On Wednesday night, I served as Table Topics Master at our Greensburg Toastmasters meeting. I didn’t answer any of the questions myself. However in this blog, I will answer one of them. My question and answer I had for it will be at the end of this blog.
Today, I’m putting together my Christmas list. This morning, I’m going to Pittsburgh to knock out a good portion of my holiday shopping. In case you are curious, I’m going to South Hills Village. I’ll talk more about my shopping experience in Monday’s blog.
Now, my feature presentation.
Summary of TLI–Saturday morning was our Winter Toastmasters Club Officer Training. With the merger of Districts coming in Summer of 2026, this event was a bittersweet one. It was a hybrid and online event but the in-person turnout was plentiful. Those of us in-person met at Westmoreland County Community College in Youngwood.
During the morning, our presenters covered the subject of contests, changes coming to the District and Pathways, and evaluations. Topics also included team building and club officer breakouts. Mike from my home club led the “Enhancing Evaluations” portion of the training. In the VPPR session, our presenter had us break into teams.
The program quality director put together an amazing team to help with registration and training as well as help out elsewhere. I picked up my program and some other utensils provided to help me have a good training. The notepads courtesy of Civista Bank helped me take productive notes.
Networking at Breakfast–I arrived at Westmoreland County Community College at 8:15am. Surprisingly, the parking lot was already filling up with those attending the event. After picking up my training materials, I found a table with area and division directors, as well as members from other clubs. I talked about my blog and some of the things I cover in it, excluding the fact that I am closing on a thousand blog posts. That will come sometime next year. Our Area 35 Director from the South Hills Toastmasters Club held an impromptu Table Topics session, asking us who our favorite all-time Steeler was. We had some people answer with Jack Lambert and Jack Ham, part of that vaunted Steel Curtain Defense, and even Terry Bradshaw. I had a great time talking football with one of the guys whom I met from the Bettis Club. Sometimes the best part of these events is meeting new people and getting to know each other. It’s a great way to share club success stories.
Post TLI Activities–After a fun time was had by all at 2025 Winter TLI, we wrapped up the day at around 3:30pm. I left Youngwood a lot richer than I did when I walked in the building. It was a little bit too late to stop for coffee as Cutie’s was getting ready to close. My fun weekend continues as I make plans to go Christmas shopping on Sunday and you’ll read about that in Monday’s blog. Maybe I’ll find a cute, little coffee shop along the way.
Last evening after a comfort meal of grilled cheese sandwiches and tortellini soup, we made plans for a wonderful movie night. We began the night with Charlie Brown Christmas and later on enjoyed White Christmas, starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. I crashed early after a full day on Saturday and watched the last half of the movie, as well as repeating Charlie Brown Christmas. My cup was full for the first half of the weekend and I hoped for repeated success on Sunday.
A Chilly Day and a Nice Outfit– It was a dry but cold December day. Keeping the weather in mind, I wanted to make sure Saturday would be a good day to travel. It was similar to last year’s training with a little bit of snow on the ground then too.
I stepped away from my usual cheetah print and wore a nice cream colored shirt. My division director complemented me on my “peasant blouse” and I returned the favor. I just wish I could get the negative thoughts out of my mind as they still permeate and ruin that good feeling I have about being my authentic self.
What is your favorite Christmas memory?
One of my favorite Christmas memories was when we would all get together on Christmas Eve at Aunt Lotte’s. She was my great great aunt (Gramma Hilde’s aunt). I was a teenager when the tradition came to an end so I was too young to really appreciate it. Aunt Lotte passed away in early 1997. A few weeks before she died, we had her up at our house for Christmas Eve at our house.
It felt like a proverbial passing of the torch.
Stylish 🍒 