Look out it's the popo!

I totally got pulled over today by the turkish police (again)!

Wait...let me back up a bit and throw a little expositional info at you. I drive in Istanbul, along with the other 12 million inhabitants of this city. However, unlike the other 12 million, I obey traffic laws. The manuevers these people pull in their cars...lets just say I have a mini stroke every time I am behind the wheel. Which brings me to my next point. I drive a British car. So in other words, I've been driving around this city on the wrong side of the car. They gave me the option of driving either the car with the stick shift or the car with the steering wheel on the wrong side. Yeah, I'll admit it, I don't know how to drive a stick shift, so I opted to learn how to drive from the passenger seat. Lastly, the car I drive has a special type of liscense plate number, one that makes the driver confident that when the police see said special number, they'll wave you right on. That is, unless you happen to be driving on the wrong side of the car.

Ok, back to the story. The police always have a road stop set up at this one underpass on my route to and from the girls' nursery. I have passed it, I don't know how many times since I've been driving here. The first time I got pulled over, we were on our way home from picking up Ruby and there they were. And they were letting some people pass and pulling others over. And suddenly this portly officer starts waving at me to pull over. I am in shock. But I manage to pull over and that's when they see it's a british car, and the officer asks, Do you speak turkish? And I sort of laughed (in a flirty manner if you will) and said, No. Then he asks, English? And I smile my biggest smile and say, Yes. And he smiled and laughed and waved at me to go. I've never felt so relieved in all my life. Plus, as I was driving away, he saluted us and the girls waved at him.

I assumed that after my brush with the authorities, I wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. Wrong! Today, exact same place, we get waved over to stop. Lo and behold, it's the same portly officer as last time. Why is this man pulling me over again? is the thought racing through my mind. Answer: He waved me over so that he could show the other officers (all of whom looked to be 12 years old) the British drivers side car. And I let him. You pretty much do anything for a man carrying a semi-automatic weapon. After a couple minutes of them inspecting the drivers side, my portly officer thanked me and sent us on our way.

Yeah.

Someday my prince will come...

Ruby is in LOVE with Hudson, one of the little boys in her class. She talks about him all the time...playing with him, marrying him, going to his house, him coming to our house. Well, we had a playdate with him today and while we were waiting for him, we were Watching Shrek...sort of. Watching movies with Ruby involves a lot of off topic questions. I'm always amazed by her thought process. Anyways, suddenly she asks me if I'm going to get married someday. And I said, maybe someday. Then she asks me if it will be to my prince charming, because she is going to marry her prince charming, Hudson. Young love, it's so darn cute! So, Hudson is over and they are playing and she informs him that he is her prince charming. He turns to her and says, "I'm not prince charming! I'm Bob the builder." I almost died laughing.

The best part of the story comes from my friend Cassie. I related the story to her and she replied, "Well Ruby should know that Bob the Builder would be a much better husband than prince charming anyway...he is a successful entrepreneur, knows the meaning of work ethic, and is a celebrity with his own top rated television show. He's loaded. Prince Charming is better suited for a torrid affair, with his pretty boy looks and playboy attitude." It's funny, cause it's true!