Subject: Weekend Update: August 31-September 2, 2002
Date: Tue, 3 Sep 2002 16:31:32 -0400

Harold and Lana Young brought David back to school, spending
a few days first at the Manor.  They arrived Thursday night.
It was the first time I met Lana, having met Harold on a
previous drop-off of their son.  They were a bit nervous about
"imposing" on us but I assured them that they weren't "special"
(;-)) since this was the normal heartbeat of the Manor; God
gave us a home to share.  They brought a huge Virginia Ham
as a gift for taking care of David all summer; and the Magnusons
got one, too, for the same reason.

Jessica came home from ENC on Thursday night, because it is only
an hour away, and David was home.  She came home again on Friday
night, too. :-)  She picked up Brooke, her Califonria roommate
from Manchester Airport late that night.

Andrew has been designated as a receiver on the football team.
Maybe he looked as if he could run from people who were trying
to hurt him; thanks to many years of training with his sisters.
He said the first time he was hit, it hurt a little, but after
that it was fun.  Hmm.  I found out that Emily and Andrew won't
be at the same games after all because the band plays at varsity
games.  I think it means that Mom's taxi will be running double
shifts unless we can get some ride-sharing going on, and Emily
gets her license.  I already told Joy that we'll need to visit
a hunting store to pick up a bun warmer seat before the weather
gets cold.

Miranda spent the long weekend with Melissa Christmas.  I think
this was Mandy and Melissa's final 'Thelma and Louise' Hurrah
before they both begin their teaching jobs and pulling in paychecks.
(Having not seen Thelma and Louise, perhaps my analogy is not quite
right. Perhaps Lucy and Ethel?) They helped some of the incoming
students at ENC a little with their rooms, including a seedy couch
donation for freshmen Tim white and Ryan Magnuson.  They also
attended a pig roast on Saturday at a one of Melissa's relative's
house.

On Saturday, Harold, Lana, David, Jessica, and Brooke unpacked
the David and Brooke at school. Then, leaving Brooke to reacquaint
herself with the her college friends, the Youngs and Jessica
went into Boston to sample food from Fanuel Hall/Quincy Market
and to be entertained at the New England Aquarium.

Once the college-bound van departed from the driveway, Joy and I,
and Emily and Andrew went to work out back.  It was nice to have
Emily with us the whole day, and she put in a hard day of
uncomplaining work, too.  The thing about last Saturday's work
is that it was unglamourous and dirty, but we needed to move more
pea stone out and empty the contents of one of our leaf-compost
bins into the area near the basketball court.  Joy filled stone
into a small pail and carried it into the pool area, while Andrew
and I filled compost into the wheelbarrow to wheel it 30 feet
where we dumped it.  Emily helped in all of these jobs and cut
the grass as well.  Joy intends to move half of what's on
Compost Heap #2 into Compost Pit #1 to get at some nice top soil
to finish the job out back.  So the project will continue.

Mom and Dad stopped by on Saturday to drop off their dog, Schatzi.
Schatzi did fine without them, although not as happy as she usually
is, wondering if Mom and Dad had abandoned her.  They stayed in a
motel for the evening, because we had other house guests.  We
insisted that they stay for dinner that evening, especially since
our guests were going to be occupied with fish, seals, and penguins
for quite some time.  We also insisted on Sunday dinner the next
day, and even ate in the dining room instead of the barn.  Mom and
Dad sang a duet up in the Nashua church on Sunday.  I missed it, but
it was good to have them around again. We are really enjoying Dad's
assignment.

The water in the pool has been crystal clear these days, but the
weather only got worse in our neck of the woods as Labor Day came
and went: cool and rainy.  It didn't spoil the day, however.  Wendy
brought her  girls by and Joy went shopping with them.  Later, the
Magnusons came up for burgers on the grill because their Labor Day
family plans were washed out.

High School begins in the morning, tomorrow.  Mandy's first day
with students, too.  Summer is over.

Mark

P.S. Saturday, August 31 was the 25th anniversary of the first kiss that Joy and I shared, on the steps of the old Wollaston church.