A DECADE OF BIRTHDAYS!
On November 14, 2007 my daughter Sabrina Denise turned ten-years-old!! We have celebrated a DECADE OF BIRTHDAYS!! I remember her first birthday…the day she was born. It was a full moon and I did not have a planned Cesarean (C- Section) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesarean_section
but at 8:00 PM and after eighteen (18) hours of labor and only seven (7) centimeters dilated Dr. Ship from Massachusetts General Hospital made a decision to perform the C-Section surgery.
In came anesthesiologist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anesthesia
Sunil (Sonny) Eappen (Matthew Eappen’s father) http://www.mattyeappen.org/team.htm then I was wheeled into an operating room with many other doctors and nurses. My arms were stretched out and were also strapped down so I could not move them. I felt like Jesus on the cross! There was a tiny green curtain that covered the Cesarean procedure from my view. I was not supposed see anything or feel anything…but admittedly I did! OUCH!! Only one person was allowed to be in the room with me – my sister Mary wanted to come, but naturally I picked her soon-to-be Dad - Dennis.
Then after two more hours (which is now 20 hours labor) at 10:00 PM Sabrina Denise (DiCato) Raftery was born on November 14, 1997 – the same day as her uncle Jimmy DiCato (Dennis’ Brother). Dr. Ship held Sabrina up in the flesh (and blood) and announced to us - “YOU’VE GOT A GIRL”! The first thing Dennis said was “HONEY, SHE’S GOT DARK HAIR LIKE YOU” and looking back at us were these beautiful illuminating BLUE EYES - an absolute wonder. The nurse weighed her at nine pounds and 2 ounces (9lbs 2 oz !! I am REALLY glad I had a C-Section!) , measured her, and cleaned her while the doctor stitched me back up.
Sabrina was placed onto my chest and we were wheeled back into my…(now our) room. My father and sister were waiting to congratulate me and meet their granddaughter/niece. Suddenly I thought I was on the Simpson’s because Sabrina sounded like Maggi – making that sucking noise and like magic the nurse popped a pink pacifier into her mouth.
All I wanted was some water, maybe an ice chip, but I was not allowed to have anything. I wanted to sleep. I wanted to sleep like a baby and I guess that is what I did until the next morning. I was soooo exhausted (even though I know there are other women who have gone through longer delivers with more complications).
The next morning Dennis parents and his brother Jimmy came to visit with a giant, pink “IT’S A GIRL” balloon and large red stemmed roses for me and a light brown teddy bear for Sabrina (that she still has on her bed today).
The nurse kicked all our visitors out because it was time for MOM and Daughter to get their first lesson in breastfeeding and thankfully was a success mostly due to her being hungry for both food and love!
AND that was Sabrina’s first Birthday on November 14, 1997!
Then Wednesday November 14, 2007 Sabrina turned ten-years-old we have celebrated A DECADE OF BIRTHDAYS!!
Sherri Raftery, Proud MOM of Sabrina Denise (DiCato) Raftery !
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Remember any of your firsts celebrations from a decade ago? Perhaps you can write about them and use them in some of your speeches - especially if they are timely and relavant to your topic.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
"FASHION FAUX PAUX"!!
FASHION FAUX PAUX!!
Style is an expression of individualism mixed with charisma. Fashion is something that comes after style.” John Fairchild
{since I NOW know how to post pictures on my BLOG - I am adding this one on Oct 22, 2008 - and I just may be adding more to older posts - BUT I will let YOU decide - if you think my shirt is "NOT DISTRICT GOVERNOR MATERIAL" pun intended!! - I am the fifth one from the left or the forth one from the right}
YIKES!! If I had only remembered my own July 3, 2007 Post on the Public Speaking Igroops
http://www.igroops.com/igroops/publicspeaking
Style is an expression of individualism mixed with charisma. Fashion is something that comes after style.” John Fairchild
{since I NOW know how to post pictures on my BLOG - I am adding this one on Oct 22, 2008 - and I just may be adding more to older posts - BUT I will let YOU decide - if you think my shirt is "NOT DISTRICT GOVERNOR MATERIAL" pun intended!! - I am the fifth one from the left or the forth one from the right}
YIKES!! If I had only remembered my own July 3, 2007 Post on the Public Speaking Igroops
http://www.igroops.com/igroops/publicspeaking
"Try not to wear anything too revealing and it is best to wear a camisole under a shirt - especially if you are wearing a white or light colored blouse".
On November 10, 2007 at my Toastmasters District 31 Fall Conference I committed a "FASHION DON'T"!! a "FASHION FAUX PAUX"!! a "WARDROBE MALFUNCTION"!!
I wore a light pink top without a camisole and it kept slipping!!! YIKES!!Ladies - don't do what I did - although the top looked great when I left the house - (standing still in front of a mirror) I didn’t factor in the moving around in the top and having the top move around with me - but not in the right directions!!
I hope I am excused for making this TOP MISTAKE…Fashion Faux Paux…Wardrobe Malfunction! It is certainly not the impression I wanted to give - especially as a District Leader! Past District 31 Governor and good friend Ruth Levitsky (also know as "THE GODDESS") cheered me up by saying it is something the District can roast me on! Thanks Goddess! http://web.mit.edu/levitsky/www/
Why do I share this with YOU?
Because as an Emerging Speaker I am going to make many mistakes before I get it right! I want to share my real experiences; my Faux Paux’s, My Fashion Don’ts…My Wardrobe Malfunctions with YOU so that you can learn from me.
Have you ever committed a Fashion Faux Paux, Fashion Don’t, Wardrobe Malfunction?
Share your FAUX PAUX with me post a note!
=========
WORD OF THE DAY
FAUX PAS - FAUX PAUX
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faux_pas
A faux pas (pronounced /ˌfoʊˈpɑː/, plural: faux pas / is a violation of accepted, although unwritten, social rules. Faux pas vary widely from culture to culture and what is considered good manners in one culture can be considered a faux pas in another. For example, in English-speaking Western countries, it is sometimes considered a thoughtful gesture to bring a bottle of wine when going to someone's house for dinner. In France, however, if the dinner is a bit formal, this is considered insulting as it suggests the hosts are unable to provide their own good wine. To bring wine to the home of teetotalers might suggest ignorance, obstinance, or ill intent.
ORIGIN OF TERM
The term comes from French and literally means "false step". However, it is a formal rather than everyday expression in French and does not generally have the figurative meaning used in English[dubious – discuss]. It is occasionally employed to describe a physical loss of balance or general mistakes (for instance: mes faux pas dans la vie, the mistakes I made in my life)[dubious – discuss]. If one uses faux pas with the English meaning in France, people might think it was a slight grammatical mistake with faut pas, the colloquial pronunciation of il ne faut pas, meaning must not in English[dubious – discuss]. For faux pas with the English meaning, the French would usually say gaffe or erreur.[dubious – discuss]
=====
Sherri Raftery
D31 Lt. Governor of Marketing
http://www.district31.org/
courtjestour@aol.com
http://www.talkingtoastmasters.com/
http://sherriraftery.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
"FIND YOUR OWN STYLE"!
“FIND YOUR OWN STYLE”!
TWO WORLD CHAMPIONS ONE EXCITING DAY!
District 31 Toastmasters Builds Bridge with the National Speakers Association- New England Chapter, http://www.nsanewengland.com/ President, Stephen Shapiro steve@24-7innovation.com Phoenix at the 2007 Toastmasters International Convention! And from that day came a bridge with the Emerging Speakers Program.
On Saturday November 3, 2007 in Natick Massachusetts the National Speakers Association - New England held it's monthly Chapter meeting in Natick Massachusetts with two featured guest speakers, Darren LaCroix and Vikas Jhingran!
Both Darren and Vikas are Toastmasters, both are the only two World Champions of Public Speaking (WCPS) from New England to win since the Toastmasters International speech contest began in 1938(!) and BOTH winners are from my home District 31 which covers eastern Massachusetts and the entire state of Rhode Island!! http://www.district31.org/
If you are not a Toastmaster - let me just give you a brief synopsis of what the International Speech Contest is. In the “Toastmasters World this event is like “Olympics of Public Speaking”! Toastmaster members who are in “good standing” are allowed to compete in a series of five speech contests beginning with the Club, Area, Division, District and Regional. Then out of 25,000 contestants from 14 countries only 10 finalists compete at the annual Toastmasters International Convention in an extremely large room filled with 3,000,000 audience members.
During the speech there are 20 judges who carefully review each contestant’s speech organization, content, voice quality, body gestures, grammar, delivery and of course presentation. The final winner is then crowned “THE WORLD CHAMPION OF PUBLIC SPEAKING” (WCPS). http://www.toastmasters.org/
In August 2001, Darren LaCroix http://www.humor411.com/ won the title WCPS at the Toastmaster’s International Convention hosted in California with his speech “OUCH”! Darren shares his journey on how he fell on his face and failed but laughed his way to the top! As a young entrepreneur he opened up a Subway Sandwich Shop that financially “SUNK”. As a beginning Stand-Up Comic without a “funny bone in his body” he learned from other comedian mentors like Vinny Favorito, who lives and hosts at O’Shea’s in Las Vegas http://www.harrahs.com/EventsDetail.do?locationCode=OLV&detailName=vinnie-favorito-detail&e ventTitle=Vinnie%20Favorito that the key to getting better in front of an audience, is “STAGE TIME”! “STAGE TIME”! “STAGE TIME”. Darren encourages all of us to fall on our face, but get back up, take the next step and “fall forward” instead of remaining backward with regret...
This past August 2007 at the Marriott Desert Resort in Phoenix Arizona, Vikas Jhingran, won the WCPS title with his speech “THE SWAMI’S QUESTION”. This speech was about his hope of getting into the graduate school of his dreams - Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Vikas held up an envelope and said the answer to his question was “inside” which was a metaphor from the Swami’s Question to use meditation to find the answers inside ourselves.
Vikas encouraged us to “FIND OUR OWN STYLE”. He asked us to write down three of our strengths and three of our weaknesses. He used music to explain that a speech is an emotional roller coaster ride and we need to connect with the audience and decide where we want to take them. Vikas also performed his Region Vii winning speech “POST CARD”.
Darren showed us a photo of his closet filled with countless video tapes and audio cassettes of speeches that he presented throughout the years. He explained that a co-worker once said “Darren you are so lucky”. But Darren assured us all that it wasn’t “luck” that helped him to become a World Champion. It is a process…years of “hard work”…“commitment to the craft of public speaking”… and a “willingness to fail” in order to get better. He advised us ALL to record our speeches and explained that we can’t be our best ALONE – we need to be COACHED by people who are the best in the field.
Then to "hit home the point" - Darren gave a short story about Red Sox Champion, left-hander, David Ortiz who videos himself every time he gets up at bat and then he watches the rewound play during the game – so that he can continue to keep getting better.
Darren and Vikas also had a question and answer session and offered a live coaching session with the “CHAMPS”. Invited up to speak was my District 31 Governor, Cherylle Garnes, DTM who “TOOK THE NEXT STEP” and gave her District 31 Conference Speech – which will be this Saturday November 10, 2007 at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel & Trade Center, Marlboro, Massachusetts - please join us! http://www.igroops.com/igroops/d31+webpages+20
Although both Darren and Vika’s style are very different – they both achieve their results through their willingness to write out their speeches’, present them in front of many different audiences, take all that valuable feedback and more importantly get coached by other Champions.
===========
How about you? – Will you TAKE THE NEXT STEP? Fall on your Face? Find the answers to your questions inside you? Fall Forward?, Get Coached? FIND YOUR OWN STYLE? Video/Audio Record Your Speeches? Take a Risk Compete in a Speech Contest?
Go ahead - reach for the "OUCH" - "FALL ON YOUR FACE"..."FALL FORWARD...TAKE THE NEXT STEP"!!
Check out Darren LaCroix's Blog
http://www.humor411.com/blog.html
Join the Champions Edge - use my affliate link!
http://www.worldchampionsedge.com/edge/index.cfm?affiliateid=936
Respectfully Submitted,
Sherri Raftery
District 31 Lt. Governor of Marketing
http://www.district31.org/
courtjestour@aol.com
TWO WORLD CHAMPIONS ONE EXCITING DAY!
District 31 Toastmasters Builds Bridge with the National Speakers Association- New England Chapter, http://www.nsanewengland.com/ President, Stephen Shapiro steve@24-7innovation.com Phoenix at the 2007 Toastmasters International Convention! And from that day came a bridge with the Emerging Speakers Program.
On Saturday November 3, 2007 in Natick Massachusetts the National Speakers Association - New England held it's monthly Chapter meeting in Natick Massachusetts with two featured guest speakers, Darren LaCroix and Vikas Jhingran!
Both Darren and Vikas are Toastmasters, both are the only two World Champions of Public Speaking (WCPS) from New England to win since the Toastmasters International speech contest began in 1938(!) and BOTH winners are from my home District 31 which covers eastern Massachusetts and the entire state of Rhode Island!! http://www.district31.org/
If you are not a Toastmaster - let me just give you a brief synopsis of what the International Speech Contest is. In the “Toastmasters World this event is like “Olympics of Public Speaking”! Toastmaster members who are in “good standing” are allowed to compete in a series of five speech contests beginning with the Club, Area, Division, District and Regional. Then out of 25,000 contestants from 14 countries only 10 finalists compete at the annual Toastmasters International Convention in an extremely large room filled with 3,000,000 audience members.
During the speech there are 20 judges who carefully review each contestant’s speech organization, content, voice quality, body gestures, grammar, delivery and of course presentation. The final winner is then crowned “THE WORLD CHAMPION OF PUBLIC SPEAKING” (WCPS). http://www.toastmasters.org/
In August 2001, Darren LaCroix http://www.humor411.com/ won the title WCPS at the Toastmaster’s International Convention hosted in California with his speech “OUCH”! Darren shares his journey on how he fell on his face and failed but laughed his way to the top! As a young entrepreneur he opened up a Subway Sandwich Shop that financially “SUNK”. As a beginning Stand-Up Comic without a “funny bone in his body” he learned from other comedian mentors like Vinny Favorito, who lives and hosts at O’Shea’s in Las Vegas http://www.harrahs.com/EventsDetail.do?locationCode=OLV&detailName=vinnie-favorito-detail&e ventTitle=Vinnie%20Favorito that the key to getting better in front of an audience, is “STAGE TIME”! “STAGE TIME”! “STAGE TIME”. Darren encourages all of us to fall on our face, but get back up, take the next step and “fall forward” instead of remaining backward with regret...
This past August 2007 at the Marriott Desert Resort in Phoenix Arizona, Vikas Jhingran, won the WCPS title with his speech “THE SWAMI’S QUESTION”. This speech was about his hope of getting into the graduate school of his dreams - Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Vikas held up an envelope and said the answer to his question was “inside” which was a metaphor from the Swami’s Question to use meditation to find the answers inside ourselves.
Vikas encouraged us to “FIND OUR OWN STYLE”. He asked us to write down three of our strengths and three of our weaknesses. He used music to explain that a speech is an emotional roller coaster ride and we need to connect with the audience and decide where we want to take them. Vikas also performed his Region Vii winning speech “POST CARD”.
Darren showed us a photo of his closet filled with countless video tapes and audio cassettes of speeches that he presented throughout the years. He explained that a co-worker once said “Darren you are so lucky”. But Darren assured us all that it wasn’t “luck” that helped him to become a World Champion. It is a process…years of “hard work”…“commitment to the craft of public speaking”… and a “willingness to fail” in order to get better. He advised us ALL to record our speeches and explained that we can’t be our best ALONE – we need to be COACHED by people who are the best in the field.
Then to "hit home the point" - Darren gave a short story about Red Sox Champion, left-hander, David Ortiz who videos himself every time he gets up at bat and then he watches the rewound play during the game – so that he can continue to keep getting better.
Darren and Vikas also had a question and answer session and offered a live coaching session with the “CHAMPS”. Invited up to speak was my District 31 Governor, Cherylle Garnes, DTM who “TOOK THE NEXT STEP” and gave her District 31 Conference Speech – which will be this Saturday November 10, 2007 at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel & Trade Center, Marlboro, Massachusetts - please join us! http://www.igroops.com/igroops/d31+webpages+20
Although both Darren and Vika’s style are very different – they both achieve their results through their willingness to write out their speeches’, present them in front of many different audiences, take all that valuable feedback and more importantly get coached by other Champions.
===========
How about you? – Will you TAKE THE NEXT STEP? Fall on your Face? Find the answers to your questions inside you? Fall Forward?, Get Coached? FIND YOUR OWN STYLE? Video/Audio Record Your Speeches? Take a Risk Compete in a Speech Contest?
Go ahead - reach for the "OUCH" - "FALL ON YOUR FACE"..."FALL FORWARD...TAKE THE NEXT STEP"!!
Check out Darren LaCroix's Blog
http://www.humor411.com/blog.html
Join the Champions Edge - use my affliate link!
http://www.worldchampionsedge.com/edge/index.cfm?affiliateid=936
Respectfully Submitted,
Sherri Raftery
District 31 Lt. Governor of Marketing
http://www.district31.org/
courtjestour@aol.com
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