A little chat

I talked to my sister last night. Probably for most people, that phrase is pretty standard but I haven't talked to my sister in years, if you don't count one phone conversation a year or so ago. It was great to talk to her, and if you are wondering about everything, I had a conversation with my half sister.

I think I have eluded to it more than once but if I haven't, I was adopted by my aunt when I was three months old. When I was about 4, my biological mother moved to the states and I didn't see her or her children until I was close to 12. When I finally met her, I learned that I had two half sisters and a half brother (on my biological mom's side) and it was a great. My family grew even larger.

Unfortunately, I fell out of touch with everyone and finally had the clever idea to actually check facebook to see if she was on there. And she was so after sending her an "add friend" request, she sent me her number and I was able to talk to her.

It was really nice. I, of course, rambled. I find that when I am nervous I ramble. About everything, about nothing, just keep talking and you might be able to fight through those nerves, Sirena. It never works and I find it very embarrassing. I hang up the phone and wonder, sheesh did I just talk (the person's) ear off. Probably.

I long for those days when I was the quiet shy girl that had to have conversations dragged out of her but I'm not. Somewhere from there to here, I just started rambling whenever my nerves were playing havoc.

Needless to say, I rambled last night, probably a lot and I could just imagine that my sister was saying, "Damn, that girl never shuts up," because I was saying to myself, "Damn, I never shut up."

Hopefully, the nerves will be calmed a lot more the next time that I talk to her and that horrible habit of rambling can be put on hold.

Still, even with my nerves and active mouth, I had a nice conversation and I hope that we stay in touch a little bit more than we have in the past. It is great to catch up with people you haven't talked to in a long time and even better when they are family.

Well, I think I'm finished rambling for today. I just realized that I posted more than once this month. I better slow down. VBG.

Take care,

Sirena

*On a side note, I found it really interesting that we gave our youngest children the same name.

Junior Kindergarten

Just a quick note today before I head off to start working. I am feeling really out of sorts since today was the first day that my youngest started school. The house seems so empty without him here and it feels strange carting two of them out the door in the morning.

Thankfully, it's not every day but when I dropped them both off at school, and I watched my little boy (he's only three by the way, darn end of year birthdays) wander through the school door, over sized backpack on his shoulders, I had to wipe some tears from my eyes.

It is such a mixed feeling watching my boys grow up. On one hand, I am happy that they are growing up and discovering the world around them but on the other hand, I don't think they've stayed little long enough.

Still, he is overjoyed with being at school and his brother is happy that he is there (especially since his classroom is just across the hall), so that is what is important. A weepy mom will just have to get over herself. ;)

Anyway, I am off to work, writing birth stories about the little boys that are now big boys at their school. Boy, I think I should put a box of Kleenex on my desk for today.

Take care,

Sirena

A Universal Truth

My oldest son has a very difficult time with transitions. He hates new routines and will usually fight them since he has a lot of anxiety over them. We have had him assessed and he has seen a developmental paediatrician and it basically comes down to the fact that he has a "slow to warm up" personality and he is of "superior intelligence" (as they refer to it), or as the rest of the world would say, "he's really smart."

Anyway, the new school year was causing him a little anxiety and although we have been warning him for the last three weeks that school will be starting, he was starting to get a little worked up about all the changes. Instead of complicating the matter even more, I decided I would resort to bribery and I told him he could have any meal he wanted as a special treat if he had a great first week of school.

He jumped at the chance and said he wanted me to cook a turkey. A turkey! Not, let's go to McDonald's, nope not my kid, he wants a turkey dinner. I agreed and that is why you find me today, cooking a turkey.

As I was preparing the turkey, I realized that there is a universal truth about cooking turkeys and I wanted to share it with you.

So are you ready...drum roll please....

The Universal Truth of Cooking a Turkey...

"No matter what you do, the moment you stick your hands up a turkey's butt, you will have an excruciating itch somewhere on your face."

Oh, you try to ignore it, that little itch just above the eyebrow or the little twinge on the nose, your hands are, after all, covered in turkey fat and other nastiness found on the inside of a turkey, but the little itch grows and you find that it is so annoying you just have to scratch it, even if it is just with the inside of your bicep.

This does nothing for the itch but it leaves you looking like you are rehearsing for the world's worst adaptation of the chicken dance. One foot raised up on tiptoes, your head slumped down, your arm up and covering your face as a turkey wobbles to and fro on your hands. It is just pathetic, but you don't want to take your hands out of the turkey, wash them off, scratch the itch and the moment you stick them back in a new itch begins.

So you tough it out, slightly dancing in impatience, knowing that if you don't scratch that spot soon, you are going to start crying. Then, when you are finally done, your hands are extracted from the turkey's butt (okay, it's not really the butt but it's pretty close) and you have washed away the turkey grime completely... the itch is gone (that is until you start stuffing the turkey).

And what is the moral of my universal truth...

...Probably that you should never stick your hands up a turkey's butt...

Sirena

Resident EvilER

My husband is a huge fan of zombie movies. I swear that I have read more zombie books and seen more zombie movies than I ever cared to see simply so I could share an interest with him. After having some pretty nasty nightmares, I decided that we would need to find a different interest.

I detest zombies. Can't stand them and I prefer to not watch anything with a zombie in it. I'm not sure why I feel this strongly but I think it has something to do with the whole flesh eating thing. Give me a zombie that doesn't devour flesh and hey, I'm cool with it. "Who cares if you are the walking dead, just eat vegetarian please."

Regardless of how I feel about zombies, whenever my husband brings in a new book, I'll usually read it. Sometimes the stories are very clever and the writers are very talented at crafting their genre. It makes for a fun (can't believe I used that word with an apocalyptic genre) read and I can usually cope with all the "mmm...brains" scenes that fill the books. Movies, not so much, thank you Hollywood and all your special effects.

Still, I watched the Resident Evil movies, and I am Legend, and Shaun of the Dead (very funny movie actually and I am a fan of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost now because of it.) So I have had my fill of zombie movies.

So where am I going with this. Okay, now I need to set the scene because, of course, there is a story behind all this rambling. I was flipping through the PVR guide (similar to tivo) and I noticed a movie called Doomsday. I mentioned off hand that there was a movie that I figured my husband would want to see. He came running into the living room (okay, he didn't really run but he scampered...hurried...shuffled like the undead into the living room).

"Yeah, I wanted to see that," he shuffles from one foot to the next before sitting on the arm of the couch (yes, I allow that awful habit and it's actually one of my preferred spots to perch).

I ignore him and continue to flip through the tv guide. Yep, nothing on...oh wait a minute...the sequel to Dirty Dancing is on. DH laughs before I can even say anything, "I can't believe they made a sequel to that movie...I guess I shouldn't be, lots of people liked it."

I grin, "I was a closet Dirty Dancing lover. I wouldn't let anyone know that I loved that movie and only watched it when no one was around."

This makes him laugh. Of all the things to be ashamed about but the thing is, I was a bit of a tomboy growing up and if I always felt that liking "girlie" things made me less of one.

Anyway, back to the story. After I cycled through all the stations, DH still sitting on his perch, waiting for me to give in, I finally say, "Do you want me to record it for you?"

Without missing a beat since we both knew what movie I was talking about he says, "Yeah sure, but it will probably suck."

"They all suck. I mean even Resident Evil-er sucked."

He shakes his head, "Resident Evil-er?"

"Yeah, the third one. It was called Resident Evil-er, wasn't it."

"No"

"Oh yeah, it wasn't," I pause deep in thought," You know, they should make a movie and call it Resident Evil-er. You could have the deep voice over guy say," I clear my throat and try to create a masculine voice-over-guy tone," You've seen Resident Evil, now prepare for the scare of your life with Resident Evil-ER."

At that, DH laughed at me (something he does a lot) and I lost my train of thought but I could totally (yeah, like totally) see a movie called Resident Evil-ER. You have to stress the errrrrr because those zombies aren't just evil in my movie, they are evilerrrrr.

Needless to say, DH will be watching another zombie type movie and I will be doing something else tonight. Maybe I will be working on my manuscript for Resident Evil-ER but probably not.

At least I got on here to post, although I am sure at this moment, you are probably wishing that I took another two months off.

Happy Zombie-ing!

Sirena Van Schaik

*Edited to say that as it turned out Doomsday did not have Zombies but did have cannibals and it was bad, bad, bad, bad.*

Stuff

Okay, I hate starting blogs up again after I have been absent for a while. I know I always say the same thing, I'll keep up on blog posts but when it comes to my personal blog, I just don't think I have anything interesting to update.

Just to give you a quick update, I am working on many freelance projects right now. Over the summer, I finished a recipe book and a baby name book for two separate clients. Loved the former, and really berated myself about the latter. If I ever see someone looking for another baby name book, I am going to turn off the computer and run away.

I just started an online writing course on how to write sexual tension into a scene. Generally, I don't write much in the way of romance but any story can have sexual tension and the one novel idea that I have been researching for the last 3 months will rely on some of the elements that I learn about in this course. It is a dark suspense and really has nothing to do with romance but there are a few elements here and there. I am, after all, a woman so I tend to enjoy the occasional romantic gesture.

September, wait it's September now, my article for Mothering Magazine will be published. If you can get your hands on it, pick up a copy and let me know how it is. I haven't received contributors copies yet but hopefully soon. It takes time but I am so eager to see it, I will have to hunt it down. According to Mothering Magazine, they are sold in Chapters in Canada so I will have to take a trip over to Chapters when I get 5 minutes.

And there is a little recap. I'm not going to promise to write everyday; let's face it, I don't stick to that promise but I will stop by when my schedule allows it or I have a thought I want to share.

Actually, I often have a thought to share but it is always when I am away from home or busy doing something else and by the time I can write something here, the thought is gone or I don't have the time to punch in a few words. '

So bear with me and maybe, just maybe, I will be blogging away happily about all the misadventures of being me.

Take care,

Sirena