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Day’?s Verse:
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
Ephesians 4:2-3
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For those of you with short attention-spans, I have decided to account for the last week based on places I drove (more or less). So:

Wednesday: To the Logan Express stop in Framingham.
Thursday: To Raytheon in Sudbury; to REI and Trader Joe’?s in Framingham, to Sudbury Farms in Sudbury, to Price Chopper in Marlborough; to Longfellow’?s Wayside Inn and Raytheon in Sudbury; and to the theater at Solomon Pond Mall in Berlin.
Friday: To the Appalachian Trail just past South Egremont, MA.
Saturday: To home again.
Sunday: To Fellowship Church and Pinecroft Restaurant in Holden, and to Uncle Bob and Aunt Pam’?s in Natick.
Monday: To Raytheon, Frank’?s Spoke ’?n’? Wheel, and Sudbury Farms in Sudbury.
Tuesday: To Raytheon in Sudbury; to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, to the Logan Express stop in Framingham, to Frank’?s Spoke ’?n’? Wheel and Raytheon in Sudbury

…

For those of you with longer attention spans, allow me to fill in the gaps:

Ian and I spent Wednesday morning cleaning the apartment, scrubbing toilets and tubs, vacuuming and straightening. That evening, Mom and Dad flew in from Seattle to spend almost a week with me and Ian. We took it easy that evening, enjoying turkey burgers and each other’s company. The whole time my parents were here, Ian and I slept in the den – cooler, but the single bed means one person sleeps on the floor. I spent the first three nights on the floor; Ian spent the second three nights there.

Then on Thursday, Mom, Dad and I went to REI to obtain food and a backpack for Dad; we also stopped at a few grocery stores in our quest to get just the right backpacker’s food. Very important for our long one-night trip. That day we mostly spent prepping, but in the evening we went to see the new Pixar movie, Ratatouille. We all enjoyed it enormously. On Friday, Dad and I drove to the far western part of Massachusetts, zipped down south almost to Connecticut, and there hopped on the AT from Jug End to Mt. Everett. Not a super long hike, but its roughness proved super strenuous. Three separate thunder storms overtook us there that day, but the next day we enjoyed gorgeous weather. We also saw no fewer than 23 separate red-spotted newts. The backpacking trip alone deserves a whole blog – Dad and I learned a huge amount about New England/AT trail etiquette in a very short period of time – but I digress. On to Saturday!

Saturday Dad and I hiked out and drove home; we spent most of the rest of the day dozing and staying off our blistered feet. I slept well that night. Sunday I wore flip-flops to church, and we saw Ian in the second episode of The Doc. Afterwards, we enjoyed Pinecroft ice cream (and lunch, but lunch was secondary). In the afternoon we mostly napped, then spent the evening with my Uncle Bob, Aunt Pam, and their daughter Emma. We attempted to eat dinner outside, but the ominous gray clouds ended up dumping on us, so we scuttled inside quickly and enjoyed homemade chocolate ice cream with brownies inside. Monday we puttered around, reading, relaxing, going for a bike ride or so, and not stressing too much. Mom felt a little sick, so we postponed our visit to the Edward Hopper exhibit until Tuesday.

Tuesday I went to the dentist in the morning, and while I was gone, Mom scrubbed the bathroom, washed our sheets, and remade the bed. I could get used to that! Then we took off down Route 9 to see Edward Hopper at the MFA in Boston. The driving kind of stressed me out, but I greatly enjoyed the exhibit, and spending the time with my parents. Finally about 2:30 I left them at the Logan Express in Framingham. I felt rather sad dropping them off, but focused on picking up my bike from Frank’s Spoke ’n’ Wheel, where we dropped it on Monday for a quick cable-tightening. New bikes need that every once in a while, apparently. Then I met Ian at Raytheon, and we went home with only a short detour to Price Chopper for orange juice and ice cream bars. It has been HOT lately, sticky and humid. Bleck.

And alas, today, back to work. My ride felt a little extra-tough after a week out of the saddle, and 75 emails greeted me at work when I arrived. I sure wouldn’t mind having vacation all the time.