This week, I found another gym to exercise at. It’s still a Planet Fitness but it was in North Huntingdon. I have a black card so I’m able to work out at other locations in the chain. 2026 has been my year so far as I’ve made more of an effort than I ever have to get to the gym. May has been busy but I’ve made the most of the time I’ve had available. I should have a lot more time in June. There might even be an opportunity for me to close my exercise ring for a whole week in one of the first two weeks.

The North Huntingdon location is different than Greensburg, and newer as well. Once a week, I‘ll make it a habit to visit another location, such as Latrobe or Mount Pleasant. This week I plan on an outdoor walk at Twin Lakes, Mammoth, or Legion-Keener/Downtown Latrobe.

This weekend was mostly wet with a few dry periods. Yesterday during our Memorial Day picnic, we did see a downpour. North of Pittsburgh there were Flash Flood Warnings. Despite the rain, it wasn’t a lost holiday but there were missed opportunities for me.

I’m hoping to make a coffee run at some point this week. But I think exercise wins out. There might be a Caleese stop on Friday morning and then my PB&J Latte Sunday or next Monday at Cutie‘s.

Most Toastmasters clubs at this time of the season are getting their new officers lined up for the July 1. That day marks the beginning of the new year and for our new District, it’ll be new beginnings.

Laurel Highlands will hold their elections Tuesday night at their meeting and Greensburg soon. Following the lead of the Imeses from a couple of years ago, I’m looking to hold down the same role in both Greensburg and Laurel Highlands. I’d be serving as Vice President Education.

The Pitt Season 2 is officially underway for me. Last night, I also checked out the podcast on HBO Max that reviews every episode. The hosts have experience with the show, with a medical doctor and pop culture writer deciphering every nook and cranny from that episode. I’ll be watching another episode Thursday night with the rewatch podcast on Sunday.

Thursday I’ll be celebrating Mr. Clougherty as it’s not only the last week of school. This week marks his final as a teacher as he announces his retirement. He taught 30 years at Hempfield and before that was at inner city schools both in Pittsburgh and Washington DC.

He’s not returning to the classroom but will continue to coach at the pool as he returns to coach swimming next year.

The weather was summer like on Monday night for Bible Study at Cutie’s. With it being warm and humid, it almost felt like we were having Bible Study on the beach. Picture it: all the folding chairs and towels in the sand, a nice sea breeze, and the waves. Plus some talented guitar players singing a song or worship or two.

Reminds me of Panama City Beach during my Spring Breaks at Slippery Rock.

We had no worship but that was fine as the message was a good one. Victoria led the study reading from 1 Corinthians 12 and 13. We learned about love.

I stepped up my game Monday night and got a Cutie Pebbles Latte. It was a fitting send off to the Spring menu. Saturday ushers in the new Summer menu. My presence won’t be felt at the market, and I’m not sure the weather bring a lot of people out. We’ll see though. I’m hoping to come out this weekend of early next week for a PB&J Latte.

If you wanted to imagine that you were on the beach Monday night, picture this. The Cutie’s parking lot can be a stretch of a white sand beach. The auto repair shop and woods can be the water, and the sound of the train can be a crashing wave.

The summer like weather on Monday night reminded me of time spent on the beach during Spring Break in the 2000’s. The destination was Panama City Beach. Even though it was a long time ago, that was a great experience

The Ocean Breeze Latte I got at Caleese on Sunday had me dreaming of past Cape May trips. I’m overdue to make it back to the Jersey Shore.

The day has finally come. I woke up around 2pm and got the car packed. Soon, I would embark on my Spring Conference adventure. The event this weekend is being held at the Airport Marriott. It’s not my first time here as I attended a conference in the Spring of 2019. The last normal year before we were introduced to Zoom, social distancing, and sheltering in place.  

I checked into my hotel around 5:30pm. With quite a hike to the front desk, I gladly accepted the help of one of my Toastmasters friends. I stuck a couple of my bags on the luggage cart while carrying two of them myself. That made it easier to get my stuff to the room as I still had a long hallway to ascend to get to my room. You’re never too proud to need a hand sometimes. 

Around 6:30pm, I made my way down to the main meeting room. I met up with some of my Laurel Highlands Toastmasters friends. I even spotted a hanbok that one of our members was wearing (he lived in South Korea for a few years). I know a family who dressed their kids in hanbok on their first birthday.

The spread included quesadillas, spanakopita, and pita chips. Veggies were included as well as spinach dip. There was also soda as well as potato chips and french onion dip.

We heard a presentation from our keynote speaker on how Toastmasters can help us achieve our life’s goals. Afterwards, we began our Friday fun night activities. The night started off with improv. Our hosts were members of the Jest Speaking club and had us playing some fun activities. The first was called “Yes, and” where the participants got a scenario and one had to continue the conversation with those two keywords. Yes, and it was a lot of fun. Yes, and in addition we got plenty of laughs. The second was an ABC activity that everyone got in on. The host went from table to table and when the next person and letter were up, they had to think fast. Some answers had us laughing, and some were hard to come by. Overall, this exercise was a lot of fun and there was even a QR Code to learn more about the Achievers Jest Speaking club. 

Once improv was over, we took some time to let loose and dance. From Disco to the Macarena, we were out there on the dance floor. I had to watch everyone to get the moves down but I still had a good time. That’s what Friday Fun Night is about, having fun and letting loose. In this season of getting fit, a little bit of dancing isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it helped me achieve my exercise goal a little bit.

Tuesday brought nice weather and our Laurel Highlands Toastmasters. The theme was “Bloom Where You’re Planted. We had three speakers (Nick pinch hit and put together a quick speech to present as he replaced Ryan). I’m in the final level of Presentation Mastery and I did the Professional Speaking project. I talked about my health journey and latest sleep apnea diagnosis. I’ll be presenting that speech again on Wednesday night at Greensburg.

Monday’s visit to the doctor went well. It feels like a crazy stretch with appointments and getting ready for Spring Conference. Plus, it has been unsettled and damp (kind of how May ended last year). The visit was good. I’ve been doing better with taking my blood pressure. There is some promising news, and that was being down ten pounds since my last visit.

The damp, unsettled weather pattern gives way to a very summerlike pattern early next week. I’ll definitely be ordering an iced coffee at Cutie’s Monday night for Bible Study. We are flipping the switch from damp and cool to sunny and warm like that. Thus, welcome to Pittsburgh in May. It’s not out of the question we may even see 90 early in the week. It will be nice to be above average though after being damp and chilly. Summer begins on June 21.

Is it too soon to open the pool? Maybe.

Is it time to get out the shorts? Yes.

Back to Laurel Highlands. We had a few guests at our meeting on Tuesday night. The President of Country Roads Toastmasters (chartered last June) led our Table Topics session. Our in person guest liked what she saw at the meeting and may be a prospective member. She took part in the impromptu speaking session as well. Our Area 23 Director did her official visit and offered some suggestions to grow our membership by June 30 to get to Distinguished.

Our next meeting on May 26 is also when we’ll be nominating new officers for the 2026-27 Toastmasters year. I put my hat into the ring for Vice President Education at Laurel Highlands (I had also expressed interest in being President). Don’t know what the slate of officers looks like for Greensburg, but if Education is open I’ll take it. I might be interested in following Mr Imes’ lead from a couple of years ago. He served the role at both Laurel Highlands and Western Maryland.

The race between which club was getting Presidents’ Distinguished first last year was a fun one. Gary and Autumn are awesome and both are passionate about Toastmasters.

Following this weekend’s Spring Conference, our final three meetings are scheduled for May 26, June 9 and 23. On the second date, I’m looking to visit South Hills Toastmasters. That’s my vacation week which is getting oh so close. I hope to touch base with some South Hills members this weekend.

I’ve experienced a lull in my fitness journey this week, and for good reason. It’s been a busy week leading up to this weekend’s events. Just counting down the hours tonight until I’m off the next three days. I’ll be back at it early next week (maybe Sunday if I feel lucky). As the weather trends more seasonal later in the week, I’d like to make time for some outdoor walks as well.

But after hearing the news that I’m down 10 lbs., could a weight loss journey be in my future?

In closing, I was thinking about Tuesday night’s theme, “Bloom Where You’re Planted”.

To me, this means to thrive in the environment that you are put in. It may not be the perfect college or the perfect job, but you make the most of it. It may not seem like much, but it could blossom into a stepping stone down the road.

Let’s travel back to the early 2000’s, when I started college at the Hiram G. Andrews Center. I had friends from high school who were enrolled at IUP and Slippery Rock as well as Pitt and Penn State (and their satellite campuses). With time though, I learned to bloom at Hiram G. Andrews Center and the local community college. Later on, that experience blossomed into Slippery Rock.

Later in the 2000s, upon graduating from college, I started my first job at Kings. For years, I never thought of it as much. Now, I look at it as the fact that I started on a path and seeing what worked for me. If I had a better attitude, maybe I could have stuck it out in the food service industry a few more years.