From:	Mark Metcalfe
Sent:	Tuesday, May 27, 2003 4:28 PM
To:	Mark Metcalfe
Subject:	Weekend Update: May 23-26, 2003
On Friday evening, Jessica came home and the family went to
Luiz and Sonia's home for an authentic Puerto Rican dinner
of pork, spanish rice, plantains, salad, and flan.  We had
a great time and full bellies in the warm atmosphere of their
hospitality.  Only Miranda was missing because she was taking
her friend Melissa out for dinner to celebrate her birthday.

Jessica and Joy went to the hospital on Saturday morning to 
draw blood from Jessica, a necessary precursor to obtaining
a marriage license.  Jessica does not like needles, but she
endured the travail for love.  Meanwhile, I took the opportunity
to schlep off of Rich and Wendy Gonzalez for breakfast, because
they had bacon and I did not.  They broke the news to me that
they had got an agreement on their house and were moving up
north on July 17.  Maybe I was eating them out of house and
home and they needed to get away from a pesky nearby neighbor.

It has been raining in our area like we were in Seattle; great
for the grass, which is going to be tough to tangle with when
we get a moment of dryness.  The rain kept us inside the whole
weekend.  We made the best of it, however.  Joy has finished all
of the bridesmaids' and flowergirls' dresses and matching purses,
including a miniature replica for one of Kayla's dolls.  After
the dresses were ironed, they were put in plastic bags and hung
in closets upstairs for the next three weeks. I spent much of
Saturday on the laptop and home computer finalizing the slide
presentation and burning discs of music for the reception, and 
backups of the presentation. Jessica, with the help of her
grandfather, put the finishing touches on the ceremony program
and sent that off to get produced.

Monday was even more of a washout than the previous two days.
I peered out the window at the long wet grass and dreary skies;
another day inside.  We put all hands to work toward bringing
the house back into order.  Too late for Diane Adams, who came
home with us after church the night before for a cheese omelet
and some house hunting advice. But Diane is always gracious and
understanding of the circumstances of our wedding preparations.

When all was put right, Miranda and Jessica spent time together
working on the bride's hair-do.  Jess asked me what I thought
and to be honest, change is a bit unsettling so I sometimes need
a few minutes to decide if I like it or not.  In this case, I
really liked how it looked, especially when she replaced the
flannel shirt she was wearing with the wedding gown.  I think
David will be very pleased, and I told her so.  The rest of us
sat around the table in the barn in an assembly line to tie a
poem on a string around a bell, then a ribbon in a bow onto it,
too. We'll provide these to use in lieu of tapping on glasses to
get the bride and groom to kiss.

Jessica packed her car, Goliath, with as much shower-gift stuff
as she could in preparation to load in their apartment, which
becomes available to them on June 1.  We need to get a truck to
bring down a couch to Quincy with some of their other stuff, when
the weather cooperates.

Three more Saturdays. It won't be long now.

Mark