Writings by Diane

Last week at my Toastmasters club meeting, we ran out of time for Table Topics. This segment of the meeting is when a club member is assigned to give the other members questions so they can give an impromptu 1-2 speech on that topic. Typically, the questions are related to the theme of the meeting.  Naturally, the theme of the meeting was Valentine’s Day. It was offered that next week these Table Topics could be used. Then it was shared that may not be a good idea, since the questions related to romance and “lovey dovey” stuff. I said “It shouldn't matter if we do this next week. Do we only have one day that we can talk about love?!” I have been thinking about this the day after Valentine’s. How much emphasis is focused on this day that it has to be super romantic? What about the people without partners? Isn't it cruel to exclude them from a basic feeling such as love? Also, as I grow older, I’m not a huge fan of all of the paraphernalia that is sold during this day. Sure,...

One of my favorite snacks is popcorn, especially the microwave kind. It was so convenient to place the bag into the microwave and in 3 short minutes, have a warm, buttery treat.  Also, there are other flavors of microwave popcorn. I remember there was a co worker of mine who would cook up an afternoon snack of Jolly Time Marshmallow flavored popcorn. The sweet aroma permeated the hallways that we left our cubicles to track down that delicious scent! Sadly, all that sweetness, salt and calories are not conducive to my conscious healthy eating. I decided to abandon popcorn. Then, one day on the radio, we were listening to the John Tesh Show and he mentioned that a cup of plain air popped popcorn is 31 calories . This is opposed to the microwave varieties, ranging from 60 to 120 calories . With that knowledge, I decided that air popped was the way to go. After purchasing the appliance and setting it up, I poured the measured kernels into the cooking chamber. I covered it with t...