For the Record....I thought it was great!

Britney's "For the Record" documentary just finished airing on MTV. I had mixed feelings about it from the moment I heard it was in the works. Would it be a laugh riot or a chance for her to really redeem herself? I can honestly say that she did a great job changing my mind about "Britney Spears" the woman .

Here are a few of my random thoughts on the documentary:

For just a brief moment, I felt sorry for her. People took advantage of her, she lost her focus, she got involved in the wrong crowd. She's no different from any of us. I've done all of those things, only it wasn't publicized. She's not tragic, just human and like the rest of us, doesn't have a little magic woman on her shoulder telling her how to handle a bad situation. Wouldn't it be great if we all had that, though?

She seems to have accepted that she must make amends for her past antics and while she misses her freedom, she knows that she is where she is in her life because of her own actions. That said, she doesn't seem thrilled by the idea of her "all work and no play" lifestyle. Her admission to being so lonely makes me think that her Dad being so involved in her life is still a good idea (in that it might keep her from going off the deep end again).

Her life is a circus (pardon the pun), but her talent created that. Her fans want more. She clearly loves her job and has accepted that her career dictates the craziness of the paparazzis that swarm her. She seems to understand that cyclical pattern.

The only thing I was really disappointed about was that she said "supermarket" instead of "groshery store."

I think she loves her Dad and has a normal relationship with him as a parent. Who wouldn't be annoyed if their parent was around all the time, but there seemed to be genuine love there from both of them.

I think she's lonely and hasn't realized that she doesn't need a man in her life to make her fulfilled. Hell she's not even 30 yet, and most of us don't realize that until we're closer to 40. I'm 36 and just now figuring that out. The sad truth is she'll never have a "normal" relationship, but she can, and I think will find love in her future when she is ready.

Her choreographer is amazing. Love his personality and he would make a beautiful drag queen (coming from me that's an enormous compliment).

My girl....

My kids know that I'm not down with store bought cards or useless birthday gifts. I prefer the homemade stuff that I can keep forever as a reminder of their sweet innocence (and refer back to them when their teenagers and hate me for no reason)!

For my birthday present this year my sweet daughter wrote me a letter. It brought tears to my eyes to watch my 10-year-old express her feelings as she recited the letter in front of my mom, my son and me.

I'm typing the letter here because I'm so proud of her (and because it's so cute to see all her mis-spellings....if you know my girl, you know spelling is NOT her strong suit)!

Dear Mom,

I love you sooo much. you are the Best Mom in the world. I know we get in fights But I love you no matter what.

When I am sic you are thare for me.

When I have any troubles like school you are still by my side incoruging me all the way to the top. even if i get an F :( you are still thare for me by my side. You will never giv up on me.

I have relized that when you punish me you are trying to teach me for the big world ahead of me. like when you cut my (cell) phone off you were trying to teach me responsability.

I am the luckies kid on the eirth. I have ben through some life lerning experenses with everything that has hapened this year.

Lastly I just want to say I LOVE YOU
YOU ROCH EGGS
LOVE,
(insert my kids name here)

Now THAT is the best present I could EVER receive! My cup runneth over.....

Friday Night and the feeling's right...

Friday was NOT a good day for me! I've been having a lot of those lately, and I can say with all honesty that if it weren't for my friends I don't know how I'd get through some of them! So, I called my LLP (someday I'll explain what that means, but it's similar to BFF) and told her to bring the usual provisions (beer and wine) and come over for an evening of venting. Well, she wasn't having any of that....she insisted that I get out of the house. When she arrived to pick me up she wouldn't even come in the house because she didn't want to give me any excuses to stay home. So, begrudgingly I pulled my boots on and met her in the driveway. I had no idea where we would go for a drink, but I assume it would be our local Mexican restaurant for a margarita. Boy, was I wrong!

My LLP has recently sprained her ankle and is wearing one of those really awkward black booties on her left foot. I knew our usual Friday night hang would be out because it's always super crowded and therefore not a good place for a girl in a black bootie. So, when I got in her car my first question was obvious:

me: "Where are we going?"

LLP: "Promise you won't think I'm crazy?"

me: "Well, I already know you're crazy and that's why I love ya. Seriously, where do you want to go? I need a cocktail ASAP!"

LLP: "Seriously, don't think I'm nuts when I tell you my idea."

me: "OK, OK....what is it?"

LLP: "What do you think of going to the local VFW? I already called and they said someone would sign us in since we're not Veterans."

me: "You already called the VFW to see if we can get in? Is this a joke?"

LLP: "No, really. It won't be crowded. It's close to home and it's something different. Let's give it a try and if it sucks, we'll leave and go to our usual Mexican restaurant."

me: "Well, you know me! I'm always up for something different. Let's do it!"

So, we drive to the local VFW. Believe me when I tell you that it is the least glamorous place in town. It's a small building that looks like an abandoned house. When we drove up and saw 5 cars in the parking lot, my first instinct was to say, "hell no! Let's get outta here pronto!" However, I was 5 paces from a cocktail and after the day I had my need for alcohol far out-weighed my need for a hip place to drink it! I did make her go in first though because I still have some standards!

My first impression? It was dark, small and reeked of smoke! Perfect atmosphere for some hard-core drinking, which is what was on my agenda! All 5 people at the bar immediately turned to see two gorgeous blonde's (me and LLP) walk into their little sanctuary. Within 30 seconds, 2 of the women were talking to us and making us feel right at home. The bartender had our drinks to us within a minute of sitting down at our bar stool and the guy across the bar from us was handing us $5 to play music on the jukebox. This place was getting better by the second!

LLP chose a spot at the bar for us next to this sign:

Our favorite part of the sign...? Peanuts for 50 cents and Lighters for a dollar! Hilarious!!

There was a guy from Manchester England sitting across the bar from us (he tried to convince us he was from Arkansas. An English dude can not pull of a southern accent). He was the one that gave us juke box money. He also bought us a bag of chips (which was perfect after a couple of cocktails) and a White Russian to cap off our evening! Perfection!!

Manchester guy on left with his buddy!

Good tunes, good drinks and some fun people were the perfect prescription after another bad day! Thanks, LLP for introducing me to the VFW! We'll definitely be back soon!

They melt in my mouth like buttah....

Every now and again I have little magical moments in my life that bring a truly happy peace to my soul. Today, I had one of those moments....

I was walking through Walgreen's picking up some miscellaneous items when I decided to wander down the Christmas aisle. Through the shelves of fake evergreens, dancing Santa's, cheap candles and piles and piles of tinsel, I saw it.....sitting oh-so-innocently on the bottom shelf, next to the cherry cordials (yuk). The beautiful blue box that house THE. BEST. ITALIAN. CHOCOLATES.

For a second, I could have sworn the box was encircled by a halo!

Baci's! I first discovered these decadent treats on my first trip to Epcot when I was 14. The family I babysat for wanted to go to Orlando and take the kid to Disney during the day and party at night, so they took me along to watch the kid. It was a sweet deal for me! Free trip to Disney AND they paid me $100!

If you know me at all, you know I was born with a fascination of all things Italian, so when we were wandering through Epcot's "Italy" I discovered these beautifully wrapped dark chocolate and hazelnut treats in a candy store! I bought 20 of them, and believe it or not I savored each and every one. Like Charlie Bucket in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," I only ate a Baci when I absolutely HAD to (usually once a month)!! This was a huge deal for me because I have absolutely no willpower. Seriously....none!

Since then, I have made it a point to stop into various retail outlets to hunt down my favorite Italian treat! Let me tell you, they are NOT easy to find. When I was in Vegas two years ago, I stopped at the Bellagio just to visit their chocolate counter to buy some Baci's (although while I was there I gambled, had a drink or two and listened to a great local band in one of the many lounges). I still have one left from that box. Each time my supply dwindles, I get a little panicked that I may have to wait months and months until I find my sweet Baci's. They are so prized that my children know if they even think about getting into my Baci stash they will face a wrath like no other!

Then today, at Walgreen's.....WALGREEN'S of all places, I find my cherished Baci's. They were only $10 for a box of 12! What a deal! I've paid $2 for 1 Baci before, and it's usually in some fancy import store.

I snatched up 3 boxes, looking over my shoulder the entire time as if Walgreen's Management would realize what a deal I was getting and tell me that the Baci's were mis-priced or they were past their sell-by date (they weren't....I checked).

The problem with having so many delicious treats in front of you is that it is WAY more tempting to plow through them. I ate 4, the most I've ever eaten at one time, but I did eat them slowly....savoring each and every bite!

It was a great day!

It's Britney, Bitch!

I found myself singing Britney's latest song, "Womanizer" in the car the other day. I was mortified. When that song first hit the airwaves I seriously thought I would vomit, it was so annoying! Of course, when you live in a small town and aren't in the car long enough to bother plugging in the iPod or even playing CD's all you end up listening to is the radio. And the radio LOVES to play Britney songs. Over and over again, "womanizer, womanizer, you're a womanizer baby." Naturally, it's going to seep into the deep recesses of your brain and stick like scrambled eggs to the pan.


I found this little diddy today. We've all heard that Brit's been documenting her recovery and plans to air it on November 30th. She did an interview with People Magazine to promote her new movie. What struck me as hilarious was the reason WHY she invited a camera crew to follow her road to recovery.

“I wanted to make this film because I started to feel like I wasn’t being seen in the light that I wanted to be seen in,” People Magazine quote Spears as saying.

REALLY, BRITNEY? YA FREAKIN' THINK?

The brilliance that flows from this woman is....brilliant! How's that for a "Britney" quote?!

For Daneen...

My friend came over the other night and BLASTED me for not keeping up with my blog. I had 4,362 excuses as to why I didn't have time....Divorce, job search, kids, kids, kids, freakin' basketball, soccer, hip hop class, choir, girl scouts, no money, boy scouts, taking care of my uber-depressed mother.

But ya know what? She's right! I need to keep up with my blog. I need to vent. It makes me feel better. I don't even know if anyone is reading my rants, but just having a place to rant is a haven.

So hit me up....or don't! I don't care and that's what's great about a blog. It's my therapy and I need to be more involved!

Yum-O

Boy Scout Carmel Popcorn is the BEST....just thought you should know...

Check it out...

The embedded message has been disabled by the owner, but I highly encourage you to follow this link and see this funny video my daughter found on you tube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9WmKre5O2I