You Had To Be There

If you missed our 2012 Afterburners Holiday Educational Retreat tonight, you missed quite a gathering, and frankly, a rollicking good time!

Tom & Sue Brents graciously hosted in their lovely North Richland Hills home. We started with a holiday feast featuring ham and almost any delicious side dish or dessert imaginable, then moved on to installing our incoming officers for the January 1 - June 30 term.

We all gathered in the living room for a fun evolutionary story; that is, someone starts a tale, then passes off to another Toastmaster for additional embellishments. While the original premise of this year's story was debating the origin of sled tracks on a snowy roof, it didn't take long before the following elements were introduced: spiked egg nog, skid marks, Tralfamadorian aliens, Jack Daniels Black Label (soon shortened to "Black Daniels"), lactose intolerant Santas, turkey turbo jets, Big Wheel Transformers that can flatten under the door, zombie Santas, and a nicely bottled shot of "Holiday Spirits."

Whew! By the time we wrapped up our Christmas tale, everyone was laughing and applauding each other's creativity and ingenuity in tying everything together. We moved on to our Chinese Gift Exchange (or "Dirty Santa" as it is sometimes known) which started out tame enough but soon degenerated into a free-for-all of thievery and name calling. Let's just say "Ho! Ho! Ho!" has more than one meaning now!

Any hard feelings soon vanished like Holly's delicious secret-recipe fruitcake, however, and all the gift exchange participants went home with something satisfactory (or at the very least, re-giftable).

Please be aware in the coming weeks that if you hear a seemingly senseless inside joke about skid marks, lactose intolerance, or excessive references to alcoholic beverages during our meetings, it's nothing too serious.

You just had to be there.

Lonya's Toastmasters Goal: Confidence in Public Speaking

Hello Afterburners! First I would like to thank you all for allowing me to join this fantastic organization. Everyone is so experienced and helpful! I feel that this is a great way to grow and learn personally and professionally.

I have always been impressed by those who are able to get up in front of a room full of people and speak eloquently. Personally, public speaking has always been a challenge for me; in fact I would try to avoid it as much possible. I heard about the Toastmasters from a friend a few years back; he told me how well it helped him with his confidence when speaking in front of large audiences. It took me some time to join due to other obligations, but here I am, ready and eager to learn and grow with you all.

Here is a little bit about me. I am from Madison, Wisconsin. I’ve lived in the Fort Worth area for a little over three years now. Currently I am a program analyst in the Air Force stationed at Carswell Air Force Base here in Fort Worth.

Again I thank you all! I look forward to your feedback.

Lonya Foy