The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades...

July has been a pretty good month for us. Nothing catastrophic happened that I can remember off the top of my head, always a good sign. And a few good things happened, like the last Harry Potter book came out, our friend Brent stayed with us for a few days, and we got to visit a lot of our friends and family at the beginning of the month.

Matt's mom is doing well, all things considered. She's looking down the home stretch regarding the end of her chemotherapy. Thereafter, she'll have to start taking chemical injections. We really haven't heard anything about how those affect you. Hopefully they won't be as bad as the chemo, which has left her very fatigued lately. A lot of her friends have rallied around her lately, offering to accompany or drive her to her treatments, visiting and taking her shopping and out to have fun, baking goodies, sending cards or calling to check on her, in an effort to keep her in good spirits. It pains Matt and me that we can't be there to help more right now, but we are very, very thankful for those who have helped out and just loved Mom so much. It has really made a difference in how these treatments have affected her and Dad.

We saw Matt's parents, of course, while we were visiting the beginning of the month. We spent July 4th with Eric, Pam, and Kaitlyn, and some of Pam's family at her house. It was really a neat experience, because this was Natalee's first real Independence Day (since last year she was too young to enjoy anything), and Matt and I hadn't done anything to celebrate the 4th in a few years. Pam's daughter Kaitlyn worked at her dad's firework stand for several days preceding the 4th, and so got a lot of fireworks as payment. Plus I think Eric and Pam bought quite a few too. So we got to watch Matt and Eric light off fireworks and watch the fireworks being shot off over the lake in the distance. Natalee at first was a little stunned by all the noise and light and smoke, but she was having fun and pointing out the explosions to everybody by the end. But she enjoyed playing with Kaitlyn, who's ten, and her friend, the most. She even left my lap halfway through the fireworks to go to Kaitlyn's. It was really special to sit and watch fireworks with Natalee and enjoy the holiday with friends.

Natalee and I also spent a day with Kara and Jennifer, and got to visit with Dad and Brenda a little bit at the end of the day. It's hard adjusting to the idea of Jennifer driving her own car. I still slip up once in a while and call Natalee Jennifer, since Jenn was my baby when she was little. We had a good time running all over the Lake Dallas area with them, meeting Kara's long time boyfriend Trevor, getting my haircut, eating ice cream at Coldstone's, chatting at their house. I know it's been a while now since we lived in the same house, but I still miss my sisters and wish that we lived a lot closer.

We attended Brent's birthday party and visited with Brent and Rachel, Pam and Eric, Tamara and Michael Quick, and some of Brent's family. And Natalee got to run amok with a herd of little kids around her age in a house full of toys. We also got to see Brad and my family a few times over at my grandparents', once just to eat lunch and the second time at the obligatory family get together with lots of family photos. Brad seemed a little tense from stress lately, but I think being home with the family helped give him back some confidence. It's hard to imagine Brad being down for long. He's still my buff, cocky, sensitive firefighter brother, and I'm very proud of him and what he's done with his life.

Since then, things have been pretty easy going. Matt's had to work a lot of overtime, since two of his co-workers' wives were due to give birth this month and another co-worker resigned. Natalee's had three or four teeth coming in, which has thrown a knot into our schedule. If she doesn't take a good nap, she doesn't sleep well at night, and neither do I as consequence. And if she doesn't sleep well at night, she usually won't take a good nap the next day. It's been frustrating, but Matt and I've re-adjusted to giving Natalee something for the teething pain, just letting her fuss at times, and knowing when and how to catch back up on missed sleep.

Brent came to stay with us a few days this past week while he took one of his exams in downtown Houston for becoming a doctor. This one involved visiting with 12 professional fake patients, spending no more than 15 minutes with each, and diagnosing their 'medical problem' while being watched by a review board on camera. It sounded pretty frustrating to do within the time limits, but I've got faith that Brent handled it well. Matt was glad to see him, even if it was during his work week. As Matt described it, we're pretty insular here at home, so company is always a good thing. We also got to meet Brent downtown with one of our old friends, Sam, from college. Sam was Matt's RA in Eppright for a few years, and was one of the groomsmen in Brent's wedding. It was good to see him again, but a little bittersweet as well. We don't have as many things to connect on as we used to, since Sam's a successful career-focused guy without the responsibilities of a family. And Matt and I . . . pretty much focus and depend on and support our family unit. It made me miss the kinship we once had in college with our college buddies, where we were all young and silly and somewhat smart (some more than others) and with the same sort of moral code and willing to have fun. We've had to grow up since then. Maybe it's just me. Brent has a family and still connects pretty well with Sam, and I think Matt would fit in if he had a little more free time just to hang out and visit. But as for me, what can I discuss that has any relevance for someone with a business world career and no real home ties? Harry Potter and Aggie sports was about it. *wry smile* C'est la vie.

As for me this past month, I've mostly been dealing with the changes in Natalee's nap and bedtime routine, scrubbing floors and wiping down cabinets for company, and trying to find a recipe I liked for banana bread. I'll try to post it at the end of this. I think I finally found one, after some trial and error, that is moist and sweet and nutty and good. And, I got glasses this past weekend. I've been having headaches for months now, usually right around the time I lay Natalee down for her nap, and I sit down, drink my one caffeinated beverage for the day and read. For a while now, I thought the headaches were a result of the caffeine. And then I had headaches while I stayed up at night to read Harry Potter, when I hadn't had a soda in hours. That tipped me off that I needed to have my eyes checked. My eyes aren't bad. I don't technically need glasses. But I have an astigmatism in my left eye that gives me eyestrain and headaches, especially in dim light. Bad news when I'm a readaholic, try to keep the lights off as much as possible during the day, and with all the funky, cloudy weather this summer, there hasn't been much sunlight to light up the apartment. I don't have a problem if I'm in a very well-lit area or I'm outside in broad daylight, so let's say when I'm driving during the day, I don't need them. But pretty much anytime, anywhere else, they help a lot. They've sharpened my vision some, and I haven't had a headache since I got them, except when I take them off for long periods of time in the apartment. So, hurray! I'm just crossing my fingers that Matt'll go get his eyes checked, now that he knows what to do and where to go from me. His eyes are much worse than mine.

So, all in all, July hasn't been bad. Hopefully August will go as well.

Banana Bread

1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed very ripe bananas (3 to 4 medium)
1/2 cup buttermilk (this helps keep it moist)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped nuts, if desired

1. Move oven rack to low position so that tops of pans will be in center of oven. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottoms only of 2 loaf pans, 8 1/2x4 1/2x2 1/2 inches, or 1 loaf pan, 9x5x3 inches.

2. Mix sugar and butter in large bowl. Stir in eggs until well blended. Add bananas, buttermilk and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt just until moistened. Stir in nuts. Pour into pans.

3. Bake 8-inch loaves about 1 hour, 9-inch loaf about 1 1/4 hours, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Loosen sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans and place top side up on wire rack. Cool completely, about 2 hours, before slicing. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature up to 4 days, or refrigerate up to 10 days. [From bettycrocker.com]