Time Out of Women

This past weekend I went with a great group of ladies to enjoy Deseret Book's Time Out for Women. It's supposed to be an opportunity for women to get away from their families for a while, hear some funny and spiritual talks given by Utah celebs, and generally chill out on a Saturday.

We drove down on Friday to hear the evening session as well. It was interesting to look over the "menu" for the event and realize I'd only ever heard of one or two featured persons. Michael McLean (whose name I had to look up to spell correctly) performed twice on Friday, Ardeth Kapp spoke (someone in front of us said that Ardeth Kapp's husband is a cousin of Janice Kapp Perry, whose music I enjoy), and Hilary Weeks rounded out the speakers/performers.

Michael McLean had a very funny piece about how taking anti-depressants isn't shameful at all, and for some people it's life saving treatment. (can't find the lyrics online) He went on about how he dealt with severe depression until the Spirit whispered "boy, get yourself some pills". I thought it was interesting that untreated depression was a topic of such great importance to so many that he decided to feature it in his otherwise cater-to-the-stereotypical-Utah-oriented-woman styled presentation. He also sang songs about a birth mother giving up her baby, and a song about longing to be heard by heaven when in great pain. One of the phrases in a song he sang that really jumped out at me was "you know the truth as you fear it." Think about that for a while.

The Saturday speakers were Mark Mabry (of Reflections of Christ fame), Kim A Nelson (very funny man), DeAnn Flynn, Brent L Top, and Mary Ellen Edmunds (who signed my tote bag, I loved her so much). (I had never heard of any of these people)

After the meeting on Saturday Hilary Weeks and Mary Ellen Edmunds stayed around to sign books and things. Mary Ellen gave each person who came to her for a signature a big, long hug. That woman has no fear, it seems. There is flu of many kinds going around, there's always someone with questionable hygiene in every crowd, and regional illnesses abound. Yet she reached right into everyone's personal space with a gesture of love. She was my favorite for sure.

At the hotel we were staying at, we met a nice young man in a BYU t-shirt. We said hi, he said he was in town for the convention, we all smiled and parted ways. Later I was introducing myself to someone at a booth where we gleefully found that we were both Annies (with different real names) when I heard someone hollar "hey, Annie, I know you!"

I turned around to find Mr BYU T-Shirt all dressed up and manning the Shelf Reliance table.

There it was, Raul II, outfitted with accessory shelves and filled with Shelf Reliance brand merchandise. I told BYU about Raul, and his perfection. BYU was tickled by that and began telling everyone who came to the booth about Raul as I read over his brochures. After the fourth or fifth declaration of my naming my shelf, I started to feel cheapened. Raul was not a marketing gimmick, darn it! He's special and mine. Later that day I went to grab another brochure and say goodbye to BYU. He smiled and said "well, I'll see you back at the hotel."

That drew me up short. I said "we've already checked out" and then ran away. Which I can do now. I mean run. Not run away.

All in all it felt like more of a commercial experience than a really spiritual one, but I had some good laughs and really enjoyed the people I went with. Each of them surprised me with how funny and interesting they could be. I finally got my social time after these months of nursery.

I don't think I'll go again until I have more "spare" money and it's a little closer. It was nice but not something I'm interested in sacrificing for. Seeing a live General Conference, on the other hand, sounds like a treat excelsior.