
I'll be grilling 2 racks of baby-backs on the grill and I'm thinking a pasta salad would be lovely with them. Oh get over it, we always make enough for left-overs for the both of us. I think I'll extend an invite to my brother as well. He rarely chooses to join us, but you never know, do ya.
I was looking at facebook and I saw a friends' post regarding fireworks and the 4th of July earlier this past week. It was a of a combat veteran who had a sign that asked that we be thoughtful or at least respectful where & when setting off your fireworks. Wow! I'd never even considered how these brave men & women would feel with all of these things going off at all hours and so unexpectedly.
PTSD is a real issue for these people and they should be considered. I just don't know how one would know. It's not something the average person can sense. No outward signs to visually witness. We don't know our neighbors like we used to anymore and thats sad to me. so rarely do we know these things.
Although, I do know my neighbors. I purposely wanted to live in a neighborhood that was kinda old like that. No bars on windows, folks greet each other on the sidewalk, inviting each other to gatherings, bringing "goodies" at the holidays, helping when needed, etc.
I've had 6 of my neighbors at my house for the annual house parties over the years. I really like that.
Anyways, back to my original point about fireworks and PTSD. I have no solutions for us but I thought it was important to at least think about it. Their lives have been forever changed in service of our country and, I believe, its our responsibility to take their sacrifices into consideration and help if we can, by making it less stressful if possible. Our freedom isn't free, as the saying goes. It was paid for at a very steep price.
Something else to think about are our pets. They really don't like the firecrackers and such. I remember poor Putney jumping up on the bed and keeping me awake most of the night, freaked out by the racket from firecrackers. Cats seem to be a target for some idiots who seem to take pleasure in torturing them so keep your animals safe inside. I know after the mild temps of this morning, about 6am and only 75 degrees out, I'm closing off the doggie door on Cray-ray and he'll be ticked off about it but he'll be safe.

Out vets and our pets need to be considered in our celebrations. They both give, as well as gave, so much to give us the lives we live.
Say thank you, give a hug, be grateful we're free.
Last Saturday, G. & I went up to the Biosphere 2. How cool is that place? We walked around for 2 hours. So interesting. If you're wondering what Biosphere 1 might be, as I was, it's our planet. Biosphere2 is an amazing project now owned by the UofA. When it was 1st built, and how did they come up with this?, it housed 8 people inside for 2 years. They weren't able to get out and they lived off of what they grew in there. Amazing! There are 5 ecosystems in the thing. A rainforest, an oceanic, a desert, and so on. They're now working on a landscape and water project. No, noone lives in there now anymore they could if they wanted to I suppose. There's also some housing built now for the researchers, students and teachers that are eco and self-sustaining.
Now, for my past weeks workouts. I am also trying to regain my cardiovascular stamina again. I did a few cardio workouts and in some cases multiple cardios in 1 day. Whew. I thought my lungs were gonna blow outa my chest during a Zumba class I took right after having taught a cardio class. I looked up at the clock and wanted to run (by that I mean try & haul my butt outa the room) at 1/2 past the hour but I stuck it out and felt pretty good about myself afterwards. Later that same afternoon I did a short core workout using the "RIP" trainer.My pal M. helped me with that. Whoa Nellie! Thats tough, but again, I felt great having put so much into myself. I'm getting my strength and my endurance back come hell or high water.
I'm down a full 4#'s and working for more to start falling by the wayside every week. I really don't care much about the scale but love that my clothes are fitting better each & every day.
My knee doesn't hurt a bit when dancing or anything else for that matter but my left foot still bothers me some. I did a foot workout of sorts on some "sole energizers" and that helped my foot immensely. I have some similar items at home called "foot wakers" from the Yamuna Body Rolling system and will be utilizing them much more in the future.
Well, Putney's looking at me waiting not so patiently for his W-A-L-K so I better get to it.
Peace out, stay safe and keep dancing.