Sunday was my scheduled night off and it was leading up to my birthday. I made plans with my Somerset family that evening. We would go to dinner and then see a movie. It was leading up to the major heat wave we would encounter in the coming week. Therefore, it felt cool by comparison with a little bit of humidity but nothing too oppressive.
Before my evening plans, I took a walk around Twin Lakes as it was on the way and the weather was fine. I timed that well as I left around 4:20pm and made my way to Latrobe. Perfect timing as I made it to Latrobe at 4:45. We had dinner at Tokyo Sushi and Hibachi. Fun fact: We ate here for my birthday several years ago before we went to the theatre. I got the General Tso’s Chicken. It was too much to eat for one meal so I saved a little bit for my lunch on Monday.
After we ate, it was off to the theatre. We drove there in a downpour but fortunately, it wasn’t that far from where we ate. Even after all that food, I still left room for popcorn and Pepsi. The Latrobe 30 Cinema is owned by the same people who also run the Westwood Plaza and Theatre in Johnstown. I went to that theatre a few times when I was a college student in the early 2000’s. The movie we saw several years ago was Toy Story 4. Sunday night we saw the new movie.
I won’t throw out spoilers but this movie had a great storyline. It’s more centered around Jessie (who made her debut in Toy Story 2). Technology is the mortal enemy here as today’s kids are always distracted by their screens. I do like seeing some of the other toys from the previous film, plus Forky returns. He was the center of attention in the last movie, as was Woody and Bo Peep. I was grateful for the dinner and the movie, as it was a treat for my birthday. I’ll return the favor in September for my aunt’s birthday.
The movie ended around 7:30pm, and as I walked out of the theater I saw a few peaks of sunshine. It made for a nice 25 minute drive home. This ends my final weekend of 44 as I would celebrate another year around the sun on Tuesday.
Wednesday night was New Year’s Day in a way, as July 1 marks the first day of the new Toastmasters Year. We were in-person, and we also had guests in attendance. That was the good news. The two girls were students at Saint Vincent College, majoring in Healthcare. Mike and I introduced them to Toastmasters and explained to them how the meeting works and what the roles are.
We had no hotspot for our meeting and couldn’t get Zoom to work, so there goes half of our members for the night. However, Mike and I made the meeting work. I served as acting president for the meeting, as well as Toastmaster and General Evaluator. Mike came up with some Table Topics on the fly (It was a book of impromptu questions that works in a pinch). We even got our guests to take part in Table Topics. I think they liked it, even as I was a little over the top in explaining the rules. I tend to get ahead of myself sometimes.
Mike was our lone speaker, and he gave a good five to seven on developing others. He shared with us stories from his youth and college days, moving onto his Toastmasters journey. He served as District Governor in the 1997-98 Toastmasters year and talked about what it was like serving as a District leader. When talking about the merger of Allegheny Power with First Energy, he talked about the new boss and what he could have done better. In my evaluation, I mentioned that he gave an evaluation within the speech itself. That part on the merger hit home for me, as news broke of Giant Eagle buying Kroger. I’ll share more about that in another blog when I know more.
Our next three meetings are July 15, August 5, and August 19. Summer’s flying by.
Closing thoughts on Wednesday’s meeting:
- Mike and I did a great job improvising in the face of challenges.
- Next meeting on July 15, I’ll probably keep the same names for some of the roles.
- We hope to see Iesha and Dayna return. The consensus was they enjoyed the meeting. Just hope this next one is a little more traditional so they can experience a quality meeting.
Stylish 🍒 