(Sunday Paper, Year V, Issue 26)

It’s the last Sunday in June, which has come to be family takeover month…if I can get Kathy to fill that last Sunday after the girls take over the Sunday Paper the first few weeks of the month.

We’re in luck - because this year, she didn’t really have too much of an excuse.

I had the ability to hound her around-the-clock if necessary because we’re all stuck at home.

And I didn’t even need to hardly hound her that much.

This week I’m delighted to present to you another guest post, this one written by my lovely wife, Kathy.

I’m sure if you were to ask John about my biggest character flaw, he would say that I put too much on my plate. Actually, he would probably tell you I don’t put things away where they belong, or I forget things - but really, that’s because I put too much on my plate. Free time? Need to fill it. Youngest kid goes off to elementary school? Time to get my MBA.

So these past three months of quarantine have been particularly challenging with my entire calendar pretty much cancelled. And while there’s so much that has not been great about it (you know - death, illness, racial tensions, people politicizing face masks), there has been a silver lining. I have been forced to slow down and I’ve actually found some joy in some unexpected places.

Cooking

I was thankfully about one step ahead of everyone else when I thought to myself, “Gosh, maybe I’ll bake some bread during quarantine.” So I was lucky enough to find some packets of yeast and flour in the grocery store before everything sold out. Since then, I procured a pound of yeast from a shady third-party seller on Amazon, and I’ve bought bags of flour from Jack’s Abby in Framingham.

I hadn’t realized pre-quarantine just how much anxiety I have. But during the first couple of weeks of staying at home, I was convinced I had COVID. Turns out, the symptoms of anxiety are fairly similar to the symptoms of COVID (difficulty getting a full breath, pain in the chest), and I realized I was just having a long, drawn-out panic attack. Or maybe I had COVID. (Insert shrugging emoji here.)

Enter my pasta maker. During a particularly stressful weekend when the news was just overwhelming me, I decided to pull out my pasta maker (which had only been used once before, because, you know - I’m too busy) and make a homemade pasta dinner. I immediately felt my stress melt away. That meant that for the next two months, every Sunday featured a homemade pasta dinner, and I soon added homemade bread to the mix. In the last few weeks, the kids have been telling me there’s just too much homemade pasta, so I have cut it down a bit.

I’ve also experimented with various homemade muffins and naan (so good!) and have really enjoyed my return to the kitchen. My next challenge: learning how to prepare some authentic British and French foods. We were supposed to travel to Europe this summer, which is obviously not happening. But I’m still planning to take the week off of work, and recreate London and Paris in my home. Think scones, croissants, and crepes. Stay tuned later this summer to hear how Chez Sucich went.

Sewing

My parents bought me a sewing machine for Christmas I think when I moved into our house. (That was 15 years ago.) It went untouched until I took it out to make some face masks for the family. For the face masks, I used some fabric that I had previously bought to make an apron that never got made. So while I was at it, I made the apron too. And it didn’t turn out that bad! Now that I know I can actually use that sewing machine, my next challenge this summer is to make some new curtains to replace the ones in our basement that were left over from the previous homeowners.

Family

I have a pretty cool family. Of course, I knew that before. But these last few months, with all of us working and schooling and just being in the same confined place 24/7, I learned just how lucky I am to have these 4 people (and 1 dog) in my life. I couldn’t have asked for a better quaran-team.

What I’ve Been Enjoying

The girls and I have been watching Nailed It! on Netflix. This is a show where amateur bakers try and bake these elaborate cakes. It usually does not end well. The show is so much fun, though, that the girls and I decided to bake a Nailed It-inspired cake for the youngest daughter’s birthday. It actually turned out fairly well.

I usually don’t have much time to read during the school year, but now that it is summer vacation, I’ve been reading books. I am currently reading Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult, and recently finished The Line Becomes a River by Francisco Cantu. That was a memoir by a former Border Patrol agent and was very good.

I mentioned Jack’s Abby earlier, where I’ve been buying flour from. John and I have been very deliberate about where we get take out from, in that right now, we are very cognizant about supporting local businesses. Some of our favorites have been Jack’s Abby, beer from Exhibit ‘A’ Brewing, and dinners from CJ’s, Oak Barrel Tavern, and Framingham Baking Company. When all is said and done with this pandemic, I truly hope these local places are able to stay in business.