Dr. Mohler posted this short but great article on this all too familiar topic yesterday.

Ok, so the following is not from an online source which means that technically, it doesn't fit into the "www.Wednesday.what?" theme. But it made me laugh so hard that I decided to stretch the rules a bit.

J stopped by our local Starbucks on his way home tonight and as he was walking into the store, he noticed a group of gang banger looking hispanic guys sitting out front. Since this is not an unusual site in our town, J didn't think twice about it until he got close enough to overhear the following, and I quote:

"No, Jorge, X is equal to 0."

It's good to know that gang bangers in San Fernando are working hard at Algebra.

...to talk about espresso? Maybe I'm a coffee snob, or maybe it's because I'm from Seattle, but I've got to take a moment to point out a couple things. In all this talk about Starbucks closing
for a few hours today, I've been reminded that some people know neither how to pronounce espresso nor what it actually is. So let me help-a-brother-out....

According to dictionary.com

es·pres·so  (ĭ-sprěs'ō, ě-sprěs'ō)noun  pl. es·pres·sos A strong coffee brewed by forcing steam under pressure through darkly roasted, powdered coffee beans.A cup of espresso

Notice 2 things about the above definition.

1. It is pronounced E-SPRES-SO not EX-SPRES-SO or EC-SPRES-SO

2. The word refers to either a brew process or a specific drink.

-Fine ground, darkly roasted coffee beans brewed by steam to create a strong, shot of coffee called espresso

-When you order an "espresso", you will get a small cup with 1 or 2 shots of espresso brewed coffee

Americano - Espresso and hot water

Breve - Latte made with half and half instead of milk

Drip - Coffee brewed in a regular coffee maker

Espresso - Pure shots of espresso coffee, some people like to add cream or sugar.

Cappuccino - Traditionally - 1/3 espresso, 1/3 stamed milk, 1/3 foam. More commonly in America - a latte with much more foam.

Latte - Espresso with steamed milk and a small amount of foam

Macchiato - Upside down latte. Steamed milk, foam and espresso poured over top

Misto - Drip coffee and steamed milk

Mocha - A Latte with chocolate sauce or powder added

Last weekend we drove up to Three Rivers, CA for our Third Annual Fab Friends Frenzy in February (yeah, I know...the name's gotta change, even though our friends are fabulous and so was the weekend). Many things have happened in our lives since our college years -- we've gotten married, had kids, moved to different cities and different states (we miss you Fritzs!!!) and changed jobs -- yet this weekend, we enjoyed sweet time together, cherishing the memories from the good ol' days and encouraging each other in our current challenges. What a joy it is to have friends who love Jesus and who love each other. I'm thankful for you, Fab Friends!



Fab Friends 2008, Three Rivers, CA



Fab Friends 2007, Newport Beach, CA



Fab Friends 2006, Frazier Park, CA

Thanks for the link, Nate!!


I hope her project is about germs...



Do you know what the key is to animal magnetism? Parting your hair on the side of your head and a perv stache. MAGNETIC!




Larry the Cable Guy STILL hasn't graduated elementary school??



I'll give you one guess what their conclusion was.



Oh, HE'S the voice of the dragon.




Drop it like it's hot or drop it in the microwave till it's hot?



Poor guy caught the electro worms mid-project



Does soda make fat?



I smell it too. Deodorant might be the answer.



Like, totally!



Help us do a real project!




Lunch time!




You mean, I missed part 1!!! Does the perfect pancreas keep you from slouching?



The only thing worse than cool beans is juicy beans....*shudder*.....




Ah....American Militia in the making




Thanks for the tip.




Apparently, the code requires that he wears really bad sweaters that are about 10 years too young for him.




The only thing that kills a conversation faster than garlic are mom jeans on a kid.




Girls, girls....should have used some of those wipes on that fabric paint.




The answer is YES

My friend Sam posted THIS the other day and it inspired me to tell this story of our crazy dog park experience, yes the actual dog park...

J and I visit the dog park fairly regularly. It's a great place for Fritz to interact with other dogs and for him to burn up some of his endless supply of energy. About 2 nano seconds after we've unclipped his leash he's already at the opposite end of the park running circles around some stunned cocker spaniel. Within 5 minutes of being at the park, he's found a new friend of similar energy and they spend the rest of the time together running. Literally, running. Stopping only briefly for a drink of water and then running again.

We're always amazed at the intensity of the owners. From the lady who thinks her dog will be psychologically injured if another dog barks at it to the guy who decides his dog owns the park and can harass anyone who comes into his park. Then there are the people who spend every afternoon at the park who may or may not have a dog and have taken personal responsibility for the park. Apparently the city is not strict enough for them so they take it upon themselves to enforce the rules. One such lady, and I use the term loosely, saw Frtiz do his business and noticed that we hadn't seen it happen. She promptly stomped up to us and said, "Hey! Pick up your dog's poop!"

Now, it is clearly posted in the rules of the park that the owner is responsible to dispose of land mines in the provided containers and we are usually very good about complying with said rule. So of course, J jumped into action and thanked the "lady" for pointing it out to us. This was not satisfactory to her because, apparently J scooped the wrong poop. At this point, most reasonable people would do one of two things. Either:

1. Point out that your dog's dooty was actually over there and you accidentally scooped up some other dog's dooty

OR

2. Go ahead and scoop up the other dooty and dispose of it yourself, since you realize the owner simply didn't know about it.

Right? Isn't that what you would do? Either way the poop gets tossed and the crisis averted.

Well, this person was not reasonable. She decided the best course of action would be to grab the scooper, scoop up the poop and show it to us explaining that this was the intended poop. Then, to put a proverbial cherry on top, dump the poop on J's leg. Yes. You read that right. She thrust the scooper at him, he, in turn, pulled his leg back, so she thrust it again until she actually got poop on his pant leg and his shoe and finished off the attack by yelling "Grow up!"

Really? In what universe does that make sense? What is going on in your life when you think the more "grown up" thing to do is smear poo on a person because they scooped up another dog's dooty? Well at this point, we are both shocked and start to get the giggles which of course makes her even more angry. It was then that we realized it was time for us to go. See ya later princess poo, best of luck ruling your dog park kingdom!

Someone could raise an interesting question at this point - "where was Fritz, your supposed guard dog, while this lunatic was attacking you with poo?" I ask myself the very same question. I'm pretty sure he was either running around like a dope, completely unaware of the altercation his business just caused OR he was hiding behind a tree watching and laughing while the whole thing went down. I'm afraid I'll never know for sure.

This is me today. Yawn. Remember when you were in kindergarten and you got to curl up on a blanket and take a nap during the school day? I think there is good reason to continue that practice throughout school and into the workforce. I think workers and students alike would be much more productive if they were able to take a cat nap in the afternoon.




Take this cat for example, 10 minutes in that bus and he is up and ready to go again. Suddenly his energy for chasing mice has returned and he is much more productive for the rest of the day.




Now I've heard that yawning is your body's way of bringing in extra oxygen to help give you more energy. Hm. Shouldn't I feel much more energized now since I've yawned about 10 times since starting this sentence? Why is it that nodding off usually follows the yawn?






Yawning is a funny thing. Everybody has different yawn faces. Some people open up wide and let all their fillings show. While others try to hold the yawn in until the pressure forces their lips apart like a surprised fish.






Yawns are contageous. Whether you see someone yawn, hear the word yawn or read it, you can bet you'll be yawning soon. Are you yawning yet?









I think I'll take this lady's cue and go take a
rest on the bench down the street.

Thanks to all of you who helped out with your votes on fabric choices. Although it was helpful to have your opinions, I did not listen to you....not even you, Mom. I do love the black and white damask and am starting on new ideas of where to use it, but with the help of my designer extraordinaire friend, Shannon, we chose the paisley fabric. Shannon came over to look at the room and the fabrics in context with the wall color, furniture, and art ideas and helped us realize that the paisley would offer the most interest and give it a real designer look.

I got the fabric from a store, which shall remain nameless, no thanks to an unhelpful 80-year-old-Madge. The fabric happens to be a decorator fabric, which means that it is extra wide - nice feature for making curtains, but it is also extra heavy and thick - not so nice feature for an amateur sewer (I can't even call myself an amateur seamstress). I've sewed and ripped out something like 15,000 seams.

(This is exactly the look on my face...I feel your pain, 19th c. lady)

The main problem is that I'm trying to use a blackout liner that is very stretchy, slippery and thick. The combo of the fabric and liner is just too thick for my machine....or my brain - not sure which one. I actually broke a needle because I'm having to pull on the fabric to feed it through. I hate to do it , but I'm going to scrap the liner and just attempt to hem the fabric. At this point, I just want the curtains to be done. But, like a fool, I also decided to do a grommet top instead of a rod pocket, because apparently, the project wasn't hard enough for me yet. I'm intent on the grommet top because I love how it looks, but we'll see if I can accomplish it or not.

Are there any home-ecy types out there that know a thing or two about making curtains and also live near me? I would love some advice and/or help. For that matter, I would not turn a way a volunteer curtain maker.... I'll make you Ebelskiver pancakes!!

The rest of the room is coming together and I'll be posting pics once everything is in and finished.

Sunday, February 10, is officially Shark Sunday on the Discovery Channel!!

From noon to midnight is nothing but Shark programming. Even Mythbusters is getting in on the action.

Oh. Boy.

Today I got to host a brunch for the ladies in our Bible Study. So fun! We enjoyed lots of food and had a great time hangin' out.
I couldn't have done it without my wonderful friend
and culinary partner, Michelle.



Here was the DUH-licious menu:

Coffee (of course!)
Acai Green Tea
Blooming Jasmine Green Tea
Orange Juice
Lots of Fruit
Skillet Fried Canadian Bacon
Frazzled Eggs (fried in oil)
Apple Spice Filled Pancakes with Maple Whipped Cream
(Click HERE for the recipe)



Filled Pancakes are now my new favorite breakfast. I can't wait to try other fillings like lemon-mascarpone.....mmmmm. They are really fun and somewhat simple to make. The most time-consuming part is making the batter from scratch...but it is well worth it.

(Thanks Mom and Dad M. for my awesome Ebelskiver pan!! Thanks J for the sweet Cream Whipper!! Thanks Beth for my Blooming Tea set!!)



I also had fun doing a flower arrangement in my new vase from Mom and Dad W. I love the vase - it's so elegant. Thanks Mom and Dad!



(10 points to the person who figures out what the post title means)

We like to take Fritz to the dog beach every once in a while. I think we would probably go more often if Fritz could manage to stay a little cleaner. There are few smells worse than sandy, salt-watery dog. He also tends to embarrass us around the other dog owners. The picture is lovely...it's a warm summer day, families playing catch with their dogs named scruffy and fido on the beach, splashing in the water, running in slow motion along the surf...simply serene. Then there's Fritz. Blowing around like the Tasmanian devil after a sugar binge interrupting every game of catch and knocking women and children on their behinds. He blazes around, drunk with freedom, making either a friend or an enemy of every dog on the beach.

We've only let him off his leash a couple times because as you know from here and here, he does not respond well to the "come" command, especially when there are other dogs and miles of beach involved. One time when we did let him off leash he made the strategical error of running full boar up to a gang of rottweiler mafia assassins who immediately had him pinned on his back in the water. I'm pretty sure I heard one of them say to him, "You barkin at me, punk?"

The last time we let him off leash went pretty well until he found a guy building a sandcastle. At this point in the story, I need to take a moment to point out the ridiculousness of the situation. Who? I ask WHO would build a sandcastle on a dog beach? You've heard of yellow snow? The stuff blends into the sand much better....I wouldn't be stickin my fingers in it...EVER. Anyway, apparently because the castle was the tallest thing on the beach outside of people, Fritz decided it was a great place to mark. He confidently trotted right up to it, with the architect squatting right behind it digging the moat, and pronounced "Yep. This is mine." The architect was shocked and disgusted while I appreciated the irony of the moment. Think about it...a sandcastle on the dog beach with a moat filled by a dog! Fortunately, we were far enough away from the incident to pretend he wasn't ours.

Later that same day we met the above Great Dane. I've been wanting to get a 2nd dog and I think a Great Dane is a perfect counterpart to Fritz - half the energy, twice the size.
Besides, we could make money by selling pony rides to the neighborhood kids.

Ever since the advent of America's Funniest Home Videos (was there a show previous to that?) Americans have loved to watch people fall down, get knocked over and hit in the groin. There's something sick about enjoying other people's pain, but man, is it funny!


Take this poor fella for example. I'm not sure if he was trying to break dance or if the floor was recently waxed, but his fall is actually quite graceful. I'll give it an 8 out of 10 since he didn't point his toe.



Oh. Man. Nothing like being surprised by a pothole in the rain.
Alot of good that umbrella did him.




The things people do while falling are very funny to watch. It is certainly not good to be the one falling, but it's hilarious to be the one watching....



This is just Mean

Last weekend we took Fritz up to the snow for the first time. We piled in the Jeep and headed up the 5 to Frazier Park. Apparently we weren't the only people to have this idea. There were so many cars parked along the road and so many people playing in the snow that the police blocked the main exit from the 5. We drove a little farther and found that they had even closed the exit for the rest area. After a little searching and wandering we found a little road that looked like a service road of some type and turned onto it. It took us up to this cute little hidden neighborhood where there was a ton of fresh snow and very few visitors! Perfect! We parked the Jeep, put on Fritz's new coat he got for Christmas from J's parents (that's right...a new coat, complete with a Whistler resort ski patch), and started the video camera.....

Mountain View Pictures
Presents:

A Fritzy Wonderland

.....I know, I know....we're big nerds.

Those of you who have followed my blog for a while might remember when I posted THIS about mispronunciation. Here's round 2.

Correct:
Spectrasonics [spek-truh-son-iks]
Atmosphere [at-muhs-feer]
Stylus RMX [stahy-luhs R M X]
Trilogy [tril-uh-jee]


Incorrect:
Spectrumsonics
Assmosphere
Stylux
Stylus RMS, MRX, DMX, GMX
Cyclist
Trilgy
Trilogu

Come on people....