This is for all of my friends and family who had birthdays this month:



Happy Birthday Danny, Audra, Ashley, Michelle, Chad, Mom W, Ethan, Darius & Ryan!!

Boxers are really smart. Too smart.  Unlike golden retrievers, who would happily do anything you ask just for a "good dog" pat on the head, boxers will weigh the options and choose the one that best fits their schedule. Fritz and I have these exchanges almost daily. I ask him to do something and he thinks through the pros and cons of my request before making his decision. 

For example, when he escapes our yard into the greener pastures of the neighborhood and harasses all the neighbor dogs within 30 seconds flat, I'll call out to him, "Fritz, COME!" He stops, looks at me and thinks "If I go to her, I'll get water and I am really thirsty from running so fast. I'll probably get a nice treat and belly scratch for obeying. I'll be able to rest on my nice soft doggie bed. On the other hand, if I don't go to her, I'll be free to go wherever I want! I won't be stuck behind that dumb gate. I can play with the german shepherds down the street and I might score some refried beans and tortillas from the neighbors. Yeah... I'm gonna stay out here, lady. You can chase me if you want, but you know I'm faster than you."  

At this point, it doesn't matter what I have to offer - treats, water, toys, affection, a cat - he will not come. I'm going to have to catch him which means sneaking up on him ninja style while he's in a neighbor's yard and sealing off all the possible exits so that he has no option but be caught and drug back home.

One time we had some friends over at our house and Lightning McFritz took a 3 second window of opportunity to escape through the open screen door. I took off after him. Our friend Paul Hoover was hot on his tail through the door and stayed with him until he made the costly error of going into a fenced yard with easily sealed exits.  He had no where to go but was not about to get caught. He darted back and forth laughing at me while I tried to grab him when, suddenly, Paul took a flying leap and tackled him football style. I'll never forget the look on Fritz' face as Paul flew toward him in slow-motion, arms straight out like super man. His eyes got real wide and his mouth dropped open in shock. Yep, that was a great day. 

Humans-1/ Dogs-0

The coolest Swedish Rock bands from the 1970s



This was the picture they sent in for their ELF audition...only the "guy" seated in the center got a call-back. Affirmative Action strikes again.



The members of the Frittes gang are only slightly better known for their roles as the Knights of the Round Table in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.



This group of hairdos got their start handing out cool candys at local parks in Stockholm. After several arrests they decided to abandon that line of work and try their luck at barber shop music.



Garvis made the mistake of taking their Christmas album cover photo in their new polyester suits during the record heat wave of August, 1972.



Ivan Henrys can now be seen opening for Flickorna Fem on their 5th tour of Scandinavian nursing homes.



Ingrid had enjoyed a nice Surströmming for lunch and was now reaping the consequences. Henrik, Lars, Klas and Ingvar thought the sound effect was hilarious, while poor Hans received the brunt of it.


THANKS MATT!!

You may have seen these guys before but it's worth another watch

When I started this blog back in April I had two main purposes 1. Post about the random things that happen in our life for our friends and family 2. Post about the random, crazy stuff Fritz does. It's now been almost 3 months since I posted anything about Fritz. I guess our little puppy has finally turned into an adult, he is 3 after all. Now don't get me wrong, he's still full of energy and can be quite crazy, just not crazy enough to make a good blog post.



Since I'm in need of another weekly theme I'm going to dub Friday, Fritz Friday, which will now be dedicated to Fritzgerald stories from the last 3 years and I'll sprinkle in some current stories should he do something blog worthy.

I'd like to take a poll from all of you faithful readers (that's you Mom) which title has your vote?
(this is when you use that feature about a couple inches down called "Comments")

1. Fritzstoferson Friday
2. Friday on the Fritz
3. I've been Fritzed Friday
4. TGIFritz

Any favorites? Feel free to submit your own titles too.

ENGRISH



I think this picture was taken in my neighborhood....

www.engrish.com

If any of you or anyone you know doubt the historical veracity of the Bible, you've got to read this.

NT Christology (i.e. Jesus): mythical? made up?

It is well worth your time to read this post and even to read each linked article. Dan J. Phillips is a skilled apologist and a godly man. I particularly love the article he wrote called, Why I Am (Still) a Christian.

Team Pyro strikes again!

Do you remember when I saw Cedric the Entertainer? Well, one of the great things about living in L.A. is not only do you see a celebrity from time to time, but if you keep your eyes peeled you might just stumble upon a random studio in the middle of Sun Valley where the hit NBC show, THE OFFICE is filmed.

There's definitely going to be some lunch break studio steak outs this season. I'll let you know if I actually see any of the stars.

My friend, who shall remain nameless, is a first year teacher at a local school. She did something the other day from the list of top 5 things NOT to do.

In her 3rd grade music class she has a little guy who cannot use his right arm or leg. My friend, in an effort to include him in the class' daily activities, asked this little guy to help her pass out the new books. As soon as she made the request and he began making his way to the front she realized she had made a big mistake that she could not back out of. Is she supposed to say "Never-mind, let's have someone who can use both his arms help"? Uh, No. Instead, she asked another student to help the poor guy take one book at a time to the kids. As if that wasn't enough of a snafu, she then tried to recover by asking him to help with "something he COULD do"... play pat-a-cake! Really!? Really friend!?

Happy 5th Birthday Ashley girly!!



You're growing into a beautiful young lady!

We had a new little friend come visit, his name is Manny. Manny the Praying Mantis. He showed up on our screen door a few days ago and stayed for 2 whole days. I'm afraid Fritz may have eaten him, but I don't think so because when he was sitting here in the doorway and I pointed him out, Fritz didn't seem to even notice. I'm not sure if he's good at blending in or Fritz is bad at seeing.



Meeting Manny inspired me to write a little story that I'm hoping turns into a kids book. I come up with ideas like this sometimes that I hope will make alot of money without my having to put in too much effort. Any illustrators out there who want to get in on a potential book deal? Any publishers out there looking for the next big hit in children's literature?

This is why I love Manatees

So I was sitting at work today when John called my cell. 

"Hey, I was just at Poquito Mas and you'll never guess who walked in." 

"Who?" I asked.

"Rhett and Link!" he said. 

"What?! THE Rhett and Link?" I replied.

Those of you who have followed my blog over the last couple months may remember when I discovered rhettandlink.com (Thank you Rick Holland). I put up just a couple of their genius videos here. 

So today was my opportunity to meet a couple of real life ce-web-rities*. That's right. Ce-WEB-rities*. I know it's only a matter of time until they are big-time celebrities on TV and so I just had to get my picture with them. Not only that, but I think they're pretty hilarious and awesome. 

I think I kind of overwhelmed them a bit. Apparently, I was the first person in the LA area to "spot" them and I think it took them by surprise. I don't normally get nervous about stuff like that, but for some reason today I did. I was just a step or two short of being just like an awkward junior higher who just met the bass player for her favorite band and the only thing she could think to say was, "I'm in a band." Except in this context it was, "I have a blog." What a nerd. But you already knew that....I really am a blerd. 

Here's the proof. 


(I'm kicking myself for waking up too late this morning to have a decent hairdo)

The guy in the background is involved with their new TV show on The CW called Online Nation, premiering Sunday, Sept 23 at 7:30/6:30c pm.  Set up your Tivo season pass for that!

Well, thanks Rhett and Link for taking this picture with me and being cool about it. Cant wait for your show!


* I have to give credit to my husband for this. "Ce-web-rity" appears courtesy of John Martin, JLM Creative.

I am all done with that song. If you don't know what song I'm talking about, count yourself blessed. I refuse to link to it on my blog, but if you must put yourself through the torture of having a song in your head that sticks worse than "It's a Small World" just go to YouTube and search for Chocolate Rain. From there you can enjoy many different video versions of the song including the parody - Vanilla Snow.

This song has been passed around via email among our friends for about a week now and I can't stand to hear it anymore. John came up with his own parody which captures my feelings exactly:

Choc'late PAIN!

I think I'm really gonna go insane.

CHOC'late PAIN!

If I listen to that stupid song again

Choc'late PAIN!

All versions of this song are really lame

CHOC'late PAIN!

Just a little bit of YouTube fame

Choc'late PAIN!

Makes me want to set something aflame

CHOC'late PAIN!

A splinter in my mind, that's CHOC'LATE RAIN!

WOW!

Cooking Light Magazine
About 2 servings (double for 4 and so on)

1/4 cup low-fat mayonnaise
1 tsp curry powder
2 tsp water
1 cup chopped skinless, boneless, grilled chicken OR 1 - 5 oz can chicken breast in water
1/4 cup red apple (about 1 small)
1/3 cup diced celery
3 Tbsp raisins
1/8 tsp salt

Combine Mayo, curry and water in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk until well blended. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir well to combine. Cover and chill. Serve with whole grain crackers, or spread on whole wheat bread with a romaine lettuce leaf for a sandwich.

Yield - 2 servings about 1 cup each
Calories: 222 (22% from fat)
Fat: 5.4 g
Protein: 17.5 g
Carb: 26.9g
Fiber: 2.5g
Chol: 50mg
Iron: 1.5mg
Sodium: 731mg
Calcium: 30 mg

This is a family recipe that my Grandma still makes. Delicious!!

Marinade
Equal parts Kikkoman Soy Sauce and Dark Brown Sugar*
For each cup of soy sauce in the proportion add:
3 large cloves garlic
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp Chinese 5 Spice power (optional)
2 Tbsp oil (optional)
*I add 2-3 Tbsp dry white wine to the sauce/sugar mixture

(1 cup equal parts soy sauce and sugar for 1 chicken or 2 lbs other meat)

Directions:
Marinate chicken/meat for a minimum of 30 minutes and maximum of 8 hours. (For advance preparation, meat may be marinated and then removed from the marinade and frozen until needed.) Oven bake at 325 or grill on BBQ.

Thanks Aunt Jenny!!

I'm not a big fan of cats. I don't think I'll go so far as to say that I actually "hate" them, but I don't see myself ever owning one. I read a great post over on Team Pyro by someone who actually does hate cats, nay, loathe cats. If you are in any way a fan of cats, I don't suggest reading this. For those of you who don't wish to read a post demeaning cats, here are the results of an image search in google for "ugly cats."

Is he screaming or yawning? And also, is that actually fur?


This cat actually looks quite comfortable in his skin


I don't know which is more disturbing, the cat or the lady's fingernails.


I don't want to talk about this one


That's abusive


Aw, Frankencat's 1st grade school picture


Say hello to my little friend!


I bet he's got a good sense of humor

(No, that's not our car. Yes, I am seriously considering copying the idea)

We talked about going to the beach for labor day, but I don't think we want to brave that drive or the crowds and besides, I heard that it doesn't feel much cooler at the beach because it's so humid. So I think we'll spend the day in the pool instead.

Speaking of the pool, since it's been well over a 1/2 hour since I last ate, I'm going to follow this guy's example and go jump in.