Toastmasters Archives - INSPIRING MAX

Coffee Catch-Up #16

September 18, 2016 inspiringmax

If we were having coffee I would tell you what an interesting week I’ve had. Working less opens up more exciting opportunities that I would have normally missed out on.

If we were having coffee I would tell you about Parramatta Toastmasters 50th birthday celebrations on Thursday night. It was a special night with stories from Russ Walkington, the gentlemen whose ideas and hard work made it to happen in the first place. What a dynamic speaker. He said it took a lot of convincing however once Parramatta Toastmasters Club started in September 1966 it had been a great success. I was a little surprised however that for the first 25 years it was a men’s only club, with women not allowed to join until August, 1990, actually 2 days before my wedding. The women joining of course brought them even more success and in 1996, Parramatta Toastmasters Club was recognised as the fourth top Toastmaster club in the world.

Also at the dinner were many past members who have gone on to do great things as well as a few charter (original) members. One of my favorite thing was the parade of past Presidents of which there were 19 of the 49 present on the night. They were piped in by one of the current club members wearing his kilt and took up 3 lines on the stage.

Happy Birthday Parramatta Toastmasters Club

If we were having coffee I would tell you how exciting it was to hear Toastmaster’s 2016-2017 International President Mike Storkey, DTM speak at Parramatta’s 50th Birthday. He was an inspiration and encouraged everyone to focus on the future not just live on past successes. I agree. Life is definitely a journey, with the more interesting views coming after a challenging climb.

If we were having coffee I would tell you what a great day I had on Friday at Better Homes and Gardens Live. Better Homes and Gardens is Australia’s favourite TV show and magazine, which brings together ideas for renovating, decorating homes and gardens as well as advice about pets. From the shows stars I learnt about chalk paint —making furniture restoration fun, quick and easy desserts and how to cook the perfect roast pork. Once we have finally settled into our new home, I look forward to testing out these and other ideas from my day out.

Education aside, I would have to say the most fun was had at the end of the day with Fast Ed attempting to make pigs fly. He attached helium balloons to his pig shaped shortbread cookies and willed them to fly. In the end it took 3 helium balloons to finally get lift off and they kept going until they rested on the ceiling.

If we were having coffee I would tell you about supporting my husband yesterday by going to the cinema with him to see The Beatles Eight Days a Week—The Touring Years. This documentary by Ron Howard made sense of the Beatles Journey. Prior to this my knowledge of the Beatles was minimal however they really were game changers in more than the music scene. The movie is based around their 815 shows in 4 years performed around the globe. It was fascinating to see from old footage, the impact The Beatles had in a very different world and to consider problems like early crowd control. At the end of the movie came half an hour of seeing the Beatles live at Shea Stadium, New York concert. It was the biggest ever concert at the time involving 55,000 people. Amazing results, especially when you consider that they couldn’t hear where they were up to in the songs because of the loudness of the fans screams. If you get the opportunity, even if your not a big Beatles fan, take a break from today’s world, travel back 50 years and take in some history. Its well worth it. Ron Howard, you did a great job.

If we were having coffee I would ask you what is happening in your world? Let me know in the comments.

Coffee Catch-Up #10

July 2, 2016 inspiringmax

If we were having coffee I would tell you how glad I am that it is now July because what a month June turned out to be. On top of everything I spoke about in my last coffee catch-up this month has continued to serve up curve balls to challenge us and make us stronger.

If we were having coffee I would tell you the reason I missed coffee last weekend was because I was in hospital after a major allergic reaction to antibiotics. I am rarely sick so the fact that I got an infection from an unknown source that wouldn’t go away was frustrating. Then, after a week of not getting better to change antibiotics, get sicker and end up in hospital was an eye opener for me. Initially, I looked very beautiful with my swollen face however with time and treatment my face has returned to normal. Each day I feel better, however I am looking forward to getting all my energy back soon.

If we were having coffee I would tell you that I taught myself to use Publisher this week. It has always been on my bucket list of things to do and I have looked at it many times before, but always gone back to Word – for me the simpler option. This time I persevered and once I got a handle on it I liked it. In fact, I liked it so much that I have decided to transfer my book to Publisher when I have finished this last edit to see how different it looks and increase my knowledge base of this tool. I may even use You tube and see what other secrets it can reveal. With a coy smile, I would also ask you if you have any Publisher experience or handy hints to share with me.

If we were having coffee I would tell you that despite everything I am loving the simpler, slower pace of life at the moment. Not having to rush anywhere, use what food we have and shop minimally is turning out for me to be very rewarding. Instead of buying a large amount of food on the weekend to make feeding the family quickly after a busy day commuting and working possible, we have made a daily plan together about what we eat based on what we have and suddenly we have so much more time. Because we aren’t rushing for some bizarre reason it takes us even less time to cook, we spend hardly any money on food and we are more creative with our ideas. Who knew?

If we were having coffee I would tell you how on the last day of June my husband discovered that the cat had a swollen left neck. We are so pleased June has ended as we don’t want any more surprises. Turns out the cat just wanted to be like me so he got himself an infection that needed antibiotics. No problem, a quick visit to Uncle Tom (his vet), a big needle and he was sorted.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how interesting it was for me to write my curriculum vitae this week. I have lost all previous copies so had to start from scratch and remember 30 years of history, experience and knowledge. It took me a day and a half but in the end I was very pleased with how it turned out. I am also grateful because I am moving back to my home ~~town~~ city and working on semi retirement, hopefully I won’t need to fill out another one, but hey never say never. None of us ever knows what the future holds. If I didn’t believe this before the June I’ve had, I certainly know it know.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how excited I was to be presented with my Toastmasters Triple Crown Award by the District Director at last weeks changeover meeting. It is a difficult award to achieve as you need to complete 3 educational awards. Last year I decided I was up for the challenge and I set it as my goal during my year as President of one of my club’s. I needed to keep focused and plan well but in the end everybody won and I have a super fancy pin to wear whenever I need an extra boast to be the best I can.

If we were having coffee I would ask you what is happening in your world this last fortnight?

Coffee Catch-Up #9

Coffee Catch-up # 8

May 8, 2016 inspiringmax

If we were having coffee I would tell you it seems like forever since our last coffee catch-up, although the reality is that it has only been 3 weeks. During this time, most of my time has been taken up completing the Blogging from A – Z challenge. It was fun, although some days the pressure to come up with inspiring posts took over my world. But in the end I was happy with all of them even X, which for me was the difficult one. I certainly enjoyed putting the “I survived blogging A – Z banner” on my blog as I feel like I earned it. Next year, I think I will do a lot of pre-planning in the hope that makes this challenge easier.

If we were having coffee I would ask you where you thought all the smoke haze around Sydney today was coming from. My hope would be that unlike me, you may have listened to the news and have known that it was coming from more than 40 hazard reduction back burns happening all around Sydney especially in the Blue Mountain areas. The smoke was so bad it was playing havoc with the fire alarms in many businesses including the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre, where for more than 30 minutes of our aqua aerobics class this morning, the instructor had to yell or mime the instructions. Oh and ironically the alarm stopped at the same time as our aqua class. Who knew!

If we were having coffee I would tell you that this week has been a shocker. If something could go wrong it did. For me, the most frustrating thing was that instead of enjoying myself on Wednesday night, I got to sit and wait for NRMA roadside assist after I quickly discovered that in a moment of mindless thinking from my stressful week, I locked my car keys in the boot. I think it has been over 20 years since I last did this. I also had nothing with me to do, not even a small bit of paper to write a blog post on but fortunately for me it only took them 45 minutes to come instead of the 90 minutes they promised service in. Thank you NRMA.

If we were having coffee I would tell you that I enjoyed District 90 First Annual Toastmaster Conference last weekend. It was held at Rooty Hill RSL — the largest RSL club in Australia. I had never been before and the venue, the food as well as the conference’s educational sessions were fantastic. I am sure the other parts of the conference were also excellent, however due to time constraints I was limited in what I went to.

If we were having coffee I would tell you about my work’s cultural lunch this week. This is a regular event where you take a dish from your culture for everyone to share. For me this has always been difficult because being a hospital we are a very multicultural workplace, however I could never really come up with a dish from my life to share that was interesting and easy to share. This time I got it right. My trifle was a great hit and will now be my signature dish. I hadn’t made a trifle in years and I only remembered about them at Easter when I took desert to a family friends house. It was weird not making it with sherry but the sacrifice still tasted yummy.

If we were having coffee I would ask you what you have been up to this last week, let me know in the comments.

Coffee Catch-up #7

Coffee Catch-up #7

April 17, 2016 inspiringmax

If we were having coffee I would tell you about how proud I was on Wednesday evening when I was presented with my new Toastmaster badge that places the letter ACB/CL after my name. Although I was pleased to have completed the manuals, the feelings that developed when I actually saw them in print did surprise. They brought home to me the importance of presenting awards as soon as possible after completion. The fact that when I first finished my CC award several years ago, it took me over 12 months to get it recognised by anyone probably also played a part in my feelings.

If we were having coffee I would tell you about my run in with my exercise coach after which he disrespectfully dismissed me and told me I could finish up 4 weeks earlier than my original date. Given the circumstances this was probably the only option as there was no comprise possible.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how I enjoyed swimming, running in the water and relaxing in the members only spa this afternoon for the first time in 8 years. I would also tell you that I am looking forward to the greater options in my new exercise program including aqua aerobics, my long time favourite.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how I am catching up on many long time overdue jobs at work, which is inspiring to think about new systems to make many tasks easier.

If we were having coffee I would tell you what a great meal we had last night with one of my Toastmaster clubs social event at Thai Garden House. The food was fresh, light and flavoursome which is why in 2013, it was awarded Sydney Metro’s best Thai restaurant.

If we were having coffee I would tell you that I am excited to be back on track with my Blogging from A – Z challenge this week. It has taken a lot of work over the weekend especially as I am also keeping up with my regular features but so worth it. From my experience, the more I write the better and quicker I get at it.

If we were having coffee I would ask you what you have been up to this last week, let me know in the comments.

Share Your World – 2016 Week #14

April 7, 2016 inspiringmax

If you could hire someone to help you, would it be with cleaning, cooking, or yard work?

I have 3 cleaners in my real world and I would never go back to life without them. They came today and my house looks and smells beautifully clean. Given the opportunity I would also love to employ a cook as I usually spend part of the weekend preparing meals for the week ahead as I get home to late to be bothered. In reality, I don’t think I want anyone to help with the yard work as it’s my husband’s job and it keeps him busy for hours. If someone did it for him, he would be inside the house, making noise and distracting me from my writing.

What makes you laugh the most?

Laughter in our house is a common occurrence. Some examples of where it comes from include:

Evening meals in our family are very funny especially if we have guests. I don’t know why but our conversations make everyone laugh and are memorable.
Playing board games, Wii games or anything interactive.
I also find Table Topics — impromptu speaking for 1 minute — brings out the laughter in me.

What was your favorite food when you were a child?

I don’t know that I had a favourite food although when I could choose what I wanted to eat for my birthday I always chose prawn cutlets. I still love them however the size of the cutlets have shrunk over the years.

List at least five favorite flowers or plants.

Roses are my absolute favourite.

I also enjoy daffodils and the smell of jonquils. My favourite Australian plants are kangaroo paw and wattle.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Last week I was grateful to spend Saturday night enjoying the company of our special friends of many years and Sunday visiting with all sets of mine and my husbands parents. This week I am looking forward to some quiet time and to getting more organised and catching up on the Blogging from A -Z 2016 challenge.

Share Your World – 2016 Week 14

Coffee Catch-up #5

April 2, 2016 inspiringmax

If we were having coffee I would apologise for missing our coffee catch-up last month. Then we would make a plan to get together more regularly as we miss each others company. We would also use this time to remind ourselves that somethings need prioritizing. To help me with this task, this morning I discovered the #weekendcoffeeshare community and plan on joining in the fun.

If we were having coffee I would tell you about a minor work accident which resulted in my wedding and engagement rings needing to be cut off my finger in the emergency department on the 27th anniversary of meeting my husband. I was absent mindedly closing the sliding door behind to make sure confidentiality was maintained as I left the room, when it shut so fast that my left hand smashed against the metal plate totally squashing my rings into my hand. Fortunately, the diamonds don’t seem to be damaged.

If we were having coffee I would tell you that after a meeting with my collaborator we have decided to change the name of my book on eating disorder recovery from Inspiring Hope to “I’m so over this…” —practical ways eating disorder recovery is possible, which we are quite excited about. Feedback from patients has been great, as they all agree this is a statement that personally resonates with them.

If we were having coffee I would tell you I achieved my Advanced Communicator Bronze as well as my Competent Leadership Awards over the last two months. I am embarrassed to say that my CL actually took 5 years to complete due to my slackness.

If we were having coffee I would tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed Easter Sunday last week. We had a small immediate family gathering and two Easter egg hunts — one for the adult kids and one for the parents. It was great fun with lots of laughs. After a BBQ lunch, we played Wii games which nicely finished with each team—ours, my son’s team and my daughters team winning a game. It couldn’t have been fairer if we’d tried.

If we were having coffee I would ask you what you have doing in the last few months. Let me know in the comments? If you are interested in previously coffee catch-ups see the link below.

Coffee Catch-up #4

https://wordpress.com/tag/weekendcoffeeshare

Share Your World – 2016 Week #7

February 22, 2016 inspiringmax

What are you a “natural” at doing?

I am naturally good at the balance sport—trampoling, roller skating and ice skating.

I am naturally good at resolving conflicts and being the go to person when people want a friend to talk to. I would get the ex best friends talking again and suddenly I was being ignored again.

I am a naturally good at knitter. The first time I created something my teacher didn’t believe that I had done it because it was too perfect and looked like my mother had knitted it.

Would you prefer a one floor house or multiple levels?

Having lived in both I definitely prefer an open plan single storey house.

What was your favorite subject in school?

I don’t remember having a favourite subject at school although possibly home science. I did okay at school but I had to work at it.

Complete this sentence: If only the rain.. would stop or turn into snow. This is what my husband and I said to each other last Christmas when we had traveled to Canada for a white Christmas and the rain kept washing away the small amount of snow we got.

“What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?”

Last week I was grateful for the many learn opportunities I had at work through mistakes made. This week I am looking forward to giving my 10th advanced speech and receiving my Advanced Communicator Bronze award at Toastmasters.

Share Your World – 2016 Week 7

Coffee Catch-up #4

February 8, 2016February 7, 2016 inspiringmax

If we were having coffee I would tell you that I can’t believe it’s already February. As this year is going so fast I have decided to catch up for coffee with you every month.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how much I miss the beach and how I enjoyed my first swim of summer when my husband and I went to the coast on our mini break over the Australia day long weekend. Most of the beaches were closed due to dangerous surf however we persevered and found one open with life guards patrolling it. Lighthouse Beach I love you as I felt safe enough to go for a swim. The water was so fresh and clean on my skin. I was in my element bobbing in the waves until suddenly……. I found myself out of control under the water being turned around sand churning up. The waves dumped me. It happened so quickly, all I could see underwater was sand and foam. I was grateful that the surf life savers didn’t need to save me but I certainly was reminding myself that they would notice me missing if I didn’t come up. Fortunately I was able to save myself and when I popped up for air I decided I was too shaken to stay so I walked out of the surf attempting to focus I the more pleasant aspects of my afternoon swim. That same day there had been several drownings up and down the east coast of Australia so it was no wonder the beaches were closed.

Lighthouse Beach

If we were having coffee I would tell you how excited I am with my new coffee machine. When I decided to get one I wasn’t sure which way to go however in the end I decided to go with the biggest variety of pods and the simplest system. I choose the Caffitaly system and a S22 machine. It is a fully automatic one touch capsule machine that has pods from Twinings, Grinders, Gloria Jeans, Moccona and many more. The first drink I made was an extra strong cappuccino and it was amazing. I am please I paid a bit extra for the machine with the milk attachment included and that I didn’t have to froth my milk separately.

If we were having coffee I would tell you about a little friend my husband and I found overseeing the water at Lennox Head Beach. He was lizard of some description although we didn’t get too close to him so as not to scare him off. We thought he was cute, what do you think?

If we were having coffee I would tell you the storms in Sydney last we were so fierce that within a two-minute window our courtyard went from having no water in it to looking like a toddler’s swimming pool with 5 centimetres of water. There was so much water the drains couldn’t cope so they forced it back out and into our courtyard which has a cover over it. Then as quickly as the water arrived within the half an hour it was gone again leaving behind mud and leaves to tell the tale.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how I enjoyed the annual catch up visit with my long time girlfriend in early January. We have made it a tradition now as life gets busy and we live in different cities. We spending the weekend reflecting, reminiscing and celebrating the year that was, which helps keep us connected and safe in the knowledge that we always just pick up from where we left off the last time we saw each other.

If we were having coffee I would tell you about spending Australia Day 26th January in regional Australia instead of at home in Sydney. It was a little harder to just go out and BBQ lamb so in keeping with tradition I cooked my lamb when I arrived home from the airport. To help me celebrate I also watched this classic video on the day to remind me of all the great things Australia has. The Big Prawn in this film clip is in one of the cities we visited over the Australia Day long weekend. Enjoy!

If we were having coffee I would ask you what you have done in the last month. Let me know in the comments?

Keep Calm And Plan

July 19, 2015 inspiringmax

Do you thrive under pressure or crumble at the thought of it? Does your best stuff surface as the deadline approaches or do you need to iterate, day after day to achieve something you’re proud of?

When I have a deadline “keep calm and plan is my motto.” I plan my timetable to make sure the job gets done on time and I allow enough extra time for life to get in the way as it invariably does. I cannot work all through the night to get the job done as my head doesn’t work when I am tired—I need a plan. I break my task down into small achievable chunks that I can join together to succeed.

For me the secret is working out a way that I can look after myself by doing everything I want to and still meet the deadline. Recently I have been given a weekly deadline at work for one of my managers reports each week. As this was initially thrown upon me I struggled the first week but got the job done. Moving forward I plan my week around long and short days depending on what night I am attending Toastmasters. Each week the task is getting easier and I feel myself getting more organised as a result.

Another secret I have for dealing with deadlines is to complete the most difficult task first. I find this takes up the most time and once the difficult task is completed I am usually on the home stretch which motivates me to keep going.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/the-heat-is-on/

My Interesting Week

February 1, 2015 inspiringmax

Tell us how your week went by putting together a playlist of five songs that represent it.

I was excited to see the topic of today’s Daily Prompt. This week for me has been varied and interesting which is unusual. My week began on Monday with Australia Day, which I celebrated with my blog post Celebrating Australia Day—an A-Z of interesting Australian information. The song I selected to represent this is “I am Australian” by The Seekers.

On Wednesday evening I participated in my Toastmaster club’s International Speech competition coming third. It as a fun night to end a particularly busy day at work. As there are no songs on speaking competitions so I choose a new song dedicated to Toastmasters International to represent this part of my week.

Friday evening saw me joining colleagues for farewell drinks with one of my staff leaving to work overseas for a few years. It is an exciting time and many memories were discussed.

On Saturday morning my husband and I attended a travel expo and began planning a trip for our 25th wedding anniversary later in the year. We haven’t made any decisions yet. However, I think a tropical holiday is in order and “Kokomo” by the Beach Boys represents that well. Unfortunately, Jamaica is a little for us to travel for a week so won’t be the destination.

Today my husband finished putting up glass shelves above my desk. They are to house my expanding Mickey Mouse collection in one place. We have planned this for about the last 5 years, so it is exciting. Now I just need to find everything and arrange them in a display.

This week also saw the completion of two other tasks we had planned since last year. On the public holiday Monday I did a Spring clean of all my kitchen pantry cupboards. I found things I didn’t know I had as well as made a lot of space by throwing out many bags of expired or no longer required food and containers.

Over the last two weeks we have had an opening and closing pergola build over our courtyard. On Friday after a week of rain the electrician was able to come and complete it. We are very happy with the result and look forward to using it now as an outdoor indoor living space.

In Australia we are now into February. I can’t believe how quickly this year is moving. January was a very unusual month. It was filled with many different things and many goals were completed—the question is will it continue from this week and month into this year. I hope so.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/playlist-of-the-week/