Happy New Year!

I know it's a bit late, but here's hoping everyone has a great 2009, with lots of positive experiences.

An awful lot of people that I've spoken to have had a terrible time of it in the last year, with illnesses; deaths; separations; financial problems - it was definitely a year of obstacles. In Chinese Astrology, 2008 (the year of the Brown Rat) was forecast to be a rollercoaster of a year, and it certainly was for us, with deep lows and amazing highs.

With 2009, the predictions (Chinese Astrology) still aren't so good, but for some reason I feel much more positive, like a major obstacle has been removed or a door opened. I think it's because there is movement already - we haven't got a major event to plan for now that the wedding is over and done with, so we're free to get on with everything else; all the little things we couldn't do last year, hopefully we can get them done this year.

I know the global predictions for this year are a bit grim. But I'm hopeful that those predictions will turn out to have been exaggerated - I personally tend to think the media are hyping it up just a tad, and that if those who can do so stay cautiously optimistic, everything will turn out OK.