New Moon in Cancer June 27th

We have a wonderful New Moon in Cancer now.

Cancer is a cardinal (initiating change) water (emotion, fluidity) sign - the archetype of the mother and healer.

Latin for crab - think about how vulnerable a crab is! To survive she must grow a shell - she has to grow a wall between herself and the rest of the world. This shell is the armor she needs just to stay alive.

See the rest of this post on my new blog the Armchair Astrologer. 
 
xo all

storage wars ....

Two weeks ago I woke before dawn, pushed my scary-ass morning hair into a baseball cap, put on my larger than any sunglasses ever need to be in real life aviators,

(hey, is that Jennifer Aniston?)

bought a padlock (with non-traceable cash), packed up my car - in the dark, drove one town over and ... rented a storage unit.

(disclosure - I have not actually ever been mistaken for Jennifer Aniston. Actually, I don't look anything like Jennifer Aniston. But there was that few months, weeks, days in 2009 - sniffle - that my hair did. I just can't seem to let it go)

I am in the middle of re-arranging (note the 're' during this month's mercury retrograde, my friends) the upstairs rooms and needed somewhere to re-locate stuff as I work.

Yes, I realize what this says about me and the state of a four bedroom house (two of the bedrooms I swear are no larger than walk in closets, but because they have closets we get to call them bedrooms) that houses two people right now. Yes, I spring clean every year. Yes, I let go of stuff regularly.

Yes, I still have a lot of crap.

No doubt my Viking ancestors would have buried their plunder and I did look around my backyard and briefly considered a shady spot under a dogwood, but then I thought about my still-healing shoulder and googled 'storage unit central new jersey'.

There may come a day when I go into the ground myself surrounded by my treasures anyway.

(Hopefully not anytime soon, of course, but when my favorite uncle died a few years ago, my husband asked the undertaker what we could put in the coffin with him. At the time I thought George was nuts, but it did give me a little glimpse into my destiny ... at least I can rest assured that any future Mrs. Ivins will not get her hands on my corks and car parts.)

Anyhoo, now that I have started renting my useless stuff its own little apartment I am getting much more done on the house. I always seem to need something I have stored though.

I have actually made trips back and forth to unit 505 - I have nicknamed her Wit's End - 16 times.

Yes, in 14 days (I left my wallet there on Sunday and had to make two round trips).

It seems like this is actually a pretty common practice. I have seen entire three generation families hanging out by their units and grilling hamburgers - I don't ask questions, unless of course, I need someone to pass me the ketchup.

In 16 days (by the end of Mercury Retrograde and my rental contract) I will let go of the unit and bring any remaining stuff/plunder/crap home. I will have a yard sale or a bonfire, but I will let Wit's End go. I will not become one of these people paying $1200 a year to store $500 (if you squint in the dark and use replacement value) worth of stuff.

I will let this stuff go. I will let this stuff go. I will let this stuff go.

(and maybe even my Jennifer Aniston hair obsession which will greatly please my poor hairstylist)

the Summer Solstice begins tomorrow - new beginnings, time to play, manifest your dreams with this one!

The sun moves into the sign of Cancer on Saturday. At 0 degrees Cancer we start the Summer Solstice (the southern hemisphere starts the Winter Solstice).

A chart drawn up for the morning of the Summer Solstice will give us an idea of the overall energy for the summer (the 2nd celestial quarter of the year) - just like a new chart drawn on our birthday can give us the themes for our new personal year.

Solstice means standstill: the Summer Solstice is the time when the sun halts its journey over the Tropic of Cancer on its tropical journey north - then after three days, turns in its tracks and begins its journey south. The time of symbolic marriage (the new moon next week is called the honey moon) - we call this period midsummer.

See the rest of this post on my new Armchair Astrologer Blog.  

I hope everyone had a nice week. I have been distracted with my house. I have family coming in next month and no where to put anyone and then my niece will be living with us at the end of summer for the school year since we are near her college (!). On the down side we won't be moving anytime soon .... xo all

four reasons I haven't blogged all week plus a FULL MOON in Sagittarius

First, I am going to post this --->

(you're welcome)

I tried to write a blog post but my brain has turned to mush. I blame:

1. My new Pinterest account 

(did I tell you I took a class that advises 100 pins a day to start, yes ONE HUNDRED PINS A DAY, aren't you glad you aren't following me - wait why aren't you following me?)

I do have one piece of advice after 3 weeks of pinning for anyone taking a picture of their new tattoo - please wait for it to HEAL - the tortured pink skin around your mermaid is freaking me out and wrecking the vibe of my "save the mermaids" board.

2. My near death experience.

The brakes on my car stopped working, yes they STOPPED WORKING (sorry for all the shouting). A warning "ABS brake ... something" light came on a couple blocks from my house. I had about two seconds to read this before the "tire pressure sensor" warning light, which has been warning me for months and about which hubs always says "don't worry about it", came back on.

I thought maybe this brake warning alerts us after a certain number of miles - NOTE - I cannot read my mileage due to the ever present "tire pressure warning light".

The guy in front of me puts on his left turn signal. I brake. My foot goes to the floor and my car keeps moving. With split second reflexes trained through years of grabbing stuff away from Olive just before she has the chance to latch on with her "jaws like a pitbull", I quickly grab the emergency brake next to my right hand which, of course, turns out to be my gear shifter.

(I am still rather proud of my reflexes though.)
 
I have about two seconds of total panic when I realize I have no idea where my emergency brake is or if I even have an emergency brake - NOTE - I have had this car for six years - when the guy in front of me makes a quick left. I limp home at 5 miles an hour and somehow manage to stop in my driveway in exactly the spot I always do (I am thinking my car works on muscle memory).

3. I wrote this post for Create and Thrive

4. I wrote this post about the Full Moon in Sagittarius

OK- gotta head back to Pinterest and keep working on my carpal tunnel injury. I'll be back. Enjoy George girls.

UPDATE - while my car is in George's shop I am driving his truck - the one with the 5 foot antenna on the roof (this is not an exaggeration). He says, "don't go through any drive-thru's" which annoys me because obviously this antenna is hard to miss. I drive to the post office, sit in my car for two minutes to fill out a deposit slip and drive into the bank drive-thru. :)

FURTHER UPDATE - after pulling into the bank drive-thru I backed out slowly (and yes I can hear the antenna screeching along the drive-thru roof). The antenna looked o.k. to me.

This morning at breakfast (ie we are feeding the dog) I say to George "You need to take that antenna down. I drive through many areas with low hanging trees (!?) (he somehow seems to believe this - maybe he thinks I am off-roading it on my way to Staples). I wonder if that antenna would bounce back if I did go through a drive thru." And he says "it might be o.k. just make sure you keep going - don't try to BACK UP. That will definitely wreck it." :)

xo all

blog changes ... and mercury retrogrades, neptune retrogrades ....

Going to dial this blog back a bit for the summer - I have a few tutorials planned, since I recently joined Pinterest (yes, I am that girl - late to the party and worrying I didn't bring anything). I  just finished a class that advises pinning 100 items a day to start, so if you follow me be prepared to be a bit blitzed for a while. I did eliminate (sniffle) my Save the Unicorns board when my sister emailed me sternly "NO MORE UNICORNS" - that girl can be kind of a wet blanket when it comes to unicorns, luckily she doesn't mind mermaids and sasquatches.

When I first saw Pinterest a couple years ago (?) I stopped doing tutorials because it felt like everything was already done - the eye candy over there has always overwhelmed me plus it is very tricky to take good pictures while making something - the "only have two hands" thing. But, I miss making recycled stuff so will be popping up a few - only for things I would be making anyway though and of course my tutorials are always upcycled and easy-peasy.

(I am after all the girl more likely to whip up a batch of muffins from a recipe that starts with the words "four ingredients" and ends with "bake 20 minutes" than something from a secret family recipe - it's funny my family has lots of secrets but no secret family recipes, dammit, what's up with that family?! - something that took all day to prepare in a traveling rubbermaid. Hell, I don't even own a traveling rubbermaid - sniffle again)

We have active Mercury coming to a halt and turning retrograde on the 7th and Neptune following two days later. Mercury's reverse cycle lasts three weeks, cycles through Cancer and Gemini this time and ends on July 1. Neptune's runs through November in Pisces (and of course Neptune will be in Pisces until 2025 - so if this dreamy duo has us ungrounded - think mass awakening and mass delusion here - it isn't going away and we need some practices to ground ourselves).

I am moving my astrology posts to the Armchair Astrologer (although that name may be changing - I recently discovered a site called the Comfy Chair Astrologer that I like very much. I don't want her to think I am trying to take over the astrological living room and I don't want to confuse people) - the link will stay the same though and I will continue to post here when something posts over there at least until the end of the year.

Anyhoo, just a heads up you will likely see some changes over here this summer as I transition this blog back to Olive Bites and add some Pinterest content.
 
Info on the retrogrades is on the Armchair Astrologer - think "re". All the retrogrades this year are in water signs and the left hemisphere of our brain will feel like it has abandoned us and sailed out to sea for a long vacation - perfect time for one actually, but only if you visit a place you have already been and expect the unexpected!

xo all