The furniture was delivered yesterday morning! I'm pretty stoked! I found out that the chest of drawers and the dressing table both have marble tops. This, to me, is awesome. I looked up some info about stripping paint off wood and it sounds more complicated than I thought it would be. Therefore, I may very well leave it as it is, and just add some designs on it myself. The wooden panels in which the mirrors are installed are my premeditated victims.
Morgan and I watched Practical Magic - and miraculously managed to watch all of it without any interruptions! She will grow sick of watching it, I assure you. Ah well - can't help it if I have taste!
My mum came over just as the movie ended, and we took Morgan with us for coffee. The trip there and back also got us a much-needed lamp shade for Morgan's room.
I can't wait to get the room all set up! It is exciting for more than one reason. This is the first room I bought. So yeah - kinda pleased about it!
The thing I was not pleased about was coming home to find the washing machine had decided not to drain the water used. Just then, Morgan decided that she was bored in her pram, and started whining. I was trying to wring the clothes from all the excessive water and calm her down at the same time. Thankfully, music came to the rescue. She likes music so much that it tends to calm her down in a matter of minutes.
Once the clothes were hung up to dry, we played for a short while, and eventually, she fell asleep only for me to have to wake her up half an hour later to feed her. Once fed and cleaned up, I put her to bed and we both slept.
I woke up a couple of hours later to prepare her bottles, and I stayed up for a short while to chat with a couple of friends and look up info about different Mother Goddesses so that I could post about them on The Pagan Mama.
In the morning, Morgan seemed to wake up in a good mood - as can be seen in the photo!
Alas, being gassy meant she was cranky most of the time. Thankfully, music helped calm her down at various points throughout the day. Music and being held.
My grandma is wanting me to go out again this weekend just so that Morgan can sleep over. I don't see it happening though. Two weekends in a row might be a bit too much too soon.
Today I realised how quickly time is going by. Morgan is already 2 months old now, and my time with her is rapidly running out. I have no idea how the hell I will handle the return back to work. I hope I get to work decent hours though. I wouldn't want to be at work until her bedtime.
So much has happened within the last 48hrs that I didn't have the time to post anything yesterday. I'm going to split this post in 3 parts:
Part 1:
The day before yesterday I read a list of the most popular names for babies in Malta. Needless to say, Maya was on the list.
I lost track of how many friends and acquaintances of mine named their daughter Maya. This means that it is harder to remember who is called what, and so I will play it safe and use nicknames when referring to them daughters' names I'm not sure of.
I will also use nicknames for sons if I forgot their names, or am unsure of how to write/read the name.
Don't take offence if I don't call your child by their name. I rarely call people by name anyway, regardless of their age.
Part 2:
Yesterday I tried and failed miserably to shower whilst it was just Morgan and myself for the first time since we came home. We were meant to meet up with my mum on the bus to go to Balzan so that I could meet with a lovely Scottish woman who was to sell me some 2nd hand clothes (in excellent condition!) for Morgan.
Morgan put up quite a struggle when I tried to bathe her - but this, was the end result.
I ended up calling my mum to come over instead so that she could watch Morgan whilst I got ready. Whilst waiting for my mum, I cleaned up Morgan, and after about half an hour, my mum came over, and fed Morgan whilst I showered. Once fed and burped, we gathered our stuff and started our journey to Balzan.
Two and a half hours and two bus rides later, we finally got there to find the aforementioned woman waiting for us. Talking with her made me miss my Scottish friends - she's from Edinburgh, so has a distinct accent (though not as thick as some of my friends'). I pointed out to her Morgan is half-Scottish, which made her go "awww" even more from then on.
I made arrangements to meet the same lady in a week or two again to buy some more stuff off her, paid her for this time's haul and went for coffee with my mum and Morgan at the nearby Melita Gardens Cafeteria.
One quick bite and coffee later, we made our way to the bus stop and about 20 minutes later, we hopped onto the first bus. We got off the bus at Blata l-Bajda (which saved us some 5 minutes from the journey's total bus time had we gotten off the bus at Valletta) and then got on the next bus a few minutes later.
By some miracle, I managed to get the pram inside the house on my own (seeing as whilst I _do_ live in a ground floor maisonette, I have to go up a couple of steps leading to the porch.), and the moment we walked in, the alarm went off on my mobile signifying Morgan's feed was due. I cleaned her up, and whilst feeding her, I made arrangements with my friend Rose to have another friend pick Morgan and myself up so that we could go over at Rose's to celebrate Ostara.
Ostara is another name for the Spring Equinox - it is named after the Goddess Eostre. For more info, clicky here.
Once we got at Rose's, we had banter and then, Rose and I introduced Morgan to the Elements. No introduction was needed to the God and Goddess to be honest, as I've already mentioned her countless times to Them.
We still need to do an official Saining, however this was the first step. We were joined by another two people in the circle where meditation was carried out in honour of Spring and New beginnings. Good times!
As it was getting late, Morgan and I slept over at Rose's. And when I say slept, I mean it. I forgot when I last slept THAT much. Morgan slept soundly as well. Yay!
Today, we slept in, then I called us a taxi back home since I had taken Morgan over to Rose's in the car seat - it is DAMNED HEAVY to carry. I had no intentions of walking up a couple of hills for about 15 minutes to the nearest ATM and face 2 buses and walking 3 or 4 blocks etc, all whilst carrying some 10kg total.
Once home, my mum came over and since Morgan was asleep, we managed to do some house chores. Score! My mum left after a couple of hours, and Morgan and I had a quiet evening.
Now, for Part 3...
Tomorrow, Morgan gets her first vaccine. I am _NOT_ looking forward to seeing her getting stabbed, and potentially having fever in the evening.
I bought a box of Arfen suppositories, just in case. I don't feel comfortable with the thought of having to use them on her, but I know out of first-hand experience how effective suppositories are. Gods know how many I have been subjected to in my childhood. I just pity her poor bum.
I hope she doesn't get feverish. I really hope she doesn't. Meh. The vaccines are a necessary evil, I know. I just worry, I guess.
My little Cuddle Monster :D
P.s. Daylight Savings kicks in on the 25th. That's this weekend. Suuuuuucks.
Do you recall the opening scene from Sleeping Beauty? A grand hall, with the King and Queen on their thrones, presenting their newborn daughter to their guests, all of whom bestow gifts to the newborn. Along flutter in the Fairy Godmothers Flora, Fauna and Merryweather who too bestow their gifts upon the child. Cue evil Witch throws a tantrum for not being invited and curses Princess Aurora, and the story takes off from there.
The idea of having that sort of introduction has always appealed to me. Yes, Baptism is something that kinda has the same purpose - but that is solely religious followed by a reception, so to me, people just attend for the sake of it without giving it too much thought. For the most part,they are spectators. As previously mentioned, I have yet to decide whether this is something I will go for.
One ceremony I know I do wish to hold is a Saining Ritual. I can see your blank faces staring perplexed at me in my mind's eye. Worry not, I'll explain what I mean.
Different religions have different Rites of Passage. As Pagans, we too have our own versions of such rites that mark the milestones of a person's life. In Wicca, the Baptism equivalent is known as Wiccaning. I don't consider myself Wiccan though as it is too restrictive a term for my liking. Which is why I opt to call myself Pagan. Anyway, semantics.
"What does it involve though??" you might be wondering.
Well, it is a ritual that involves presenting the newborn child to society, and to the Divine, without committing them to a particular religion. And it tends to also involved a naming ceremony. It is not a legally recognised ceremony in Malta [for now, anyway. Who knows, things may change.] however I find it suits my idea of what it all should be like.
The basics of the rite itself are pretty standard - but like other ceremonies [think of Weddings, for example] it can be personalised. I have been discussing it with a good friend of mine and doing some research as to who has to be involved and to get ideas to design the ceremony myself. I have come across quite a few interesting ideas, however it is still in the works. You do need to have Baby present, of course. Sometimes a celebrant leads the ceremony - in this case, s/he would be referred to as the High Priest/ess or alternatively, the parent of opposite sex to Baby can act out the role. It is also standard practice to have Godparents present who pledge themselves to being present throughout the child's life to provide support and guidance. By no means is this a legally-binding position - however to me, a person's word is much more binding than any legal contracts. In certain versions of the ceremony, you get to have 4 people representing the elements who are also actively involved in the rite itself. In other versions, they are not required and the High Prriest/ess calls the elements.
Ok, looks like I may have lost you there.
Whenever a ritual is being played out in Paganism, it is customary to invoke the elements. Since Paganism is an earth-based belief, and has no need for stone/wooden buildings to act as places of worship, it is ideal to create a 'Sacred Space'. It becomes a place which is no place, and a time which is no time. All the invocation entails is pretty much to ask the Four Elements of Air, Earth, Fire and Water to be present in order to provide protection and guidance. The circle itself does not need to physically exist - it can merely be visualised. It allows you to separate yourself from Daily Life and leave all negativity outside of that serene place you will have created for yourself and any others joining you.
There is also an invitation sent out to the God and Goddess to be witnesses of it all, and to provide protection and guidance to all people within the sacred space. Lost you again, have I?
Ok, picture this. The Yin-yang. Th God and The Goddess are neither 100% good nor 100% evil - for in nature there is no such absolute. Therefore you get the white bit of the Yin-Yang sporting a black dot, and the black bit sporting a white dot. Together, these two halves make up one symbol . In the same fashion, the God and the Goddess make up The One.. The All.. The Source of all that ever was, is and will be, Now, you might still be confused as to which God and Goddess I'm referring to. Picture a disco ball. All the tiny mirrors that make up the ball are all the different Goddesses ever mentioned and/or worshipped throughout history of mankind. They all represent different aspects of the same entity. The same symbolism can be applied to the God.
As you may have deducted from the chants I have posted - unlike its Catholic equivalent, Saining would involve singing - and yes, sometimes dancing and drumming and all sorts of merrymaking. Prayer does not have to be serious business - after all, if the Divine didn't have a sense of humour they would not have made sex such a hilarious process to have to go through.
Last but not least, the people you need to have around are the Guests - to which after both the parent[s] and the Godparents commit themselves to protecting and assisting the newborn child throughout life, the child him/herself is presented. All people involve get to wish something on behalf of the child, or make a promise to the child that they must stick to.
As with all rituals, Saining would then be followed by lots of delicious food and drinks and socialising. This is where the 'reception' bit would kick in, basically.
It will happen - it is purely a matter of deciding when,and who to involve. I understand some people might not feel comfortable attending a rite which doesn't belong to their faith. I only hope that whoever does show up, will take the same attitude I adopt whenever attending a Wedding or a Funeral myself. Although I am not of the Catholic Faith, I still show up out of respect for the person involved.
