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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARcH 15, 2019
Cousins clamor for time
Dear Annie: I have four
Dear Troubled Cousin: You
cousins, whom I love a lot. listed a series of interests that
There’s “Piper,” the eldest at 10, each cousin has. My suggestion
with whom I connect on a social is to take each one out individu-
and BFF level. The second-el- ally for a fun day with you, doing
dest, 8-year-old “Wes,”
some activity in which
DEAR
loves to play video
you can devote 100 per-
ANNIE
cent of your attention to
games with me, as well
the cousin. After each
as trade Pokemon cards.
cousin has had your
Then there’s “Ellie,” 7,
undivided attention, it
who likes to bring out
will be much easier to
my fun and imaginative
gather as a group, and it
side. “Evelyn,” 6, is the
should make the get-to-
adorable little munch-
kin whom I love as if she ANNIE LANE gethers more enjoyable.
Creators
You must be a very
were my baby sister.
Syndicate Inc.
All of them are so
special person to have
awesome, but lately,
all of your cousins clam-
my cousins have been fight- oring for your attention. It is
ing over me. I used to spend a not surprising that when you
lot of time with Piper because describe the cousins, you talk
she’s the most relatable, but then about their interests and what
I realized I was barely giving makes them special. No wonder
time to anyone else. So I started they love you so much!
spending more time with Wes,
Dear Annie: This is in
Ellie and Evelyn. But it’s start- response to the letter from “Lov-
ing to get harder and harder to ing Mother,” the woman who
spend time with every single receives gift cards for clothing
one. Someone is always getting stores when she doesn’t need
angry with another for taking me clothes. She said she would pre-
away. I really do love them all. I fer generic cards so that she
just wish there were a way that I could buy things she does need.
This happens to me, and I
could spend time with them all
at once. What do I do? — Trou- have the perfect solution — and
bled cousin
none of the givers is the wiser.
When occasions call for gifts,
she should use those cards to buy
gifts for the people who bought
the cards for her. Obviously, the
cards are from stores they like,
so the gifts should work out.
Most department stores also sell
small electronics, perfume, jew-
elry, greeting cards, etc., so her
gifts don’t have to be limited to
clothing.
In her letter, she said she
“received almost $400 in gift
cards” at Christmas. Woo-hoo!
That’s probably equal to the
amount of money she spends in
a year toward buying gifts for
others. Seeing as she has to buy
gifts anyway, why not think of
the cards as a bank account to be
used for that purpose?
She could also give the gift
cards to charity. Think of all the
women’s shelters with residents
needing new clothes for job and
apartment hunting or simply to
stay warm. If she goes to church,
she could drop a card in the col-
lection plate with a note that it
should go to a needy congregant.
If that wouldn’t put a smile on
her face, what would? — Been
There, Still There, Love It There!
Dear Been There: Thank
you for your great suggestions.
TOMORROW’S HOROSCOPE
By Holiday Mathis, Creators Syndicate Inc.
ARIES (March 21-April 19). Stealing attention
is an act of real theft. Attention is the true value
of life. Surround yourself with honest people,
not robbers who will devalue your efforts by
drawing attention away from you and toward
them.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Trust and keep
working. The change is coming. Your process
will go from weeks of fearful, uncertain strug-
gles to a new era of fully informed, powerfully
purposeful, smooth and meaningful days.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21). People who ask
you questions and get really interested in
how you are may also have big news to share
themselves — news you’ll never learn until you
boomerang the conversation.
CANCER (June 22-July 22). While you know
that your work matters, and that you matter,
you’d like a little more in the way of daily signals
around you to remind you of this. There’s some-
thing wholesome you can do to get better
mojo flowing through your life.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). Your money is the ab-
solute cheapest thing you can put “where your
mouth is” today. Your work is worth way more
than that and so is your attention and time.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). The principle of
inertia suggests things will maintain their
current state of activity (or nonactivity) until
something stronger comes along. In today’s
case, you’ll keep buzzing along until overtaken
by a profound need for sleep.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). There are the lucky
few who get encouraged along life’s path be-
fore they do anything of merit. Mostly though,
it happens in reverse. Most must do many,
FRANK AND ERNEST
BLONDIE
THATABABY
SALLY FORTH
PHOEBE AND HER UNICORN
B.C.
LOLA
DILBERT
SIX CHIX
BIZARRO
MUTTS
NON SEQUITUR
BABY BLUES
WIZARD OF ID
ZITS
ROSE IS ROSE
many things of substance before the rest of the
world finally catches on.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Why be quietly
ashamed or try to hide your mistakes when
you can call them out, examine them and learn
from them? Everyone makes them, even those
regarded as the best among us.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). You may
have an inner child, but you also have an inner
babysitter today. Maybe it’s not as strict as the
parental units, but it’s still in charge of making
sure you hit all the basics.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). The hard and
dirty work is something to do yourself because
it also happens to be the work that will most
keep you aware, awake, strong and on-purpose.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). The day’s events
will remind you how your decisions affect oth-
ers. You don’t always want them to, but that’s
just how it works for someone as connected to
the fiber of your community as you are.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). You’ll find the
amusement and levity of life. This won’t be
hard, because there’s a sympathetic resonance
in you that rings out when you’re anywhere
near funny people.
TOMORROW’S BIRTHDAY (March 16). For
the next three months, there’s important work
you’ll do inside yourself and out of the public
eye. This is laying the groundwork. Suddenly,
you’ll feel like sharing. You’ll touch lives and
change the established order. On a practical
level, a move of convenience will turn out
brilliantly for your domestic flow. Virgo and
Aries adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 7, 40,
20, 1 and 15.