Subject: Weekend Update: Novemeber 15-17, 2002
Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2002 10:57:00 -0500

Friday night: time to go out with friends. Andrew went
to the church to watch a movie with the teen group. Emily
was out on a group date with five of her Pepperell friends.
They went Dutch Treat to Ruby Tuesdays and then back to one
of the houses for the evening.  Coleen Lane and Karyn Mohn
came over for "ladies night out" at our place, which means
socializing during a chick flick.  (Karyn and her two children
are up from Tennessee for the couple of weeks before
Thanksgiving.  Brian is to join them soon.) That left me
as the odd man out and since I had to reclaim "my son, my son,
the only one," and Zach Andrew from the church anyway, I chose
to head there early.  I was rewarded with a can of Coke when I
got there so I think I made the right decision.

We arose late on Saturday morning.  I called Rich to invite
him to brunch, and since I was making eggs, home fries, and
bacon, it didn't take him long to come over to the house.
I hadn't seen Rich since Thursday evening when Joy and I
dropped over for a couple of hours of chatting.  The chore
of the day involved cutting and installing window moulding
in our bedroom.  It had been missing since we moved in
five-and-a-half years ago.  Joy bought the wood, painted
it, and helped me to install it.  I am not even sure why
I was on the project at all!  :-)

We were trapped inside the house for much of the day because
of snow, sleet, freezing rain, and finally just a cold rain that
lasted much of the weekend. The pellets mounted up on our sidewalk
and then were laden with water.  I didn't bother to push it out
of the way because it was safer to walk on than scraping it down
to a thin sheen.  (As least that is what I told myself.) Joy and
I ventured out that evening in the thick of it to Hannah Jack's
Tavern in Merrimack, New Hampshire to celebrate Jon Patt's 50th
birthday.  Jon is a former boss, former colleague, and current friend.
I ate two (smaller) dinners that night because we were unsure of the
accoutrements of the party, so I ate my first dinner at home with
the family, and Mom and Dad.  How could I turn down a 7oz sirloin
(which would have been larger had I not already eaten)?

Mom and Dad made their last appearance in Pepperell for a while.
Dad wanted to be finished with his assignment in Nashua before
the snow flew, and he would have been finished except that they
asked him back for one more Sunday.  Dad packed the car Sunday
morning, taking with them the things that they left at our house
for each weekend.  They had been to a Pastor and Spouse's retreat
earlier in the week, so he was anxious to get home.  They
left from the church to pick up their dog at Steve's place and
then back home to Falmouth.

Joy and I picked up a little cold over the weekend.  We stoked
the fire Sunday afternoon and relaxed on the couch for the afternoon.
I took the younguns to church Sunday evening, and Joy stayed home;
her cold was worse to her than to me.  Miranda was off to a Young
Adult something-or-other in Malden.  Her teaching job is going
well and I am proud of her. She is also adding to her mural, which
is really exciting. Jessica has given us forewarning that she is
taking the TV back to her dorm room after Thanksgiving. We were
beginning to think it might be good if we stored it until she and
David got married, but we'll do the right thing.  Joy's Dad comes
to visit us today (11/19) and will be here through Thanksgiving.
Christmas decorations go up soon. Time flies when you're having fun
unless you're Kermit the Frog who said "Time's fun when you're having
flies."

Mark