That’s not clip art - that’s the full moon coming up over the mountains on Christmas Eve as seen from our deck. Ain’t she lovely?

My husband and I keep track of the moon’s cycles in our Outlook calendars so we can be sure to be somewhere with a fantastic view when the moon is full. When we got married, we had a full moon with a complete ring of mist surrounding it. I have been a moon-lover ever since!

In addition to giving me great pleasure, the moon has taught me about the power of cycles. Cycles can be charted and tracked so that you are prepared much more often than you are surprised by life’s ever-spinning dance. Nature lives according to cycles - and so do we.

I have a deck of “Goddess Guidance Oracle Cards” by Doreen Virtue, Ph.D., and I pulled this card the other day, which was the inspiration for today’s ezine: Maeve: Cycles and Rhythms. Maeve says, “Honor the cycles of your body, energy levels, and emotions.”

You can buy this gorgeous deck of cards at Amazon .

When I’m planning for the year, I factor in the following cycles:

Daily: I schedule intense work during high-energy times. I take breaks/nap during low-energy times.

Weekly: Friday is my marketing day. Saturday and Sunday are left BLANK. (I don’t run errands much these days and never on weekends - I have someone do that for me. Are you spending your precious free time running lots errands?)

Monthly: NOTHING scheduled during my menstrual cycle - especially NO client meetings, big projects, workshops or other events. I typically need extra sleep during this time and my dreams and visions are very intense. I like to be able to capture the depth of this part of my cycle by doing a lot of journaling. If you are in menopause or past it, you may still find that you have high-energy and low-energy cycles each month. Honor them.

Yearly: I don’t like to work a lot during the summer. It’s my favorite season and I like to have the time to rest, play, and travel. I also need at least three long vacations during the year (two weeks in the spring, two weeks in August and two weeks during Christmas), so these get scheduled in during the December before the new year arrives. Autumn is a VERY high energy time for me. Also, January, March, and May are very high energy months for my particular cycles.

When are your vacations happening this year? If you’re building your business and on a budget, plan a special vacation by clearing your calendar and either staying at home or acting as if you’re a tourist in your home town or city. Also, schedule in your marketing cycle so you have lots of time to plan for and market your products, services and special events.

The MOON in YOUR HANDS represents mystery, magic, illusion, sexual fantasy, intuition, and instinctive rhythms. What is your MOON Quotient these days?

In 1769 Padre Junipero Serra, the beloved Franciscan, established his first mission in Alta California-Mission San Diego de Alcala. He brought vine cuttings with him, vines which originally came from Spain. They were set out around the new mission and as they flourished, more cuttings were planted in San Gabriel where sun and soil proved even more fruitful for the vines. The gnarled, twisted trunk of the first vine planted at San Gabriel still bears its annual harvest of Mission grapes. This single species planted along El Camino Real by the Franciscan priests, by its abundant yield, established California as a vine land.
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That’s it, I am going to do a lil` revenge on my neighbors and about to purchase my very own capresso! I have been dreaming about a coffee machine for so long, time to make my dreams come true!

As we proceed farther into the 21st century we can see that Samsung mobile phones have developed into a higher quality product and overcome their meagre early beginnings. Here in 2008 Samsung mobile phones are one of the most popular choices and even the mobile phone of choice for many mobile phone users. Samsung mobile phones are high quality mobile devices with many features include cameras, music players, text messaging, and mobile web just to name a few.

Samsung is a worldwide manufacturer of mobile phones, and its presence in the UK is quite visible. When a mobile phone manufacturer has such a visible presence in an area, it’s a message to other potential buyers that the product line is a good one. Such is the case with Samsung mobile phones, and Samsung itself backs its products with a guarantee of a quality product. It’s important to customers all over the world to have quality Samsung mobile phones on which to contact friends and family.

Samsung mobile phones have many different features not all of which are available from every mobile phone carrier. Samsung mobile phones may vary by provider, so you want to make sure your provider carries the model you want before you buy it online or at a location other than your mobile phone provider’s store. Some models are specific to particular mobile phone providers, so you may have to choose a comparable model if your provider doesn’t have the exact Samsung mobile phone you want.

When you are ready to purchase Samsung mobile phones you will have a good selection from which to choose. Before you make your selection make sure the phone you are considering has all of the features you want and that your provider’s network supports all of those features. Although that does not present a problem if you buy from your provider’s store, you may have a problem if you buy any Samsung mobile phones elsewhere. Samsung has a wide variety of mobile phones, so even if your provider doesn’t haven’t the exact one you want, another model is likely to have the same features and capabilities. (more…)

The examination below of the advantages and disadvantages of free weights and machines will help you decide which of them will best fulfill your goals.

MACHINES

The first thing you see when you walk into a gym is row upon row of complicated looking machines. This heavy emphasis on machinery has a lot to do with the clientele of the gym rather than its effectiveness. Much of the gym population is made up of new users - most of who won’t stick to working out regularly. Machinery is appealing to these new users because it offers them a way to exercise in safety. More new users will replace them when they decide to quit (sadly, as they often do), and the cycle continues.

Machines always come with idiot-proof instructions to help people avoid injury. This means that even the most inexperienced lifter can adjust them to find a safe, comfortable, body position from which to exercise. The way most machines are built makes it difficult to do the exercises improperly, and the sense of mastery new users get from this can be enough to start them on the road to becoming a great lifter!

For more experienced machine users, the versatility and the flexibility machines offer are what make them great. Simply put, they offer resistance in areas of the body that would otherwise be unsafe or difficult to exercise. Some machines offer ways to imitate the motions of some sports, which is advantageous if you play golf and want to improve your swing!

FREE WEIGHTS

One of the biggest advantages of using free weights, or dumbbells, is that you can use them to great effect in compound exercises. This means that even though you might be targeting a specific large muscle, several smaller muscles will be worked simultaneously as synergists. Free weights are efficient in this way, because exercising multiple muscles at once will save you time on your core routine.

For serious lifters, free weights offer more flexibility and are less restrictive than machines. Once substantial muscle mass is built, your ability will exceed the weight limits of the machine. The weights on most machines go up in increments of 5 or 10. Free weights allow you to add weight in smaller 1lb quantities - which will reduce your risk of injury, and over time steadily increase your muscle mass.

Many free weight advocates enjoy using them more than machines because they add another dimension of control. By changing the angles of weights, different muscles can be isolated - which adds to the versatility and variability of the exercises.

After examining the redeeming features of free weights and machines, it is easy to see value in both. For those just starting out, machines get you into good habits, but for experienced lifters looking to increase muscle mass, free weights seem to be more effective.

Did you, even for a moment, imagine not getting it?

Probably not; In fact, you were most likely living out vivid fantasies of all the fun you were going to have playing with it or using it long before it came into your possession.

I can vividly recall even now, three such examples; my first bike, a fishing rod that came in a wooden box with all the floats, reels and tackle included and a fully working scale model of a metal steam engine. I can remember the mental pictures and the sense of excitement these treasured gifts conjured up weeks before they appeared in all their physical glory.

And sure enough, the day came when they did appear. (more…)