Oh, I see - well, I was talking about Toastmaster contests at the national level, if the two of us were to advance that far. But certainly it would be rather neat to suddenly see you on the same stage at a national or international speaking event! That’d be cool.

BTW, I really don’t believe in “competition” even though the world makes it out to be reality.

That’s great. I think TM is useful even for professional speakers who want to keep speaking, getting feedback and staying sharp. In my club, there are about 3 or 4 of them so I feel I’m in good company.

Yes, it’d be cool if we ended up speaking at the same contest but that would be the International level cuz you’re in Colorado while I’m in Ohio. We’re not in the same district, state or even region (what comes after that, I wonder?).

Yes, raw food is absolutely outstanding. The 34 inch pants are now falling off without a belt! Amazing. Plus I feel such incredible energy. This is way of eating is here to stay for sure……

So glad to hear you may be coming to the Area Contest this Saturday! I just sent you a private email with a .pdf copy of a map and general instructions.

Look forward to seeing you there!

Isn’t it amazing that an 80 year old Grandma can be that good looking with her body? It defies everything we know about “growing old.” She sure knocked down “conventional wisdom,” didn’t she?

Now that you and I have read about her story, we can’t go back to the “I’m too old” excuse, can’t we?

Haha, thanks Nita. You and a couple others say the same thing about how good I look. Well, I find this experiment to be exciting because I like how it puts me in the driver’s seat, with all my choices having an effect on the outcome (my body, mind, spirit, emotions, etc).

It’s also simulating to my brain because I’m doing a lot of reading and learning. I’m learning valuable things I hadn’t known about before. In fact, I may end up writing an e-book about my experience and make some money from it (it’s about time I did that at my blog anyway). Stay tuned!

You are right - Wordpress does allow people to post ahead of time and have them appear at a certain time. However, I had not gotten into the habit of “pre-writing” posts for future dates. I usually do them the day before I want them to appear online. I’ve got to restructure my thinking around this and find time and motivation to set up posts to appear at future dates.

Thanks Karen - it felt great to win the club contest. I am eagerly looking forward to this Saturday’s Area contest. This “James Bond Lady Fiasco” is so much a part of my being (because I’ve told the story over and over) that I could practically tell it in my sleep!

The letter was absolutely amazing. What was even more amazing was that these people wouldn’t identify themselves via their last name or address. It’s like the angel who appeared at the roadside to assist you with a flat tire only to turn around and disappear without leaving a name so you could thank them. Good Samaritans, they’re called.

I’m smiling because while I’m having the time of my life with this newfound “raw” experience, I can understand why it might not be sustainable for some people. As you mentioned, it is sure cleaning out my system.

One of the interesting things I’m learning is that the more waste that is left in your system, the more weight you carry around. Waste=Weight.

Speaking of detoxing, interestingly enough, I haven’t had a whole lot of detox symptoms. In some raw books, I learned that could happen in a couple months into the “new lifestyle.” Maybe I won’t experience much of it since my eating habits have been pretty healthy overall (I rarely visit fast food joints, I almost never drink soda, etc). But it’s too early to tell if the detox symptoms will hit me or not.

I understand totally about feeling socially alienated when on a raw food lifestyle. But I’m learning ways around that as we speak. For instance, I’m not intending to go 100 percent raw - I’ll probably balance it with something like 75%-80% raw and the rest carefully selected cooked foods. We’ll see.

Will keep you posted - thanks for dropping by - it feels good to be connected with you and everyone else again!