Happy Valentines day, for those of you who are obligated to express
your love in tangible ways.  Poor Joy gets nothing today on the excuse
that our valentines occur at any time on any day throughout the year.
The downside is that she rarely gets flowers from me, except in the
Spring and Summer when they are plentiful in our gardens.  It might be
a sad excuse to be cheap - and I don't deny that I am, and she would
have to agree that she made me what I am.  However, one might question
the authenticity of passion if it must be marked on a particular day
regardless of how you feel at the moment.  

But to show you that I am sensitive to the pressure of society, Joy
and I are going out for dinner... tomorrow (no crowds), with the
Magnusons, and then to a free (and coincidentally scheduled) concert
at our church, featuring several of our own in the orchestra,
including Akiko Long on the piano. 

Saturday was the big day for activity.  In the morning, we dropped
Andrew off at the church where he went off with some of his classmates
to the Pastor's house to makes some wooden signs for camp.  Jessica
and her friend took the other car and went to pick out Prom dresses.
Later, Jessica modeled the dress for us.  Andrew asked if Jessica had
a date for the Prom.  She said no and that several of her friends were
going alone.  Andrew replied that she would probably come home with a
date because of the dress she had picked out.  I'm not sure what he
meant because I thought she looked very nice.

Before we left for California, we ordered furniture for the computer
room: a simple desk, a hutch (to house the computer components), and a
filing cabinet. Up until now, the computer room had been furnished by
the generosity of family members and we have been wanting to make it
more usable space for some time.

Joy and I went to pick up some furniture for the computer room in
Nashua and to pick up the remote control that we tried to get replaced
from Circuit City three months ago.  (Circuit City has given us the
worst service!  Don't get me started!) We also stopped in at another
furniture store and purchased an additional computer center that we
will put to use as a sewing and crafts center for Joy.  (I staked a
claim to Valentine's Day for that one, too.)

There was some assembly required for what we brought home. We had
hoped to just place it and get on with our other Saturday chores.
Alas. I disconnected all the computer wires and, contorting this way
and that, fed them through a hole in the back of the base of the
hutch.  Unfortunately, I discovered that my new computer box was too
deep to fit neatly in the cabinet with the wires attached; some fancy
moulding on the front of the computer made it stick out too far.  I
disconnected all the wires and reconfigured everything again with the
box on the floor under the desk.

Meanwhile, Joy and kids were cleaning the house. We had to get
everything done before we hosted a gathering for the worship team and
their spouses that evening.  Both Emily and Jessica were babysitting
for two of our guests that evening (so we waived the cover charge for
attending). ;-) Actually, everyone brought something and there was way
too much food.  :^9

On Sunday, the Teen Council held their meeting at the house and I got
to show off my new computer game. (Descent 3) 

Things are back to their normal pace, and the winter weather gets
really tiresome by now in New England.  I hope you're holding up as we
slog through a couple of more months.

Mark

P.S. Thanks for your updates and notes about your lives.  I enjoy them
very much.
  )\._..--....,---,      Mark Metcalfe        ,        |\      _,,,--,,_  ,)
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