As I sit here in my hotel room in Miami and am able to reflect on the last week for a few minutes I realize that I am fortunate to have a very cool “job” that I enjoy and that provides me opportunities to experience once-in-a-lifetime situations much more often than I realize. 

 The team went through Boston earlier in the week and I was able to finally see Fenway park, the Mecca (sorry Yankee fans), and experience Red Sox Nation.  And I had a blast.  I can’t describe the goosebumps and sense of history that hit me when I walked up the steps into the dugout and onto the field the other day.  For me, it looks much different in person than on TV and it took a second to get my barings. 

I was able to just wander around and give myself a tour of the park and I explored every nook and cranny that I could find.  I went to the top of the Monster, out to Pesky pole, sat behind one of the pillars in the grandstand (just to see what the poor saps who buy the tickets from the scalpers see) and had to pick splinters from the wooden seats out of my shorts.  I got a chance to go through the Red Sox clubhouse and just cruised the concourses to get a feel for the place … AWESOME!  I shook hands with Manny and saw Papelbon wearing a Pirates’ bandana and eye patch in the weight room (the Yankees were playing the Pirates so their clubhouse was pulling for Pittsburgh, obviously).  I also had the opportunity to go inside the Green Monster and “immortalize” myself by signing my name with a Sharpie on the foundation of Fenway park amid the thousands of other signatures down there (there were so many that I was in there for 20 minutes reading the old signatures and didn’t even come across the legends).  And no, I didn’t pee in the same spot Manny so famously did during the infamous pitching change a few years ago. 

 I was also able to walk around Boston’s downtown a little bit and spent a fair amount of time in the park (Boston Commons).  There were some Trumpeter Geese (that were almost as big as I am) that were sitting on a nest full of, what looked like, dinosaur eggs - something I’ve never seen before. 

It was also good to catch up with some old friends and people I used to work with, who are now Red Sox employees, after one of the games.  They showed off their World Series rings and shared stories of the Duckboat parade.  Needless to say I was jealous and eager to have a similar experience in Phoenix one of these days. 

It was an unbelievable stop and something that definitely lived up to the expectations.

I am, however, looking forward to getting home.  When it’s all said and done, I will have spent just 8 days at home this month and have been gone the better part of the last 6 weeks.  My minor league scouting coverage is complete, with just a handful of reports left to write up before the trade deadline so the work load will lighten up a bit soon, relatively speaking. 

 I hope all of you are doing well and hopefully my travels will bring us together at some point soon … Now if I can only get “Sweet Caroline” out of my head.

Hello to everyone from here in REALLY hot AZ!

We knew it was coming, but nothing can really prepare us for the feeling of 115 degrees :)  We have been trying to stay cool here at home by taking daily dips in the pool and escaping up north to the cabin where it’s about 20 degrees cooler. 

As usual, we have been busy with Braelyn’s new music class and finishing up swim classes.  She is ready to move up to the “Little Snappers” class in the fall when we re-enroll.  Matt had his 1 day off this month at home last week and we took Braelyn to see Kung Fu Panda which she liked and surprisingly sat still through (although we did have to take 3 seperate potty trips!).  Matt has been on the road 3 out of the last 4 weeks and doesn’t come home until Sunday.  We are SO looking forward to the All-Star break in mid-July when he has a few days off.

We are planning a trip to Sea World with Tom, Sheri & Devyn over the break and we are looking forward to escaping the heat, enjoying seeing Braelyn’s reaction to the sea animals and spending time with our SD family, whom we don’t see as often as we would like to.  It should be a fun trip and we can’t wait to get some family time together after the last few months which have been really tough on all of us.  Matt is in Boston right now and is at least enjoying the thrill of seeing Fenway Park which is a stadium he has never seen and Boston is a city he hasn’t spent much time in.

The Dbacks have been struggling lately so it makes for some stressful game days and when the team isn’t winning, it makes life on the road a bit more rough.  It’s a long season though and we are hoping that they can go on a nice little winning streak right before the break to cap off the 1st half of the season.

I have included some new pics of Braelyn baking cookies with her fancy hat on and also a couple of funny ones showing what we get to experience on a daily basis.  She really is such a great little person to spend time with and I am really lucky that she is my “job”. 

I am hoping that Matt might have a few minutes next week when he is home to post a note or two to catch you all up on his daily happenings.

We miss you all and hope everyone is having a great week!

Love,

MLB Mama