And during today's program...

Today's program served as a much needed venting period for those of us who feel the stress of the semesters end pressing down. We ate cookies and made necklaces, earrings and bracelets using materials from previous donations via Caravan Beads and Thistle Hill Glass. Lyndsay made a ton of paper cranes too :)



The jewellery made during this little session will be sold at the December 5th craft fair in the Woodbury campus center. All proceeds will go towards the Women's Resource Center.



With Thanksgiving right around the corner, it really feels like things are winding down. I'm glad that the Tea and Arsenic program has been so well recieved by the USM community; I've made closer bonds with a lot of peers!

So much relaxation, you may melt...

If you have a couple minutes, go to Big Huge Labs and make yourself a photo mosaic of relaxing items. Everyone likes to look at images of their favorite things. I highly recommend it.

Craft and RELAX!

Feeling a little stressed out, as of late? It's totally normal.

Everyone I talk to seems to be five minutes away from a mental breakdown - and I can't blame them! School work is still piling up and most people seem to be behind on previous assignments.

Here are some simple tips to help keep you stress free:

1.) Get your sleep! It's temping to skip out on sleep with so much work to be done, but sleep is essential to keeping you healthy. If you find yourself up late into the night, take a nap during the day! I've seen plenty of people curled up in the Woodbury campus center...
2.) Get exercise and stretch! Exercise always helps get rid of stressful energy.
3.) Spend time with your friends.
4.) Do a little "self massage" ;)

The Ladies Underground Tea and Arsenic Society's November 19 (from 12:00pm - 2:00pm) meeting is all about crafting and relaxing. There's no formal discussion topic this time - we'll be focusing on relaxing mostly. We'll be making a variety of things to sell a USM's upcoming craft fair to benefit the Women's Resource Center.

Knitting and the Workplace

Thanks to a very generous donation from Knit Wit located on Munjoy Hill in downtown Portland and the WRC's Rachel Church, we had more than plenty of yarn to learn a handful of knitting skills last Wednesday during our most recent program.

The level of knitting skill was varied (personally, I learned little to nil but that's not a reflection of the time and effort others took to try and help me; more a reflection of my lack of knitting skill!) Marianne Benson from USM's Career Services office was present to help us not only with our knitting needles, but to lead our discussion on women in the workplace!

We munched on goodies from Hannaford (cookies, turnover bites, ginger snaps, oh my!) and the as always, delicious tea from the North Star Cafe.

Next week, I hope to add pictures to the blog so everyone can see what this wonderful program looks like in action! We take over the section of chairs and loveseats just outside the Womens Resource Center and usually have an overflow of people from seats on to the floors, arms of chairs, et cetera. Isn't it about time you joined us for one of our meetings?

Next Meeting: November 19th, Women in Poetry

We'll be making our own magnetic poetry and as always sipping on that sweet sweet tea and arsenic :)

P.S - Despite my inability to knit propperly, I have NOT given up! There's still hope for this scarf!