Tuesday, November 15, 2011

High Noon Stress Buster

While searching Friday's paper for something to do for the weekend I came across High Noon-STRESS BUSTER for women.  It was a free event.(I like free) being held at WaterMark Place in Bessemer.  This is the same place I attended the Hopewell Women in Agriculture conference which I wrote about in a previous post.  The time frame was from 10:30 am-2:30pm. Though I wasn't stressed it was a great event. I didn't arrive at 10:30 am so I missed some of the program I thought it was more of a drop in type occasion and so I arrived about 11:30am.



Each lady was given a red stemmed rose upon entering as well as a goody bag. (I've got so many goodie bag trinkets) Below are the first two pages of a booklet that was inside the goodie bag. It was full of advice and suggestions on handling stress. (click to enlarge)
 There was also a fountain with cascading sweet tea and long stemmed glasses to collect it in. Also on the table were cheeses, fruit and the usual edibles at events of this sort. There were playful contests such as paddle ball also known as bolo and rick rack as well as hula hoop.  The person who lasted the longest received a prize. I have no idea as to what the prize was.

Paddle ball contest

Hula hoop contest

Hidden underneath a cloth up front was a packaged gift for every woman there. Revealing what was underneath the cloth produced expressions of oohs and aahs.  Hostesses distributed the gifts throughout. Click the photos to find out what was inside

 





The back of the tag on the outside reminds me of Abileene's motto from The Help.  You are beautiful, You are valued, You are appreciated, You are smart, amazing, loved, cherished, blessed

These are some of the speakers. Nikita (left) asked us what kind of shape were we mentally. The square is orderly, regimented etc. The circle is less structured, willing to let things be as they are.  There were other shapes she described and their meanings. Overall it was a tip-off for us to not take everything so seriously in an effort to avoid stress.
Kristie (right) spoke to us about not allowing life's challenges to stop us from meeting our goals. She gave numerous examples from her own life. She came from a  teenaged alcoholic mother, absentee father, molestation from step-father, anorexia among other things. Yet she accomplished to obtain a PHD  has done private practice therapy but prefers teaching on the college level which she does now.


 THAT'S IT***