Remember when you were a kid at Christmas-time and half the fun was finding out where your parents had stashed your presents (this is obviously a little after you’ve found out about Santa Claus)?

But then the surprise on the day was snuffed out by actually knowing what you were getting? (I won’t even get into not liking what you’ve been given.)

While as adults it’s unlikely (but not impossible) that your partner will go snooping for that anniversary/birthday/Christmas/Valentines Day gift you’ve been keeping in a safe place, there are four other ways that the surprise can be ruined.

1. Telling someone close what you’ve got planned. While most people don’t mean to spoil a surprise, the psychological pressure of keeping a secret can be overwhelming. If your recipient mentions how much they like X product/service, it’s all-too-human to “share” the news in advance to please them. It also happens when they mention that they plan to buy said item and your “helpful” gift ally wants to cut them off at the pass. Tell a Scorpio if you have to tell anyone. They can keep a secret.

2. Sharing an email address. If you and your beloved happen to share the same email address and you order online, the surprise will be no-more. Here’s an interesting example of how LL Bean gets round it. You might want to use your work one, or set up a free one at Hotmail (or Live as it wants to be called now), Yahoo or Gmail purely for online gift purchases.

3. Getting it delivered at home. Unless it’s absolutely massive eg a car, it’s pretty easy to get the gift sent instead to your work address (and they may have a locked address bag/PO Box to ensure its safe arrival) or to a helpful (Scorpio) friend’s or parent’s address to hold it for you. This beats racing your partner to the mailbox so they don’t see their present arrive. Even if it has been gift-wrapped by the company in question, it’ll still have their company address on the package which kinda gives the game away.

4. Credit card statements. If you go through your finances togethers, seeing “Mary’s Red-Hot Lingerie” or whatever on the statement is either a dead giveaway that your partner is getting lingerie, your (other) partner is getting lingerie, or hey, that you like to wear lingerie. None of these results is particularly pallatable. Buy using Paypal and they’ll be none the wiser.

No matter what your age or sexual orientation, you can expect to buy a lot more wedding and engagement gifts from November 2009.

On 31 October 2009, Saturn enters Libra until 6 October 2012, with a short retrograde visit back to Virgo from 8 April-22 July 2010.

Saturn is renowned as the Taskmaster of the zodiac. A combination of a “bad cop”, grumpy grandfather and stern school principal, he insists that things are done properly. (Have you noticed the huge emphasis since October 2007 on quitting smoking, health checks and obesity since his travels through health-focused Virgo?). Since he’ll be in Libra, the sign of relationships, partnerships and marriage, you can expect relationships to go under the spotlight for the next three years.

Saturn’s gonna insist, as Beyonce sings, “you better put a ring on it”. Engagements and therefore weddings will rise in popularity as people start to demand commitment. De facto arrangements won’t cut it anymore – on a singular, personal level, or on a societal level, either. Dating will be done with an eye to the future, much more so than before.

Saturn LOVES people getting serious and working hard about whatever area he’s transiting, it’s more than likely that same-sex marriage will become legalised in many (more) countries of the world. Saturn represents commitment so society will demand that we have more “pillars” in place. Pillars of course, provide stability and security, two things that Saturn rules and which have been proven to create wealth, another Saturn area. Marriage has been proven to be one of the strongest long-term ways to create wealth.

Since he is also not the funnest guy in the solar system, I anticipate that laws will be introduced to require people to undergo some type of marital counselling. Divorce applications might be restricted in some way. Saturn’s pragmatism may create a kind of old-school (Saturn loves old-school stuff) move to assessing long-term relationship suitability and marriage for non-sexy reasons, like having a family, combining family wealth, and building a future together. Match-making services could boom in popularity.

Oh, and people could get VERY used to making their way around a wedding gift registry.

I saw research today on the phenomenon of graduation gifts in the US.

At first I thought, oh OK, it’s about getting a gift of some kind for graduating from university with a diploma, degree or even doctorate, but no – this is also for finishing HIGH SCHOOL!

Call me old-fashioned but I wouldn’t have thought that finishing secondary school required a gift.

Top three gifts that consumers plan to give these over-achievers: Cash (everyone’s favourite), greeting cards, and gift cards. As the article jokes(?), one of the items missing from the list of what college students planned to purchase was “libations”. Uh, probably not if it was an Australian survey.

Is there a tougher time of the year to be born than Christmas-time? I know four people born within a couple of days of Christmas Day. My friends Philip and Rod on the 24th, my favourite old flatmate, Lisa on the day itself, and my cousin Ian on the 27th.

All of them say that by sharing their birthday with an important celebration like Christmas, that they a) used to get only one present from each person (“this is for your birthday AND Christmas”), b) that their friends were never around to spend the day with them, c) that their birthday party was scheduled earlier in December or moved to January and d) that it felt like an anti-climax.

Capricorns tend to feel a little negative about life, and those born in the first 10 days of Capricorn, get it worst than most! Think about it – they have Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day taking up precedence over their birthdays.

Perhaps not surprisingly – although it’s not especially fair – thanks to it falling at the finance-draining time of Christmas, people certainly don’t spend twice as much on their one combination gift. And I don’t even want to get into how parents explain Santa only brings one present when he HAS to know it’s their birthday, as well!

Ian’s mum (my aunt), gets around this by permanently celebrating his birthday on 17 December so he has at least had half a chance of people remembering and being able to attend his birthday parties.

I wondered what the other “challenging” days of the year might be to have a birthday.

My guess is it’s also difficult to have a birthday falling on 31 December (everyone’s too busy celebrating to remember), 1 January (too hungover to remember), 14 February (busy celebrating Valentines Day), the 2nd Sunday of any year (sharing it with Mothers Day), around the June long weekend (everyone’s away), 4 July (it  could be overlooked in the US), 31 October (your birthday isn’t the only scary thing going on) and especially in Melbourne, Australia on the first Tuesday in any year – they’re all too busy celebrating the Melbourne Cup.

On what other days are people all too likely to forget or downplay it’s your birthday because it coincides with something else?

Well, now I’ve seen everything! I knew that websites existed to help you raise money for charities, to pay off your credit cards and to fund special interest trips so you can say, “this one time, at band camp…” but here’s one which also blatantly lets you raise money for birthday presents! Yours – or someone else’s!

Fundable is basically a gift wish list – but instead of listing various items you’d like to receive for your birthday, it’s money. Not sure how well that would go down with some people but Mum, in case you’re reading, my favourite colour is green and a size 100 or larger.

If you have kids or at the very least have friends and family with kids, it’s pretty likely that you’ll have to buy some children’s gifts for birthdays or, if you’re super-organised, for Christmas.

If you, like me, love shopping for gifts all year long, you may want to visit Mathilda’s Markets being held in Sydney (5 July), Melbourne (21 June), Brisbane (19 July) and Perth (19 July).

You’ll find unique, stylish and affordable gift ideas there, most of them handmade or from limited production lines. Most of 70 or so stall-holders don’t have a retail shopfront so you’re sure to see something that you’ve never seen before!

Each market has up to 70 stalls, food, and entertainment, making it a fun day out for the family (as well as a gift-buying opportunity).

Multi-faceted Geminis come in all sorts of flavours – Morgan Freeman, Kylie Minogue, Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Boy George and Venus Williams are all Geminis.

They all have such different tastes – I can’t imagine giving a set of knives to Nicole (can you?) – but all of them lurrrve to read! Insatiable to know what’s on, they’ll blog, update their websites, become Crackberries and read everything they can get their hands on to keep up to date and to keep others informed. They are the natural journos of the zodiac.

While for many it would seem a lazy gift cop-out, one birthday present that most Geminis would really love every year is an open cheque (sorry, voucher) to a bookstore. Ditto for magazine subscriptions and book-of-the-month clubs.

Most Gemini girls get a kick out of getting something from those junk jewellery chains ie Diva and Equip as they can update their wardrobes with a huge range of cute rings, bracelets (Geminis have a thing about their hands), necklaces, earrings, belly rings and anklets. Or why not give them a voucher for a luxury mani/pedi so they can catch up on all on the gossip as they get fussed over.

The boys tend to prefer the latest gadgets. No idea? Me either. But you’d be safe (and not sorry) giving them an iTunes card.

Either sex usually prefers lots of little gifts so they have lots to unwrap and get excited over. Yes, they do have a low boredom threshold and a few gifts will maintain their interest for longer.

On A Slightly Different Note: Until 31 October, Geminis will have Saturn in their solar fourth house of home and family. Wherever Saturn is transiting usually means great responsibilities or limitations. Any way you can alleviate this with a thoughtful gift would be much appreciated. Until Halloween anyway, they have huge responsibilities to do with their homes and family members (Angelina is probably taking this to extremes) which means they are probably looking for homewares, decor and storage solutions. They might really appreciate getting some of those sexy perspex shoe shelves. Others might chip in for DIY tools. Or just take them out for dinner – they get cabin fever faster than anyone!

Regifting is one phenomenon that’s been gaining ground thanks to the coinciding Global Financial Crisis and the anti-clutter trend. If you can clean up your home, give someone a gift AND save money in the process - happy days.

Have a look around your home. There’s SURE to be something suitable you can pass on for someone’s birthday. Here’s a quick guide to what items you could safely regift to certain Sun signs without causing too much distress. (It goes without saying that you’re not going to regift anything that’s dirty, broken or in poor condition! Also, ideally it should still be in the original packaging…)

Jewellery – rings, bangles and bracelets (Geminis), pendants, necklaces (Taurus), gold anything that’s good (Leo), matching set jewellery (Libra), antique family heirlooms, pearls (Cancer and Capricorn), mood rings (Pisces), toe rings , “statement” pieces (Aquarius), belly chains, anything hand-crafted (Virgo), leather jewellery (Aries, Scorpio), ethnic pieces (Sagittarius).

Books – cookbooks (Cancer and Taurus), romantic novels (Leo and Libra), thrillers (Scorpio), sci-fi (Aquarius), self-help (Aquarius and Virgo), travel (Sagittarius), business (Capricorn), mystical, movie or music books (Pisces), how-to manuals and sexy potboilers (Aries)

Homewares – bookshelves, storage items (Gemini and Virgo), doonas, comforters, mohair throws (Taurus and Cancer), ornate mirrors, boxed DVD sets (Leo), antiques, crystal vases (Capricorn), BBQ equipment, Persian rugs, travel souvenirs (Sagittarius), DIY power tools, sporting equipment (Aries), filing cabinets, fur throws, breakfast in bed trays (Scorpio). terrariums, vintage equipment, computers (Aquarius), aquariums, windchimes (Pisces), cake stands, serving platters, jewellery trays (Taurus and Libra).

Clothing – vintage shoes (Pisces, maybe Leo if they’re in ultra-good condition – the shoes, I mean), scarves (Taurus), fur coats, dramatic coats (Leo), wacky 60s/70s stuff (Aquarius), handbags (Virgo), belts and hats (Libra), brooches (Cancer), Doc Maartens boots, anything red (Aries).

And if it all seems too hard, go shopping!

One of my favourite actresses, Natalie Portman, must have really enjoyed 16th century dress-ups after being in The Other Boleyn Girl, as she has just bought herself a baronial-style mansion in LA.

Going for a reasonable-for-LA $US3.25 million, I was intrigued to notice that it was kind of olde-worlde (can’t you just see Eric Bana chasing her down the corridors wearing his Henry VIII costume).

Natalie’s a Gemini, turning 28 on 9 June.

She has Venus in Cancer. And as Venus rules your decorating taste, a typical Cancerian Venus likes to pull up the drawbridge and close the curtains against the hordes. They want a homey-home and one in which they can bring up a sea of children and to have their family over (they’re not big into partying). They also like homes with history – or, at least, look faux historic. (Built in the 1930s, it’s still standing. which makes it truly ancient for LA.) The only thing that was missing for a typical Gemini bookworm is rows upon rows of bookshelves.

You also look at the Moon sign for what you need in life. Natalie has Moon in Virgo which rules work and health so she’ll love having that huge kitchen to cook her vegetarian dishes in and store her endless supply of vitamins. For all its drama, the house is actually kind of modest, which suits anyone with a Virgo Moon just fine. They actually don’t like being prima donna-ish and are irked by show-offs. The same goes for their homes.

Her new home is rather close to that of Leo Sean Penn, who she’s supposed to be secretly seeing. Sean has Moon in Cancer and Venus in Virgo which complements Natalie’s planets nicely. If they’re really a couple, he’ll love hanging out there, too.

And when Natalie’s Saturn return occurs in December 2009, I think she’ll be spending a LOT of time there, away from pesky paparazzi who may be chasing her and Sean…

A US study done a few years ago found that men and women have very different reasons for giving gifts.

In general, men tend to give gifts to get a relationship started (he he, you know what I mean!) while women give them to maintain closeness.

So when you start dating a guy and he is buying you heaps of little gifts, it means he’s keen, and he’s trying to get you into bed. Ironically enough, when he stops buying gifts that means you’re officially in a relationship and that he can now relaaaaaax (and not worry about gifts again until your birthday, Christmas, Valentines Day, or anniversary).

Women often think they have to reciprocate with gifts at the early stage to be polite and show their interest. But the only wrapping men want to rip off doesn’t cover a gift…

If you unintentionally buy too-generous a gift too early on, your relationship will fizzle in surprisingly quick time because – how ironic is this – he thinks you are after a commitment!

Men prefer to give and receive gifts that are practical. They’re very happy to receive a powerdrill if they’re into DIY so they assume you’d like a Mixmaster for your kitchen. Even most romantic gifts have a practical purpose: to please the woman so she’ll sleep with him…

Men also buy gifts to get out of trouble ie flowers, jewellery etc when they’ve been forgetful, neglectful or just nightmarish in general. So when a woman buys him something during the course of a year, a man often thinks, “what has she done?”. But women buy gifts to show people they love them and are thinking of them, usually buying them things that would make them happy.

Women are typically the gift-buyers as they know everyone’s birthdays, what they like, their favourite colours, what hobbies people have and so on. For this reason, it’s usually a woman selecting the gifts for employees and colleagues at work too.

Most men don’t really notice that level of detail – nor are they that psychic. You need to give him a list of ideas, email him a wishlist (he won’t be offended, actually kinda relieved) or make a BIG FUSS every time you see that particular item together when you’re both shopping, so he gets it – and buys it too.

Women also judge other people by the gifts they give them and are hurt, disappointed or angry when it’s a generic gift. They respond especially well to gifts which have some meaning or personalization to make it special. A man doesn’t have to spend that much on a gift to thrill a woman – but it does have to be something he’s put thought into.