So what does July 4th even mean to people any more? A day off from work? Shelling out the bucks to buy enough fireworks to blow up your house? I have to admit, I’ve caught myself thinking along those lines and forgetting why we have the day off and what the fireworks represent. But the way the world is screwed up these days, who knows?

Anyway. Busy weekend. We took the kids to the Pet Parade, and the festival in the park, and my parents came over for steaks, cake, and fireworks. Beautiful weather, all weekend. The rest of the weekend was spent on yardwork; trees got pruned, some edging got done, bark dust laid down, garden got weeded. The lawn hasn’t recovered much from the dethatching, but no matter.

Oh, and I finished up Ender’s Shadow and plowed through Shadow of the Hegemon this weekend, too. It’s been awhile since I’ve gone through 2 books in a single week. Dunno if I’ll keep up with it.