Tuesday November 10th

Today I got up and did 2 loads of laundry back to back. Dan came over & I cleaned up Reba's run while Dan pulled/raked some weeds on the path to her run & the back door. I came in to work on writing a speech for Toastmasters & cleaned the ashes from the pellet stove while Dan put the storm/screen door that I've had here since early in the spring onto the door in from Reba's run. I sure am fortunate to have a friend like him to help me out with things like this.

I had hoped to make it to town today for the Aqua Therapy, but alas, I missed it again. It was about 2:3o when Dan left, I wasn't finished the speech yet, and Aqua Therapy was already nearly over (it's on from 2:05 to 2:50). Dang!!

I felt totally unprepared for giving this speech tonight and I know I didn't do it quite as written, also had to refer to my notes a lot and usually prefer not to even use notes... however, I don't think most people even knew I was referring to my notes as I did it 'on the sly'. It was a very different type of speech, from the Toastmaster's manual "Interpersonal Communication". I did Project 1: Speaking With Ease. It required that I do a 3-5 minute talk on the importance of communication {and a few other bits about conversation that I can't think of right now & I'm not getting up to get my manual}. That was followed by a brief explanation of the roll playing scenario I'd do with my partner & introduction of said partner. (Taking place in an airport.... no practice of what we'd say, all impromptu, etc.) A 4-5 minute roll play where I sit beside a woman at an airport and strike up a conversation, using the skills explained in the speech. All this was followed by a 2-3 minute open discussion with the audience. Ultimately it went over fairly well & I got a really good evaluation. This could be a challenging manual to work from... and I think I will learn a lot from doing it.

After the meeting & clean up, chatted with Pat awhile, as usual, then came home. Had I come home right away instead of chatting, I would have been here in time to get a phone call from my friend in Washington State, so I got a message from him. This is good, nice to hear from him. I will return his call tomorrow. I have MagicJack, so can make phone calls anywhere in North America without it costing anything other than the low 'per year' fee.

I am now in my recliner chair, under my laptop... and no the TV is not on. I taped my Tuesday night favorites (NCIS, NCIS Los Angeles, & The Good Wife) and will watch them when I can later in the week.

There... now the blogging I have been wanting to do is all done... caught up for the last few days. Ahhh, it feels good to 'share'.

I am grateful for the clothes I have to wear
I am grateful to have my own washer & dryer here in my home
I am grateful to have running water, hydro & soap to wash/dry my laundry
I am grateful for Dan in my life, he's a good friend
I am grateful for all my friends
I am grateful to have the screen/storm door on the house
I am grateful for Reba & all my 'critters'
I am grateful I got my speech written in time
I am grateful for the things I learned while preparing & presenting this speech project
I am grateful to be a Toastmaster
I am grateful for the wonderful people in my Toastmaster group
I am grateful for the message from Jerry in WA
I am grateful for MagicJack
I am grateful for my 2 laptop computers
I am grateful for my TV & my VCR
I am grateful to you who visit my blog & leave me your comments


I hope/trust you are all well and happy. I wish you the most awesome, happy week.