Chanel No. 5

Dragon Mood? -- reveling in the fragrance

Scientists say that some of our earliest memories involve smells. Smell of skin, smell of milk, smells of a place that evokes safety and security, they all are forged early in a person's life.

One of my early memories as a child was going into my grandma, Nana's, bedroom and being enveloped in this sweet fragrance. I later learned the fragrance was the perfume, Chanel No.5. Whenever I smell Chanel No. 5, I think of Nana. I can immediately feel the little girl part of me and I feel, sigh, all is well, with the world.

Having recently learned that I'm going to be a grandmother, I asked my partner, S, for 'grandma' perfume for Christmas. Bless her heart, she came through like a champ. I am now the happy owner of a classic, luxe bottle of Eau de Parfum, Chanel No. 5.

I can't wait to wear it as I hold The Colonel.

Transition

Dragon Mood? -- still in the early stages of adjustment

So, I told you in my last posting, that I'm going to become a grandma.

It's no small matter transitioning from non-grandma status to being a GRANDMA! Even the fact that I feel the need to capitalize Grandma tells you something about my internal process.

Like my most people, I had two grandmas. One, Granny Kunze, I knew very little, because she lived at the Texas farm and we lived up north. I have a few hazy memories of her in the kitchen, baking and cooking, but I can't recall a single conversation that she and I had together. She died in a car accident when I was ten.

My other grandma, whom I called Nana, is the grandma that informs my sense of who and what a grandma is. I always felt her delight in me. With Nana, I felt absolutely SPECIAL. Again, with the capitals. She and I had a Mutual Admiration Society that knew no bounds. Even in her last years of life, I can remember visiting her one night, unexpectedly knocking at her door. She opened the door hesitantly, cute as a bug in her flannel PJs, cotton robe and thick Coke-bottle glasses, looking more like a little girl than a mid-eighties grandma. I walked in and she bear-hugged me, like I was the only person on this earth. I hugged her back with just as much intensity.

So, as my grandbaby gestates and incubates inside my daughter, Caroline, I too am changing, slowly making the transition from mom/mother/Mamacita to grandma/grandmother/Nana. And what will my grandma name be? I'm kind of liking "Grandberry."

A non-relaxing Sunday morning

Dragon Mood? -- TIRED and I'm not kidding

HELP!! S and I have been taken hostage by a four year-old and a two year-old and we CAN'T GET UP!

I'm joking AND exaggerating! But only a little. We rendezvoused with Matt and Sarah in the Lake Lansing Meijers parking lot last night, got the 'goods' (Madison and Conner) and S took them into the store to pick out a toy. Forty-five loo-o-oong minutes later, they emerged. Sheesh, I should have known better than to agree to that quick little trip.

At home, S got into the jacuzzi tub with them and things were going well until Conner decided he was scared of the water, or the jets, or the bubbles. We're not sure which. As a two year-old boy, with a very talkative big sister, all he has to do is grunt and shake his head "NO" and point with his finger ... and the kid communicates well and gets pretty much all his needs met. It's an amazing dynamic to observe in action and it certainly takes me back to when Josh was two and Caroline was four. Same sibling behavior, transcendent of time and environment.

Conner feel asleep between 10:30 and 11:00 p.m. Madison was up until midnight, thanks to billowing mounds of bubbles, imagined fog and storms for the flotilla of toy boats and exhilarating archaeological digs down in the bubbles IN the tub. She and Grandma really gave their imaginations a workout!

We two grandmas, Grandma and GrandMary, hit the hay immediately. And one minute later, it was light, I heard Madison's voice and the next thing I knew, two little people were padding into our room, wide-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to GREET the morning! Aye-yi-yiee!!

S and I did our rational and logical best to persuade Madison and Conner that it was WAY TOO early and that we were still tired and climb in bed with us and let's ALL go back to sleep. We never even got close to launching that idea. The phrase, I believe, is a complete fizzle. Nope, they were up, and ready to PLAY! It was all of 7:30 a.m.

We played the piano, we ate bananas, we colored pictures, we got all the pull toys down off the shelf, we made a homemade diaper bag for Madison's new baby doll, we read books. You name it, we did it. Grandma made peanut butter and spun honey raisin toast for us all and made a new song, "Sticky Fingers" to accompany our breakfast. And boy, did the song ever fit the situation!

It's now 1:20 p.m., Conner's sleeping, Grandma and Madison are outside, and Mommy and Daddy have finally shown up. I'm exhausted! Time for a nap!

Saturday recap

Dragon Mood? -- musing

Sunday morning and my brain is feeling all cotton-y and slo-o-ow. I'm all ready on my second cup of coffee, so what's my excuse?

Yesterday seemed like a busy and slightly discombobulated day. We slept in, arose slowly and gently and I made us a yummy onion-broccoli-and-tomato omelette. S took the landscape trailer over to our friends, J & J, for them to use. I headed off to town to do some errands.

Purchased yet another large, covered saucepan to replace the expensive one that started peeling off its Teflon coating. ArrrghhH! Went to Meijers, bought groceries as well as eco-friendly fluorescent bulbs and remanufactured ink cartridges for our long-dead printer. Don't get me wrong, I really like shopping at Meijers, but, oh my gosh, even the remanned ones are incredibly expensive! Yet ANOTHER consumer rip-off!

I'll try to keep this consumer tirade short, but I get so DAMN tired of being exploited by our money-crazed, take-em-for-all-they're-worth corporations and culture! Cooking utensils that peel toxic substances into our food. Printers that need ridiculously expensive cartridges. It makes me want to scream , long and loud.

(heavy sigh) Okay, I feel a little better now.

Anyway, I returned home to a quiet, empty house. S and son, Mark, had taken two of the three grandbabies for an ice cream cone. The grandbabies are really not babies any more, not literally, but they are babies to us. Preston is now four, very chatty and animated (especially after a sugary ice cream cone). Madison is two-and-a-half and and an extremely focused, I-will-not-be-swayed type of little girl. I predict that she will be a force to be reckoned with in her lifetime ... and that requires no crystal ball to say that!

When the four of them returned, the energy meter went from 'still' to 'off the charts.' Mark and I talked, Stephnie played with the kids and read them a story. She fed them some pizza and milk. Grandma, I want this, Grandma, what about that? Poor Steph, she was in a whirlwind. I sat pretty much still, quiet and watched with a little bit of amusement. Be careful what you ask for ... you may GET IT!

After Mark and the grandbabies left, she and I watched Changeling, a lovely though incredibly sad movie based on a true story. Angelina Jolie was beautiful, as usual, but the depiction of the LAPD back in the 1920s had me swearing at the TV. I got pretty upset watching it. I didn't know that the movie had been directed by Clint Eastwood. And Steph and I both enjoyed feeling the slow pace of that time. Are there places where you can still live at that pace?

Welcome to the world, Conner

Dragon Mood? -- amazed and happy

Baby Watch has now turned into Baby Announcement: Conner Matthew, born Tuesday, July 22, 2008, around 4:30 p.m. in Lansing. He weighs 6 lbs. 8 oz., is 20-1/2 inches long and already knows how to make smacking sounds with his mouth and insert his index finger, certainly a curious appendage, into his mouth. Mama and Daddy are doing fine, if a bit sleep-deprived. Conner is healthy, beautiful and like all newborn babies, a miracle!

Oh yes, Conner is a magnificent king-of-the-jungle lion, an astrological Leo. The planets turned, the stars twirled and he missed being a Cancer baby by less than 10 hours. His moon is in Pisces and his ascendant is Scorpio! Here is a description of a Scorpio ascendant:

Scorpio Rising gives you a strong physique and tremendous physical stamina. Far more stubborn than you seem on the surface, you assiduously stick to your goals as long as there is a chance they will be achieved. It is difficult to convince you to change your mind once a decision has been made.

Your emotional vulnerability remains concealed unless your natal sun or moon happens to be in Cancer or Pisces. You are are friendly and while you can be rather quiet, you have quite a gregarious personality and don't mind being in the spotlight. It is highly unlikely that you, as a Scorpio rising, have that sinister or mysterious personality which popular literature tends to associate with the sign of Scorpio, but you are a keen observer and a shrewd speculator.

Scorpio is ruled by Pluto, the transformer, and Mars, the warrior. Both planetary influences may be seen in your personality. Ambitious, energetic, you seek activities that are economically rewarding, as well as mentally or physically challenging. The jealousy associated with Mars and Pluto is minimal unless other factors in the chart support such a trait (say Scorpio, Aries or Capricorn Sun). You possess the cleverness and mechanical ability associated with Mars, as well as the innate resourcefulness associated with Pluto.

Attracted to others with strong, magnetic personalities, you are oriented toward gathering resources of all kinds. For example, you consciously or subconsciously tend to establish relationships with strong or powerful people in the belief such contacts may prove useful in some way. You can be quite secretive about personal affairs, a trait that often escapes the attention of most people you meet. You are so accommodating and pleasant that, unless others make serious attempts to probe beneath the surface, your real personality and activities may stay hidden indefinitely.

You have remarkable recuperative powers that allow you to recover from physical, mental or economic adversities that would destroy many others. When properly focused, your energy is formidable and you quietly keep going long after everyone else runs out of steam. A Scorpio Ascendant indicates potential for afflictions to the head and face as well as illnesses affecting the reproductive organs.

Interestingly enough, this Scorpio ascendant could be describing his daddy, Matthew. Oh my, what will happen in his lifetime?

...which I have not done ....

Dragon Mood? -- ???

Happy Saturday morning, everybody! A couple of years back, Saturday morning was one of my favorite times to post here. Two houses, moving the computer to the pied-a-terre and just-plain WORKING forty hours a week on not one, but TWO computers has definitely cut into my blogging time.

So I am doing something which I have not done in a darn long time! It feels good.

I'm sitting here in the 'weekend' house, the house in the pine trees, looking out the window at a wealth of green-ness. We've gotten several nice rains this past week so all the plants and the trees and the grass are perked up and looking happy.

S and I are watching our second grandbaby this evening, 21 month-old Madison. She is a pleasure to be with and she makes us both laugh. (Babies that make you laugh -- as opposed to cry -- are always a good thing.) Madison does quite a bit of baby talking, most of which I have a hard time catching the meaning. She is an escape artist -- she loves escaping from her clothes. At night, we have to put a onesie on over her diaper and underneath her jammies, in order to make sure the diaper stays on. She's also a water baby and LOVES to splash and play in the liquid stuff.

I'm also hoping to do a bit of painting this weekend. Given that painting is 90% preparation and 10% painting, that may be a bit ambitious. I've done virtually none of the prep. (Sigh!) Baby steps, remember?

hiccups

Dragon Mood? -- amused

Our bedroom door cracked open Saturday morning and Preston shyly peeked his head in. "Grandma!" he exclaimed as he charged towards our bed, "I got the hiccups!" S replied, "You do? Lemme see." At which point, Preston leaned in and opened his mouth wide for S to catch a glimpse of those pesky hiccups.

Silly Grandma!

Dragon Mood? -- remembering with amusement

Early Saturday morning, S and I had the pleasure of waking up to hear our grandson, Preston, exclaim, "Daddy, we got to whisper!  Grandmas are SLEEPING!"   S and I looked at each other and chuckled.

Later, up and out of bed, making coffee in the kitchen, I told Preston, now almost three, that today is Grandma's birthday. 

"Grandma's BIRTHDAY!"  he echoed.  He jumped up and down in excitement and patted his own head.

"Tresents, tresents, Grandma's gonna get tresents!"  he predicted.

S corrected him, "Preston, YOU're my present!"   He looked puzzled.

I interjected, "Preston, is Grandma being silly?  Tell her you're not a present, you're a boy!"

He got a big smile on his face, immediately turned  to S and exclaimed, "Silly Grandma!  I'm not a tresent, I'm a BOY!"