Just a quick entry (even though I am on partial hiatus). Took the fam to my sister's house to celebrate her birthday. It was kind of a last minute thing. It was 3 pm. I had just put in the vegetables to simmer for the beef stew I was making for dinner. My dad calls.

"Hey, it's your sister's birthday on Tuesday. We need to celebrate it before. If its after...that's bad," said Dad. Our family firmly believes that if you celebrate one's birthday after the date has passed...bad bad luck. "Why don't you call her?"

"Why didn't she call you?" I ask my dad.

"You know how she is," he replies. "And she's been acting weird lately."

"How so?" I ask.

"She's been caressing Bim's (my nickname for her hubby) hair non-stop every time we see her. And fawning over him. Its unnatural!"

I laugh. "Uh, Dad. I think you have issues."

"You never did that!" Dad replies haughtily.

"Don't you remember when I first got married and I couldn't go half an hour w/o calling my hub when I was away from him?"

"Hmph."

So I called my sister and I brought my beef stew along as a potluck item. We also had roast duck, rice and a nice fruit cake for dessert.

Since she seemed into the whole domestic thing, I bought her the Stich 'N Bitch book as a gift. Heartily recommended by cool bloggers who knit, I thought it would be a good present.

"What's this?" Sis asked me when she unwrapped it.

"Its a knitting book. I thought you were into that kind of stuff. You did that cross-stitch thingy for mom a couple of years ago."

"Sadly, she's only into it verbally," my Mom chimes in.

Sis did like several projects in the book. When we left her house, she was trying to persuade my mom to make them for her.

So what's the whole point of this entry? I have no idea, except I felt the need to write it down. When you grow up, your relationship with your family and how you perceive your family isn't always how you think it is.

This Friday is the deadline for me to finish up my entry for the writer's contest. I've gotten some good feedback from people who have read it so far (you know who you are!), so its just a matter of re-polishing it. I'm hyperventilating as we speak.