Some Things Friday for July 30, 2010

Hasn't this been a big news week? I have a lot on my mind, so I'm not going to stick to the usual Some Things Friday format, but I will include a little of everything.

• I really love my new workout and I think I'm improving faster. I think I mentioned that I started using Jeff Galloway's 30:30 Run/Walk training podcast that I downloaded from Motion Traxx. I think it's meant to be more of a training tool to increase speed, but I like it for a beginning runner as well. It's easier for me to recover, which means I can do more. So, today I did 2.6 miles (not the time for high fives and male chest bumps yet) starting with JG's 30 minute workout followed immediately by a 20 minute power walk. I'm soaking wet, but I feel good. I'll feel better once I stop writing and take off my running shoes. Hold on just a second....


• ...There. That is much better [toes wiggling]. I'm going to start tracking my progress on my sidebar, so check back periodically. If you are training or just trying to get into shape, I sure would like to hear how you are doing.


• With that out of the way, I'm going to let my mind ramble just a little. Lindsey Lohan. Did you hear? Her stylists (that's plural ~ more than one) are on alert. Talk is that LiLo may just get out of jail sometime this weekend. She wants to be ready. Lord knows she can't just wash her face, brush her teeth, comb her hair (extensions) and wear the same clothes leaving jail and she did going to jail. That all important 60-second perp walk from jail to her black SUV with the shiny chrome wheels and dark tinted windows must be a dazzler. I'll hold my breath.


• Oh. My. God. Did you see the video of Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) this morning? That man got a mad on. House Republicans defeated a bill that would have provided medical and financial aid to those 9/11 responders sickened by the toxins created by the attacks. Rep. Weiner didn't take to that very well. He's from New York and represents many of people who were affected. And he wasn't about to keep quiet about it...
  
  
  
  I think we need more of this. I heart Anthony Weiner.


• As of this morning, July has been the deadliest month of the 9-year war in Afghanistan. Let me just get this straight. We went there looking for Osama Bin Laden and to stop Al-Qaeda. Our focus shifted as Al-Qaeda moved out of Afghanistan and we are now "fighting" the Taliban supporters. Sources confirm that there only 50 to 100 Taliban in Afghanistan, but we've deployed over 100,000 troops to fight them. HUH??? AND the House just passed a $59 billion war spending bill. For 100 Taliban? No, we're nation building. Our military personnel are construction workers and laborers. I can think of a lot better things that our military could be doing. I'm sure their families feel the same way. It's time to bring them all home and stop wasting precious resources ~ human and financial.


• Jersey Shore, Season 2 coming soon. If I accidentally view even 2 seconds of it while I am channel surfing, I promise to take a disinfecting shower.


• I don't think I've seen one full episode of American Idol....ever. Not even when faced with the ridicule of my entire town because I could have cared less about Kris Allen. But I tried to watch when Ellen DeGeneres became a judge. I don't often watch daytime television, but I love Ellen and I've watched her talk show a few times, so I thought perhaps I'd give American Idol a shot and watch one whole episode. I couldn't make it. I did well. I watched about 30 minutes. That's all I could stand. Now Ellen is leaving and apparently will be replaced by one of the most over-rated performers of all time, Jennifer Lopez. Yet another reason not to watch.


• Tom went out early this morning to mow the back yard before the brutal heat set in. He called me outside to see a new, rare end-of-summer blossom on the wysteria that climbs the pergola. While I was outside marveling at the flora (I'm easily amused), I decided to take some photos of my yard...
  
  My sweet potato vine that is apparently in the kudzu family. It is growing in a clay pot that gets watered only periodically, but it's about the only thing that is thriving in this heat.
  
  
  
  
  There were a couple of lovely wisteria flowers.
  
  
  
  
  
  Guess...
  
  
  What? You can't tell what this is? Why, it's parsley, flat-leaf Italian parsley to be exact. Two days ago it had lovely green leaves. Now there is a very fat and very dead green worm in my compost pile. I don't take herb theft lightly.
  
  And finally, I purchased a pack of Malabar Red Stem Spinach seeds last spring. It was supposed to look like this...
  
  
  
  I planted the seeds, watered them and they started to grow, but not quite like the above photo...
  
  
  
  And they don't taste like spinach either.
  
  I put a lot of time, energy and money into my garden, but I think I need to step back and put this whole gardening thing into perspective. What with all the seed and plant purchases, the time spent planting and composting, then fertilizing, weeding, stakes, tomato cages, water, blah, blah, blah, it would be easier and probably cheaper to drive to Little Rock Farmer's Market every Saturday morning.
  
  Except that I would still definitely have to have my herb garden....and the poblano peppers did really well....and maybe I was just too ambitious....and darn! I wanted to try peas, and have them climb up the gate entrance I wanted Tom to build.........
  
  Who am I kidding....