If the month of May 2020 were a movie, the week of May 10 would be the action sequence. Mercury enters Gemini. Venus retrogrades. And then Jupiter copies that. The omens suggest excellent and fast communication, which we’ll need as relationships and passions swing in an assessing and introspective direction. It’s review time for love, and this will be graded. Then Jupiter backs up, too, which will be felt more strongly in weeks to come.

Read on for your horoscope...

Your health is your greatest wealth. No doubt, no one wants to be sick, and people with great
wealth have never been able to pay their way out of death. Great health is the foundation of our quality of life; a strong immune system is the foundation of great health. It is the your frontline defense against illness, so the stronger it is, the stronger you are. Let’s find out more on how to boost your immune system to Herculean strength.

One website is titled “How to Cope with Kids During Coronavirus.” Another, featuring a staged photo of an obviously frazzled mom with a toddler on her lap, tells the reader that “Parents are losing their minds having kids at home during coronavirus!” There’s yet another, advising on “How to Keep Kids Entertained During the Crisis.” On and on it goes, website after website counseling parents on how to deal with being confined at home with one’s kids.

The early Twenty-First Century may be remembered as the “Age of the Personal Soap Opera.” A person makes a soap opera out of a life situation, claims victimhood, garners sympathy, manufactures more soap opera, garners more sympathy, and so on. Soap opera begets soap opera. Forty-plus years of counseling experience has taught me that once a person becomes caught in the soap opera loop, it is harder than hard to get out.

Happy Mother’s Day, and to our nation’s caregivers and essential workers, we thank you. It’s been quite a shared human experience with the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ve read your heartfelt stories on social media and been honored to share some of ours. Together, we’ve got this.

What’s pinker than pink? The super pink moon that is the astrological feature of the first week of April. No, it’s not the official moon of Victoria’s Secret (or Pink Magazine). Rather, the pink moon is named for the flowers that bloom this time of year, specifically the phlox, which comes in other colors besides pink with an impressive intensity of hue. Other names for this moon read like a cosmic menu and include sprouting grass moon, egg moon and fish moon.

Aries (March 21-April 19). Though you have natural abilities and that special X-factor quality that draws people in, these gifts have little to do with long-term success. Wins are contingent on behaviors, habits and routines. The right daily actions are far greater drivers of performance than a flash of ability in the absence of those behaviors.

Angela Donaldson is an Investigator with Department of Defense with Kings Bay Naval Station. “I do background investigations for anyone in Federal Government who needs a security clearance: Navy, Army, Marines and DOD civilians.” Angela continued about her background, “I’m half Japanese, then German, Irish and English. I get my thick brown hair from my mom’s German/Irish background. I love sushi, and when I was growing up, we had white rice for dinner every single night!”  

Two years ago, at age 55, Angela upped her skincare regime adding facial appointments every six to eight weeks at Golden Isles Center for Plastic Surgery on St. Simons Island, an easy ride from her Southport Brunswick home.

Brunswick Downtown Development Authority Executive Director, Mathew Hill, and I, are practicing “social distance waving” as Photographer, Mike Force, cleverly photoshopped us into this downtown mural project. Located in the parking lot at Reynolds and Mansfield Streets and titled “Welcome to Brunswick”, it joins the series of downtown murals associated with the Community of Hope and Glynn Visual Arts. Created by Jeff LeMieux and Crew, I like to think of it as Brunswick’s timeless postcard.

While working at Uniform Issue at FLETC, I found a $50 bill in a pants pocket after checking about 150 pairs of pants finding mostly nasty mouth pieces or ear plugs. Whoop, whoop!

Getting a date with my wife, Hilary, was the best luck I ever had­—all the worst luck I ever had led me to her. Karma—God’s plan—you can’t change or escape it!

I have had both. I was married 22 years and my husband committed suicide. Two years later, my 16-year-old was killed in a car accident with his best friend. Now I have been with the love of my life for 14 years.

The supermoon in Virgo is an oxymoronic lunar phenomenon, a mix of ego and humility that shines the light of publicity on often unsung virtues. The path to connecting with others this month will be through such soft and self-less states as gratitude, modesty, empathy and patience. To subvert one's own ego-drives in order to really observe what's going on for others will bring about a great unfolding of magnificent spiritual gifts.

ARIES (March 21-April 19). When someone says, "Let's unpack this..." what they mean is that they care enough to really understand you, or that they are ready to judge you, depending on the person. This week, you're ready to open yourself up to the right people, and you're paying attention so that you'll know who those people are.

What an interesting time we live in as we celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the League of Women Voters formed just six months before the passing of the 19th Amendment, in which American women finally won the right to vote on August 18, 1920.

I love exploring history, especially women in history, so when my husband, Chuck, introduced me to his hometown of Seneca Falls, New York, back in 1980, I was totally captivated with it being the birthplace of Women’s Rights  and the site of the first Women’s Rights Convention in 1848. On our July, 1982, visit home, as part of a humanity circle of one-hundred, I got to “cut (a portion of) the ribbon” opening day at the Women’s Rights National Historic Park located down the block from my in-laws’ home. What an honor.

A group of local theatre enthusiasts recently saw the sights, and especially, Broadway’s lights “In Old New York” on tour with B.A.T. Wings—-the Brunswick Actors Theatre Travel Group. Thanks to Lynda Dalton Gallagher and everyone at BATs for my newest favorite memories: #motowntohadestown. 

New cleanse. Barre yoga class. Upset tummy. The runs. Run out of class. Never return.

My trainer was handing me a weight, and I accidentally grabbed his penis.

One night, I had the gym to myself…or so I thought. I was running on the treadmill and let out a huge fart. Someone in the corner started laughing. I have not been back since.

Wow, its 2020! If you thought our inspiring local women in 2019 features were amazing, just wait until you see what we’re covering this year in Paisley Magazine. We’ve got a feeling it’s going to be quite a year!

Me and my snowy raccoon pal here at The Market on Newcastle wish you a happy holiday season! I always find unique holiday gifts (wishing I could keep them for myself) when visiting our Paisley Magazine local retail ad partners. You can start by checking out our Scent-Sational products on page 22, with items ready to become your cool and unique gifts, too.

I had 30 people at my harvest table with all the leaves in it. When anyone wanted to get out of their seat, they had to crawl under the table since the table extended out of the dining room into the living room with no room in the doorway! It was fun!

We went to a resort at the Matterhorn in Switzerland. The chef made a turkey shaped pate, added sparklers and paraded it around the dining room!

I booked my flight on the wrong day!!!

I cooked dinner for friends, which consisted of five couples who each brought their own stuffing recipe. We had quite a variety: oyster, apple, sage, shrimp and sausage. Yum, Yum!

Welcome to the November Paisley Magazine’s #BLESSED issue, one of my favorite months each year. Here I am at another downtown Brunswick mural in the Community of Hope’s Brunswick Mural Project. I find this colorful pop adventure of love and peace, created by Kevin Bongang, to be super cool! You can find it on Reynolds Street adjacent to Indigo Coastal Shanty! Kevin’s website is www.bongang.com  and all project details can be found at Glynn Visual Arts website, www.glynnvisualarts.com. 

#Create is our theme for October. It brought my thoughts to how we collectively demonstrate our personal creativity every day.

We create a “buzz” about causes near to our hearts. And you can join us by creating awareness October 3 at A Moveable Feast’s Paisley Partini in support of breast cancer survivors and research. Or share your creative spirit in spreading joy just as the McIntosh County Shouters have been doing for almost 40 years, celebrating their Gullah Geechee history and culture for over six generations. (page 16)

I recently went to Taos for adult creative camp. As a former summer camp counselor, I rejoiced in the time to unwind under the enchanting skies of New Mexico. I hung out in the sensational Southwest landscapes, which served as inspiration for one of my favorite artists, Georgia O’Keeffe. This is her cabin at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu. I am restored.

I got totally drunk on a cruise excursion (rum punch). Came back to the ship and broke the card scanner machine. Our 12-year-old daughter never got over her mortification!

I just came back from Europe traveling with a small group, and for some reason I was put on stand-by status. I didn’t know if I’d get to leave Germany! I was then assigned a seat but someone else had the same seat, so I ended up in the front of the plane in the “better” section—wined and dined!

An embarrassing incident occurred when a bus driver would not allow me to get on the bus for a tourist excursion. He thought I was a “native” trying to get a ride into town. Jamaica—hmmm.

I did massage in Los Angeles for 20 years. One time I was referred to a woman in Beverly Hills who was on the phone when I arrived. She had lots of Michael Jackson pictures and gold records on her hallway walls. I said, ‘You sure do like M.J.’ She said, ‘Oh, he is my boss; he’s in Japan right now. I was on the phone with him when you came in.’ OMG!

A total of six community murals are quickly being created by many hands as part of The Brunswick Mural Project. This one is by Artist Jeff Le Mieux. Symbolic in the meaning of justice, this gallant, two-story tall lady faces southeast on Reynolds towards Gloucester Street. Four more will begin soon, so get your creative juices flowing by joining in! Contact Artist Megan Torello at Glynn Visual Arts: 912.638.8770/www.glynnvisualarts.org.