Friday, March 13, 2015

The more you know about me the better!

Last Friday I wrote a blog that had a variety of facts about myself and my life. It was such a hit that I have decided to keep doing them leading up to Election Day. I will approach my job on council in the same way I live, I will always be approachable and open. 

-My first job was babysitting for some great families in Mabou Harbour. Throughout high school, I also worked at Mabou Gardens every spring/summer and through the winters and days off I worked at the Convent in Mabou. Yep, I worked in the kitchen at the Convent, and I still go visit the nuns when I go home and they write me letters. 

-Ironically enough, when I graduated and went to college and came home for the summer, I worked at the Glenora Distillery. The only distillery in North America to produce a single malt whiskey. I did the tours during the day, and then worked in the kitchen and pub. I can still tell you all about how to make a good single malt. 

-I am the oldest of four siblings. My two sisters live here in Fort McMurray, and my brother lives in Mabou, Cape Breton. They will probably tell you that not only am I the oldest, but the loudest as well.

-I attended St. F.X. University, and it is the biggest regret in my life that I did not finish the last year to get my degree from there. I had taken time off to have a bone marrow transplant, and thought at the time that life was too short to go back to school. I had every intention to finish the courses after a year or so, but never got back to it.

-I have a degree in hotel and restaurant management. And I have continued my education over the last 20 years with a variety of courses. 

-I was taught how to step dance by some of the best stepdancers in the world. No lie, I can do a mean square set. 

-I believe that we should be prudent in our spending right now in Fort McMurray, but we need infrastructure and development to attract and keep families in town. The operating and capital budgets will be undergoing a review over the next few weeks by administration and council, and I will continue to be vocal in our need for things like the North Side Rec Centre. 

-I am not a shopper. And my friends and family are laughing as they read that understatement. I have an event to go to this weekend, and the thought of spending money on a dress that I will only wear once or twice was not sitting well with me. So one of my best friends gathered up some dresses for me to try on to wear instead. I will spend taxpayers dollars the same, is it needed? Or is it something that we can defer or cut or find a cheaper solution. 

-I had a bone marrow transplant when I was 19 for a rare disease called Aplastic Anemia. So I have always been passionate about the bone marrow registry. You can do a simple swab of your mouth now to register to possibly save a life. You can read more at the One Match website here: 

-I played hockey and ringette up until I had my transplant, and then I worried about breaking a bone after that. I was obsessed in high school with stats on players. I knew every number of every player and all their stats from 1985 or so until again,  when my kids were born. LOL. Montreal has always been my team, with players like Mike MacPhee, Claude Lemieux and Patrick Roy still being my all time favs. 

-From 1994 until 1997 I worked in the Cape Breton Island Building and Construction Trade Council office, along with the Carpenters and the Plumbers and Pipefitters 682 offices. I learned from the best union leader in Cape Breton about unions in Atlantic Canada. Cliff Murphy is known across Canada for the initiatives that he made over the years, and I am blessed enough to call him my father-in-law. And in having him as my father-in-law over the years, you never got too far without having a conversation about what was going on in the economy, how it was affecting families and workers, both at home, and when they travelled for work across the country. 

-Cliff passed the tradition on, and Tim was a union leader in our region when he was the financial secretary for the then CEP 972(now Unifor). 
 
-And some fun facts about Tim and I. We were born on the same day, in the same hospital, and he says that he was winking at me in the nursery. He was Protestant and I worked at the Convent. We were the total opposites on so many levels. We started dating when I was bald and still sick post-transplant, and this year we will be married 20 years. 

I have no idea what this might pull out of me next week, but you can send me any questions, and we will continue to have fun with this on Fridays. 

To talk about anything or to ask me questions about my view on various issues in Fort McMurray, you can call my cell at 780-838-1782 or email me at: vernamurphyforcouncil@gmail.com.


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