Friday December 4: Made a trip out to Falkland to pick up a part for my trike & take it to Tuggy. We spent some time looking at trikes online, seeing some of the vastly different looks & styles of trikes. Then I came back to town & met Don for dinner. I met him back in mid October through mutual friends, Stacia & Lucky, & I had told Stacia that if he asked for my phone number she could give it to him. I guess he must have asked. We sat in Denny's Restaurant eating & talking for about 5 hours. Had a good time.
Saturday December 5: Hmmmm.... I know I did something, just can't think right now what it was. There is a possibility I may have stayed home that day... or not.
Sunday December 6: Went to the Centre for Spiritual Living for the Service. I am doing the Book of the Month for December, so I read a small sampling from the book I chose, The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. I also told a bit about the family we've 'adopted' for Christmas. A single Mom with 2 young daughters, what they need, what they like, sizes, things like that. The service was followed by Pot Luck Lunch. Wow, so much food and lots of people stayed to eat it. Fabulous!!
Monday December 7: Went to Aqua Therapy at the Rec. Centre, then soaked in the hot tub & had a nice shower. Went to the Chiropractor for a treatment, stiff sore neck = headaches. Hoping it is last one I need for this year. Did some work on my speech for Toastmasters tomorrow eve.
Tuesday December 8: Dan came by and brought in some bags of pellets for my stove as I didn't want to pack them after getting a chiropractic treatment. Unfortunately, he brought in the wrong ones, 3 of 4 bags that had gotten rained on so the pellets were partially/largely ruined, turned to sawdust. He didn't realize this would be a problem. It is. I didn't notice until after he had gone.
Phoned Don to wish him a happy birthday. He sounded very happy & impressed that I'd bothered. Well hey, he told me on Friday night when his birthday was, so what the heck. :o)
Graig came by to look at my place as a possible location to park his motor home become trailer to live in. He decided it would be too hard for the tow truck driver to get it in here. I think he's a bit 'off' on this, but okay. We had a nice visit and talked about a writing project that we may be undertaking together in near future. That would be awesome. He and I seem to work well together, inspiring each other to new & greater ideas & heights in our writing. Then we both went to the Rec. Centre to the pool... him to water walk, steam room, hot tub... me to Aqua Therapy & hot tub. After that, he offered to buy me dinner, so we went for Chinese.
For the evening I went to my Toastmasters meeting, our last until January. I'd not had much time to work on my speech, so I read more of it than I like to, much prefer to not use my notes, or if I have to, just use them a wee bit. Oh well, it was what it was. This was a 5 part project about Negotiating.
1- pick a partner & together decide on a scenario to roll play.
2- give a 4-5 minute speech on the Negotiation process so the audience will understand what it's about.
3- give a short introduction of my partner & the scenario we will be roll playing
4- do a 3-5 minute roll play
5- hold a 2-3 minute informal discussion about what could have been done better/differently to better accomplish the goal of negotiating.
I also gave the Toast for the evening. I almost forgot about it, then driving out there remembered and, in my head as I drove, I prepared & rehearsed the Toast.
I got on the computer & don't really remember what I did, maybe Reba took over my body. I do know though that I didn't come to bed until 4am. I texted Wendy just before I turned out the light. She was already up, starting her day.
Wednesday December 9: Got up around 11am, prepared to go to the Centre & do my usual Wednesday job of creating the Sunday Programs. I discovered that the water pipes were frozen, so this took priority over the Programs which I can do another day so long as it's before Sunday. I cranked the furnace up high so it would send heat down under my mobile home and turned on the cold water tap in the bathtub. I talked to Dan on MSN & we decided I'd go to Canadian Tire and buy a Heat Tape, he'd come over & go underneath to install it. When he got under there he found there was already one there though it had been removed from an area where a plumber had done a repair. He fixed this up and plugged it in. This has been under there since before I owned this place, this is my 2oth winter here & I've never used it, it's been bitter cold lately though we have had colder & my pipes haven't frozen, the pellet stove doesn't send heat down below though this is the 4th winter I've used mainly this source of heat and until now have had no problems. So what is the problem now? Well, there is a piece of blue Styrofoam type insulation board covering the hole to the underneath and this had somehow gotten knocked down, so was wide open. A cat perhaps? Could be. Guess I need to do something there to stop this kind of thing from happening again.
I went out this evening with Wendy to the Army Navy Air Force club. Met lots of nice people and enjoyed my evening. On the way home I went to Superstore to get groceries. Once home I grabbed my laptop & came to the bedroom. I didn't want to turn on all the lights out there & wake up the birds. It's healthier for them to get their proper sleep and all too often they don't due to being in the living room.
Since this is so long and I have a big day tomorrow, early-for-me morning, I am not going to add the Gratitude List tonight. Will tomorrow though. I have much to be grateful for and I am very grateful for that. I am also very grateful that somewhere along the line I learned the power of gratitude.
Rabu, 02 Desember 2009
December 1st
Read until about 4:30am, just couldn't put my book down (Pay It Forward) until I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. At about 1/4 to 10 this morning the phone woke me up. Okay, after I talked a bit I was awake and decided that I would get up to take the covers off the bird cages, then come back to bed. I never made it back to bed until now. (Well, almost now... I was over on FaceBook). I made myself some porridge, fed Reba & Mewsic & all the birds. After some computer stuff and throwing in a load of laundry, and talking on the phone to Tuggy & a few others (phone just didn't want to stop ringing today) & changing my bedding as well as raising the head of the bed 4", I phoned a motorcycle dealer in Williams Lake to order a swing arm for my Yamahaha 650 Maxim. Tuggy needs to extend it to be long enough for using on my trike... he doesn't want to use the one that came on the bike as he wants to save all the parts so it can be put back to a 2 wheeler some day if I ever decide I want to sell it and get a bigger bike to put the back wheels on. At first there was no answer when I phoned there, so I thought they were out for lunch. Turns out they're closed for the winter and it's just by what people call luck that he came in to do something and I phoned just then. Good thing or I'd be up that creek without a paddle. By then I had to rush to the pool for Aqua Therapy. Sure was glad I went.
After therapy then sitting in the hot tub awhile, I showered & dressed, blow dried my hair before heading out into the cold, then out to the truck to go shopping. I went to Dollarama to get some light bulbs as some of mine burned out and I was needing to replace them. Then to Superstore to get milk, bathroom tissue, a can of garbanzo beans (chick peas) & a loaf of bread. Now home.
Tonight was Toastmasters, so after a short time at home I was off again. It was a great evening, I was one of the speech evaluators. I found out tonight that I am giving a speech next Tuesday, so guess I better get to work on it.
Due to acid reflux, I had to have the head of my bed raised 6" and after a fairly long time of this I decided (when I moved my bed into a different room a couple weeks ago) to put it back down and give it a try. You see, with it that high I always slide down it when sleeping. I'll start out with my head close to the head board, then wake up 3 feet away from the headboard & my feet hanging over the foot board. Well, it was really nice having it down, but the last few days I've been having the mega chest pains, along with a couple other signs, that tell me the acid reflux is getting bad again. I took Himalayan Cristal Salt and that settled it down nicely, though figure I better raise the head of the bed again. So, I am trying it at 4" even though the Dr. says 6". If this doesn't work I can/will raise it the extra 2", but maybe this will work while being less of a grade will help me to stay on the silly thing.
Tonight I am having trouble staying awake, so think I'll go now. I brought the laptop to bed with me so the living room is dark & quiet and the birds can get a good nights sleep. Reba is outside so Mewsic is curled up in bed with me. I really wish she would spend the night with me like this, though I know when I go to let Reba in Mewsic will run & hide from the dog.
Dang it 's hard to believe it's already December... and the 1st is now behind us. It was a very clear, sunny, blue sky kind of day today with the coldest temps we've had so far this fall. Not sure what they got to, but when I went out around noonish to get a bag of pellets for the stove, it was +2 Celsius and I don't think it got much if any higher. This week is supposed to be sunny and cold. Oh well, I can always dress for the cold, I just want the sunshine!!
Well, 'night' for now my friends. See you soon.
After therapy then sitting in the hot tub awhile, I showered & dressed, blow dried my hair before heading out into the cold, then out to the truck to go shopping. I went to Dollarama to get some light bulbs as some of mine burned out and I was needing to replace them. Then to Superstore to get milk, bathroom tissue, a can of garbanzo beans (chick peas) & a loaf of bread. Now home.
Tonight was Toastmasters, so after a short time at home I was off again. It was a great evening, I was one of the speech evaluators. I found out tonight that I am giving a speech next Tuesday, so guess I better get to work on it.
Due to acid reflux, I had to have the head of my bed raised 6" and after a fairly long time of this I decided (when I moved my bed into a different room a couple weeks ago) to put it back down and give it a try. You see, with it that high I always slide down it when sleeping. I'll start out with my head close to the head board, then wake up 3 feet away from the headboard & my feet hanging over the foot board. Well, it was really nice having it down, but the last few days I've been having the mega chest pains, along with a couple other signs, that tell me the acid reflux is getting bad again. I took Himalayan Cristal Salt and that settled it down nicely, though figure I better raise the head of the bed again. So, I am trying it at 4" even though the Dr. says 6". If this doesn't work I can/will raise it the extra 2", but maybe this will work while being less of a grade will help me to stay on the silly thing.
Tonight I am having trouble staying awake, so think I'll go now. I brought the laptop to bed with me so the living room is dark & quiet and the birds can get a good nights sleep. Reba is outside so Mewsic is curled up in bed with me. I really wish she would spend the night with me like this, though I know when I go to let Reba in Mewsic will run & hide from the dog.
Dang it 's hard to believe it's already December... and the 1st is now behind us. It was a very clear, sunny, blue sky kind of day today with the coldest temps we've had so far this fall. Not sure what they got to, but when I went out around noonish to get a bag of pellets for the stove, it was +2 Celsius and I don't think it got much if any higher. This week is supposed to be sunny and cold. Oh well, I can always dress for the cold, I just want the sunshine!!
Well, 'night' for now my friends. See you soon.
Rabu, 25 November 2009
November 24
I had planned to go to my Aqua Therapy class again today, quite looked forward to it even... then Tuggy called and wanted me to drive out to his place. He said he found a rear end for my trike and wanted me to take the money out to give to the guy. I said I could do it later, after my appointment in town, but he wanted me to go right away or it would be too dark to do what we needed to do if I went later. So I went. Dan was here at the time & he drove me out in his little car. Tuggy was outside with my bike running when we got there. It runs really nice. When warmed up it starts really well too, though he said it's a bit difficult when cold, though nothing to worry about. He had it hooked up to his car with jumper cables and said he has a new battery that will fit it, and is saving that for later, for now the old battery with jumpers will do. He told Dan that this bike, now that he's played with it and heard it run, would sell for $1000 to $1500, so I 'stole it'... paid $350. I think I'll have to buy Bev dinner or lunch one time, she's the friend that sold this bike to me. Guess she didn't know what it was worth. When I went to give him the $50 for the rear end, he said no, keep it for now cuz he wants me to give it directly to Gary or Jerry or whatever the guy's name is that we'll get the rear end from in a few days. So now I don't know the real reason he wanted me to make the 1/2 hour or so drive out there. Sheeeesh! Men. I'll never understand them. Haha.
By the time I got back, it was too late to go to Aqua Therapy :o( Not happy about that. So went into town with Dan, he was going to the bank & I went along for the ride. Came home and played on the computer a bit (play PathWords on FaceBook and got a 900 score tonight). At 6:45pm my cell beeped to remind me it was time to go to Toastmasters. YIKES, somehow I had managed to totally forget about that, or that it was Tuesday most likely. So I had to change clothes and head out really fast to drive there and be on time, just 40 minutes later. It was a great evening as it usually is. I gave the Inspiration ( "Limitations are merely opportunities to grow. I use them as stepping-stones to success." - Louise L. Hay
When I got home, I left all the lights on, working only with the light from the outside light and that from the fire in the pellet stove, I got my computer & a few other things, fed the chinchillas and came to bed. Most nights the birds don't get proper sleep due to me having lights & TV on, even when I cover the cages they seem to be awake too much (I can tell by the noise they make), so I decided to come work in here tonight. One of the many benefits of having a laptop computer.
I am grateful Bev told me she wanted to sell her bike
I am grateful that when I told this to Tuggy he said he wanted to go see it, that it might be better for me than the Honda he had planned to use
I am grateful I got such a good deal on such a good bike
I am grateful I am having it make into a trike and will be able to take Reba with me on it once I learn to ride it well
I am grateful to Dan for driving me out to Tuggy's
I am grateful for Aqua Therapy (even when I miss it)
I am grateful I had my cell phone programed to remind me of Toastmasters. I had nearly taken that off recently as I'm usually on my way long before it goes off
I am grateful I got to Toastmasters on time tonight
I am grateful for the great meeting and enjoyable speeches
I am grateful the snack was mostly healthy food tonight
I am grateful for all the fun & laughter we always having at our Toastmasters club
I am grateful my birds are getting a good nights sleep tonight
I am grateful for the fire burning in my pellet stove
I am grateful I have a laptop computer & wireless internet so I can change rooms with it
By the time I got back, it was too late to go to Aqua Therapy :o( Not happy about that. So went into town with Dan, he was going to the bank & I went along for the ride. Came home and played on the computer a bit (play PathWords on FaceBook and got a 900 score tonight). At 6:45pm my cell beeped to remind me it was time to go to Toastmasters. YIKES, somehow I had managed to totally forget about that, or that it was Tuesday most likely. So I had to change clothes and head out really fast to drive there and be on time, just 40 minutes later. It was a great evening as it usually is. I gave the Inspiration (
When I got home, I left all the lights on, working only with the light from the outside light and that from the fire in the pellet stove, I got my computer & a few other things, fed the chinchillas and came to bed. Most nights the birds don't get proper sleep due to me having lights & TV on, even when I cover the cages they seem to be awake too much (I can tell by the noise they make), so I decided to come work in here tonight. One of the many benefits of having a laptop computer.
I am grateful Bev told me she wanted to sell her bike
I am grateful that when I told this to Tuggy he said he wanted to go see it, that it might be better for me than the Honda he had planned to use
I am grateful I got such a good deal on such a good bike
I am grateful I am having it make into a trike and will be able to take Reba with me on it once I learn to ride it well
I am grateful to Dan for driving me out to Tuggy's
I am grateful for Aqua Therapy (even when I miss it)
I am grateful I had my cell phone programed to remind me of Toastmasters. I had nearly taken that off recently as I'm usually on my way long before it goes off
I am grateful I got to Toastmasters on time tonight
I am grateful for the great meeting and enjoyable speeches
I am grateful the snack was mostly healthy food tonight
I am grateful for all the fun & laughter we always having at our Toastmasters club
I am grateful my birds are getting a good nights sleep tonight
I am grateful for the fire burning in my pellet stove
I am grateful I have a laptop computer & wireless internet so I can change rooms with it
Rabu, 18 November 2009
Tuesday November 17th
Today I read the speech I had written yesterday, working at memorizing the beginning and getting at least some of the body of it into my head. I re-wrote bits of it, as usual, making it a better speech. Wishing I had more time to work on the speech and do house cleaning, I went off to town to my Aqua Therapy group. I really enjoy doing this and my goal is to get there more often... 2 to 3 times a week, and on time. So far I have really been hit & miss, always seem to be too busy with other things and don't quite get there. Now, with outside things almost done and snow soon to start covering the ground, I hope to have more time. I know I have to start putting this type of thing at the top of my To Do List, not somewhere in the lower half.
I had planned to get the photos printed to take to Toastmasters this evening (see last post), and realized I had forgotten to put them onto the flash drive & take them along, so I had to drive out to my place and do this, then drive back into town to get them printed at WalMart, then drive out to the town north of here, to where I go to Toastmasters. I thought I was actually on time, and was surprised to find out I was late & the meeting had just started.
I was the Table Topics Master for the evening and it was about 6pm when I remembered I hadn't prepared the questions for this.... so I quickly came up with some, typed & printed them out, then off I dashed.
The entire evening went very well, a great meeting with 4 guests, including the Area Governor for our Toastmaster area.
I am tired of DW killing plants & throwing their dirt all over the place, so I grabbed her out of a plant today, put her little green parrot butt into her cage & locked the door behind her. She's not happy about being locked in, though she will just have to live with it for now. I am planning to move things around in the near future (as soon as I can fit it in), moving the chinchilla cages away from the window, which includes moving the plants onto something harder for the birds to climb up onto. DW & Paco both like to climb up onto the chin cages & chew on, dig in the plants, though DW is the worst offender. There is dirt all over my living room now & I have to move things to get to it all to clean it up, so it has to wait.
Well, I'm off to bed now. No 3am bedtime for this gal tonight. I have to get up in the morning & into town to do my volunteer work, then an appointment with the health nurse who I see every 3 months in regards to Type 2 diabetes.
I am grateful I am good at throwing speeches together on short notice (just found out Sunday night that I was giving a speech tonight)
I am grateful I am good at throwing speeches together at the last minute when I just don't get it done sooner
I am grateful I had a great story to tell to fulfill a project in my Storyteller manual
I am grateful I had time to run into town again to get the photos developed
I am grateful the questions I needed for Table Topics came to me in time
I am grateful Mewsic is cuddled up with me in my chair
I am grateful I went to Aqua Therapy today
I am grateful I get to go to Aqua Therapy as it's very good for my body
I am grateful the health nurse I see gives me a free pass to the pool so I can swim & take Aqua Therapy
I am grateful to be a Toastmaster, improving not only my speaking skills, but also my listening skills and leadership skills.
I am grateful for the great feedback I got on my speech this evening
I am grateful that the snow that was trying to fall when I leaf Toastmasters didn't succeed.
I had planned to get the photos printed to take to Toastmasters this evening (see last post), and realized I had forgotten to put them onto the flash drive & take them along, so I had to drive out to my place and do this, then drive back into town to get them printed at WalMart, then drive out to the town north of here, to where I go to Toastmasters. I thought I was actually on time, and was surprised to find out I was late & the meeting had just started.
I was the Table Topics Master for the evening and it was about 6pm when I remembered I hadn't prepared the questions for this.... so I quickly came up with some, typed & printed them out, then off I dashed.
The entire evening went very well, a great meeting with 4 guests, including the Area Governor for our Toastmaster area.
I am tired of DW killing plants & throwing their dirt all over the place, so I grabbed her out of a plant today, put her little green parrot butt into her cage & locked the door behind her. She's not happy about being locked in, though she will just have to live with it for now. I am planning to move things around in the near future (as soon as I can fit it in), moving the chinchilla cages away from the window, which includes moving the plants onto something harder for the birds to climb up onto. DW & Paco both like to climb up onto the chin cages & chew on, dig in the plants, though DW is the worst offender. There is dirt all over my living room now & I have to move things to get to it all to clean it up, so it has to wait.
Well, I'm off to bed now. No 3am bedtime for this gal tonight. I have to get up in the morning & into town to do my volunteer work, then an appointment with the health nurse who I see every 3 months in regards to Type 2 diabetes.
I am grateful I am good at throwing speeches together on short notice (just found out Sunday night that I was giving a speech tonight)
I am grateful I am good at throwing speeches together at the last minute when I just don't get it done sooner
I am grateful I had a great story to tell to fulfill a project in my Storyteller manual
I am grateful I had time to run into town again to get the photos developed
I am grateful the questions I needed for Table Topics came to me in time
I am grateful Mewsic is cuddled up with me in my chair
I am grateful I went to Aqua Therapy today
I am grateful I get to go to Aqua Therapy as it's very good for my body
I am grateful the health nurse I see gives me a free pass to the pool so I can swim & take Aqua Therapy
I am grateful to be a Toastmaster, improving not only my speaking skills, but also my listening skills and leadership skills.
I am grateful for the great feedback I got on my speech this evening
I am grateful that the snow that was trying to fall when I leaf Toastmasters didn't succeed.
Toastmaster Speech
I did another speech at Toastmasters this evening. This is the third speech towards my Advanced Communicator Gold award. This is the speech I wrote, though I never give them word for word... just come fairly close. I passed around photos I took while on the ride so people could get a visual.
Speech Manual: Storytelling
Project: #2 – Let’s Get Personal
Title: It’s In My Blood!
It’s In My Blood!
Over the years, I loved riding the back of motorcycles, or as my late friend Gill used to call it, “Holding down the back wheel”. I rode on the back of Import bikes, Harleys and BMWs. The last time I rode was with Gill on his BMer... too many years ago to mention.
Having horses to ride helped me to refrain from missing motorcycles too much, and I decided I was much more into horses than Harleys anyway. Now, no longer having horses in my life, I have really been missing them ... terribly.... and that is another story.
Madame Area Governor, Madame Toastmaster, Fellow Toastmasters and Guests.
November 13, 2008, Wendy’s husband Gord passed away suddenly. This spring, Wendy decided to hold a Memorial Ride for Gord who had not only ridden bikes most of his life, but also, as a welder/fabricator build some. I created some posters for Wendy to put up and, being friends, we both wanted me to go along on this ride. I had no one to “pack” me, & Wendy said she’d find me a ride with someone who showed up... so early morning of May 31st I showed up at the North End Tim Horton’s, ready to ride.
“Alice, I found you a ride and everyone’s ready to go.” Wendy said as I was buying my XL cup of tea. I rushed outside where she said, “Alice... Tuggy.” He handed me a helmet saying, “Hi. Put this on.” I took the shiny chrome, German style helmet, strapped it onto my head, and climbed aboard the big red & wine color, Harley Davidson factory built TRIKE. This was my first time ever on a 3 wheeler! We pulled out and flew down the highway with me drinking my tea, sitting comfy & cosy in the big armchair type leather seat.
Putting the empty paper cup into my jacket pocket, I took out my trusty camera and had a great time taking photos as we went along. As much as I enjoyed riding this trike, there was still a part of me that wished I could be riding with one of those good looking, younger men instead of this old guy with the long, scraggly white hair. I came later to be quite grateful I had the ride I did.
First stop was Falkland Pub. I didn’t see my chauffeur for the most part as we both walked around talking to different people. I saw several people I hadn’t seen in many years, and met others for the first time. There were 40+ motorcycles in our group when we arrived, and a few less when we left, headed to the next of Gord’s “Favourite Watering Holes”, the Hideaway Pub in Salmon Arm. We rode back towards Vernon as far as Schweps Bridge, taking the Salmon Valley Road. I always loved riding this road behind Gill and this day was no different. With its many curves & bends it is a wonderful road to ride... though very different on a trike than a bike as you don’t lean the trike. As Tuggy says, you “ride” a bike and “drive” a trike... in 50 years of riding he has a lot of experience on both.
As the beautiful, fairly hot, sunshiny day progressed, we rode to Doc’s Pub in Canoe & The Burner in Malaqwa. From the time we left The Burner I was feeling a deep sadness inside me, battling with the glorious feel of the ‘natural high’ I had savoured all day... we were on the way home.
By the time we arrived at The Branding Iron Pub in Armstrong, I was slightly sunburned and wishing we had a long way to go yet. I was relieved to note once again that Tug was sober where many others weren’t. I was far safer with him than I would have been with any of those good looking younger men I mentioned earlier.
The last leg of the ride took us to my truck where I had left it in Vernon. Tuggy had had enough for the day so was headed home while I was going to Army Navy Air Force$ Club... joining the small group that was still riding. 8 hours, and 246k after I met him, I thanked Tuggy profusely for “packing” me, he said he was happy to and that he’d take me riding again. He was good to his word & took me out 2 or 3 more times over the course of the summer. Not anywhere near enough for me!! All summer I heard bikes flying past my place and my heart went riding with each of them, while my body stayed home, aching to be “in the wind”.
Yes, riding is in my blood, be it on motorcycle or horseback.... and that is why I bought myself a motorcycle this fall. Through the course of the winter, my friend Tuggy will be working on it... converting it to a trike... special built just for me.
Now maybe I will finally miss the horses just a little bit less.
Madame Toastmaster
I got a really good evaluation on this speech, and several people commented later that it was really a great speech. The tips for improvement that the evaluator gave were: 1- share fewer photos, 2- tip on better hand gestures.
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