Adding some brightness

We always stay home on the 4th of July to help our kitties through the scary fireworks.  Both of them stayed under the bed for a while.  I turned on the dishwasher and the TV to try to help drown it out a little and I talked softly to them and acted calm so they wouldn't be more afraid.  Zoe seemed to think there was something inside the house making the noise and ran out from under the bed and around the main floor looking for it and then stood in the middle of the biggest room on her back feet like a little meerkat for several seconds, then went back under the bed.  The cutie. :)
I shouldn't be surprised, but John's arrival date is now a little later than I thought so he'll be home at the beginning of August rather than the end of July.  We had been told since he was in a small group that went early last year that he would get to come back early.  However, trying to plan things a year away is tricky.  But it will still be soon. =)  They also cut his leave in half, so we won't have as much time together as we thought before he goes back to work, either.  It's been very frustrating.  A year ago, I was looking into moving back to Utah to be close to family and then they changed his departure date so we suddenly only had 2 weeks until he had to leave.  So, unless I had driven across the country with two cats by myself in a ten year old car... I had to stay here all alone.  It has been very hard, but it's made me stronger.
Miles has been vomiting almost every day this week.  I'm waiting for the vet to call me back about it as I write this.  Holding back on fluids made the blood count go up too much so we've been doing fluids every 2.5 days.  His back has been healing up nicely, though. :)
I've been cooking more simply the past little while.  The heat and Miles leave me less inclined to stand at the stove for very long. xD  And lately I've found that I really love having some acid in a recipe.  Vinegar or citrus or something like adding tomato to a recipe that is normally bland or rich gives it a new character that I enjoy.  A brightness.  =)  I like it when acidity can cut through the heaviness of a dish like that.  Like how shrimp scampy can be too buttery without the lemon in there to lighten it up.  Same with hollandaise sauce. :)  Just something I've found cool lately. ;)

About 4 more weeks to go.  We can do it!