The strange happenings continue at our house. I opened the refrigerator to check the beer supply after our last open house only to find it fairly decimated and much to my surprise, a defaced ten dollar bill. Grateful guest? Mischievous elemental? Lord knows around here. Stuff has been disappearing and reappearing quite a bit lately. Anyway, I put the ten spot to good use the next morning at the local espresso stand and I haven’t looked back since.

Meanwhile, Freya continues to settle into the Duncan / Thornell family. She’s healthy, happy and gaining confidence with strangers. We’ve never met a more content, calm animal and her energy is a delightful addition to our household. She really enjoys watching us putter in the yard and she’s always eager for a session of fetch in the backyard. Tennis balls are good but pine cones are preferred.

Work has been extremely stressful for me of late due to the continuing downsizing and subsequent layoffs. It has been a challenge to stay grounded and centered and I’ve been relying heavily on the insights I gained during my motorcycle ride to Arizona this past May. I’ve been journaling as I continue to assimilate and apply what I learned and I’ll share that with you in the Virgo 2003 newsletter. The silver lining in this very dark cloud is that I’m getting lots of opportunities to practice management of my energy in the form of intention, emotions, boundaries and psychic protection. If things were going well, I probably would not be working so diligently on all this. Unfortunately, I seem to still need adversity to really work on my growth. Many years ago, my holistic doctor asked me a question about my trials and tribulations with chronic pain: “Are you paying a heavy price for this growth?” I said that I was indeed, at which point he suggested that I start getting my money’s worth.

In the meantime, get out and enjoy Leo! */:-)