The quiet softball field before we spend many many hours here in May.

(Sunday Paper, Volume II, Issue 18)

I'll cut to the chase:

May is going to be bonkers.

I know some people have busy extra-curricular schedules all year long.

That's just not how it goes in our house.

But once late spring rolls around...hold onto your horses.

This has been the pattern the past couple of years:

September is rough, because everything new is happening at once: dance, piano, school...but once we settle into a daily and weekly routine things settle down.

We don't have a lot of winter activities yet, so we kind of cruise along on that schedule for a good six months.

Then May hits.

Boom!

Softball!

Bang!

Dance Recital!

Pow!

Piano Recital!

This year, as is the case every other year for us, there's also a communion thrown in. (And, for good measure - and joyously so - a wedding.)

And I'm coaching softball, too, so unlike last year when I could just zone out a bit during the games I need to be paying pretty close attention for a couple of hours. (And do a little bit of prep work.)

With weekdays there are a couple of times I'll be running from the softball field to a comedy commitment.

And we're trying to figure out creative dinner solutions for the super busy nights.

This isn't news to some families, I understand that. And I'm not complaining. Please don't misinterpret that.

It's just that for us - especially to a certain writer and comedian who thrives on routine - it's a dramatic shift in modus operandi.

I'm going to try not to let the stress of it all get to me - we're trying to plan out in advance the nights we have to be multiple places at once.

I know we'll figure it out.

But part of me is already looking forward to the end of June.

Writing

*A couple of different kinds of projects this week, which is always nice, switching up the work routine a little. But nothing tremendously exciting to report to you. Just plugging along.

Comedy

*Last week I told you that the big event of the week was the auction at my former school and that was Saturday night so I wrote all of this before that and I'm not going to address it this week. I did the auction twice before while I was still teaching there, and this was my first time back seeing everyone since I left. I'm going to predict it was fun, successful, slightly emotional, and great to catch up with everyone. If there's anything earth-shattering I need to address, I'll do it in next week's Sunday Paper, otherwise it'll be between me and the hopefully 300 or so people that were there.

*This week I'll be in Yarmouth on Thursday...I've updated the calendar at the 'Comedy Shows' link at the top of the page for dates through the end of May. Stay tuned because there are a couple more pending that I haven't added yet.

*On that topic - if you're looking for something fun to do on Mother's Day, this might be up your alley. 5pm in Dedham - should be a good time.

What I've Been Enjoying

*Did you see earlier this week on Facebook people posted ten bands, 9 of which they've seen in concert and one of which was a lie? I like reading those things, though I don't often feel compelled to post my own. But the concerts thing got me thinking - I wonder if I've even seen 9 different concerts. (Like, I've seen Billy Joel multiple times, so I've been to at least 9 concerts, but have I been to concerts by nine different artists?) So I thought I'd make a little bit of a list. No lies:

Billy Joel (Off the top of my head I think I've seen him at least six times. I'll explore this further another time.)
Elton John (My first ever concert...maybe 1995?)
Sara Bareilles (Of course)
Huey Lewis & The News (I met Huey!)
Aerosmith (New Year's Eve or New Year's Day in Boston in 1998 or 1999. Probably Eve.)
Metallica (There's an embarrassing story in here about the two concerts I saw that I'm not ready to tell yet.)
OK Go (They were amazing!!!!! But we only saw them because they were opening for...)
The Fray (...they were less amazing.)
No Doubt (I saw them when I was in college when they played in Worcester. As far as I can remember they were pretty good.)
Keane (What a great show)...and Tom Chaplin (also a great show...but since he's part of Keane I won't use a separate bullet)
I may or may not have seen Smashing Pumpkins when I was in college. I honestly can't remember.
Matt Sucich (yeah, I'm counting it.)

I was late to music - I spent most of my childhood listening to sports radio and that's why I was 17 when I went to my first concert. I'll update you in the future if I think of any other shows I've been to.

I'd love to hear yours - some of your favorites? List them all? Whatever you want. Post in the comments below or on the Facebook page.

Notes

*If you didn't click the "I Met Huey!" link above, here's another chance. It's a great memory.

*Kind of feel like this concert thing could have been it's entire own Sunday Paper. I'll regret that one when I run out of ideas.

*The Mets. Oof.

*I don't think I said a proper thank you to those of you who came out to see the Steve Sweeney shows a couple of weekends ago at the Amazing Things Arts Center. It was great to see some friendly faces out in the crowd...and I'm pretty sure many of you are reading this - so know that it's appreciated. And if you didn't make it out - there will be plenty more opportunities down the road. Stay tuned.

*Thanks for reading. If you don't already 'Like' the Facebook page, please do that. And if you don't follow me on Twitter, please do that. Thanks for all the support.

*And I really hope you didn't interpret the lead story in this Sunday Paper as complaining. Because I love watching the girls in their recitals and I love watching them play softball...and I already love coaching softball. I just stress about things like this easily and when they all happen at the same time I spend a lot of time worrying about it all. OK? OK.