Mon Apr 13 08:07 EDT 1998
Weekend Update: April 10-12 (Easter)

The weekend in New England was wonderful Spring weather.  We began our
weekend helping out a friend in need; a woman who had gotten herself
in debt up to one nostril above the surf and had no idea how to deal
with the problem.  I suggested that she speak to Joy about a budget
and beginning the arduous climb out of the tyrrany of credit (23% on
one maxed-out card!).  My wife is a wonder and I am glad she knows all
this stuff.

On Saturday, Jessica accompanied me to the future home of Phil and
Dani Morano where we help out another friend indeed.  Fortunately for
Phil and Dani, they have the luxury of a couple of weeks to move from
one house to the other, just 50 yards down the street.  Unfortunately,
luxury leads to ambition, and that means getting as many projects out
of the way as possible before one stick of furniture gets moved in.
That's the right way to do it, but as every man discovers where home
projects are concerned, we often underestimate them by a factor of
four. We pulled up wall-to-wall carpeting in 6 rooms, two halls, and a
stairway.  That was the easy part.  The tacking strips come up every
four inches and they don't comeout without a fight!  Jessie and I
don't know what they did about the staples in the floor because we had
the luxury of leaving the job for home.  Although scratched and poked,
we won the battle against them and the Moranos has beautiful hard wood
floors throughout.  What a crime it was to cover it all up!

Easter came early, rising in time to get to an early service.  I had
four ounces of Coca-cola in the morning.  Pastor White brought me a
curiously small can from Britain some months back.  I used it to end
the Lenten fast and celebrate the Resurrection.

We held the annual Metcalfe Chocolate Easter Egg Hunt in the barn for
the kids.  Miranda asked if she had to hunt for eggs.  We said, "no,
you don't... but you wouldn't gat a share of the chocolate."  She
agreed to hunt; chocolate is a powerful influence in her life.
However, she made me promise not to video tape it this year.  I didn't
promise not to tell the story though.  B^)

We had a houseful for a lovely ham dinner: two single guys, two
couples, and baby, and a baby in a belly added to our joyful family
celebration.  Yes, it was a great weekend.

Mark


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