Mon Mar 16 08:58 EST 1998
Weekend Update: March 13-15

Old Man Winter drove us back inside the house this past week, but
my eyes have been on the treetops where brush strokes of red buds
show against a pale blue sky.  I've avoided Route 3 for so long now,
opting for the Corridor of Conifers as my choice of commuting routes.

Jessica (15) wins the patience award, having waited over a year without
a door to her second floor room.  She still doesn't have it, but we've
scraped and sanded, cut, and chiseled one of the 6 non-fitting doors in
the barn basement into a fitting door for her room.  All we're missing is
two small metal rods that go into these old-style hinges.  Failing other
attempts at find these, I may have to cut some metal dowels to complete
the project and give Jessica a little more privacy, which is kind of
funny because she has three entryways into her room.  Further, I've
discovered that there is only one lock on an inside door in the whole
house and that's on the smallest bathroom tucked under the grand stairway.

My thanks go to Jeff Adams who has the talent to make music come out
of my head and into the air.  We sang a jazzed version of
"Living by Faith" last night.  I was a little concered about the
white heads in the congregation but they didn't seem to mind.  We
weren't blowing their hair back with distortion and reverb, but instead
wafted an acoustic guitar rendition with counter vocals and freedom
of expression.  I kept one foot on the ground at all times.

We have something going on every night this week, one topper after
the next.  But probably the biggest event of the week comes on Thursday
(sorry Charity, you got bumped) when Paula Bickom gives birth to David
and Paula Bickom's first child.  The doctors are concerned about the
umbilical cord being in the wrong place so they will likely unzip
momma a little early.  Your prayers and concerns, I am sure, are
appreciated.  The name and gender are a tightly-guarded secret by
mom and dad.  I think they would have preferred a lower-profile
pregnancy, but as Associate Pastor and wife, they realize how impossible
that is.

A quick update on Joy: she gave up the sniffer (medication; for those of
you who have followed her saga) and is now on low doses of other medication.
So far, so good.  And in her case, no news will definitely be good news

Have a good week.

Mark
   o                 Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
_ \     Mark Metcalfe          --  email: metcalfe@cadence.com  O     _O
 \|__O  270 Billerica Rd. MS04 --  phone: (978) 446-6451       <|\     |\
    /|  Chelmsford, MA 01824   --  Fax:   (978) 446-6351       / > o  / \