"Not Looking Good..."

And by that, I mean the Texas Rangers are down 0-2 in the World Series!! How on Earth did this happen? We dismantled the Yankees...I mean literally took the wheels off, stripped the engine, and set fire to the $210 million machine that is New York. But man, the Giants are really sticking it to us. Can we rebound? next three games are at home, so I feel confident we can right the ship. If we can win the next three games we'll be in a position of supremacy, not them. Watch what we can do.

Went to Catfish Plantation last Sunday for our annual "Get dressed up and go to the haunted restaraunt" Halloween trip. A few pix:


If you can spot Zach, he's behind one of the stones as Darth Vader. If you can spot Emmy, then you don't need glasses. I mean, she's like right there!


Camron: "Hey Jerramy, I think we're supposed to put our faces through these holes."
Jerramy: "After all those other people did?? Do you want germs!!??"
Camron: "Um, being a 13-year old kid, YEAH..."


Tracy: "See, this picture is cool because it has only me in it."


Tracy: "And this picture is cool because it has me AND Jay in it."


Tracy: "And THIS picture is super-cool because it's one of me AND Jay AND the cashier from Kroger's!"
John: "These are the greatest pictures ever!"
Cindy: "I concur in spades!"

Emmy had to make a pumpkin for her 4th grade pumpkin parade!



It says "Go Rangers!!" I thought she might be the only one who would do a Rangers-themed pumpkin...turns out every other kid did as well. Ah well. No point for originality, but extra points for her devotion to our favorite baseball team!

Let's win Game Three Saturday night guys...do it for me...and the kids...mostly for me though! Win or lose, the Rangers have made 2010 the greatest season ever. Can we top it? Time will tell...

"The End Of An Era..."

And by that, I mean with the bumping off of the New York Yankees in the ALCS, the Texas Rangers are now the ultimate power in the universe!! We were watching Game Six Friday night and man we were shouting and hollering so loud I think the whole town of Arlington heard us ha ha. Man, this team is built for a dynasty, mark my words. We're young, we have dismantled the highest payroll team ever, and we're about to go to San Francisco and show the Giants how it's done.

Zach had his last T-ball game Saturday :(

At least he got a trophy:



Here's a personal fave of mine:


This one...I may have to print and display proudly...somewhere...

Our camera has been found...again. I swear, this thing disappears faster then...well, something that vanishes a lot. I did not find it until about 2 hours before his T-Ball party. I wish our camera took better long-distance pictures.

Zach actually wants to play real baseball with pitchers and more action. Unfortunately he's not quite old enough yet, but something tells me he'll get there all too soon. When I see pictures of Emmy at age 2 or 3 I always get a little nostalgic. I'm so glad we spent a lot of time together on Saturday mornings. We always think they'll be that age and it seems for a long time, they are. Then...they're 9 going on 10 and then they're very unconcerned with you. Guess that's the way life is.

"ALCS Babee!!"

I can't believe it...after watching my Rangers lose two home games in the ALDS they go back to tampa Bay and finish it off Cliffy-style! Now...on to New York, where we are in serious need of some spirit-purging of Yankees past if you know what I mean. Can we do it? I think so. Will we? Remains to be seen.


Here is the video of the Ranger Red Round-up I went to a couple of weeks ago. Still one of my all-time favorite memories.

When I was about 17 The Topps Baseball Card company released their ToppsGold line where they gold-foil stamped their 1992 set. They had these scratch-off cards where you could win a pack of 10 gold cards. So I sent in a few of them expecting like 2 or 3 packs. Well, I get this big box in the mail and it had like 17 packs in it! Still have all of them to this day! But one of them is my prize:


I have got to get him to autograph it one of these days. Hopefully I didn't miss the train at the round-up

"Love Me A Four-Day Weekend!"

I think the title says it all yes? I had to use two vacation days because the kids were out of school for the fair and for Columbus Day. And, since I have to...have to...use all my vacation time before 12-31-2010 no better time! And what a weekend we had!:

Friday: Took Zach to his school, then me and Emmy went to Chick Fil A for breakfast, then to my mom's work, then to my work for our picnic which wasn't ready when we got there so we missed out (ugh!), then to McDonald's for lunch, THEN to Zach's school to take him a Happy Meal, then home. I asked Emmy what she wanted to to nxt and she said "Can we just go home and chill?" which I am always okay with.

Saturday: Went to Zach's T-ball game, then to Sam's, then to Emmy's soccer game, then back home where I...I...cooked dinner for us! My famous chicken-fried chicken with some mashed potatoes and steamed zucchini. We didn't eat untl about 8pm but I think it was worth it.

Sunday: Watched the Rangers lose ANOTHER game to Tampa Bay to force a Game 5 in the ALDS. Man, what is it with these Texas teams? The Cowboys embarrased themselves 34-27 to the Titans thanks to lots of Dallas-famous penalties. Did the laundry though.

Monday: The three of us went and took Greendad (my dad) to lunch at Chili's. Well, that's not quite correct. He paid for his lunch. At least this time I paid for the rest of us. Went home and after a couple rounds of Just Dance we went to Spaghetti Warehouse for dinner. MMMMM!!

Sometimes people send me e-mails of cool pictures. I always say I'm going to feature them on here but I never do. Well not this time. Check these pix out:




This is a waterfall reflecting the sunlight at just the right time of the day and it looks like fire is pouring down. Too cool right?




These are some actual pictures taken back in the 1880's and 1890's in North Dakota and Minnesota. When Uncle Dean sent this to me I responsed, "Thanks for sharing with us what it was like when you and Dad were kids." Oh how I slay me.

Lately I've been interested in our world's history. Although much of it was never recorded or written down, a lot of it managed to make its way into our current lives. Every time I watch "Back To The Future" I always wish it were really possible to travel back and be a part of everything. I know if you change even the slightest thing it would change history dramatically. But, of course, I wouldn't be able to resist and do it anyway. Take a bullet meant for Abraham Lincoln? John F Kennedy? John Lennon? What would be different today if I did? Something tells me I don't think we'll ever know. But it sure is food for thought.

"Ranger Red Round-up!"

When the city of Arlington said they were going to have a celebration of the Rangers winning the A.L. West crown for 2010, I only had a day's notice to ask for the time off. So you can imagine my surprise when I got the afternoon off approved! So I stopped by Chick Fil A for my weekly Friday morning breakfast of a chicken burrito, hash browns, sweet tea and a little gravy on the side, then made my way over to the Ballpark In Arlington to see a few ballplayers, a couple of owners, and whoever else might show up. And show up they did! Some pix please:


105.3 The Fan was there to broadcast the festivities. Since they air most Ranger games, I guess it's okay that they were there.


Uncle Sam on stilts? Apparently so. No questions asked.


Helicopter coverage! I thought it was going to land and someone special come out, but no such luck.

And now, the guests of honor:


From left to right:

Mitch Moreland (relief pitcher)
Jim Sundberg (former catcher/broadcaster now front office guy)
Ron Washington (our beloved manager)
Thad Levine (asst. GM)
Jon Daniels (GM)
Chuck Greenberg (our new owner)
Nolan Ryan (um...no explanation necessary)
Mayor Robert Cluck

Another picture? Sure...


Nolan Ryan: "Before the year I predicted whoever won more games would win the division...I'm so smart..."
JD: "Man Nolan's a genius..."
Ron: "Wish I had predicted that..."

I also videotaped the whole thing so I can watch it whenever I want. There was this nutjob who actually stood on a bench in front of everyone so HE could see better...you can actually hear me shouting "SIT DOWN!!!" over and over to him. Why are people so dense sometimes?

What a great day. Outside of a long-range view of a few players when I go to a ballgame, I never got to hang out with the team like that. One great day. And now I just found out that the Rangers have won Game One of the ALDS vs. The Tampa Bay Rays this afternoon 5-1!! Man it is a great time to be alive in Arlington right now. Only one way it can get better...starts with a W and ends with an S.

<a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video/?vid=05728242-4d59-47a8-b61d-879957af9d13&from=IV2_en-us_foxsports_videocentral_player" target="_new" title="Rangers, Rays ready for Game 1">Video: Rangers, Rays ready for Game 1</a>