Subject: Weekend Update: November 10-13, 2000
Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2000 10:12:29 -0500

Joy's dad has been with us for a week, and having a good time.  He
went with me on Friday night to the Billerica train station to pick up
Miranda and Jessica for only their second weekend home since going to
college last August.  They made a special effort to see Emily in her
first high school play, "Cheaper by the Dozen."

The countdown to the thanksgiving gathering has quickened the pace of
chores around the house.  I installed a footbar around the kitchen's
island counter for people to belly-up to the bar.  I also played
amatuer plumber fixing a drain leak.  We did get the electrician to
hook up the spa for us on Saturday.  So we then cleaned it up, filled
it up and warmed it up.  However, we haven't gotten into it yet
because there is no door to the room unless we go outside and up a
step ladder.  We hope to rectify that soon.

I took some time out from my Saturday chores to attend the funeral of
one of our church's longtime bebefactors, Rev. Ernest Bradley.  The
saints should have an honor guard at their funerals.  Pastor bradley
has been a part of the Lowell Church of the Nazarene in one capcity or
another for 50 of the church's 100 year history.  he served as its
pastor for 10 years.  At 92 years, he gave a lot of service long
before many of us were even born.  Death, a part of life, reminds us
to live life for important reasons.

As I mentioned earlier, we went to see Emily in her high school play.
The story involved the relationships of a large family in the 1920s.
Emily played the youngest (except for some off-stage, non-existent
toddlers) of 12 children.  (Her cast members voted her the cutest
newbie in the cast.)  The father in the story was an efficiency nut,
the later revealed that his reasons were for more than bringing order
to such a large household.  He wanted to save as much time as he could
for his family so that each one could spend more time on their
passions.  The key roles involved the father and the first daughter,
who, despite being in a loving family situation, began to chafe under
the parental pressures to succeed scholasticaly, and the fatherly
pressure to steer clear of immorality; (apparently dating and silk
stockings were difficult changes for a father to accept).  We later
discovered that the father had a heart condition that his doctor said
would not give him many more months to live, which made his penchant
for efficient strictions in the home a bit more forgivable.  So Death
made his appearance twice in one day with the same message.  The cast
communicated its message very well and Emily was especially wonderful
in her part.

I returned the girls to ENC on Sunday afternoon, only to pick them up
again tomorrow for the rest of the week.  They have invited their
roomates to join us for Thanksgiving, one who hails from Washington
state and other other from southern California.  We are only too happy
to take them in.

I hope you have a great Thanksgiving with your family, even to those
outside the USA who might not know what I am talking about.  We have a
lot to be thankful for.

Mark
--
+---_-----------+ Mark Metcalfe, metcalfe@cadence.com
| c a d e n c e | Cadence Design Systems, Inc.    Phone: (978) 446-6451
+---------------+ PCB Systems Division, Technical Communications Manager