This day was divided into nearly equal halves. I spent the first half of it shut up in my house while the yard guys made all kinds of noise outside. It wasn’t the noise that made me keep the doors and windows closed tightly, though. It was the grasses and weeds that were flying around in the air outside. I’m really glad to have the job (half) done (and finished, if all goes well, tomorrow). But it wasn’t what my allergies needed, and I can feel it in my head and throat tonight.

The second half of the day was much better. I picked Mom up and we were at Suzanne’s house by 2:00 pm. The whole family was together for the first time in months. It’s hard to keep track of everyone these days, because their lives are so busy and complicated. It takes a huge effort on everyone’s part to make this happen, but I give a lot of credit to Suzanne and John for hosting the event.

It was a long day for me, because the yard work started about two hours before I normally get up on a Sunday. But I think I held up pretty well under scrutiny. Aiden and Kylie managed to con me into playing with them. I didn’t try very hard to resist, and they wouldn’t have let me off the hook anyway. So we tossed and kicked the ball around in the back yard, and then we played Bounty Hunter after we came inside.

In Bounty Hunter, you chase down clones and shoot them with laser weapons. It’s pretty complex, but I tried to follow Aiden’s explanation. He’s pretty heavily into the mythology of it all. I actually think I played it better than I’m describing it. I wore out before they did, of course, but I acquitted myself well. And by that I mean that nobody cried and everyone was more or less satisfied.