Horoscope

Today's birthday

2021) Magnetic, insightful and worldly, you're approaching your most ambitious year. You become more realistic and capably guide a success to great heights. This year you should feel proud of yourself. If single, love can be tumultuous and chaotic for you, and it might be healthiest to spend part of this year alone. If attached, you're known for many marriages, but this year is your most romantic yet. LIBRA worships you.

Aries (MWrch 21-Apr il1 9) ★★★★ Today affects your health sector. A dream or intuitive perception brings insight into fitness factors. Seek ways to ease a stressful daily schedule. A much loved animal companion might require extra love and attention. Tonight: Eliminate clutter and begin spring cleaning early.

Taurus (April 20-MW y20 ) ★★★★★ Today gives you renewed energy and enthusiasm. You’ll enjoy sports, creative projects and hobbies. Love and admiration come your way. Children have much to share. Young people are sources of inspiration, pride and hope. Tonight: A relationship becomes more supportive.

Gemini (MW y2 1-Jus e20 ) ★★★★ Today generates mood swings in a loved one. Offer words of encouragement. Be a good listener. A visitor offers to help with chores or repairs. A household gathering is peppered with lively discussions. Tonight: Ideas and stories that family shares will inspire you.

Cancer (Jus e2 1-Jul y22 ) ★★★★ Today indicates that you might look for a new vehicle or consider alternative travel and transportation arrangements. Mobility issues will be resolved satisfactorily. Hesitate if an acquaintance suggests a risky proposal. Tonight: If something just doesn’t feel right to you, back off.

Leo (Jul y23 -Aug .22 ) ★★ Double-check suggestions others make regarding finances. Today’s opposition could allow the actions taken by another to drain your resources. Trust your own judgment, particularly if something sounds too good to be true. Tonight: Deep disappointment in a loved one.

Virgo

(Aug .23 -Sept. 22) ★★★★★ Today generates enthusiasm and motivation. Control impatience and anger though. It is especially important to be constructive in your focus. Both love prospects and finances are very promising. A desirable

relationship grows. Tonight: Extra hours of sleep to catch up.

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) ★★★★ Old and poignant memories surface. Past life regression might be useful to aid in understanding and accepting the present situation. A deep rapport with wild creatures and the spirit of wilderness prevails. Tonight: Talk deeply with a mentor from your past.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-No v.2 1) ★★★★★

Friends include you in their plans. The expectations of others draw you into group activities or a prominent role within an organization. You might assume the role of mediator or overseer. Tonight: A light illuminates the future of an important relationship.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec .2 1) ★★★★★

Today puts a positive spin on your status and career situation. You’ll be highly visible. A Zoom meeting goes especially well. Others express admiration and see you as a role model. Burn sage to cleanse your workplace. Tonight: Excitement builds about your future: constructive daydreaming.

Capricorn (Dec .22 -JWs. 19) ★★★★★

Today reveals new potentials on the horizon. Your luck is changing for the better. Select goals for the long-range future. Write a wish list. Information and new ideas are directed your way. Opportunities are likely to come about. Tonight: The world is your oyster.

Aquarius (JWs .20 -Feb. 18) ★★★★

Today will be memorable. Be receptive to growth and change. Don’t be surprised by the magnitude of changes brewing. It’s a time of turning points. There can be a debate or some points of controversy to settle. Tonight: A partner needs convincing.

Pisces (Feb. 19-MWrch 20) ★★★★★

Listen carefully and honor others’ freedom of thought, even if you disagree. A long-standing partnership — in business or in love — might be ending or a new one beginning. Your imagination and creativity are excellent. Tonight: An original idea solves a problem — and it’s profitable.

Th est W rss ho wt he kisd of dW yy ou'll hWve: 5D ysWric; 4 Positive; 3 AverWg e;2S o-so; 1 Difficult.

My body is thrown into a vicious cycle for weeks after consuming foods that trigger allergies.

So, what should I do when I get together with friends or family for dinners and they try to make special food for me? I don’t want to risk even trying this food because of past experiences with bad reactions.

Recently, a host assured me that all of the ingredients were safe for me, only to learn later that they’d buttered the pan with margarine, which set off my allergies.

They just don’t understand how I have to pay for eating even a trace of that for the next three weeks, but they feel bad because I can’t eat what they eat, and they love food so much that they want to share it with me.

What I prefer to do is bring my own food, but of course people are either very offended or feel so sorry for me that they will try to make something just for me.

I try to avoid dinner parties at all costs with certain people because of this.

What can I say to people who insist I try their food because they made it just for me and they made sure they didn’t put anything in it that I can’t have?

I’m tired of being sick and tired of offending people. — Sick and Tired

Dear Sick and Tired: It is hard to imagine a person with an undefined autoimmune disorder gathering with others for dinner parties during a pandemic, but, in the absence of that concern, you need only know this: You are responsible for your health and well-being. Don’t leave something so important to someone else.

Your question is full of anticipation and speculation regarding how others will (or might) respond to your self-advocacy. Don’t concentrate so much on how others might pressure you, and keep your focus on your own health.

The answer is that you must bring your own food to gatherings involving food, because you can only safely eat something that you have prepared.

Communicate with the host beforehand: “I am on an extremely restricted medical diet because of my allergies, so I need to bring my own food. Will that bother you? I really don’t want to impose or make a big deal about it, but until I get my diagnosis sorted out, it is vital that I only eat food I’ve prepared myself.”

If you feel pressured, respond, “Sorry, no. I know this is a bummer and I appreciate your efforts, but I have to be very strict about this.”

If your friends and family don’t or won’t adjust to your needs, then yes, you will have to avoid situations where you can’t safely resist this pressure.

Dear Amy: “Conflicted” wrote to you, describing herself as an adopted woman who is hesitant to share news of her birth family connection with her sister.

You are right. Birth family relationships affect everyone in the family.

Both of our children are adopted, and fully open with three of their four birth families. Knowing their individual birth families has been a tremendous benefit to both children.

At first, it was scary, but today each birth family seems like another in-law relationship.

Everyone loves a common child, so we have come to love one another.

More love is never a bad thing. We have a “family orchard” instead of a family tree: one tree each for my husband’s family, my family, and each of their birth parents’ extended family.

Our kids are the roots, intertwined with their birth families, us, and each other. — Fully Open Adoptive Mom

Dear Fully Open: A “family orchard” also describes my own family — and many others.

Thank you for the beautiful imagery. It’s the perfect way to picture the experience of being in a loving, complex, modern family.