I first started writing with poetry actually. I do have a binder of copywrite poems but I also have kept a binder of those items I have had published, from the number of poetry to columns to items of information I have written and had published.
I have had a number of poems published with The National Library of Poetry earning not money but awards.
American Poetry Association; World of Poetry, Honorable Mention at least twice; A Vision A Verse Volume II 1978; Award of Merit from International Training of Communication for poetry written; ITC Communicator (World Wide), news article: The Peoples Bible 1983; Perian Spring Brandon University, 1978; Rural correspondence for Brandon Sun, Regional Correspondence for Generation; The Souris Plaindealer, Manitoba Crops and Beef; Rural Writings; Newsletters ; Advertising; Next Year Country I had word search puzzles published; designed program covers; placemats; Have one song published and intend to do more writing if I can get a chance.
The Brandon Sun was where I did most of my writing. Originally it was for Generation as a columist. I picked what ever topic I wanted to write on and it was published with my name included. I ended up with a number of readers that became followers and I thank them for the support they gave me. Later on I did most of my writing as a Rural Correspondent with news items. This gave me a different perspective on how different articles were written. News columns were written so different from what I call a social column.
With the newspapers I also took my own pictures and they were also published along with my name. I must admit it gave me a warm feeling to see my name at the top of my columns along with my picture and under the pictures that I took as well.
Enough about me for tonight. It's 12:30, I couldn't sleep so this is what happens when I can't sleep.
Cec
Monday, December 28, 2009
Friday, December 25, 2009
Christmas Morning 2009
2009 Christmas morning and for some reason it's not as exciting as when the kids were home, or even with the grandchildren. This morning I didn't get up early and was lazy all day. We are stormed in. The lane is plugged solid and since both of us are unable to do a whole lot of shoveling now, we await the convenience of the snow clearing person. That's alright tho', it turns out to be a day of laziness and whatever. Another day, we will all get together.
I telephoned our daughter Noreen last night and told her not to come out at all and we will make it another day. Maybe New Years.
I am going to take this time to think back to even before I was married. The first job I ever held was at an old folks home, a private owned one.
It sure was different to what the homes are now. It was not very nice.
My second job was as a waitress and if you can imagine it, I earned 25 cents an hour. I can't figure out how we survived on that, but somehow we did.
Ron was working for $1.00 an hour on construction and that was when Noreen was small and Reg was born. We lived in a four room house with running water, but the bathroom was a pail down in the basement. I had no washing machine as such. I used a plunger to wash clothes and wrung them out by hand.
Eventually I did get a wringer washer and that made things so much easier. I can't remember whether it was oil or coal for heating but the main register in those old houses was one big one in the middle of the floor. In this instant, when you go from one bedroom to the next, you have to cross over the register or go out into the living room and then into the other bedroom.
Wooden cookstove, which I was terrified of but still used it and I had a treadle sewing machine. So different from today.
It was there we found that our daughter was deaf and within a short period of time moved from there into Winnipeg where we could get schooling for Noreen. There we lived until she turned old enough to live at the school and then we got to see her on weekends.
We then moved back out of the city to a little place called Wood Bay, no longer in existence. A mile north of #3 highway on # 34 highway, our youngest son was born.
I am going to back track here a few years to before Noreen was born. Ron went up to Thompson to work in the mines and he found a job for me there as a waitress. I took the train up north to Thompson and there I was taken to a company house where I had to stay. We couldn't stay with our spouses on the campsite where the men stayed. It is no longer done that way.
I went to work in Sinclairs restaurant while there. Noreen was born there.
From Thompson we moved back to Wood Bay and from there to Killarney where I went to work at the Tianon Cafe. Henry and George Yuen. George later went to work as head chef at the International Inn in Winnipg.
I worked for a number of years there and when we discovered that our daughter was deaf, we moved to Winnipeg where we went to live in an apartment not far from the Manitoba Clinic a block from the Womens pavilion. this is where my youngest son Marvin was born.
Enough for today, I will write more later on. Take care everyone have a safe and happy holiday and New Year of 2010.
I telephoned our daughter Noreen last night and told her not to come out at all and we will make it another day. Maybe New Years.
I am going to take this time to think back to even before I was married. The first job I ever held was at an old folks home, a private owned one.
It sure was different to what the homes are now. It was not very nice.
My second job was as a waitress and if you can imagine it, I earned 25 cents an hour. I can't figure out how we survived on that, but somehow we did.
Ron was working for $1.00 an hour on construction and that was when Noreen was small and Reg was born. We lived in a four room house with running water, but the bathroom was a pail down in the basement. I had no washing machine as such. I used a plunger to wash clothes and wrung them out by hand.
Eventually I did get a wringer washer and that made things so much easier. I can't remember whether it was oil or coal for heating but the main register in those old houses was one big one in the middle of the floor. In this instant, when you go from one bedroom to the next, you have to cross over the register or go out into the living room and then into the other bedroom.
Wooden cookstove, which I was terrified of but still used it and I had a treadle sewing machine. So different from today.
It was there we found that our daughter was deaf and within a short period of time moved from there into Winnipeg where we could get schooling for Noreen. There we lived until she turned old enough to live at the school and then we got to see her on weekends.
We then moved back out of the city to a little place called Wood Bay, no longer in existence. A mile north of #3 highway on # 34 highway, our youngest son was born.
I am going to back track here a few years to before Noreen was born. Ron went up to Thompson to work in the mines and he found a job for me there as a waitress. I took the train up north to Thompson and there I was taken to a company house where I had to stay. We couldn't stay with our spouses on the campsite where the men stayed. It is no longer done that way.
I went to work in Sinclairs restaurant while there. Noreen was born there.
From Thompson we moved back to Wood Bay and from there to Killarney where I went to work at the Tianon Cafe. Henry and George Yuen. George later went to work as head chef at the International Inn in Winnipg.
I worked for a number of years there and when we discovered that our daughter was deaf, we moved to Winnipeg where we went to live in an apartment not far from the Manitoba Clinic a block from the Womens pavilion. this is where my youngest son Marvin was born.
Enough for today, I will write more later on. Take care everyone have a safe and happy holiday and New Year of 2010.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Reacting to customer service
It's three days before Christmas and yes I am ready. In fact I have been for awhile now. No secret to it. I start early and each year we have a budget as to the amount we want to pay for each gift. It's surprising what you can find within your budget if you look for it.
I keep a little book in my purse and as I visit with family and friends throughout the year, I jot down ideas in it, so I have some help as to deciding what to get them.
All our gifts are not big ticket items, they are gifts that say, thank you for being who you are throughout the year by being our friends and family.
Let's now turn our minds to our past (depending on how old you are) when wages were small and some jobs have stayed the same over the years. One position was being a waitress. Waiting on people, whether then or now have not changed. Some people are a joy to serve and others, well, you wish they hadn't come into the place to eat. The first job I worked at in a restaurant paid me 25 cents an hour. Imagine that. I had to quit to get a raise to 50 cents.
Through out my life I have worked at one place or another as a waitress. I learned that I loved customer service and dealing with unhappy customers. I also learned to respect my co-workers even if I didn't really like them personally. She knew her job and was really good at it. I learned from her regardless of how I felt about her. I have never held any job that there wasn't a negative aspect to it. There is in every job out there I imagine. I must admit that as small as my wages were at that time, along with my husbands wages, we did mange to put food on the table, keep clothes on the children and a roof over our heads. It was just a matter of getting what we really needed instead of what we wanted. We had a lot of help from family and friends.
I am a firm supporter of Christmas Cheer. We have used it a couple of times and both times we were in tough spots. The last time we were down to a can of beans in the cupboard; I kid you not. We were trying to figure out how we were going to come up with the money to survive when out of the blue there was a knock on the door. Christmas cheer arrived with food and gifts. I will never forget the experience I felt when it happened. Just a few days before, all the money I had was stolen from my purse at work. It was devastating. Christmas cheer came to our rescue. I don't however, like to see it abused as I have seen it abused a few times over the years.
I was talking about customer service. One of the idioms I have used over the years keeps me in mind of how I want to be treated as a customer while I was a waitress.
Treat a customer as you would want to be treated as yourself a customer.'
Another idiom I have used from time to time was 'Keep my voice even and low, it's hard for a person to respond in any other way.' What more can I say about customer service. I suppose there is a lot more than I say here. To me most of it is common sense, treat a person as you would want to be treated.
Enough for today. If I don't get back before the holidays then have a great and safe one.
Cec
I keep a little book in my purse and as I visit with family and friends throughout the year, I jot down ideas in it, so I have some help as to deciding what to get them.
All our gifts are not big ticket items, they are gifts that say, thank you for being who you are throughout the year by being our friends and family.
Let's now turn our minds to our past (depending on how old you are) when wages were small and some jobs have stayed the same over the years. One position was being a waitress. Waiting on people, whether then or now have not changed. Some people are a joy to serve and others, well, you wish they hadn't come into the place to eat. The first job I worked at in a restaurant paid me 25 cents an hour. Imagine that. I had to quit to get a raise to 50 cents.
Through out my life I have worked at one place or another as a waitress. I learned that I loved customer service and dealing with unhappy customers. I also learned to respect my co-workers even if I didn't really like them personally. She knew her job and was really good at it. I learned from her regardless of how I felt about her. I have never held any job that there wasn't a negative aspect to it. There is in every job out there I imagine. I must admit that as small as my wages were at that time, along with my husbands wages, we did mange to put food on the table, keep clothes on the children and a roof over our heads. It was just a matter of getting what we really needed instead of what we wanted. We had a lot of help from family and friends.
I am a firm supporter of Christmas Cheer. We have used it a couple of times and both times we were in tough spots. The last time we were down to a can of beans in the cupboard; I kid you not. We were trying to figure out how we were going to come up with the money to survive when out of the blue there was a knock on the door. Christmas cheer arrived with food and gifts. I will never forget the experience I felt when it happened. Just a few days before, all the money I had was stolen from my purse at work. It was devastating. Christmas cheer came to our rescue. I don't however, like to see it abused as I have seen it abused a few times over the years.
I was talking about customer service. One of the idioms I have used over the years keeps me in mind of how I want to be treated as a customer while I was a waitress.
Treat a customer as you would want to be treated as yourself a customer.'
Another idiom I have used from time to time was 'Keep my voice even and low, it's hard for a person to respond in any other way.' What more can I say about customer service. I suppose there is a lot more than I say here. To me most of it is common sense, treat a person as you would want to be treated.
Enough for today. If I don't get back before the holidays then have a great and safe one.
Cec
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Getting to Know Me
I have so much knowledge to share I feel like I am bursting at the seams. The questions is where do I start? It has been said so many times that if your not sure what to speak or write about, then start on yourself.
So I will do just that. To give a snapshot of the skills I have learned throughout the years whether through College or just through living, it's all the same. I have been learning.
I only went to School to grade ten when I dropped out of school. Why did I drop out? When I think back to then I thought I just couldn't learn anymore in school. Boy was I wrong. Hindsight they say. I have found myself learning steadily now for 67 years. I took G.E.D. and received my grade twelve 20 years later. This gave me the standing I needed to go to College later on and I even took a University course.
But the best place that could have ever learned from in gaining confidence and learning skills was in Toastmistress. The name has changed over the years evolving in International Training in Communication and is now known as Power Talk.
Here are my skills that I have obtained and I am listing them from when I began to now.
My husband and I live in the rural area. We have lived in different places including the city and love the rural area the best.
From time to time I will add to this and I am willing to share the information I have stored up from years past to all who wish to have it.
So I will do just that. To give a snapshot of the skills I have learned throughout the years whether through College or just through living, it's all the same. I have been learning.
I only went to School to grade ten when I dropped out of school. Why did I drop out? When I think back to then I thought I just couldn't learn anymore in school. Boy was I wrong. Hindsight they say. I have found myself learning steadily now for 67 years. I took G.E.D. and received my grade twelve 20 years later. This gave me the standing I needed to go to College later on and I even took a University course.
But the best place that could have ever learned from in gaining confidence and learning skills was in Toastmistress. The name has changed over the years evolving in International Training in Communication and is now known as Power Talk.
Here are my skills that I have obtained and I am listing them from when I began to now.
- That I needed more education than what I had.
- That I needed to gain more confidence in myself as I felt I had none.
- Took some training in Nursing, I wanted to learn the fundamentals of it.
- Took more training in the form of G.E.D.
- Went to College and took Secretarial Training and surpised myself in how good I did.
- Joined Toastmistress, one of the best things I ever did.
- Worked as Secretary at a number of different short term jobs.
- Resource Co-ordinator for Senior Organized Services.
- Office Manager
- Waitress
- Bartending
- Cashier
- Hostess
- Manager for a fast food restaurant
- Typist
- Worked in a laundry
- Writer for the daily paper, The Brandon Sun
- Writer for our local papers, The Plain Dealer, Boissevain Recorder
- Written a number of poems and have them published.
- Written for the magazine International Training in Communication, World Wide distribution.
- Written for Grain news.
- Written for other publications
- Designed word search and published some.
- Been speaker, workshop and education leaders.
- Telemarketer
- Door to Door Sales
- Photography - submitted pictures along with items to be published. Took wedding and other pictures.
- Currently I am a Marriage Commissioner in the Province of Manitoba
My husband and I live in the rural area. We have lived in different places including the city and love the rural area the best.
From time to time I will add to this and I am willing to share the information I have stored up from years past to all who wish to have it.
- Elgin and Area Lions, a club under International Lions from 1993 to present
- Elgin Royal Canadian Legion Auxillary from the 1980's to when it had to fold. Within here I also held zone Chair and secretary.
- Toastmistress from 1976 to 2006
- Speakers Corner from 2006 to present.
- Economic Development Board 9 years
- Assiniboine Health Advisory Committee 15 years
- Village of Elgin Board members
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