This afternoon I noticed something unexpected outside our dining room French Doors. Fortunately my husband and I had just been out taking "blogging" photos, so the camera was close at hand. You never know exactly who might drop in when you live in San Diego County. Beep! Beep! Perhaps the visitor was hoping to teach my cats some lessons about wily coyote!
With the shortage of water an ever present concern in Southern California, many homeowners in the area are looking for different options besides the long rolling lawns we've historically had. The use of landscaping water often accounts for up to 70% of a household's water use. We're actually planning to alter our front landscaping once my husband and I can both agree on what to put in ;-)! In the meantime, here's a great article by our neighbor Guenter Schott about research he did on landscaping designed to use minimal water.
North San Diego County is home to one of the busiest flyways in the United States. The variety of birds we see always amazes me. Growing up in Mississippi I have fond memories of the beautiful red cardinals and the noisy blue jays. My Dad always enjoyed the Magpies at our Idaho home. Although, we don't have those particular birds making appearances here, we do have a few others of intrigue! From large to small, we have an egret surveying the neighborhood, a roadrunner dashing along a fenceline, and a hummingbird approaching the feeder at dusk.
One of my neighbors, Guenter Schott, fell in love with our community of San Marcos as much as I did. As you can see, he is very talented at putting his thoughts in a digital format. I hope you enjoy his description of San Marcos as much as I did. Perhaps, if you are a local, it will give you more incentive to enjoy what we have here. If you are not local, it will give you all the more reason to come visit our wonderful community. Guenter, thanks for sharing and giving me permission to put this on my blog and website!
Twin Oaks Toastmasters is a remarkable group! I'm privileged to be an active member in San Marcos area club. Each week, two speakers deliver prepared speeches. Each of those speeches is evaluated orally and in writing by another club member. There is also a round of impromptu speaking called "Table Topics."
Our meeting's theme yesterday was "Motivation" as determined in advance by our Toastmater or "emcee" of the day, Brita Bolane. Not at all surprising, the meeting was very well run (Brita runs a business about organizing called "Pare It Down"). Our two speakers were great -- James Fields, a senior at Cal State San Marcos, entertained us with a topic about Welcome Back! James spoke about Welcoming kids back to school, parents back to more normal routines ;-) and other adults back into their working on their goals. I'm not sure what James' immediate plans are after he finishes at CSUSM later this year, but any employed that snatches him up will indeed be fortunate.
Dimitris Magemeneas practiced three "elevator pitches" on us and asked for feedback. Dimitris is opening his new Edward Jones office in San Marcos next month. He wants to make sure that short time he has to make an impression with a new potential client conveys the sincerity and professionalism that is the essence of Dimitris.
We're fortunate to have people from all ages and occupations in our chapter -- from college age to retired, from CEO's to self-employed-to being at home. It creates a delightful mix and flavor!
If you need to polish your professional or casual speaking skills, Toastmasters is a great way to do it! It is international and I've had the luxury to attend club meetings in many different states. A good club will uplift you and challenge you to do even better. As one of our founding members, Tanis Brown, at Twin Oaks Toastmsters will tell you, "it's like getting a shot of motivation every Wednesday." If you are in the North San Diego County area, visit us any Wednesday at 12:05pm in San Marcos. For information on our meeting location and format, check out www.TwinOaksToastmasters.org. For information about Toastmasters in other areas, visit www.Toastmasters.org
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Thoroughly enjoy real estate & practice it full time! When not "real estating" enjoy time at local sites such as San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Carlsbad Flower Fields. Lots to love in San Diego!
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