I survived

Six months ago I (Leslie) was asked to do a presentation about historic buildings at a Coffee Talk at the Joplin Public Library. I have spent all that time putting together an After...Before program that I called "Extreme Makeover: Joplin Edition." By the time I called a halt to it, I had over 300 slides in my power point program. I presented it yesterday. I am happy to report that I survived. I did lose 4 lbs. just from the sheer terror of speaking before an audience--a phobia it seems that just gets worse as I get older. But I had a great turnout (almost 60) and the program was well-received. In fact, I have 3 more showings of it scheduled, including another at the library on May 18. I hope I won't be as nervous next time, but if I can lose weight over it, that's a good thing!

I grouped my slides and named the sections after popular t.v. shows. Like "Biggest Loser" was downtown buildings that had been demolished. I had lots of photos of parking lots followed by photos of the beautiful buildings that once stood there. I also did a "What Not to Wear" section with horrible remuddlings such as the one shown below.

The Joplin Globe office building at 4th & Virginia. A Globe reporter was at my presentation. She said that they all refer to the building as "The Cheese Grater."

The same building when it was the YMCA.