The Wonderful World of Britney

I've decided to weigh in on the pop-culture train wreck that is Britney Spears. Normally I just listen to or read about the latest mess she's made and shake my head, but in light of her most recent crash and burn, I'm going to put in my 2 cents.

I heard on the radio yesterday morning about a comment she made to a reporter during her custody hearing with the increasingly responsible K-Fed. The reporter asked her during a recess how the hearing was going. She said, "Eat it, lick it, snort it, f**k it", then ran back into the courtroom.

I'm sorry, but what does that even mean? After hearing that, I've come to the conclusion that Britney is not just messed up emotionally, she has completely lost touch with reality. I don't think she has a clue that she is really on the verge of losing her children permanently. She simply cannot understand that she is subject to the same laws, responsibilities and rules of behavior when it comes to raising children as the rest of us "little people". I am glad that she has gotten a judge who seems to be in no way impressed with the fact that she is Britney Spears, and is truly doing what is best for the boys, no matter how many Hollywood hissy fits she throws.

I feel sorry for her sons, who, no matter what happens from here on out, will grow up forever tainted by the antics of their famous, unstable Mama. One day they will be old enough to understand that in the eyes of everyone around her, it seems she simply didn't care enough to do whatever was necessary to get them back. The news has said that she has failed to comply with court orders, and that is why she lost custody, and then visitation rights. What could the court have possibly ordered her to do that any mother worth her salt would not bend over backwards to do? If a judge ordered me to donate both my legs to charity and become a circus clown in order to get my children back, I would do it! I can't think of anything on this planet (or any other planet) that would keep me from my children.

I've heard people say things about Britney like, "she deserves it", and "she's doing it to herself". Does she deserve to have her children taken away? Right now, yes. Is she doing it to herself? Absolutely, whether she realizes the destructive nature of her actions or not. While I don't think she deserves pity or sympathy at the moment, I do feel sorry for the woman who will wake up 5, 10, 15 years from now and realize what she's done, and what she's lost. Because at that moment she will experience what will undoubtedly be a soul-ripping pain like nothing else. While you might say she deserves even that, the woman and mother in me can't help but sympathize.

Her behavior is systematically destroying her life, and she is pushing away the 2 people who would have loved her unconditionally, no matter what. And one day she's going to grow up and realize that you can't just put it back together again.

Baby Update

Yes, there is a reason that the baby ticker at the top of the page is now pink! I had my 16 week OB appointment today, and the Dr. did an ultrasound for me. He's about 90% sure that it's a girl. Of course, he could be wrong, and we'll know more when I have my big ultrasound in November, but he's fairly certain it's a girl.

Also - apparently this baby girl is really active! On the ultrasound we could see her swimming all over and doing flips, waving her little arms and legs all over the place. She's literally bouncing off the walls already! I'm starting to feel some movement already, and now we know why! She's pounding her fists against the walls of my uterus saying, "Here I am!!!"

Lucky Boots

I woke up this morning to pouring down rain. It's a good thing, since apparently Georgia and Alabama are about to come to blows over the draught conditions, and who gets how much water from our shared reservoirs. It hasn't really affected us too much yet, other than not being allowed to water your lawn at all, but I guess Atlanta and Birmingham and other large cities are having a water shortage. Anyway, because it was raining cats and dogs, I decided to forego my trademark Birkenstocks and opted instead for my favorite pair of black boots.

I've had these boots for several years, and they have been through a lot. They are Italian-made black leather (thank you Uncle Sam!), they come up to about mid-calf level, they have about a 2 inch heel, and they were a birthday present from my hubby. They've got some scarring, and at one point I had considered throwing them out and getting a new pair, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. For one thing, I absolutely love these boots. For another, they helped me to diffuse what could have been an ugly situation. Well, uglier, anyway.

Almost exactly 4 years ago, I was mugged. We were living in Germany at the time, Chris was away at a combat training school about 4 hours away, it was a Friday evening, and I was at a community level FRG planning meeting. I had to dress up somewhat, so I was wearing a black skirt and my awesome boots. After the meeting I decided to go off-post and rent a couple of movies at this little American video store we all went to all the time. They had exactly 2 parking spots, so usually you had to park around the back of the store and cut in between two buildings to get to the front door. No big deal, I did it all the time. So I rent my movies and as I'm leaving the store and rounding the corner of the building to get back to my car, I suddenly find myself slammed up against a concrete wall. There's a guy in dark clothing with a hat pulled down low over his face, he's got one hand pressed against my chest, and he starts going for my purse with the other hand. BTW - my purse was a black one that I had bought at Harrod's in London, it was expensive, and not exactly easily replaceable. At that point I literally stopped thinking. I lashed out with my 2 inch heels and landed several really nice kicks to the guy's groin, stomach, and kneecaps. I knew there was a reason I took all those kick-boxing classes at the gym! He stumbled back and doubled over a bit, said something I didn't understand in what I think was probably Turkish or Czech, then made one last grab for my purse. In retrospect, he probably shouldn't have done that because as he leaned forward, I gathered everything in me and broke his face with my arm. Literally, I heard the crack of what I'm assuming was a jawbone.

After that, he ran off. Empty-handed, I might add. I guess getting the crap kicked out of him by a little American woman wasn't part of his nightly plans. I just stood there for a second trying to figure out what the heck just happened. Did I really do that? I decided I needed to go home. Once I got there, there was a message from Chris on my answering machine, saying that he was taking the train home for the weekend, and could I please pick him up at the train station at about 11? I called him on his cell-phone and told him that I really didn't want to go to a darkened train station by myself in the middle of the night, on account of the fact that I just got attacked in an alley.

There was complete silence for about 30 seconds. Then Chris freaked out. "WHAT??? Are you okay? Did he hurt you? What happened?"

"I'm fine, he didn't get anything, and he didn't hurt me. My arm kind of hurts, though."

"Why? What did he do to your arm?"

"Oh he didn't do anything, but I think I broke his jawbone when I hit him."

"You HIT him? Are you crazy? Why didn't you just run?"

"Oh, well I was too busy kicking the crap out of him to run, besides, he kept trying to take my purse, and I really like that purse."

"Are you trying to tell me that you beat him up?"

"Uh, well, yeah."

At this point, I'm sure he was just shaking his head. "What did the MP's say?"

"Oh, I didn't call them."

He sighed, then convinced me to go to the MP station and file a report. Since the MP station was right around the corner from my house, it only took me about 5 minutes to get there. When I walked in, the Sergeant at the desk is on the phone, and he looks up at me and says into the phone, "Yeah, Sergeant, I think she just walked in. Is your wife a little blonde woman? Okay, we'll take care of her." I'm totally rolling my eyes, "He called you?"

He explained that Chris wanted to make sure I came in, and if I hadn't been there in 10 minutes, they were going to come to my house and get me. Men.... So anyway, I sit down to give my statement, and about halfway through, the reality of my situation hit me, my brain finished processing everything that had happened, and I started shaking. I broke out in a cold sweat and thought I was going to vomit. The poor MP that was taking my statement didn't quite know what to do. I calmed down after a bit, and they called in the medic to look at my arm. It wasn't broken, just badly bruised internally, and he wrapped it up for me.

As I was getting ready to go home, the MP told me he was impressed that I had managed to fight him off, but next time, just drop the purse and run away. Or scream like hell. He told me I was lucky the guy didn't have a weapon, and those boots I was wearing probably saved me from being seriously hurt.

So, long story short - I'm going to keep wearing these boots until they literally disintegrate off my feet. They are my lucky boots!

Hungry, Hungry Hippo

Now that I seem to be mostly past the morning sickness phase of my pregnancy, my appetite has returned in full force. I simply cannot get enough to eat! It doesn't matter how much I eat, 30 minutes later I'll be starving again.

This morning at work I had to make an emergency run to Panera Bread before I passed out from lack of food. By the way, if you have never been to a Panera Bread, you really need to check it out sometime. They have the most awesome bagels! I just got an asiago cheese bagel with veggie cream cheese - it has bits of spinach and tomatoes in it. Yummy! Anyway, I wolfed it down in record time, and now I'm hungry again. I might have to start in on the muffin I bought for later....

I guess my body is trying to make up for all the food I couldn't keep down before!

Cooties!

When I dropped Aiden off at daycare yesterday morning, one of the little girls in his class ran up to him yelling, "Hi Aiden!" and gave him a big hug and a great big kiss on the cheek. I thought it was so cute, but apparently my son felt differently about it. He just stood there during the onslaught of female affection and afterwards he reached up and wiped the girl's kiss off of his cheek. He then looked up at me with the most priceless expression I have ever seen. He looked as if he'd just been slimed by some disgusting, extraterrestrial creature. You could just tell that he was so grossed out by the whole thing. Apparently "girl cooties" do exist in the toddler world.

I told Chris about it and he asked me what the little girl looked like. I told him she was a cute little blond girl and he said, "well, at least he's attracting the pretty, blond girls. He's on the right track!" Such a totally male thing to say!

In Defense

I recently posted regarding my neighbor's dogs - 2 rottweilers who bark all night long - and I made a comment about how I wasn't thrilled with the idea of their presence in the first place. A comment was made on this previous post, and this person took issue with my feelings regarding rottweilers. This person has a rottweiler which is apparently very docile and sweet and good-natured. While I'm sure that there are rotts out there who would never hurt a fly and make great pets, the fact is that they have a great potential to become vicious. I recently came across an article on CNN, which states that a study has been done which finds that Rottweilers are now considered the deadliest dog breed in America, that they are in fact responsible for more dog attacks than even pit bulls. So, no, I don't believe that Rotts in general have the temperament of little bunnies, and feel that those nice, docile Rotts out there are in fact the exception to the rule.
The dogs next door are unknown to me, and they have the potential to be dangerous, and I would be remiss in my responsibilites as a mother of young children not to consider that fact. I want my children to be able to play outside in their own backyard without having to worry about the dogs next door getting out. I have valid reasons for being cautious, their names are Aiden and Baby #2.

Yummy Recipe

When Chris was home this last time, I decided to make pork chops one night. Now, I rarely make pork of any kind, but for some reason, they just sounded good. I found a recipe for Hawaiian Pork Chops, and they turned out so good, I wanted to share the recipe with all of you. Heidi - if you ever decide to cook again, start with this!!

Hawaiian Appled Pork Chops With Carrots
Recipe #243402
3 ratings

4-6 servings
1½ hours 25 min prep

4-6 pork chops
1 green pepper, cut in chunks
1 red onion, cut in squares
2 tart apples, pared, cored and cut in chunks
1 cup carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4-1/2-inch pieces
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste

Sweet and Sour Sauce
1 (9 ounce) can pineapple chunks, in it's own juice
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (approximately the amount in 1/2 a large lemon)
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Brown the chops with the green pepper and onion in the olive oil on a high heat for 1-2 minutes on each side. Salt and pepper to taste, then reduce heat to medium low and top with the apples and carrots.
Mix the other ingredients together and pour over the top of the chops, apples and carrots.
Cover and simmer for 1 hour.

It's really easy to make, you just chop up everything, pour it all into a skillet with the pork chops and let it sit. If you make it, let me know what you think!!

Dogs

So I seem to have rotten luck when it comes to my neighbor's dogs. My new neighbors next door have 2 rottweilers. I'm not at all thrilled at the idea of 2 potentially vicious dogs living next door to me. So far they have been locked up in their backyard, but the minute I see them wandering around I'm raising hell. Anyway, it gets better. One of them is pregnant. I mean, really pregnant. And the best part of all - they bark all night long. I've about had it. I think the next time I hear them barking non-stop in the middle of night, I'm going to go over and "politely request" that they SHUT THEIR DOGS UP!! And I'm going to "politely request" this at 2 am when I can't sleep. Maybe I'll even go over there with Aiden in his jammies and bleary-eyed and grumpy from lack of sleep. I'll play up my pregnant belly and the grumpy kid and let them know that they are not exactly making friends in the neighborhood. What do you think?

Fall is here....

Well, I think Fall has finally arrived! It has been so extremely hot all Summer, that I'd forgotten how nice it feels when the temperatures are in the 70's! And it's been cooling off at night quite a bit. Lately when I go to work in the morning, it's still in the 50's. This morning I got up and I actually had to turn on the heater!! Considering that my A/C has been running practically non-stop all Summer, it's a nice change to feel a little cold. Time to break out the windbreakers!

FYI

I did a little research online, and you can buy the Oregon Trail t-shirts mentioned in the previous post on www.cafepress.com.

2000 miles to Soda Springs....

You know that saying, "Been there, done that, got the T-shirt"? Well, I think there should be a rule. If you are too young to have actually been there and done that, you don't get to wear the t-shirt. Case in point....

I stopped off at the local coffee shop this morning (no, not Starbucks, it's just too far out of my way in the mornings) for a new Pumpkin Patch Mocha. As I'm paying for my coffee and muffin in the drivethru, I notice the clerk's t-shirt. It has the DOS graphic of an "Oregon Trail" covered wagon, and the words, "You have died of dysentery". I cracked up. I have fond memories of Oregon Trail Day at school, and have in fact died of dysentery many, many times.

"That's a great shirt!" I say to the kid. "I used to live for Oregon Trail Day at school!" I get nothing but a blank stare. "What's Oregon Trail?" he asks.

It then occurs to me that my Oregon Trail days were almost 20 years ago, and the clerk in question probably wasn't even born when I was hunting buffalo and making my way to Soda Springs. This kid was just wearing what he thought was a cool, "retro" t-shirt.

Nothing like a nice, back-to-Earth slamming dose of reality to go with your morning coffee....

A Visit From Daddy

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, things have been a little crazy around here! For starters, Chris came home for Columbus Day weekend! He showed up at my work on Friday with a big bouquet of pink and white roses! It was really nice to get to see him for a few days. Aiden took one look at him when we picked him up from daycare and he burst into tears and ran to him. He was pretty much attached to Chris the entire time he was home. It didn't take him long to remember that Daddy makes a really good jungle-gym and he's really fun to jump on! Chris will get one more visit home before he deploys, after he graduates from his school at Fort Riley, he'll get a week to spend at home with us. We are looking forward to that now!

Also, my Dad got in on Sunday evening, he drove his motorcycle out to drop it off at our house before the big trip East. He flew back home today, and in a few more days they will hitch up the RV and head out across the country. Aiden wasn't quite sure what to do with him, he was really big, and has a lot more hair than most of the men he knows! But he warmed up to Grandpa after a bit! Just a few more weeks, and they'll be here for good!