Subject: Weekend Update: March 27-30, 2003
Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2003 16:38:10 -0500

The younguns had no school on Friday; I do not know why.
So on Thursday, Emily took advantage of the time to visit
her sister Jessica at college.  Andrew spent the night with
the Dees.  Mandy stayed after work to go to the coffee house
at church, which left Joy and me to ourselves once again;
harbingers of the not-too-distant future!  I suggested that
we go out to eat and drop in one someone.  Joy supposed that
would be okay; she rarely reacts enthusiastically to such
ideas and doesn't often display a firm opinion on what she's
like; and she wonders where Jessica gets it.  I called ahead
to the Bickoms.  Paula seemed pretty enthusiastic about
welcoming our visit. Joy and I went to the Food Court the mall
before popping in because we didn't have a particular hankering,
so why spend the extra dough to eat at a more expensive restaurant?
Brandon and Kayla were still up when we arrived.  It is a pretty
good gig to be Auntie Joy and Uncle Mark; in that order, and I
am a distant second to be sure, but I enjoy the role.  David
and Paula have done a lot to recondition the home they bought
some time ago and it looks really nice.

On Friday, the kids regrouped at a quiz meet in Connecticutt.
The weather was good so I submitted some vacation hours and
took the afternoon off to get some yard work done with Joy.
Saturday was promising to be dicey weather-wise, and we wanted
to get a jump on the chores. Joy raked the edges of the property
near the stone wall; it collects leaves throughout the dormant
season.  I busied myself by doubling the size of the burn pile
in the corn crib.  Joy had cut down some bushes near the pond
earlier in the week, so I was the pack mule, dragging it a
wheelbarrow at a time to the pile.  The ewes (sp) will snap,
crackle, and pop when I set the pile ablaze. (She plans to put
a rose garden in its place.) The lawn mower had a flat tire,
but it held when I pumped it up. More gratifying was that it
started up just fine.  I mulched the leaves then vacuumed them
up.  We still have at least twice as much work still to be done
in the yard to get through the outdoor Spring cleaning.  I made
the mistake of emptying the hot tub while we were getting our
exercise because refilling and reheating takes over half a
day and we were unable to soak our sore muscles.  Nevertheless,
it was great to finally be outside again.

As we relaxed in the evening, I heard some straneg sounds
that I thought must be coming from our neighbor's house.
In fact, it was coming from our house in the barn basement
below us.  I had left the door to the basement blowing in
the wind... so I thought until I spied a couple of eyes
looking back at me.  A possum was curled up in a nice,
warm piece of insulation three feet off the basement floor
where the foundation meets the barn studs.  Apparently there
is a hole that needs some attention.  I decided to let him stay
another night since he looked so cozy, but I set the trap
in case he decided to wander out onto the basement floor.
No luck with capturing the critter, yet.

The weather was holding on Saturday morning so Joy and I
attacked the yard again.  Our possum tenant was not in occupancy,
but I was not going to work on the hole in the wall until I
was sure I either had him in the cage, or felt he had left for
good. Among other things, we pruned the apple trees and have
more for the bonfire when we light it (hopefully next Saturday).

The Gonzalez family joined us Saturday evening for a cookout.
I made steaks and sauteed onions, and Joy made the rest. We
completed dinner with a movie ("The Little Princess").  Miranda,
Emily, and Andrew returned from their weekend at about 10:30.
I didn't even see Andfrew; he went straight to bed.

On Sunday, Joy and Miranda attended a wedding shower for Heidi
Swenson, leaving me and the younguns to fend for ourselves. I
think it was a mini-crisis because the shower was held right
after church that afternoon and it left a number of husbands
to their own devices, many with little tots.  We overcame and
fared well, however, dividing the meal preparation duties among
us.

Later in the evening, winter returned with a half-hearted
snowfall, but I didn't care because we already began the
Spring rituals.  The crocuses have arrived and things are
coming back to life.  Soon all will be green again.

Mark