Fitness Heaven

STRESS IS DANGEROUS by Bea Sheftel

Some people have stressful jobs and stressful lives. Everything worries them. They don't realize what should concern them more is stress. It is a killer. This is particularly true is you have diabetes.

Your body changes when you are stressed. This can be from good news that makes you nervous such as speaking before a crowd. It can be stress from fear. The body speeds up to try and help you get through the stress. This makes your heart beat faster and may effect your breathing as well. Your blood pressure soars. This causes wear and tear on your body that can lead to health problems.

Here are ways to reduce stress in your life:

Get enough sleep.

Eat good meals and food low in sugar and fat.

Take your medications regularly.

Get enough exeercise.

Talk over your problems with your friends and family.

If stress is very bad and nothing helps alleviate it, look into getting counseling.

Take time to do the things you enjoy. Have fun.

If you are a believer, go to your place of worship and put your problems in God's hands.

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Published at www.partiesabound.com
The Tea Party for Adults
by Bea Sheftel

Ever since I was a child I have enjoyed tea parties. When I was little we were only allowed very light tea, that is one tea bag in a tea pot. I used to have these with my friends and also with our dolls.


As an adult the idea of a tea party intriqued me. I picked up a little book that explained how to have an authentic tea party. Well, maybe mine wasn't English authentic but it was fun.


I sent out invitations I made. I cut out gift wrap with pictures of tea pots and glued this to card stock. I hand wrote the invitations. It was to be on my deck.


Some of my friends were bringing their tea pots also so we'd have a variety. I have a tea pot collection with cabbage tea pots, Santa, angels, easter, strawberries and many more. I used real tea as well as a variety of herbals.


My friends and I would each make dessert. Mine was brownies, others were peanut butter cookies, sugar cookies, and tea biscuits. I also made something I read about in the tea book. It is called cucumber sandwiches. I guess they are popular in England. Well, you cut the cucumbers very thin and put them on buttered bread and then cut them into small squares or strips. You also cut off the crusts. They look really nice, but it sure is a waste of a lot of bread.


For attire, I asked each person to wear a long skirt, if they had one. I thought this would add to the elegance. Some even dug out old hats they had, and a couple had white gloves. We soon learned it was too hard to handle teapot and tea cups with gloves.


For the tea cups I used my collection of beautiful porcelain cups, real linen napkins, and shined up silverware. I even had sugar cubes with tongs which I thought added to the elegance.


All my friends are writers. They enjoyed the imagination of being at a tea party. I even prepared a little talk on the origins of Tea in America and how we got tea bags. They were promotional tools by tea sellers and caught on quickly.


We drank tea, ate our desserts and talked. What did we talk about? The latest gossip at the Westminster castle? No. We're writers. We talked about our projects.


It was fun getting together with my friends, and having tea with them. We all felt extremely relaxed as if we didn't have busy lives waiting to catch up with us. I highly recommend a tea party for you and your friends. Once in awhile it's good to feel like a lady, and relax in elegant slendor.


Bea Sheftel is a Freelance writer, poet, writing teacher with painted rock. If you are interested in her work, you may contact her at bts1ct@aol.com



No part of this article may be reprinted without written permission of the author. Copyrighted Material 2001-2002 Worldwide.


If you are looking for great paper goods or decorations for your tea party. Check it here.


Check Bea's work out online:

memoirwritersonline.com

aboutcivilwarwomen.com

amishfamilies.com

showbizsuperstar.com

www.paintedrock.com