snakes that could kill

I had my chance to kill this snake who was hanging around my deck yesterday. It was slow-moving; maybe it had just eaten something. I don't like to kill anything, except for mosquitoes that land on me and suck my blood. Mosquitoes can cause encephalitis and give my dogs heartworms. Obviously, I must kill them. Snakes and other things that aren't hurting me, but have the potential to, I leave them alone. Snakes emit a nasty odor when they are killed. This one probably is a water moccasin, aka cottonmouth. It's poison could cause local tissue damage one informative web-site said. When I showed it to my husband, he asked me if I was ready for him to kill it. I didn't want to make that call, so we both blew it off and went about our business. I don't know if we did the right thing, since I imagine that it is now living under my raised house and will bite my dogs, or cats, or aim for my ankles as I descend my steps.

Two peas in a pod

This is my daughter, Julia, with the basketball shirt we had airbrushed in Pigeon Forge, TN. It was supposed to be a mountain scene, but we didn't see that the design had an A behind it, as in 158A, not just 158, which was a basketball going through the hoop design. We gave our order to the airbrusher and left to go ride go-carts. Julia has nothing to do with basketball. My niece, Shelby, also shown, said she could borrow hers sometimes when Julia had a tearful fit after seeing it. Their names are also painted on. It was sweet of Shelby to offer her shirt. I wasn't spending another $20 on a t-shirt.

Julia has Sagittarius on her ascendant, which endows the individual with a good attitude and the ability to rise above whatever bad news comes their way. She has worn the shirt twice now.

I am back

I wish I could say that I am refreshed after my vacation, but it was too short for relaxing. I hooked up with 5 of my 7 siblings, plus my mother, nieces & nephews, and several friends of theirs. There was lots of chaos with a group that big. Putting together communal meals was an ordeal. I made biscuits out the wazoo one morning. Another morning, I made beignets, while my sister, Sue, cut up fixings for omelets. My brother-in-law boiled them in a bag. They came out good. My sister, Elizabeth, and her husband, made chicken chimichangas for dinner one night. I had mine stuffed with beans and cheese because I don't eat meat. I am the only semi-vegetarian (I eat seafood) amongst us. My brother, David, had beans and rice, and bar-b-q sausage, hamburgers, and hotdogs all ready for us when we arrived.

Tonight's guest on Jupiter's Girl is Sandra Slifer, a feng shui master. She is going to give us tips on making our private spaces enduce peace and feelings of security and nurturance. Check it out. www.outoftimeradio.com, hit the eclectic radio link and find our discussion. The show is taped and available for the next two weeks.

I'll be in the Smoky Mountains if you need me.

Just till next week. I'd like to get a trip to Gulf Shores in before the end of the summer, which is soon. School starts Aug 14th. That's too soon. We just barely get into it and then it's evacuation time for hurricanes. Last year, the schools were closed for 5 weeks in my area during September and part of October. My kids didn't mind at all. I digress. I am going on vacation, leaving early in the morning. I am not even packed yet. I have made peanut butter cookies and tuna salad. The grocery and supply bin is organized. The carrots and broccoli are cut and bagged for snacking. And the kids and husband are packed and ready. My sister, Angela, went into premature labor and is on complete bedrest, so we will miss her. My oldest brother and his wife didn't want to join us. So, it will be my Mother, and six of her grown children and their families renting cabins in the mountains and communing. It should be nice, barring any encounters with bears, and even then, that might be cool to see.

Peace,
Janine

Some assembly required

These hundred or so pieces will become clasps for my new carrier that will go on top of the van when we travel to the Smoky Mountains this weekend. The box said some assembly required. I think that is an understatement.

Jupiter conjunct Neptune

"This is a time of heightened intuition during which you feel tempted to explore a more spiritual or artistic side of life."

That's just the first line of the paragraph from my computer generated transit reports. The rest is something about being a martyr and being careful to help only someone who wants to be helped, as opposed to someone who'll just drag me down with them, I guess.

If that was a problem, transiting Mars is opposite my natal Sun today which gives this flavor: "High energy output. Difficulties in controlling energy release. The urge to take action, often without thinking. Self-preservation urges. Conflicts/arguments. Ego competition. Physical injury or illness. Muscular stress. Bodily reactions."

Oy vey.

And then this: The Sun and Mercury are in the 25th degree of Cancer today - opposite my Venus/Mars in the 11th. It's not all good, I tell ya. I should just shut the hell up today and not pick fights for no good reason. Wouldn't be prudent.

Sun opposite Mars - "The desire to fight; competitive reactions. Self-motivated reactions. Intense output of energy. Stressful muscular activity. Impulsiveness. Headstrong. Fever and temperature. Accidents and injuries."

I should have read that before going roller skating a couple of days ago. Transits start feeding the energies before the actual angle is struck. I am sore from falling a dozen times. Those wheels were defective, yet I obstinately kept going. I used to be a skating fool and I was determined to be graceful. My knees are telling me I wasn't very successful at it.

It isn't all bad, though. Venus in Gemini is creating some nice flows to my Sun and Moon. It is called a Grand Trine. And I'll take that Jupiter conjuncting my Neptune. It is also trine to my Ascendant and then my natal Mercury. That should be cool for meeting some righteous people.

Speaking of... Jupiter's Girl, on out of time radio this week, will host Nori Muster of www.surrealist.org. She is a very interesting lady with a lot of positive, practical ideas for visualizing and creating a harmonious society. It can be done. That's what Jupiter is good for. He sets up our interactions with society at large, to bring about consciousness. And I am Jupiter's Girl. There's millions of us.

I am reading Eckhart Tolle's latest book. I love his writing. It provides such a peaceful relief from insanity.

Jupiter's Girls

This is my friend, Diane, who has been a guest astrologer on Jupiter's Girl at least 5 times now. If I had a talk show, she'd be my co-host. She is a lovely being inside/out. More than an astrologer, she is a Professor of French, and a dance critic. She follows ballet, like others follow the sport of their choosing. Her Jupiterian spirit stands out and if you are not having fun in her company, it's your own fault.

I drove up to Baton Rouge, a 1 hour drive, this past Saturday - to visit with her and meet her friend, Garrett. He is not in the picture because he was playing all manner of stringed instruments and singing in the background while Diane and I visited and ate at this little cafe. The last song he sang stayed with me all evening..., "I once had a girl, or should I say she once had me?"

My new Kia Spectra

I am pretty sure the dealership and I were mutually thinking, "sucker." I have been on my job for all of - what? - three weeks almost. I haven't had a new car in 26 years. My husband has gotten me one used vehicle after another. The car I am laying to rest had a broken back door and the passengers had to be let out as it only opened from the outside. He had another one in mind for me - a Taurus that needed front end work and freon - so the owner claimed. He made fun of me for thinking they'd give me a car, and wouldn't take me to the dealership, so I got a friend to take me. I relate to the little red hen, "well, I'll just do it myself." Now, he loves the new car and wants me to have his Blazer. I will let him take it when he has a long commute a couple of days a week. It gets 34 mpg on the hwy. and 25 mpg in the city. I am psyched about that since gas prices are climbing. Somebody is going to have to explain to me what oil drilling has to do with gas.

How Astrology helps

Last Saturday was an intensely bad night on the job. Orders were messed up, people walked out, co-workers were dissin' me. I went to quit the following Monday, but the co-owner smoothed it all over and we made an arrangement for my working that will satisfy me until I get my next assignment from on high, or within. I worked two days without a hitch since then, made some money, and saw many customers happily served. It restored my confidence and helped me overcome my distaste for the job.

I looked at the transits for Saturday night, and saw that the full Moon in Sagittarius was conjuncting Pluto which could cause intense encounters with others - pulling out deeply buried subconscious issues and bringing them to the fore. Uranus was intercepted part of that time, taking with it my Mercury - which caused many misunderstandings because the communication system was totally backed up and skewed, and at 9pm when it was the worst moments of the evening, Neptune was on the Ascendant everywhere. I think that was the main reason people didn't see one another for who they really are, which is aspects of themselves, and caused some to treat me pretty badly and blame the whole fiasco on me. We are all from the same source, made up of the same stuff. It is silly to pretend otherwise.

I forgive myself for being ignorant and not knowing how to fix the problems that occurred that night. I forgive the manager for making an ass of me and for his mistakes. I forgive my co-workers (two of them) for acting like the stepsister and brother to my Cinderella complex.

Bad day on the job

I have to quit my job. Again. This time, I lasted two weeks. Doing next year's taxes are going to be a bummer while I wait for all of my W2's to come in.

I am not waitress material anymore, if I ever was in the first place. We had a busy night, the cook got backed up, the owner was no where around, and all the blame for the fiasco went to me. If I didn't feel bad enough, the wait-staff, with one exception, hates me. It didn't help that this owner/mgr. talked about me to them every time they went near him. One of the cooks told me that he was talking about me like I was a dog. I hate that more than waiting tables. So, I was getting it from irate customers, my co-workers, and my own inner world that was wondering how I get myself into such situations. I mean no harm to anyone. I just wanted to do a good job, make some money, and keep occupied. I would like to cavalierly say, "It's their loss." That's not how I feel, though.

Last night on Jupiter's Girl, the radio broadcast.

I just wish to point people out to this special web-site by a new friend, and maybe an old one from a past life, Stephen Sakellarios. He has taken the subject of reincarnation and given enough proof of it's validity, that I would dare anyone to punch holes in this truth. If 1/5th of the mass population holds reincarnation to be true, then it should be shaking things up more in our leadership, causing them to be more thoughtful and deliberate.

We can't just live for today, though I believe in the Power of Now. There are so many dastardly acts being perpetrated with ignorance of natural law - what comes around goes around.

check it out www.ial.goldthread.com

4th of July.

It is just another day to me. I have been writing to some very nice Brits. We were almost related, if not for the events that took place to sever our dependency. Their influence on me is still noticeable. When writing to one of them recently, I used the word 'bum' to discuss what I would normally call a behind, or if I am feeling coarse - 'ass'.

Today's breakfast

These were some of the best beignets I have ever made. Missing from this picture is the delicious watermelon we ate this morning. The feast was after a walk in the woods. I walk out my back door and into this:

Scene at a pond

This was taken at the Lacombe Wildlife Preserve. A visitor to this blog told me he likes seeing pictures of Louisiana. I do too. I take a bunch all of the time. I make no claims to prize-winning photos, but I have my pictures on slide show on my PC so I can recall the place in my mind whenever I see it. It is very peace-inducing.