Mon May  4 08:54 EDT 1998
Weekend Update: May 1-3

My weekend went nothing like my brother Stephen's (thankfully).  While
he plays catchup on the treadmill of life that seems to run faster
than he does, I cut, hammered, and hosted the weekend away.  (Time for
a get-away, Steve.  But leave the hockey sticks at home, please.)

Hope (Joy's sister) and Tom dropped in for a visit on Friday night.
They closed on a mortgage last Thursday and it seems that the bank had
more fees than they originally estimated. They were coming to New
England this weekend to visit their kids, planning on hotel
accomodations, but they ditched the hotel idea and stayed at Metcalfe
manor.  (They don't need an excuse, really, unless they want the
privacy of a hotel room. And we know how private that can be if there
is a high school band passing through.)  As for the bank: it's a lot
like the optometrist who tells you that your glasses will "cost you
$100", and if you don't bat an eye, he'll continue "...per lens", and
if you still don't bat an eye, he'll say, "...and what kind of frames
do you want with those lenses?"

On Saturday, I substituted for mom in Mom's Taxi and delivered my
second daughter (Jessica) up to the SAT prison.  This wasn't the full
SATs which come next year for her, but she was invited to take a
single-subject test so she was in an out of there in less than a
morning.

We had guests for dinner on Saturday and again on Sunday.  The
Marriage and Parenting class is still going well, with particular
interest in yesterday's class on "intimacy."

On the construction front, I had ripped some clapboard down from the
farmer's porch.  It seems that settling pulled a gap between the barn
and the house.  My brother-in-law suggested an easy-out, but only
after it was too late for me to act on his suggestion; the story of
his life.  It was a good thing because by the time I was done
replacing clapboard to close the gap, I knew that we did it the right
way for the house, even though it took longer.

Joy and Emily had about 3 feet of hair lopped off of their collective
heads.  Joy cut her hair above the waist line to the middle of her
back (about 16" fell to the ground) and Emily had hers cut to about
the shoulder blades.  Joy has been looking for something for a change
and hair seems to be it. (I'm glad it isn't me!)  She wasn't terribly
happy about feeling that nobody noticed, so she doesn't think she cut
enough off. I told her that *I* noticed, and I hoped that I counted
for something!

Emily's hair looks good; it is very thick and the new length gives her
a lot less difficulty in maintaining it.  Joy's hair looks good too
(*because* it is not a radical departure; although I confess that the
waist line is about as high as I would have preferred it to go).
However (Joy), my love is not dependent on such silly things as hair
length.

I hope your week goes well, that Stephen's treadmill slows a pace, and
that the painter we hired to do our house starts doing it!!!

Mark
    w
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      \      /\      Mark Metcalfe, Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
____;-)-----<__L____ 270 Billerica Road, MS04
     \/      \       Chelmsford, Massachusetts 01824
              \_     Phone: (978) 446-6451  Fax: (978) 446-6351