Sunday, June 15, 2025 – Day 306

Sunday, June 15, 2025

Good morning.☀️

Let’s take a moment to celebrate all the dads out there—Happy Father’s Day! Wishing everyone a great day surrounded by family, friends, and maybe a cold drink or two.

We celebrated a day early, gathering yesterday at Donna and Joe’s house. Saturdays tend to be easier for the younger crew—gives them time to head home and mentally brace for Monday.

Joining us were the Balasis (Mark, Barb, Geoff, and Kristen) and Alex and Nicole (the fiancée, not the sister… yes, I know—too many Nicoles). It was a laid-back afternoon in the backyard, with sunshine, low humidity, and 70° temps. Pure weather perfection. We started out on the porch with a few beverages, and lunch was meat pizza and salad. I skipped the salad. I’ll pause here while you recover from the shock.

After lunch, the kids got a game of bags going, and after watching for a bit, I figured I’d give it a try. It’s low impact—just tossing a beanbag—no running, no lifting. Plus, it’s one of those “sports” where drinking beer while playing is perfectly acceptable. Right up there with golf, bowling, and jarts (the original lawn darts—also known as a lawsuit in a box).

I hobbled out to the lawn with Donna gripping the back of my shirt like a safety tether. In hindsight, I probably should’ve warned her it was a magnet shirt—if I went down, she’d be left holding fabric. Fortunately, the theory never got tested.

I tried a few practice tosses standing next to the board. My balance was shaky, and the beanbags barely made it to the front. I tried sitting—somehow worse. Kristen didn’t hesitate—she moved the board closer. Still short. Moved it again. Finally, the distance was close enough to give me a fighting chance.

The match: Geoff and Cindy vs. Alex and me. I started with more short tosses, still trying to figure out what my body could actually do. Eventually, I found my groove—standing with the backs of my legs braced against the chair for balance and throwing from a fixed stance. I still wobbled and took a few recovery steps after each toss, which meant Geoff had to keep running over to catch me in case I missed the chair on my way back down. Not a bad strategy—kept him distracted.

Despite Cindy sinking multiple bags early on, Alex and I made a slow comeback by consistently keeping our bags on the board. Geoff, between acting as my spotter and overshooting from the shortened distance, couldn’t find his rhythm. Somehow, we squeaked out a win. Not pretty, but a win’s a win—and it felt good just to be part of the game.

So yes, I can still get out there and play a lawn game or two. Next up: croquet. Seems like a smart option—built-in cane.

By 6:00, I was fading fast, so we started our goodbyes. Of course, we had to turn around after we left—I’d forgotten my phone. Cue mini panic. No phone = no blog = mental chaos. Honestly, posting after 7:00 a.m. already makes me twitchy.

Donna was already rallying the neighbors for round two, and she invited us to stay—but there was no way I’d survive another couple of hours, and poor Cindy would’ve needed a forklift to get me safely home. We passed and headed out before anything went sideways.

It was a great summer day with family and a meaningful way to celebrate Father’s Day. Whatever your plans are today, I wish you plenty of love and hugs from family and friends.

Happy Father’s Day.
 Love you guys! ❤️