I have turned into my grandmother...

and I am only 28.

I shouldn't say that completely, but there are so many of her habits that I have picked up it just has to be mentioned. (Actually, my Mom pointed it out to me)

My brother, sister and I were all raised by my Mother and my Grandmother. Mom had to work and Green Nan took care of us while she worked.

First of all, I'll explain "Green Nan". We grew up with 3 Grandmothers and no Grandfathers. All of our Grandfathers had passed on quite young. My 2 Grandfathers passed in their 40's and my Great Grandfather passed in his 60's, all happened in the 70's. ( I was born in 80 and I am the oldest)

My Mom's Mom, and her Mother In Law lived next door to each other, and they were both called Nan. So, for us kids to be able to seperate them, they were assigned a color. The easiest was the color of their house, so my Nan was Green Nan, and my Great Grandmother was Blue Nan. A little silly, but it worked for us. They have both passed away now, and I remember them often, I know they're with me always.

So, back to why I've turned into my grandmother. My "Green Nan" was wonderful in our eyes. She loved to do laundry, made sure it was done everyday. (I didn't receive this trait, I love doing laundry, but I don't put it at the top of my list of things to do, It's a little closer to the bottom, hence my huge laundry monster sitting at home waiting for me.) She always had lunch and supper made, worked on it all day, it was always a healthy, real food, meal. (I strive to do this, but I don't have the time she did. The biggest idiosyncrasy was that she always had to have all her things that she "might" need with her. While she lived on her own, when we picked her up to come over, she always had at least 3 or 4 bags of stuff with her (and I'm talking large canvas shopping bags). Sometimes she never touched the bags the whole time she was at our house, but she had to have them. When we drove her home at night, the bags went home with her. This is the trait that I got from her. When I go to work every day, I bring at least 2-3 bags of stuff with me, and they go home with me when I leave. (Understand that my job basically resembles the Matag Repair Man) I can't stand to just sit and do nothing, and there is only a little cleaning that can be done here, so I spend most of my days organizing my coupons, or making earrings, paper crafts or blogging as I am right now (and I get paid for the time too!).

DH can get a little annoyed with me, as it's him that ends up doing most of the lugging, I hear quite often, "can't they just stay in the car, you'll take them again in the morning" but no, dear, I can't leave them in the car, paper crafts and damp weather don't stand up well, and what if someone broke in and took it all. Yes, I am a little silly, but I feel like I need them.

Even today, the first snow storm of the year, shoveling for an hour, and the chance that I may have to walk up the road to my work, I still lug all my things with me, because what would I do If I was bored and didn't have it?

Another way my habits resemble my Green Nan are cooking. My Grandmother made stew at least once a week in the winter, (we called it stew, but I've come to learn most call it Boiled Dinner) I do this as well, and it's the same as hers. It's actually the only thing I learned to make that actually tastes like it did when she made it. I make a HUGE roasting pot full of it and eat it all week!! It is my absolute favorite meal in the world!! I'm still trying to figure out how to make her hamburg and gravy (my Mom can't do it either)

Well, I have a few customers now, so I should sign off. I leave you with a pic of my "Green Nan"