Banana mashing is fun!!!

I just finished baking my first loaves of bread. I made three small loaves of Banana bread from scratch. One is Apple butter banana bread and the others are plain banana bread with walnuts. It smells delicious in here!! I've always wanted a bread maker. I still don't have one, but I think I can manage. I used loaf pans. I made them for our Sunday School class. I wanted to do something besides donuts or breakfast casserole. I saw these recipes in the Betty Crocker and realized that I had found a project! It's 1:30 am right now and I have to be at the Alzheimer's walk at 7:30 or so. I also have a cook out at Wes' parents at noon and then we have to go to my High School reunion at 6pm. I'll be tired tomorrow, but I'll manage. I'm currently waiting for the bread to cool so I can wrap it up and go to bed.

Yesterday, I finished reading Flags of our Fathers. It's a great book. I've seen the movie, but books are almost always better. This one hits closer to home because my (great) Uncle was a flamethrower and was there when the flag went up on Iwo Jima. He wrote a few short memoirs of his experiences that day and the days following. His stories are nearly identical to the book, but you can tell in his writings that he was haunted by what he saw. His English is bad which makes it a bit difficult to read, but I find it fascinating. I am proud to say that I have relatives who served our country on such historic days. I am also proud to say that my 6th Great Grandfather on my Dad's side was a man named Ferdinand Kowall. He was Copernicus' Assistant. He helped Copernicus prove that the world was round and traveled with him during his academic quests.

This morning, I started reading Randy Pausch's book, Last Lecture. I have not been able to put it down. I have read over a hundred pages already. It's a small book, but full of wonderful life lessons from a man who knew his fate. I'm pretty sure I'll finish it before the weekend is up.

I think my bread is cool enough now. I'm going to bed. I have to be up in 4 hours... If you see me yawning tomorrow, pinch me and tell me it's my own fault for staying up so late. I could have just bought donuts.....