A Chipper and Chirpy Birthday Gathering

Life is too short and friends are too few! How lucky we ten goldies found each other. Over the years we have been keeping each other company and cheering each other up. Work and family are our responsibilities. They bring us joy and a sense of accomplishment. Yet without friends, life is not complete and can at times be exhausting. Friends help cheer and lift us up, and give us strength and motivation to start a new. Just like my nine lady friends who have the power to cheer me up and rid me of my stress and worries.

Irene, Linda and Pamela were born in December. Pamela talked about a joint birthday celebration a month ahead of time. She officially announced it after her trip to Russia. She was going to open her sweet home to hold the joint party. We couldn’t love more the idea, despite the fact that it would bring her and her better half Moses a hard time with the preparation. Details were settled after a few communications. Since the date was announced, I had been looking forward to it in anticipation of a wonderful celebration. Maybe I was the one who needed the gathering most, to release my tension.

It’s amazing that the three birthday stars happen to be good cooks too. They should have relaxed and waited for the most memorable day in their lives but instead, the three birthday girls spent the most time and energy cooking and preparing food for us. Pamela prepared fish, spaghetti, pickled apples, fruit and desserts and the most expensive crunch cookies - “Marco”. Irene braised beef and brought a big carton of snacks. Linda prepared two big pots of chicken and fish/meat ball soup. The rest of us who bought our share of ready-made food were truly touched. As always, I enjoyed all the food contributed by the other ladies too; the salad and brownie brought by Michelle, spicy chicken and garlic ham by Gina, the delicious and eye-pleasing chocolate cake by Lydia, sapid and flavored wine by Kate, and photo dish by Virginia, etc.

The party was set to begin at 2:00 P.M.
Michelle arrived first. Kate, Gina, Irene and I were the second. Linda the third and Lydia the fourth carrying the must-have delicious and eye-pleasing chocolate cake. Virginia having a shooting activity in the afternoon arrived after seven. Sherry was the only one who couldn’t make it this time because she had to receive her international friends coming from New Zealand. It was very disappointing to all of us because she is always the one who brings unexpected excitement to our gathering, and it would have been a perfect group of ten goldies. But this time due to Pamela’s hospitality and thoughtful arrangement, every moment of the celebration was so exciting and entertaining that we didn’t notice at all how quickly time passed. When someone realized it was time to bring peace and quiet back to Pamela and her family, it was already almost ten.

So, what did we do? There wasn’t any quiet moment even when we were eating, strolling in the big garden, dancing in their community dancing room, singing karaoke, or during the photo sessions. We kept talking, sometimes all at the same time. So hard to believe that we credit ourselves with being ladies, but throughout the whole day we were practically nine quacking women.

I must express my gratefulness to Moses here for his total support to Pamela offering every possible help and putting up with these nine over excited women.

This was the first time that three goldies celebrated their birthdays together. I wanted to do something for this special day to help excite the atmosphere. I prepared some props and gifts for my lady friends, something I bought a while ago for myself without using my head. I couldn’t help but feel guilty whenever I saw them. I hope they are practical to my ladies.

When we called it a night, we all thanked Pamela wholeheartedly for the truly lovely and memorable Birthday party! She was a sensational host offering irresistible food, garden strolling, dance, karaoke, all in a cozy, classic and roomy home to all the goldies.

I’m so addicted to goldies’ gatherings. I hope it won’t be long before our next gathering. Again Happy Birthday to Irene, Linda and Pamela! May joy, health and love be with them throughout the year and all the years to come!

Trini
http://picasaweb.google.com/taipeitmtrini/AChipperAndChirpyBirthdayGathering#

With gratitude to Virginia Lee for all the photos from her album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/vlee1009/101211GoldBirthdayIn3#

The Dynamic and Energetic FJU T/Ms Club

From time to time I receive invitations from other T/Ms clubs to share my experiences with them. FJU T/Ms is one of the clubs that I've visited regularly either once a semester, or twice when there were very special occassions. Over the past years, I've witnessed their progress and it has become a very energenic, dynamic and strong T/Ms club.

For a T/Ms to be strong and successful, club officers are the keys. Dedicated and passionate officers attract members to attend the meetings regularly to ensure a satisfactory attendance rate, and motivate them to get themselves involved in T/Ms meetings roles, activities and challenge themselves.

On Dec. 3rd, I attended their meeting #142 again. I was truly happy to make the long trip this time because Pamela happened to come back to Taipei a few days ago and accepted the club's invitation to take an assignment as Individual Evaluator.
A year ago, in the end of the year, Pamela went with me to their meeting for the first time. This time, we two make it together again. It was almost like a miracle as Pamela spends most of her time abroad either on business trips or in China office. What a pleasant conincidence and joy!

The driving with her sitting beside was very enjoyable and relaxing. Though we missed the interchange because of being busy in chatting, it didn't spoil the fun at all and we made it in time.

Below is the meeting minutes I wrote to show how the meeing went.

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The meeting #142 was fun, energetic and enjoyable.

Let me use three R’s to express how I enjoyed the meeting.

1. Responsibility: Every speaker prepared fully taking their assignments seriously and applied creativity to bring something new to the audience.
2. Rich Program: There was a Variety Session and a Workshop. The master of the Variety Session involved every T/M in the activity, and the speaker of the Workshop convinced the audience that joining contests is the most effective and fastest way to improve.
3. Relaxing atmosphere: All the speakers especially session maters and the TME Janet Huang showcased their energy and humor to excite the audience.

In other words, the three keys to the success of the meeting are:

1. Preparation: TME confirmed with all the assignees before the meeting to make sure every detail was completed. Every speaker was fluent and confident.
2. Positive: Encouragement and support was offered throughout the meeting.
3. Passion: Every speaker received a big hand and loud cheer before speaking and a big round of applause after speaking.

Some guests that were invited from other clubs further uplifted the spirit and enriched the program. The workshop conducted by Sean Yang from IMTC, Language Evaluator Ping Wang from NCCU, Individual evaluator Pamela from Galaxy TMC all shared their experience and insights with the club members.

There’s always room for improvement no matter how successful a meeting can be. I have three suggestions for future improvement.

1. For the workshop, it would have been more encouraging if Judy Lee who has won numerous contests could have been invited to interact with the workshop master Sean Yang.
2. Control the time so that the meeting adjourns on time and we may have a longer intermission.
3. When introducing speakers, it’s better to offer the attributes of the speaker then the speaker’s name to arouse kind of curiosity and anticipation.

Congratulations to FJU T/Ms Club on keeping booming with more and more students from departments joining the club and ensuring quality and successful meetings every week.

Trini Ding, DTM
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