Hi there, just checking in with some random stuff.

Firstly, posts may be a little thinner in frequency over the next month or so. I have signed up for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) so have committed to attempting to write a 50000 word 1st draft of a novel over the month of November. I did it last year & the sense of achievement was amazing because it was the 1st time I had done something that I had to do a bit every day on- you can’t write 50000 words on the last weekend & hope to finish it. I have a working title Two of Swords and I sort of have a few characters and half a story, so figure will do the rest by the seat of my very substantial backside.

Secondly, on Monday 1 November I wll not be posting at all. This is to support a fundraising activity for autism. Communication is the biggest issue for kids (& people) with Autism, so it makes sense to use communication to support the cause. The link is here. I have a friend with 2 kids on the spectrum, so one day off social networking won’t hurt me…I don’t think!

Anyways, back later with some astro stuff.

OK, I know I have been a tad busier than usual this week, but how did I miss Mars going into Sagittarius? As I write this he is at 0Sag24′ ie just into it.

This changes the climate markedly. In Scorpio Mars is focused and intense. In Scorpio Mars runs a marathon or an ultra marathon or a triathlon. In Scorpio Mars has long range goals and persistency. In Sagittarius he skis or snow boards. In Sagittarius he charges off to hurl himself off a mountain or bungy jump in a ravine in New Zealand or gallop a horse around a track. In Sagittarius he doesn’t think past tomorrow…and tomorrow knows no boundaries. In Sag, Mars parties hard dude. Unfortunately, he won’t be making contacts to any planet other than the Moon for a little while, so he could be a bit of a loose cannon…think of what your teenage son can get up to in the house on his own for a weekend…

Venus and the Sun have hooked up in Scorpio. Venus makes everything sweeter (awww) but things are generally served with a little more spice in Scorpio. Either way this should feel good. You may still be engaging in games of retrospect and working out past mistakes or past exes or past debts or just past stuff. The Sun and Venus allows some extra warmth and light to shine upon these activities. As with all Venus contacts, there is a tendency to indulgence and laziness…whatever….dude….

The Moon still in “I’ll have brownies with that please” Cancer is squaring off against Saturn in Libra and trining Mercury in Scorpio. Sure there may be conversations to be had that are hard and from the heart. With the Saturn contact, you may run screaming back into the relative comfort of your shell (& the comfort food within), but it will serve you better if you face things head on. The supportive aspect into Mercury is such that you can have a meaningful discussion that can make your bonds stronger- if that is what your intention is.

In any case, a little dose of fire by way of Mars into the planetary mud thats around at present will do us all good. Personally I feel like all I have been writing about lately is to do with soul searching and healing and transformation. Enough already- lets have some fun!

Five Foot Nothing is currently doing year 7 exams. This is the 1st year she has had to do the whole exam format exams, but in typical FFN style, she isn’t really that fazed- & does seem to be studying…although I am just a teeny weeny bits suspicious that is also a reason to get out of crack of dawn swim squad this week “I need to have my brain fresh, Mum.”

To say English isn’t her favourite subject would be to state the bleeding obvious. With a heap of Aries planets (including Sun, Mars, Saturn & Mercury) she simply has neither the patience nor the inclination to hang around analysing characterisation when she can save the pain & (in her words) use her time more efficiently by watching the movie. So it was when I was trying to explain why Puck is so important in Midsummer Nights Dream. Not because his name appears a really lot of times (:)) & because he changes Bottom into an ass (which she though was the only funny bit “why do they call it a comedy when it so isn’t?”), but because he directs and influences traffic and thereby the storyline in a way which is very Scorpionic indeed. He listens, he waits, he acts, he disappears into the background. Just like Scorpio. I’ve seen hubby do it on the football field…

The Sun got an extra dose of Scorpio today with the sextile to Pluto. This influence will still be felt tomorrow, when the Moon will also get a dose of Pluto. Ouch.

The Moon moves into Cancer at around 5.14am (Sydney time) on Thursday morning, bringing with it a dose of the famous Cancer mood, a strange inclination to bake and a magnetic attraction to the block of chocolate (or packet of biscuits) in the fridge. Personally, I am starting early and doing spag bol for dinner tonight. I do it using a mix of chicken & lean beef mince and throw in grated zucchini and carrot to thicken the sauce and make 500g of meat feed us tonight plus some spares for the freezer. How very Moon in Cancer of me.

The usual deal re the Moon/Pluto opposition- be careful of impulsion, compulsion, jealousy, paranoia, guilt and all those other Scorpio words. If faced with a conflict that you should simply not be engaging in, lie down until the feeling passes- it will be safer in the long run.

My latest post for astrology.com…Can You Handle the Truth? Scorpio at Work. (Just don’t tell Scorpio I wrote it…)

Not Mt Kinabalu- just some random place in NZ!

One of the best things about cleaning and de-cluttering is the miraculous finds at the back of the wardrobe. Like the gorgeous gold earrings that look like a little rain of blossoms & go perfectly with my butterfly shirt.

One of the worst things is the miraculous finds at the back of the wardrobe that thrill you to bits until you remember why they went to the back of the wardrobe. Like the black patent leather wedge heels that I bought in Hong Kong a couple of years ago. I loved them because they were from a French retailer & the wedge heel was perfect. But after wearing them today I realised that I disliked the round toe, the too much toe cleavage (& no, that is not a too much information thing) and the fact that the heels are the clunkiest heels that ever did draw breath. Sure I clodhop through life, but these things clack clunk down the corridor at work and sound like some sort of fairy bus horse. And no, I have no idea what a fairy bus horse is, but I imagine they are clunky as my mother used to always tell me I sounded like one:).

Anyways, hopefully we have all stepped away from the fridge and taken advantage of the meaningful and miningful conversation avaialable today under the Gemini Moon. Have you ever noticed how the phone does not stop ringing on these days? At one point today I was on the phone to someone who I was playing phone tag with, was talking to my boss by IM (if you read this, you did of course have my total & undivided attention) & was texting my brother about birthday presents for my Dad. Multi tasking conversations.

Tomorrow the star aspect is the sextile between the Sun and Pluto. All that great deep and meaningful conversation gives you the opportunity to begin to make some changes to situations that need reform. Getting to the bottom of a problem that has previously seemed more mountain size may all of a sudden shrink back into a molehill with a little positive attention. Judge your moment and make like a Scorpio to read the emotional climate to ensure that you don’t instead build something that looks like Everest and is equally as difficult to conquer.

Speaking of which, two friends are climbing Mt Kinabalu in Borneo in the next few days- although I don’t think you climb Kinabalu rather than tackle a pretty mean & nasty uphill hike- so a huge goodluck to them- although one being a Scorpio Sun & the other having a Scorpio Moon, no mountain will be that much of a challenge for that level of focused intensity.