Lazybrook Civic Club

— By Birgitt Haderlein Owner of To Fit You, Wellness coach/Fitness Consultant

Last month I focused on walking safety tips in and around the neighborhood. I was happy to see even my early morning walkers were walking with a buddy. With the holiday season in full swing I want to focus on taming your stress now so you can have a more relaxed time to celebrate with family and friends. Stress happens no matter how organized you are, how good your systems are, or how friendly your home and work life is. It can rear its ugly head anytime. So what’s a person to do? When you feel a stress attack coming on? Arm yourself with these 7 simple stress solutions.

Here are some of my favorites:

Take a walk
Is your blood pressure rising? Are you aggravated at your boss? Get out and take a walk, clear your head and take a break from the hectic situation. It’s great aerobic exercise, too.

Call a friend
We all have that special person who calms us down. Whether they are telling a funny story or just listening to us vent, they will put a smile on your face. That’s what friends are for.

Write in a journal
Expressing yourself on paper is a great way to vent your emotions and not let them get the best of you. You don’t need to worry about what others will say or do just let the pen do the work. By the time you are done those feelings will be out of your system.

Play a board game
Remember these? Open the closet dust them off and get ready to play. Quick games like twister, hungry hippo, or go fish are always good for a laugh or two.

Work up a sweat
Have pent up frustrations? There is no better way to release and get rid of them than exercise. Get on your bike, walk in the neighborhood, jump rope, put on your favorite songs and dance to the beat.  You will be working up such a sweat that you won’t remember why you were frustrated in the first place. Picture the stress just coming out of your body.

Plan something fun
Is there a weekend getaway you’ve been putting off? Or meeting your friends for dinner at your favorite restaurant? This will take your mind off of things and you will spend time eagerly anticipating a fun getaway.

Take a hot bath
My favorite! Put in some refreshing lavender fragrance. Put up your feet and just let the hot water relax your body.

Don’t forget to come to the Civic Club meeting/Christmas party Tuesday November 30. I will be giving 3 1 hour coaching/personal training session to one lucky person. Let this be the year you don’t wait till January 1 to start your health and wellness program.

Gift Certificates and more information can be found at To Fit You blog.

— Ileana Desalos, Contributor, friendsofjayceepark@yahoo.com

Now that the cooler weather is here we will be getting more people coming to the park to play, picnic and have celebrations. I just wanted to ask everyone that happens to be at the park to help be the eyes (and voice) for the neighborhood if you are out there and see someone not respecting the rules of our neighborhood park. Some of the things that you could help with are:

If you see someone littering, ask them to pick it up or to put it in an empty trash can instead of next to a full one. We can help to educate the people who visit our neighborhood park about the importance of picking up after themselves.

Call the HPD non-emergency number (713) 884-3131 if you see:

• A car parked in the park
• See/smell someone doing drugs in the park
• Someone in the park after hours (the posted hours are 6am-11pm

**All the park rules are posted at the park

Here is a great example of taking of one of our neighbors being very proactive:

One of the our neighbors that regularly walks his dogs at Jaycee Park recently confronted a chronic litterer. The man would come to the park often and around the same times and ALWAYS throw his trash on the ground as well as spit huge piles of tobacco next to a bench on the concrete pad (just inches away from the grass). Well, one afternoon this resident picked up the empty bottle which the man had just thrown on the ground and tapped on his car window and asked the guy why he would litter when there was a trash can just a few feet away. The resident asked “Don’t you care about this park and keeping it and Houston clean?” The man eventually apologized to the resident for his actions. The resident then persistently called the HPD non-emergency number, left a message at the Heights Storefront and notified me. I sent a message to the Parks and Recreation Department reporting the hours that the person littering was typically at the park and they dispatched a park ranger to be there for one week within those hours. The Result: the littering man has not been back to the park. Why would he if he is knew he was going to be held accountable for littering every time he was there?

Our hope: Little by little, people will get the message that if they want to do these kinds of things they will have to go to another park. Maintaining the kind of park you would like to visit is up to all of us.

It is up to all of us to help make sure the rules of the park are followed (they are posted on the big green signs). HPD and the Parks Department cannot not do it all for us because they are not there, but they appreciate us being the eyes at the park and they will support us the best that they can.