9 things to like about this week

...in random order:

1) Jaron's birthday (yesterday). With his 8:00 the next Thursday shadow, he doesn't look a day over 37. Celebration is on tap for tonight at the Washington Square Tavern.

2) Pressure-free, watchable baseball. Sox vs. Blue Jays tonight, Cubs vs. Brewers today. I love baseball when no one's wearing pinstripes.

3) A 4.375 day work week. With two doctors' appointments and a brief MBEL visit today, I got to walk around Boston instead of looking at this computer all day.

4) Date night at Laura and Gary's (last night). I got a burrito from Jack Arnold's, chatted through terrible television about the decline of the Library, and didn't have to drive in Somerville.

5) Watching "dingers" and "cheese" duke it out in my poll, and wondering if an entities tournament is in store. (Count on it.)

6) Not having to update pool scores. Don't get me wrong, I love doing this, but the computer situation at 13 Pond and being in the thick of the race this year made it more stressful than ever.

7) Signs of summer in Boston. I'd call it "spring", but they're calling for snow on Monday and we'll probably have 90 degree days by the end of the month. I'm not complaining about the latter.

8) Okay, it's spring. I can't overestimate the difference this kind of weather makes on my outlook on life.

9) The Red Sox are still world champions. The Y*****s aren't.