It may sound like I’m being redundant in the blogs but, still, read them anyways.
2019 had its good, bad, and ugly moments (coming back to WIS, getting more involved in Toastmasters, Grandma’s cancer diagnosis, and the loss of a good colleague). But aside from all that, the year had its great moments. We just had to wait until the end of summer for them.
My happy ending to 2019 began at the end of August when I saw a familiar face at the Greensburg Rite Aid. It made my day to see Chase come back even if it was only temporary (at the time). I had Maura to thank for that because she called him to come.
The month of September turned out well. We had our family picnic in the middle of the month at Laurel Hill. I made plans to move back home soon after. Originally we were going to have a full house and have everyone living under one roof. A few weeks later we changed our plans and I was going to switch with Katie and Annabelle. I attended a Toastmasters event in Baltimore and made some new friends in District 18. Just before that was a work trip to Ashtabula where I got a new perspective on things, particularly my attire. We had a casual, laid back night out and Emily, one of our coworkers, looked like a million dollars. Wearing my gym shorts and T-shirt, I felt the need to dress better after that night.
October started great and then I slumped at the end. I got my Distinguished Toastmaster during our open house at the beginning of the month. A week later was our Fall Symposium (which replaced homecoming at Slippery Rock; I’ll be at HoCo this year). Towards the latter part of the month, the loneliness really began to sink in. I actually talked it out with Maura at her Dollar General. She was a good listener and I thanked her and Ashley for being there for me that day. I got sick at the end of the month and was ready to move.
I moved back home in November but my slump continued. The low point of the year was the disastrous Mayfield Heights trip and the next day everyone was just burned out. It’s over, it’s over I thought. You’d have to be an idiot to think this year would end well after that week. But I wasn’t going to be outdone. I quietly got on the winning track after that week.
I got to work a lot with my favorite people that second week of November. After I thought I made a stuck up comment; and, felt I owed my friends an apology, Chase assured me it was cool and that he and Emily enjoyed my friendship. She and I complimented each other’s leather jackets and upon leaving the DG in Scottsdale, I told them “Bye, Love You” and was on my way.
While on another overnight in Erie, I started launching my blog. Those first few posts were about me looking for my significant other. I’d been struggling with loneliness since my grandma passed away and I’d been trying to break chains in my life that have been holding me back. I also posted something confidential that I shared with a few people when I went out to dinner before Thanksgiving.
I wouldn’t be working with my favorite people as much over the next few weeks, but I did well for myself. I was winning because I started to believe in myself more. I dodged a bullet too because everyone got a bug and I didn’t. TLI and the Christmas parties were approaching and I was doing pretty good for myself.
Just when things looked bad in November, I found myself on a roll heading into December. We had one of our well attended TLI’s in recent memory with 143 officers there for training. Greensburg had all seven officers trained. On my day off Monday, I attended the Cranberry High Noon club meeting and got a very nice reception. They were loving my blog and calling me by the name of it. I stuck around after the meeting and had a nice conversation with Sarah, one of the members. She’s also one of my good friends and biggest supporters of my blog.
The Greensburg Toastmasters Christmas Party was well put together. Jim and Michelle ordered pizza, Faerie put together a great Table Topics session, Chuck played some Trans-Siberian Orchestra on his guitar. He had some trouble getting the lyrics down, but we helped him out. We had some ugly Christmas sweaters in the room. Our husband and wife team rocked them well. Denise had a game ready for us to play that everyone had fun trying out.
My work Christmas party occurred just before that. We almost didn’t have it due to the snow squalls but eventually the weather broke and everyone showed up. There was good food, music, and great conversation. The attire was great too. There were ugly Christmas sweaters, festive Christmas sweaters, and stylish outfits being voted on. Overall it was a great party that our boss was very proud of planning.
It was a nice Christmas for me. I got some great gifts, including my TV. I gave gifts to my squad a few days later at work. Everyone loved the gifts I gave the (they all got the same thing).
Overall a happy ending to 2019. DTM, Blog, and my squad. Weekend’s almost here. Bye everyone. ❤️ you.
Stylish 🍒 