Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2001 12:09:33 -0400

We had a couple of family milestones come and go this past week.  For
starters, we no longer have children in the home since Andrew marked his
thirteenth birthday on Saturday.  It will be a hard habit for us to break
to stop calling him "Boy"; a term of endearment we've had for him since
he was born and I often said he was "My son, my son, the only one."  
The issue came up when some guests started to refer to him as "Boy"
following his sisters' lead.  He's taller than Emily and his mom, now,
and rapidly closing the gap on the rest of us. Andrew celebrated his coming
of age a few days early by getting braces on his teeth.  Joy and I console
ourselves with believing that this will be the last orthoditia we'll have
to dole out.

My sister-in-law, Faith, also turned a corner on Sunday, finishing up five
decades.  Joy began a card "cam-pain" months ago, sending Faith a reminder
every so often of her impending leap.  It won't be long before the AARP
brings her into membership.  I asked her what it looked like [from over
the hill] to which she coyly replied that I'll just have to see for myself.
According to Faith, she spent part of the day shoveling manure.  Now there
is something for me to look forward to.  (Of course, many of you might
think I've been shoveling manure for a long time!)

My cousin, Kendra, from Oklahoma, visited New England this past week with
a two-day stop at the Manor.  She brought four girls with her in her C.O.W.
(Camp on Wheels) Car.  We had a great time catching up and enjoying picture-
perfect New England weather.  They were going to skate out after 1 day, but
I convinced them that it was okay, even preferable, that they stay longer.
I took them on a brief tour through the Pepperell Covered Bridge, up to 
New Hampshire farmlands into Nashua's big house area near Greeley Park,
with a stop for Slurpees before completing the circuit home.  They left
us on Saturday morning for their own tour of Boston and I hope they had
a good time.  Kendy left Jake behind with us; (he is my brother Stephen's
son).  Somehow, he got in the COW car before they came to our house.  I
think Steve needs to cut down on his food bill.  Jake, too, is having a
good time, in case his parents were wondering. ;-)

Miranda was a counselor at Sr. High Camp this past week.  Some people
had difficulty distinguishing her from one of the campers, but we told
her to enjoy that mistake while she can.  Emily went as a camper and
came home with tales of pranks and close-calls with the camp authorities
(again).  I suppose that's what really makes camp "awesome!"

The Hedlunds joined us by the pool for a nice Sunday afternoon cookout.
We're late, I suppose, but we had our first corn on the cob.  We'll have
to do that again!  Summer is half gone and we miss our friends who've had
the blessing of vacation time away, but happy for those we've already
connected with as a vacation destination.  We practice what we preach,
however, and will set our own R&R destination for Parker Farms and Labor
Camp in just a couple of weekends.  Faith and John have a very busy social
calendar in the summertime as well, pampering guests in another beautiful
setting; not bad for a couple in their fifties!  

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