Sharing Reports - Mar/Apr - 2014

Online Omicron just elected our new board for 2014:

Toni - President
Sunni - Vice President
Ashley - Recording Secretary
Elise - Corresponding Secretary

Our programs in the past months have been the History of Valentines Day and German Christmas Traditions (one of our members is in Germany). We also had a very successful Secret Santa in our chapter and we had a riot sharing our stories of what we received.

There is a general buzz of excitement for the new year in our chapter as well - we are hoping for some really great things!

Toni

The Sisters in OLP wish all of you a Happy St Patrick's Day! Animated Irish derby, walking stick and falling shamrocks

MEMBERSHIP: We Have three visitors this month: Erica, Michelle and Melissa. Last month, two of us received our Master's Degree: Kathy S and myself, Rose K.

SOCIAL: Kathy planned our Valentine Social to be held (virtually) at Manzanita Hall. The hall was beautifully decorated, and everyone brought their favorite dish to share. Manzanita Hall is a lovely room that over looks a lake. In fact part of the lake goes under the hall so you feel like you are on the lake, and three of the walls are windows. It was an awesome setting for a special event. This year we are blessed with two Valentine Queens: Kathy S and Jean T. In addition we have two Valentine Sweethearts: Janice K and Karen D.

Later in the month, sisters in Mesa, AZ met for an (actual) luncheon.

PROGRAM: Carol H. presented an informative program, "Go Red for Women" a promotion of the American Heart Association that advocates for more research and increases awareness of women's heart health.

BOOK REVIEW: In keeping with Presidents' Day, we discussed the following books about American Presidents: - THE PASSAGE OF POWER by Robert A. Caro - A book about the Johnson/Kennedy era - MARINA AND LEE by Priscilla Johnson McMillan - A book about the alleged Kennedy assassin. - TEAMS OF RIVALS by Doris Kearns Goodwin - A book about Lincoln. - KILLING LINCOLN by Bill O'Reilly

CRAFTS: The craft for February was "Pampering in a jar." Submitted by Kathy S. Get a jar of your liking. It can be a Mason Canning Jar or a decorator jar. Fill the jar with chocolates (since this is for Valentine's make them heart shaped.), bubble bath beads, lip balm, fuzzy socks, and anything else that a person would use to pamper themselves. Close the jar and put a ribbon around the top with a heart shaped tag. I've made some of these for each of you to take home after the social to pamper yourselves. Happy Valentine's Day.

Respectfully Submitted,
Rose Keefe, On Line Psi

In January we celebrated Online Beta's 16 years by having a sweet 16th birthday party. We chose our gowns and sent pictures, listen to Neil Sedaka and the Crests, played games, danced and enjoyed all the food and pretty birthday cake.

A program in January was on the Super Bowl with lots of history and facts.

Our service was on undoing the stress induced physical and/or emotional effects the holidays bring. We learned that one way is to use aromatherapy.

In February we have been busy with nominations for officers, we had nominations for our Valentine queen. I was selected for Queen, and such a wonderful honor, and all the nominees were so deserving.

Our program was on Tonkinese cats. Our sister Robin shared pictures of her cats and gave lots of interesting information on this breed.

Our recipe and craft committees stays busy sharing delicious recipes with us and easy crafts.

Respectfully,
Madonna Elliott

We have been a busy chapter these last two months.

Our regular Rose, Bud, Thorn postings keep bringing the sisters together. We are able to discuss important issues we have in our lives and celebrate wonderful things with our sisters. We also continue with our Chapter Chatter.

January 5th was Valerie’s Exemplar ritual. We followed the ritual with a virtual trip to Woolacombe Beach in North Devon England.

Pledge training continues for 3 new members.

Elaine finished up the sections on Financial Peace and made a document to share on our group site for future reference. Krissie's January program was on Lucille Ball's career. Our February program was set as a Jeopardy game about BSP. It was wonderful and covered information from the website, strawberry patch, and Invitation to Life. It was fun and a great tool to help the new members learn about BSP.

The chapter celebrated its 4th birthday. Some sisters participated in a gift exchange. The only rule on the exchange was that the presents were BSP related.

The sisters made various donations to food banks, activity centers, juvenile diabetes programs, Junior League, and Special Olympics this month.

Last month we held a vote to select the Valentine Queen and Woman of the Year for Online Xi for 2014-2015. Sheri, Elaine, and Krissie were nominated for the honor of Valentine Queen. Krissie was selected as Valentine Queen. Elaine and Krissie were both nominated for Woman of the Year. Krissie was selected for the honor of Woman of the Year. Congratulations to all the nominees!!

Plans are in the works for progression rituals for two members and for Founder’s Day. Nominations were made for the 2014-2015 officers with elections taking place at the March meeting.

Beta Hugs,
Sheri

President's Report

President, Karon wished everyone a happy and healthy 2014 and in February a Happy Valentine’s Day.

Program

Addressing our International theme for the year on "light" we investigated "the lighter side of life" with an article that stressed the power of laughter. Matthew Clark, of the Clark Institute in Grand Rapids, Mich., says that during laugh-out-loud moments, the brain shoots off memory-boosting neurons. This can only help at our age or any age because it’s never too early to start! Humor is infectious. It spreads faster than a cold or any contagious disease and when shared it increases happiness and intimacy, strengthens our immune system, boosts our energy, diminishes pain and protects us from the damaging effects of stress. Another article suggested that not all "senior moments " need to be worried about but instead can just tickle our 'funny bone." For instance: A certain senior admits that sometimes, when she’s unable to find pair No. 1and pair No. 2 of reading glasses, she goes to pair No. 3. On the way to the drawer, she passes the mirror and sees she has both pairs on the top of her head. (She also admits to sometimes trying to open the back door to her house with her “keyless” car remote.)

We also learned 8 tips to boost our memory:
Get a massage with rosemary oil. Rosemary may help improve memory.
Sleep on it. A solid slumber protects new memories
See yourself in the funny papers.
Hang out with your friends. An active social life makes your memory sharper.
Eat blueberry pie and strawberry jam because they have strong antitoxidants
that decrease inflammation.
Play the name game by visualization.
Chew a stick of Juicy Fruit.
The effects are short term, but researchers think chewing warms up the brain, Get up and move! Here’s a three-fer. Exercise aids information retention and it helps you maintain a normal weight, which, in turn, lessens your risk of hypertension and diabetes, both known to impair memory.

"So, in this new year of 2014 we should only make one resolution. Share a laugh with someone every day!! And see if we can keep it through the whole year."

Continuing with the task of humor we were asked to share a silly moment or funny story about a child, share a "senior moment," who is your favorite comedian, and to share a tale about your cute or not so cute animal friend.

The February program asked us to remember our first love, how we met and if we married that person among other questions. Rather surprisingly, several did not marry their first loves, and glad of it.

Service

In January we learned about tea. Did you know that tea is made from camelias? But only a certain species variety of Camelia Sinencis that provides flavorful leaves that can be dried or roasted. The single species c. Sinensis MAKES ALL KINDS OF TEA. Including black, white, green and oolong. Leaves are plucked at different ages to give tea its unique properties, and processed differently for different ages to give tea its unique properties, and processed differently for different results. Earl Grey is simply black tea with bergamot flavors. “New growth makes white tea,” Lee said. “And medium growth makes green tea.” We then were given guidelines for brewing 'the perfect cup of tea."

In February the topic explored was Extraordinary Uses for Ordinary Things by Alison Caporino. Wonderful uses for the simple nail polish remover in your cabinet, not for just the nails it seems.

Membership

One will be taking her Master Ritual. The VP is continuing to contact women who have expressed an interest with International but has had little success.

Socials

February 20th to February 23rd we discovered the highlights of the Montreal Lumiere 2014 celebration. A festival of light throughout the city of Montreal every year that also has food and live performances as key aspects. C'était merveilleux.

Koffee Klatch

Since many members were traveling the month of January questions about travel were discussed. Here are the questions that we were asked:
1. Do you enjoy traveling?
2. What would be your dream vacation?
3. Of all the trip you've taken, what has been your favorite so far?
4. What is your idea of roughing it?
5. Do you enjoy amusement parks?
6. Are you an adventurer or relaxer?
7. Do you have any special place is on your bucket list?

These questions prompted various insights into the traveling history of our members.

No one volunteered for the month of February but looking forward to a topic for discussion in March.

Book Club

The January book review was done on "Crow Lake" by Mary Lawson. "In a gorgeous, slow-burning story, Mary Lawson combines well-drawn characters, beautiful writing, and a powerful description of the land in Ontario to tell the emotionally story of personal struggles, familial bonds, and the power of forgiveness."

The next book on our list for February/March is "The Roundhouse" by Louise Erdrich.

OLD Website

President Karon continues to keep our own OnLIneDelta website http://onlinedelta.weebly.com updated.

Respectfully submitted,
Evelyn--OLD Rep for Cyber Council

Comings and goings of On Line Theta -

On Line Theta had some special visitors last month.

OL Alpha Alpha members visited OLT observe how we hold our meetings and also interact as an on line chapter. Cherie visited OLT and has joined our chapter.

Warm wishes for a speedy recovery to Billie who had hip replacement surgery on January 27th. From all of the reports that we have received her recovery seems to be ahead of schedule and should be back home soon! Our deepest sympathies are extended to Linda Sue upon the death of her father. Continued prayers are lifted up for Roxanne as she continues chemo treatments and also for her to secure new housing and financial support. Continued prayers are lifted up for Mair to feel better. Prayers were answered for VivM and such a blessing to learn that her biopsies were benign! Thoughts are with Marti as she starts a new position.

During our Executive Board meeting we again discussed the criteria for Special Sister gift exchange and during this meeting we would like to hear from all members any suggestions for changes or if we leave it as it currently is. Since postage keeps going up, things become more hectic at times during the year, changes in income, etc., one suggestion would be to just send one primary gift (Christmas or Birthday), cards for other occasions, bookmark for OLT's chapter birthday. If we want to continue with a gift for birthday and Christmas then maybe just return to sending an ornament for Christmas. Even if one does not put up a Christmas tree there are ways to display the ornament...on a holder, wreath, tinsel, from light fixtures, and the list goes on and on. Over the years we have eliminated sending anniversary/special day gifts and we also changed from sending a gift for our chapter birthday to just sending a bookmark and card.

We will be electing officers in May.

Respectfully submitted, Arlene