Our story begins in the summer of 2022. I was going through my crap at the time, trying to figure out Giant Eagle and questioning why I started my journey when I wasn’t getting much support. We attended the annual picnic at the farm and I enjoyed myself. My cousins showed their support for me as I broke down about what I was going through at the time, including the fact that I was shunned by some people for the changes that I made.

But this isn’t about the picnic nor is it that moment where my cousin and I both cried over how I was struggling in my journey, before she gave me some very kind words. This is about my cousin. Benny wasn’t feeling like his usual self and it would all come to light a month later when he started having seizures. My Mom and aunt went to Conemaugh Hospital before Benny would be flown to Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh. That stay would last two weeks and he would get many visitors along the way.

You see, Benny has a skin condition called Hidradenitis Suppurativa, or HS. It’s a chronic inflammatory condition that causes painful cysts under the skin, often in areas where skin touches skin (example, underarms and groin).

He came home and things were back to normal, for now. Fall arrived and he went back to school. We enjoyed Columbus Day weekend with Annabelle’s birthday at Twin Lakes and the family reunion. The holidays came and we broke tradition by hosting Thanksgiving at our house. It was one of the best holidays we had in recent memory. But prior to Christmas, Ben was in pain and could hardly move. Thus, he and his mom would be back at Children’s. We were praying for a Christmas miracle.

We got one as they came home (well, to the Holiday Inn Express) on Christmas Eve. It was a cold day with temperatures in the single digits, though not as bad as the day before. We sat with him in his room and watched Christmas specials from yesteryear. The next day, he and his mom celebrated Christmas with us.

But the euphoria would be short-lived as Ben went back to the hospital in February and would stay there through May. Now it was really time to nip this problem in the bud, once and for all.

I came to Children’s whenever I could. Mom did most of the visits and sometimes sat with Ben all day when his mom went home to get stuff. While a hospital room isn’t the nicest place to stay, Ben’s room overlooked the city skyline and made for some great views.

I visited on Mother’s Day and later that week to take Aunt Sue to Phipps to see the Billy Porter exhibit. We drove around Oakland and ate dinner at Primanti’s near the hospital. Glad I made that visit because the next week Benny came home.

He was able to enjoy the summer and part of the fall, including Annabelle’s Harry Potter themed birthday party and the Gaffron family reunion before going back to Children’s at the end of October. It looks like he’ll be there through the holidays. I’m going to visit them this Sunday and wish them a happy holiday.

Thursday night was the Free Care Telethon that raises money for Children’s Hospital, and Benny was on TV. How about that? Our little guy is a celebrity.

He’s been through a lot this year and hopefully the worst will be over soon and he’ll be back home and doing what he enjoys.

We’re officially into the top five events that made my 2023 memorable. Looking back at the first half, it hasn’t been a bad year so far. In spite of the struggles my family has dealt with, I got a laptop gifted to me by my cousins so I could blog more and have an easier way to attend online Toastmasters meetings; thus, not putting so much wear and tear on my iPhone. I was nominated President of my home club in Toastmasters and attended the Fall event as well as Club Officer Training. I applied for a full-time position at Giant Eagle and got it. Also, I enjoyed a nice feast for Night-turn Appreciation week thanks to our amazing store leader. I’m not done yet as I have more to talk about from 2023.

So without further ado, here is my #5 event of 2023.

On my birthday, my aunt gave me two free vouchers good for a Pittsburgh Pirates game of my choice. I thought about asking my dad, but I wasn’t sure how busy he’d be with his grass cutting schedule. I turned to Mr. Clougherty and he said yes. We would meet up later that week at dinner and celebrate my birthday.

At Burgatory, Kevin (Mr. Clougherty) and I picked a date for the ballgame. We decided on August 7 when the Pirates would host the Atlanta Braves at PNC Bank. Despite the losing culture that seems to hang around in Pittsburgh, PNC is one of the most beautiful ballparks in America. It would be nice to see a World Series there someday.

The forecast that day called for showers and thunderstorms, but we weren’t going to let a little rain ruin our fun that night. We even avoided traffic getting to the ballpark that afternoon. That night could be broken down into three parts. The first being dinner at Primanti’s in Market Square. We each enjoyed a Pitts-burger and got caught up on life. Next, we rode the subway to PNC Park. We got to the ballpark and found our seats, which were under the roof. That would come in handy when the rains came during the evening, around the sixth inning. We had an hour and a half rain delay and enjoyed the downtime. Even if the game wasn’t delayed, we still left early to beat the traffic and because Mr. Clougherty had an early schedule the next morning.

It was my first ballgame in eight years and it was a great memory to take from this past summer. The Buccos raced out to an early six run lead before Atlanta came roaring back. However, the home team held on for the win. It was great to share this gift with my longtime friend and teacher and the person who helped me to become better socially when I was in high school. Kevin (Mr. Clougherty) and I would see each other in a few weeks for our monthly dinner and another chapter in the Dinner Series.

It’s Christmastime and we are caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. We spend money like crazy and throw budgets out the window. We’re in our kitchens baking cookies and decorating our homes while listening to the classic Christmas songs. It’s a time to be festive and forget our problems but…

It’s OK to not be OK and, I’ve been there.

Christmas can be a stressful time if you’ve recently lost a loved one or someone you care about is in the hospital. You may be dealing with job loss or marital or relationship stress. It’s OK to not be OK. For me, I dealt with sadness and depression over the holidays. I wasn’t where I wanted to be in life. I wasn’t in my safe space anymore. I didn’t know what the future held. The time of the year was the late 2000s.

I was going through a transition period in 2021 as I left WIS and started at Giant Eagle. My journey had just begun after I brought it to light and I wasn’t feeling like I was getting approval. I felt like giving up (just as I wanted to earlier this year because of the nasty words said about Dylan Mulvaney). But I went back at the eleventh hour and learned that if I like it, then that’s all that matters.

My aunt has always been a big part of our holiday celebrations and takes part in the Christmas Eve festivities with us. This year will be the first time she won’t due to her son (our cousin) spending the holiday at Children’s Hospital for a skin condition called HS. Last year was a Christmas miracle as Benny came home on Christmas Eve after being hospitalized for a week. It was short lived though as he would be back at Children’s by February and would be there for four months. For us, we’ll be sad they’re missing the holidays but happy he’s getting taken care of. It’s OK to not feel OK during the holidays.

I visited Children’s Hospital many times and I said goodbye. I celebrated two years with Giant Eagle and stayed strong in the face of adversity.

2023 was the year I came back to blogging, rekindled my Toastmasters fire, saw Super Mario Bros. at the theatre, and learned about Dylan Mulvaney. It was the year I continued to embrace my style and rock the cheetah print, and publish my 500th blog post. I learned not to change for anyone and I revisited Harry Potter and really enjoy it now. I’m in it for the long haul now.

I’m officially counting down the top five of 2023 and there’s still a lot to talk about. Some surprises but overall this year had a lot to offer. There’s still more to come this December.

Friday night was my night off and a great night for me to get out and nip my Christmas shopping in the bud. I got some done earlier in the week online but I wanted to see what deals I could find at the mall. I also wanted to check out Ligonier all lit up as I missed Light-Up Night a few weeks ago and missed a golden opportunity to see some Christmas lights last week.

Even though I planned on celebrating 500 blog posts by eating at Burgatory in Murrysville, I could have taken a drive through Penn Township and North Huntingdon to see the houses all decorated for Christmas. My mom and I always did that in the past going to and from Gram’s house and still do that to this day. Instead, I opted to go to Monroeville Mall. That would’ve been nice, except it was an hour from closing time and it didn’t look as decorated as Westmoreland Mall did when I visited a few weeks ago. Plus, Monroeville Mall isn’t the safest mall anymore and it’s a shell of what it once was. I was out of there within a half hour.

I made up for my mistake when I decided to go do my Christmas shopping at Westmoreland Mall. I started at JCPenney and wasn’t as successful but things got better as time went on. I shopped at the calendar kiosk, and then went to Gamestop before ending with Old Navy and Hallmark. I saw some cool Grinch merchandise perfect for my fabulous sister. I have a little more shopping to do, plus a Market District run to get some things for Christmas Day, so I’m hoping to do that this weekend or next week. I left the mall and grabbed dinner at Eat’n Park in Latrobe, and then it was off to Ligonier.

The Diamond and the town were packed and you had to drive around to find a parking spot on this Friday evening two weeks before Christmas. Two weeks ago was Light Up night, and on this Friday evening Santa and Mrs. Claus made an appearance. Both events brought everyone out. The band shell was the perfect spot for kids to ask Santa what they wanted for Christmas and meet Mrs. Claus. The whole town was lit up and the tree in the gazebo made for a perfect Christmas photo opportunity. The photos and video I took say it all and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect on Friday night.

Looking ahead to this week and next week, I’ll be finishing up Christmas shopping and buying some things for Christmas Day. I’m hinting at making a Market District run somewhere in the Pittsburgh area. Not sure if it will be Robinson, South Hills, or even Wexford. Maybe there I can also wrap up my shopping.

In the meantime, enjoy the pictures of the little Hallmark Christmas town and little Stars Hollow known as Ligonier.

Almost halfway through the countdown now and we are talking about some of the fun Toastmasters events that I attended this year. Even as I was working at Giant Eagle and didn’t have weekends off, I was still making time to attend the club officer trainings. I don’t have as much time to attend the division contests in person so I do what I can. Next year, I will attend my first in person conference in five years.

Every event that I attended in 2023 was special in a way, and I got to meet some new people. With me accepting the presidential nomination for Greensburg, Summer TLI was one event that I was looking forward to attending.

In June, I attended club officer training and all my officers showed up in person and online. We had great attendance for the event. While I learned a lot from the event, a lot of crazy things occurred in my life leading up to the big day. Aside from Benny’s four month long hospital stay and the haze from the Canadian wildfires, I was questioning things once again in my fashion journey. This time it was Dylan Mulvaney and the Bud Light controversy. It didn’t help that some of the biggest right wing voices in the world said a lot of nasty shit either. I was ready to give up and almost got rid of a lot of my wardrobe but in the eleventh hour I went back. I rocked a nice outfit and a scarf and one of my Coach purses and enjoyed myself. My Toastmasters friends Dana and Cassie encouraged me not to change for anyone and praised me for breaking status quo.

A few days later, I took advantage of Meetup (which I learned about that same morning) and attended the tenth anniversary of Cranberry High Noon Toastmasters, which was a lot of fun.

The Fall Symposium was one that I attended out of pure luck. I didn’t sign up until I saw my schedule the week before the event and, everything was in my favor. I learned about humor with one of our own members in the Greensburg club, and our Toastmasters won awards for their hard work and dedication throughout the Toastmaster year. We had a group photo taken of all the Distinguished Toastmasters in District 13

Last week’s TLI was as good as the summer event. I got to meet some new Toastmasters from the Johnstown club as well as a few I already knew. Biggest takeaway involved some of the points our speaker talked about in his presentation on the Growth Mindset. I attended a different club officer breakout, though I kind of wish I sat in on the Presidents’ training again. We ended the day by watching some of our most decorated Toastmasters show off some of their talents. Two of our members sang karaoke to Love Shack by the B-52’s, and our Johnstown members reenacted a play. We also had a Zumba workout. I got encouragement on my fashion journey from Sandi, Rachel, and Barb of the Johnstown club. I also found out that Barb and I have ties to the Hiram G. Andrews Center, and she made Johnstown Magazine’s list of Most Influential People of the Year for 2023.

After the holidays, contest season will be in full swing and we’ll get to hear District 13’s best.

Today’s top ten continues at Giant Eagle and focuses on our night turn appreciation dinner that our amazing store leader put together for us this past August.

Last year, I got to experience the awesomeness that is Night Turn Appreciation Week. It’s a way to thank our people who work overnights to make sure that the store is well-stocked for customers the next day. Our higher ups came to the event as our store was one of their many stops that night. They offered us their thank you for our hard work and dedication to make Giant Eagle a success. Our main course at last year’s event was surf and turf. Plus, we were all given a goody bag of tasty Giant Eagle treats (chips, pretzels, beef jerky, etc.). The only appreciation meals we had at my old job were a few pizza parties and a few times we went bowling as well, but that was few and far between.

We changed store leaders last September and for this upcoming event, ours went all out and put together an amazing spread. We had pulled pork, mango chicken, beef skewers, trays of fruit, vegetables, and beef and cheese, and punch. I even wore a patterned shirt to look the part of someone attending a luau. We even got complementary leis to put around our necks. Sorry, no grass skirts or coconuts though.

The big shots greeted some of us in aisle #1 (condiments, canned fruits, salad dressing) and introduced themselves. We’ve had some turnover since last year so they wanted to meet some of the newer folks. A few of our deli/prepared foods and produce workers took part in the event as well. There was plenty to take home as I had a container of pulled pork to take home as well as a few pieces of mango chicken.

Other Giant Eagles took part that night and celebrated as well. It’s nice to get commended for all the work these people do every night. I will find a picture of our overnight workers to post on this blog. There might be one floating around somewhere. But to close off the blog, here’s a message from our store leaders thanking us for our hard work and dedication to make Giant Eagle a great place to work and shop at.

In the Fall of 2021, my employer, WIS International would merge with its competitor, RGIS. That meant we would see changes across the board, from office numbers to new equipment, and breaking up a crew who were like family to me the last few years. We got our assignments, and the changes weren’t going to be in my favor. I considered my options, and seriously felt like making a career change.

Just after the changes took place, I began applying elsewhere. I put in applications at Giant Eagle and Goodwill. I also considered Target and Wal-Mart, as well as Allegheny Health Network and Excela (now Independence) Health, which had hospitals in the area. Far cry from the days when I held out for the perfect job or dreamed of going back to school for a useless degree to get out of a job I didn’t like. I would score interviews with Goodwill (in person) and Giant Eagle (online and over-the-phone). Giant Eagle hired me a week before Thanksgiving and I accepted the offer.

The job would be part-time at the beginning with the option to apply for a full-time position if it became available. 20 or 40 hours a week, I was going to make this work. The first time I applied I was unsuccessful. I did it again this past Spring, with better results. I applied online thanks to the help of my night crew leader. A few weeks later, I had my interview and I aced it. By the beginning of summer, it became official. I was now full-time.

I worked part-time for so long and was frustrated with my life, especially early on after college and at the beginning of my time with WIS. Eventually, I learned to appreciate WIS and actually left a part time job with Giant Eagle to come back. That would actually work out in the short-term. I knew when I was finally ready to leave.

For a long time, my hours were inconsistent, my pay varied, and I never knew when I would be done or when I’d be home. It feels good to work close to home, knowing when I’ll be done, and having great benefits. For almost 15 years, I didn’t have a paid vacation, in addition to inadequate health care. Sometimes, I was fearing for my life in bad weather conditions or a sometimes hostile working environment. As much as I enjoyed the people who became family, the job would take a toll on my mental health. Twice I thought about leaving WIS for Giant Eagle due to unhappiness at my old job. The third time was the charm and that’s because of the changes due to the merger. Please don’t take this as an attack, because I enjoyed working there for a long time.

Everyone pulled for me and they were thrilled when I got the full-time position. I was guaranteed 40 hours even when things slowed down in winter. Things are finally beginning to look up for me after so many years of coming up short. Next year, I’ll get two weeks of paid time off.

I’m grateful to be employed by a company that offers room for advancement, takes care of its employees, and is supportive of its workers. I think I made the right move in late 2021.

That’s exactly what I’m doing. Not just in my fashion but in life as well. Today I drew a few designs for a logo for my blog. I drew a shield 🛡️ with the four things that will define my blog. Lifestyle and fashion are the two main stars, but fitness and food are the others going into 2024. Now on to today’s feature presentation.

This morning I took advantage of my morning off and rode with Mom up to Somerset to run some errands for Aunt Sue. It looks like Benny will be at Children’s through Christmas and into next year. The drive to Aunt Sue’s is also fun (and I’m not saying that in a dramatic way) because Mom doesn’t take the Turnpike but PA 31. Mount Pleasant is still a quaint little town and has its small-town charm. The Levin Furniture is still there as well as my friend’s bakery, Maisy Cakes, which specializes in French macarons.

From Mount Pleasant you begin to climb the mountain and come into Donegal. As we drove up PA 31 the snow became more visible and temperature dropped a few degrees, keeping that snow in place. It’s not far from my favorite little Hallmark Christmas town/little Stars Hollow, known as Ligonier. Not far from the big ski resorts, Donegal and Stahlstown could both be used in a few scenes if a movie were to be filmed in Ligonier.

Fun fact: Bear Rocks was almost the site of a ski resort a la Hidden Valley. The idea was nixed when it was built on the wrong side of the mountain and wouldn’t be able to keep up the snow like Hidden Valley or Seven Springs. The rest is history, but a nice little summer resort or camp would have fit in down there.

Our stops included picking up some things at Benny’s school (Somerset Jr./Sr. High School). Included in it was a Somerset High School shirt for Benny to wear. From there, we stopped at Aunt Sue’s house to pick up a few things including some clothes. The renovations look great and the sun porch looks like a brand new room in the house. We won the day by making sure the cats stayed in the house and they did. On our way home, we stopped at Moo Echo to pick up things for our charcuterie board we’re putting together for Christmas Eve as well as jam for Mom to make her almond thumbprints with. 

We almost took a scenic trip home past the Fairgrounds because we were behind a slow-moving truck but we were able to pass it and get home. The journey home is faster than it is getting there. I watched some Disney Christmas shows and then settled down. Tomorrow I go Christmas shopping and looking ahead I’ll be making a Market District run for Christmas Day. 

On Saturday at TLI I learned a lot from our presenters. Some of the things that our first speaker talked about I will use in my speech at tonight’s Toastmasters meeting. Also, I might consider running for Vice President Education at Greensburg next year. I attended a different officer training than what I’m doing this year. That is something you can do if you’re not an officer or you have interest in that office next year.

The #9 event of 2023 took place in March of this year. But before I go into detail on what took place, let’s go back to 2019. Things were going great in my life. I was enjoying my job for the first time ever, I just attended a great Toastmasters conference in the Spring and finished all my requirements for my Distinguished Toastmaster award. I also started this blog and my fashion/LGBTQ journey was born. 2020 was looking like a carbon copy of the year before. Everything was in place and then… it all went to crap. COVID hit and we were soon dealing with a global pandemic. The country was on lockdown and everything would soon be cancelled.

Meeting in person for anything was going to be out of the question and that all future Toastmasters events. Eventually, the words Zoom, hybrid, and social distancing would make it into our vocabulary. My interest in Toastmasters began to wane over the next few years even as we went back to in person events and meetings. Everyone was figuring out Pathways, but I wasn’t. I was sporadic in my speeches and the magic was fading away just months removed from my DTM. I still shone in my Toastmasters glory as I won my Spirit of Toastmasters award in 2020 and took part in the panel discussion at Winter TLI in December of that year. Maybe I just needed a break too. Eventually things worked their way back around.

In March of 2023, my Toastmasters fire would be rekindled. After our meeting, I was tabbed to lead the club for the upcoming Toastmasters year (2023-24). The club was in good hands with Jim and Michelle alternating as President the last four years. However it was time for new blood and I was definitely up to the task. Michelle led the club to Select Distinguished in 2022-23 and I promised to get us to Presidents’. I was officially on my back and as a result, I got to enjoy the Division Contest in White Oak that following Saturday. We are closing in on our fifth goal which will get us to Distinguished.

I attended both trainings and we had perfect attendance from our officers plus the Teagues and our division director Mary Ellen. We knocked off #9 on the Distinguished Club report. I also attended Fall Symposium and have plans to go to my first Spring Conference since 2019. I think Greensburg needs to form its own DTM huddle this coming May.