(Sunday Paper, Year IV, Issue 15)

So the end of last summer we had a lot of work done on our yard.

We had a cumbersome deck that in some areas was falling apart, and an impractical shed, and a waste-of-space hot tub that we never planned on using but also never really had a plan for getting rid of.

So we decided to bite the bullet and hire someone to do a demolition (basically we paid someone a lot of money to leave glass in the grass all over our yard) and rebuild of a deck, giving us more yard space.

It happened at the end of last summer, and dragged through Thanksgiving, pretty much - so basically when the weather was too cold to do anything about the yard.

The past couple of weeks, though, as things have thawed out and the weather has been nice enough to get out and work in the yard, has got me good and excited about the summer ahead and the backyard space.

And there’s one unexpected area that I think I might get creative with.

First of all, just to remind you with this link to what I wrote about in December, this yard work was the result of Kathy and I finally deciding to put our own spin on our yard…not unlike what I did recently with the office.

And I should point out there’s a lot of basic work to be done here before I can get all creative. There are a lot of leaves to pick up and grass to cut and glass to find. (So much glass. I find new shards every time I’m out there.)

But the space back there is nice. I don’t know that it’s swing-a-bat-and-hit-a-ball nice, but it’s certainly pitch-and-catch nice. Lots of room to play back there, which wasn’t really an option for the girls before. And perhaps room for a little four-legged friend to run around some day. (Likely some day soon.)

As you see in the picture above, though, there’s a little section of the yard that is ripe for something to happen.

And it dawned on me recently that it could be a nice little patio area.

And I talked to someone at one of the local hardware stores about it and he was pretty convincing that I could probably do it myself.

So soon i’ll be gathering the materials and seeing if I can’t make a nice little sitting area off the deck in that spot…and, I don’t know, maybe even wrap it around the front of the deck.

Eventually I’ll need to do a shed back there, but I think once I get the regular old clean up done putting together a little patio is going to be my top priority.

And the yard that once embarrassed me might become a point of pride…and maybe I’ll even invite you over to sit back there with me some day soon.

Writing

*I know I told you a couple of weeks ago I was assigned another article…I don’t think I told you what it is. Usually I don’t like talking about these until they’re out but I don’t think it’s a problem if I tell you it’s a series of articles about the 50th anniversary of the summer of 1969 -I’m guessing it’ll probably come out some time this summer. I’m putting the finishing touches on the articles this weekend - they’re due early in the week - and, wow. That year was bananas.

Comedy

*This week is quiet as for booked shows but I’m looking forward to getting out a couple of times to check out some other shows and hit an open mic or two. (The girls not having school and dance and other activities gives me some flexibility to get into the city early.) Then next week, believe it or not, I’m off to North Carolina.

As for this past week - Wednesday I was at 730 Tavern in Central Square for 8 O’Clock at 730, which is a fun show every Wednesday at 8pm. I need to get there more often - check it out if you’re in the area. Then last night was the April edition of Comedy Night at Exhibit ‘A’. It was a good one. I LOVE hosting that show and I feel like I’m really finding my stride as a regular host and I think I’m going to write about that soon.

By the time you read this, tickets for the next show might already be on sale. You can go to the Exhibit ‘A’ Events page to see if there’s a link. Otherwise, don’t worry - I’ll make sure you know when they’re on sale for real.

Running (or Things That Kevin Helped Me With This Week)

*Last week, after I wrote about all the technological stuff I bothered Kevin with (not a popular post, at least compared to taking my daughter to Opening Day), he texted me to say that for accountability’s sake, I should include a ‘Running’ section in the Sunday Paper. Then he added, “Or maybe it could be a ‘Things Kevin Helped Me With This Week’ section. And I think that’s a great idea that Kevin helped me with. So how fitting that the first week of it includes both a running update and the fact that Kevin helped me create this.

The thing about running last week (or at least the week leading up to last week’s Sunday Paper) is there was no update - I hadn’t done any running in a week…but I did run on Sunday afternoon. I had planned on trying something like 40 minutes in intervals of 10 with 5 minutes walks in between each, but I left at 3pm and forgot I had an obligation to get my oldest daughter to at 4pm. So I ended up doing 10 minutes run/2 minutes walk/10 minutes run/5 minutes walk/10 minutes run. And I think having the time constraint forced me to run a little harder, and it ended up being a more beneficial run. We’ll see.

Saturday I did 10/2/10/3/10/3/10 - I’m hoping the little walk breaks will help me over time increase my stamina and distance, but I don’t know. At the very least they’re good for me psychologically, and to be honest, that might be just as valuable as any physical advantage it gives me.

Eventually I’ll get more serious about this and look up a training guide, but for now I just want to get to an hour of running or something like that. And I still have 8 months to get up to marathon-level.

Notes

*So we’ll try the ‘running accountability’ section until the marathon, and i’ll just take out the ‘What I’ve Been Enjoying’ section for now, and if there’s something I really want to recommend to you I’ll just throw it here in the ‘Notes’.

*If I was going to make a recommendation to you this week, it would be to tell you that I am enjoying the new Sara Bareilles album as much as you’d expect. I was worried because I didn’t love the first couple of releases from it out of context…but I do love them within the context of the whole album. As a whole, it’s a very good Sara Bareilles album.

*Maybe you saw this on Twitter (because I tweeted it out - hey! If you don’t follow me on Twitter, you can do so here), but I had a crazy week. Wednesday afternoon I was just hitting a wall - and Kathy was telling me she was kind of zonked too. I couldn’t concentrate on my work. I was unfocused. Then Thursday afternoon and Friday afternoon I was so tired I had to lay down and take a quick nap. Friday I jumped up off the couch and realized what had happened - I ran to the cupboard, and sure enough, I had been using decaf coffee the past couple of days. The coffee brand I buy (New England Coffee when I’m not buying Dunkin’) re-branded its packaging, and I bought the unfamiliar packaging that said decaffeinated that I didn’t notice. I’ve always wondered if I could cut caffeine out of my routine…this was an indiction that I probably can not do that anytime soon.

*I tried taking a time lapse video of the Exhibit ‘A’ show Saturday night and I plan on posting that to the Facebook page this week. (What, you don’t ‘Like’ the John Sucich Facebook page? Well, you can go do that right now by clicking this link.) Hopefully it came out good…at the time you’re reading this I might not have checked it yet.

*The Mets lost on Saturday night but they’ve still taken two of the first three against the Braves and they play tonight with Jacob deGrom on the mound - I like their chances to take three out of four. It’s been a good start to the season and I’ve been enjoying it. I really love baseball season.