Digging Deep ... Lunar Eclipse in Scorpio

On Thursday afternoon there will be a lunar eclipse in Scorpio.  Be prepared!

A lunar eclipse marks a turning point.  Usually there is some chaos at first but you just have to remember that there are lessons in that chaos that will propel you forward.  Forward through a door and there is no going back.

This lunar eclipse is in Scorpio.  Scorpio is a sign that is about digging deep.  Intimacy.  Vulnerability.  Moving beyond your limits.  Stripping away.

Be prepared for something to happen that is going to force you to go somewhere within yourself that you have never been.

The area of your life that will be affected by this depends on the house that Scorpio is for you...

Aries (born 3/21 - 4/20) The focus is on intense experiences.  Crisis, transformations, sex.
Taurus (born 4/21 - 5/21) The focus is partnerships.
Gemini (born 5/22 - 6/21) The focus is well being.  This includes work and health.
Cancer (born 6/22 - 7/22) The focus is your passions and creativity.
Leo (born 7/23 - 8/21)  The focus is your roots.  This includes your childhood and your home.
Virgo (born 8/22 - 9/23) The focus is the exchange of information.  This includes communications and learning.
Libra (born 9/24 - 10/23) The focus is self worth and security.
Scorpio (born 10/24 - 11/22)  The focus is self.
Sagittarius (born 11/23 - 12/22) The focus is your soul.  Things that you keep hidden inside and transformation of your soul
Capricorn (born 12/23 - 1/20) The focus is your goals, hopes and wishes.
Aquarius (born 1/21 - 2/19) The focus is your career or role in society.
Pisces (born 2/20 - 3/20) The focus is on broadening your horizons.



Whatever it is that happens is not going to be quite or subtle.  The message will be loud and clear.  Hopefully you can listen and act!

Oh, Bento Box ... My Lunch Salvation

Since I started went back to work my lunch has gone completely to hell.

I went from coming home after preschool pickup to make some kale and white beans with fresh baked bread and fruit salad to running out the door to elementary school drop off and work without anything in my bag but an apple and Altoids.  Which meant that by sometime between 12PM and 3PM I was fainting and grabbing something from the French bakery next door.

One of my goals this year was to make more time for making lunch.  And a few weeks ago I found my salvation.  The Bento box.

It is not like the Bento box is a new addition to my family.  My kids have been using them since they started having lunch at school.  But I never thought to use one myself.

Introducing myself to the Bento box has bees enabled me to start eating a healthy lunch again because I throw it on the table while I am making breakfast and kids lunches and I just throw little bits of healthy things inside without even thinking.  Because it is not like making a meal, it is like emptying things without a bit of thought.  Gave the kids pineaple for breakfast?  Great throw some in the fruit container.  A few bits of leftover chicken from dinner?  Throw them in a container.  Cut up a pepper and throw it in a section.  Hmm?  Missing something crunchy, well there is a handful of Pirate's Booty left in the snack canister.  Done.

Finally, lunch makes me happy again!

YOUR TURN
Give a Bento box a whirl!  Not sure you want to invest?  Then make your own with a lunchbox and some small plastic or metal containers.

No More Yelling ... Because I Am Really Angry at Myself, Not the Kids

So a few months ago I stumbled up a program called The Orange Rhino.  In a nutshell, this woman decided to stop yelling at her kids for 365 days.  And probably anyone else in her path too.  I liked this idea.

I read some of her posts and tips and decided myself to stop yelling.  I actually have to say that I have had an incredibly easy time of it. I don;t really think about it too much and I have slipped up a few times but almost deciding in my head to stop yelling was enough for me.

But as I stopped yelling I was able to listen more clearly when my husband or my kids are yelling and even to myself when I slipped up.  And what I realized is that nobody is ever yelling at someone else, they are yelling at themselves.

They are yelling because their expectations are not meeting reality.

My husband yelled at the kids when they were dawdling to get out of the house.  Was he really angry at the kids?  Were they really doing anything so wrong or were they just being kids who get lost in their imaginations?  I think his expectation was that they would just hop to and be done in 12.5 seconds.  And that just wasn't the reality.  And I think he was really yelling at himself because he hasn't taught his kids to turn on a dime when he tells them to do something.

I yelled at the kids because they were arguing over whose feet were getting more of the couch.  Was I really angry at them?  No.  I was angry at myself because I expected I had taught them better how to resolve silly problems but in reality I had not.  I was yelling at myself for being a bad mom and not teaching them how to handle themselves in that situation.

When my kids yell at each other I think they are actually beating themselves up that they expected the other one to love them more than they are showing at the moment and how could they be so stupid.

I have also in the past yelled at my kids because I was really yelling at my husband which now I know was really yelling at myself.

Interesting, huh?

YOUR TURN
Check out Orange Rhino and make a pledge to stop yelling for a year.

But inside of just trying to distract yourself from yelling, the next time you do it, think about what is really making you angry.