For those of you west of the Mississippi, south of the Mason Dixon
line, across the pond, or down under: if you have heard the old axiom
"if you don't like the weather in New England, just wait a few
minutes", last week would have made you understand where it came from.
We had 75 degree temps in the far reaches of the northeast on Thursday
which let us get some yardwork accomplished that often occurs a month
hence.  We should be in good shape to burn most of our tree trash this
year before the April 15th deadline for burning.  However, by
Saturday, Pepperell had 3-4 inches of snow on the ground, and Saturday
night we were awoken by some thunderstorm activity.  Weird, but that's
March in New England.

On the home front last week, I came down with a case of bronchitis;
the second case I have had this winter.  At least I recognized it
earlier and got some medication on Friday so that I feel well enough
to type this update.  (Don't know how coherent it will be.)  One might
suspect that getting sick was a trick to divert attention away from my
wife's medical issue, which I am sure she appreciates because she
doesn't like that kind of attention.  Joy is scheduled for a
"procedure" under general anesthesia next week where they will excise
and extricate a lump. While the biopsy indicated that the lump was NOT
cancerous, it also indicated that it wasn't normal so her surgeon will
remove it for greater scrutiny. She has interchanging moments of peace
and anxiety; more details than I want to deal with in this forum, but
I wanted you to know, for your kind support.

Jessica and Emily went to the regional Festival of Life competition at
ENC over the weekend and came back well spent from all the events.
Jessica brought home some medals.  Andrew participated in the annual
Pine Car Derby at the church.  Miranda traveled to New Jersey to cheer
on the Women's Basketball team that ended its challenge for the NCAA
championship there.

Meanwhile, one might think that I should be spending all my time
resting but instead I spent only most of my time doing that.  Joy and
I performed some errands on Friday night.  On Saturday, I plied myself
from the couch to help Joy snap chalk lines in the hallway and peel
some wallpaper for our next project.  I also polished off and
delivered a Sunday School lesson on Fasting, too (don't know how
coherent I was on Sunday morning, either).

Outside the family, our friends, Meredith and Jan head off on a
cross-country 80-day tour of America this Thursday leaving many of us
green with envy and wishing them (and us) well in their absence.
(Meredith is our music director and Jan is our first-line pianist.)  I
think Jan forbade the purchase of a laptop so that Meredith could keep
us updated on their trip.  Too bad the gas prices will probably add
several hundred dollars to their trip.  I offered to let them borrow a
tent and find some KOA campgrounds to cut down on expenses.  They
respectfully decline my offer.  My advice: pack lighter than you think
you need and pack a small cooler for cold beverages.  Oh and check in
every once in a while.  Libraries have internet access; you can get
your email and send it from there.

Happy trails, folks.

Mark
                                  @       Mark Metcalfe, Manager
               (__)    (__) _____/         Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
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