Mon Mar 30 07:59 EST 1998
Weekend Update: March 27-29

When I heard that Friday was going to be in the mid- to upper-70s, I
decided that it was a great time to use one of the floating holidays.
Normally, I have trouble using time off for working around the house,
and I'm not sure why.  It seems that if you take the day off, you
should go somewhere, or do something special.  Well, I stayed around
the house, and did something special, so it worked out.

With the help of Joe Farris, we visited the Home Depot and brought
back enough lumber to build an ark.  I set up the saw horses and cut
and hammered.  Several of the neighbors stopped by to ridicule me, but
we'll have the last laugh when the rain begins.  Oh wait, wrong story.

Joy has wanted to build raised beds in our garden, which slopes
towards the back, and Friday and Saturday, we set about doing just
that.  It is going to look really nice and help make gardening a lot
easier for Joy.  However, I have a lot of sympathy for what Noah must
have gone through, especially since his project took him quite a few
years.  By Friday night, I was walking like Arte Johnson's old man
characater on Laugh-In and I went and punished my body again on
Saturday.  How does the saying go? "What does not break me only makes
me stronger?"

Spring clean-up is underweigh and the leaves have to be put somewhere.
We uncovered the beds against the rock walls and the Crocuses have
bloomed in purple, white, purple and white, and yellow.  The daffodils
are above ground and will bloom soon.

My mother broke her fibula last week in a "dog" accident.  It seems
the dog was ahead of her on the stairs but not far enough ahead for
mom to miss the dog's tail.  Maybe we should tie one of those red
flags on the dog's tail to warn people behind that the load extends
beyond the body.  Mom's got a cast on her leg.  I told her she should
go to some book store for a public signing for those who'd like to
sign her cast.  With every signing they could buy my Dad's book
"Humility and How I Acheived It."  (I've embellished a little here:
Dad's sermon topic yesterday was about humility and he used that quip
several times.)

I'm back at work now, still recuperating from the garden's Boxing Day.
I needed the rest, even though today is supposed to be another
gloriously warm day. Spring returns with seasonable temperatures
tomorrow.  Have a great week, everyone!

Mark
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