November Healthy Woman encourages local ladies to kick up their heels and let go of their sanity

Women attending November's Healthy Woman event at the Lannom Center were treated to a "Girl's Nite Out" with an entertaining keynote speaker and informative breakout sessions focusing on enjoying the upcoming holiday season.

The event, held from 5:30 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the Dyersburg Country Club at the Farms, entertained local women with four mini-sessions, a light complimentary dinner and a rollicking good dose of inspiration from Lisa Smartt, author of "Life, Love and Cluttered Closets."

Smartt's presentation, titled "I've Lost My Mind, May I Borrow Yours?" brought her audience to tears of laughter as she re-created meeting an unexpected well-to-do cousin on the front porch of her remote country home while performing physical therapy on an exercise ball in only her housecoat.

Poking fun at her own messy bathroom and embarrassing situations, Smartt reminded women to be themselves this holiday season and not to stress over making things perfect.

"Stop watching Martha Stewart," she said as she demonstrated creating her own Christmas party specialty -- bologna and Velveeta roll-ups. "That woman is not human. Do not make your own gingerbread! Go have sex with your husband! My mother told me to keep the kitchen going and the bedroom going. But if you had to choose, let the kitchen go."

Comparing a Martha Stewart Christmas to a Redneck Christmas, Smartt's presentation tickled the funny bone, but she ended the evening with a serious reminder.

"Less is more -- simplify," said Smartt, who lost her grandmother during the recent presidential election. "(Losing her during the election reminded me that) my grandmother lived through 16 presidents and none of them ever changed her life. They didn't change what she believed in, who she loved or how she lived. Times are hard, but I don't like to hear 'Things are bad, we might not have a Christmas.' It doesn't take money to have a Christmas. It takes Christ to have a Christmas."

After dinner, Smartt helped Dyersburg Regional Medical Center Marketing Director and Healthy Woman organizer Judy Boehmler pass out door prizes, signed copies of her book and visited with Healthy Woman members.

Breakout sessions included:

* Knock-out Holiday Door Decorations -- Sunpoint Pool and Patio owner Lisa Maldonado created the perfect holiday door and provided the matching wreath as a door prize.

* Great Girl Getaways -- The Ticketry owner Luce'anne Overall gave travel advice for getaways for girls. From local locales to exotic destinations, Overall provided tips from the destination to the items most needed from home. Those attending the event received at list of 15 girlfriend-getaway tips and infectious-disease expert Dr. Richard Wenzel's list of the 11 items that should be in every tourist's first-aid kit.

"(A girlfriend getaway can be) as simple as going to someone else's home and you don't have to plan it," said Overall, who also recommended destinations from Jackson to Hawaii. "Getaway. That's the key word. Travel is one of the greatest medicines. One of the joys of doing what I do is I get to see you come back refreshed."

* Curl Up and Dye for the Holidays -- Headlines owner Chucky Moody showed women the do's and don'ts for great holiday hair.

His presentation featured the new styles for fall and winter; the latest trends in haircuts -- asymmetrical bangs, the pixie cut; new color options -- cooler red shades and color enhancements to make gray gorgeous; and products that make holiday hair shine.

* You are the Dancing Queen -- Jeff and Leslie Lay and Al and Penny Guthrie demonstrated the Fox-Trot, the Box Step and the Cha-Cha for the Healthy Woman crowd, with time for participants to take a lesson on the dance floor.

Membership in Healthy Woman is free. To sign up, contact Judy Boehmler at 287-2109, e-mail Judy_Boehmler@chs.net or register online at www.dyersburgregionalmc.com.

Healthy Woman monthly events are made possible with the support of 2008-2009 partners including Platinum sponsors The State Gazette, Burks Broadcasting; Silver -- First Citizens National Bank; Bronze -- Security Bank, Alexander Thompson & Arnold PLLC, Dyersburg Electric System; and Table sponsors -- Colonial DPP, LLC, Burks Beverage, Hilliard Lyons, LLC, First South Bank, City Drug Co. and Family Care.

The December Healthy Woman event, "Beating Colon Cancer," will take place from 5:30 p.m. until 7 p.m., on Tuesday, Dec. 9, at the Dyersburg Country Club at the Farms. A presentation by Dr. William Matthew Tosh, D.O. of General and Laparoscopic Surgery, West Tennessee Surgical, PLC., will cover the risks, symptoms, tests and procedures associated with the disease.