This was the weekend of our church's Christmas Cantata and this
Metcalfe family was involved to a person.  Andrew stood head and
shoulders above and in back of the children's choir, lending his
singing support, to his mother the children's choir director, when
many other sixth graders are opting out of choral participation.
Emily was Manger Mary; a very important live prop during the Cantata.
Jessica was the Annuciating Angel, who put signs on the floor like "is
that your feet I smell?" where the shepherds, who were to kneel before
her, could see them.  Miranda performed a drama about Christmas
memories and then signed to the song Heirlooms.  Joy and I played Mary
and Joseph; I had some dialog, and then we sang a duet, hand-in-hand
and gazing into each other's eyes.  I told people that the romance
they saw between us was just acting.  They had difficulty believing me
because it looked so real. We were just a few of the many sung and
unsung people who spend months of preparation to be performed and
concluded in two brief performances.

I think I did next to nothing on Saturday.  That was a welcome relief.
I spent some time setting up my laptop to be connected on the road.  I
fly out to California later today then up to Oregon on Wednesday and
back home on Saturday.  It's all still new enough for me not to be
upset about it.

I still hope you locals on my distribution list can make it our
Christmas at the Manor party on December 23, beginning at 6:30 PM.
You only need to bring your warmth and Christmas cheer.  Come and join
the festivities with us.

Today is the last day of my thirties.  I have heard it said that 40 is
the old age of youth and 50 is the youth of old age, so I wonder what
is going to happen in the next decade that turns old into young again.
So far, 40 hasn't struck much of a chord with me; perhaps I've made
myself too busy to notice.  Life is good and when life is good, adding
numbers to one's age is just more of a good thing.  Keep 'em coming, I
say.  It's far better than the alternative.

Mark
 ____________________________________    _____
|,      Mark Metcalfe (978) 446-6451 \   \ M \__      _____
|\_0__, Cadence Design Systems, Inc.  \___\ M \/_______\___\_____________
|  M    metcalfe@cadence.com          /   < /_/   .....................  `-.
|_.|\._______________________________/     `-----------,----,--------------'
                                                     _/____/