Got your brooms ready, Red Sox fans?

I'm posting very late tonight because I wanted to talk about the World Series. Yes, the World Series. Like we have anything else on our collective minds these days.

This has been, as of tonight, an amazing series for us Red Sox fans. More than we ever imagined, especially with the Rockies recent win loss record of 22-1, we're just creaming those Rockie Mountain boys. I thought that they might win a game or two, but it looks as if they might not win anything at all. We're out pitching them, our defense is better, and overall we're just a better, stronger team.

I've never been a fan of the national league. I like the designated hitter, I love that pitchers don't have to hit. I don't quite get why the two leagues can't seem to come to a compromise on those two playing points, but evidentally they can't. And, if they can't even decide how to play the game uniformly throughout both leagues, they certainly can't make every playing field uniform as well. Baseball is the only game where every playing field is different, not only in size but in shape as well.

Watching the Sox play in Coors Field (I HATE THAT NAME!) tonight was amazing. DiceK? Could he have been better? I don't think so. His pitching was fabulous. He actually got a base hit. Did you see him running the bases in his jacket? Then he walked to 1st carrying his bat with him. How cute is he? It's like watching a big giant little league player that's incredibly talented.

One thing we noticed watching the game tonight was the number of shattered bats. Do you think that has something to do with the dry air in Colorado? I've never seen so many split bats in one game.

How about our Rookies? Jacoby Ellesbury? What a fabulous player. Dustin Pedroia? How cute is he, and what a huge boon to our team. He was a real find. DiceK? Who would have thunk, after watching him last spring, that he would end up as such a powerful pitcher in October?

Tomorrow, Jon Lester is pitching. He's come back from cancer last year. What an amazing story he is for our Red Sox. I'm counting on him to sweep the series. I just cannot wait for the parade. I went in 2004 and end up sobbing I was so excited and relieved. My whole life I've been a Sox fan. I'm a third generation fan, my kids are 4th generation fans. My father lived his entire life never having seen his team win the series. It took 52 years for me to see that win in 2004. My kids, they have always seen the Red Sox on top. They've never experienced years and years of being in the basement. They're going to see another World Series before they're even 16.

It doesn't seem quite fair.

I do have a hint for all you watching tomorrow. Turn the sound way down so you don't have to hear Joe Buck and Tim McMoron chattering on about nothing nonstop. The game is so much more enjoyable without them.

See you tomorrow night!

Orbiting the Evil Empire

No matter how much many of us talk about Boston and Providence as our big hubs, we all know that it is out there! A major economic and cultural center that is not only a "must see" location in and of itself, but blocks the highways that we New England Mamas need to traverse if we want to get to Sesame Street Place, Washington DC, or the Jersey Shore. Yes, I am talking about the Big Apple, New York City.

I have to admit that I have slightly mixed loyalties when I lock arms with my fellow New Englanders to glare south. Not only did I live in Hoboken, New Jersey for two years while working in Manhattan, but my husband lived in and around "The City" for almost 30 years, and he still proudly calls himself a New Yorker. (In fact, he was joyfully cavorting around the house earlier today yelling something about "Only 4 games out! And at least two-and-a-half up!" for some baseball-related events that I am sure were less happily received by most of my neighbors.) But neither of our New York associations make driving through the City seem any more enticing.

My friend and her husband generously invited my family to spend the week with them in Ocean City, New Jersey. Unfortunately, my husband couldn't make the trip. I figured it would be no problem for me to take the boys by myself. However, as the trip got closer, I began to feel like I needed to breathe into a paper bag every time I thought about the drive. Being stuck in a car with a 3.5 year old and a 13 month old isn't fun at the best of times, and everyone I knew said the Jersey Shore traffic was simply a nightmare. It looked like the 7 hour drive would really be a 10+ hour drive.

Due to my complete laziness shear brilliance, we ended up leaving much later than expected. Originally I had wanted to leave at 6 am (that makes me laugh just to write it), however, that definitely didn't happen. In fact once 9 am had rolled around, I figured it was better to wait until the afternoon anyhow. We ended up leaving at around 3:15 pm. Other than some traffic delays getting onto I-84 (if my FastPass had been working it would have been no problem), there was basically no traffic on my trip. We stopped for an hour for dinner. The whole trip took us 8 hours total, inclusive of the stop. The boys slept through most of it since I wouldn't let them nap before we left.

Tonight when I am welcomed back into the arms of my fellow New Englanders as I go out with the moms from my playgroup, my first toast will be to Newark Airport. Because they overbook their airspace, there were plenty of airplanes coming and going when we drove through. The boys got a good half hour out of talking about the different airplanes and their "sizes".

What a game last night!

Did you guys watch the Sox game last night? It was, shall we say, exciting. Shilling was the starter, and he wasn't in top form. If you read his blog, the first line of his post told the story. "It was hot. I sucked. We still won." You know, I just do not know how they can even play serious ball in weather like that. Think about it. I'm just wanting to sit right in front of the AC drinking chilly Mojitos and hoping for a storm to blow out the humidity, and these guys are playing ball in the sun. They work for their money.

Anyhow, Sox are up, then the Yankees are tied, then they're up, then we are WAY up, and Mienty gets hurt and is carried off the field, making the entire frigging Evil Empire on the DL list (I'm totally loving it!) and Paps closes with pizazz. We're back up 13.5 games on the Pinheads, and we're playing today. Joe Torre looks dyspeptic, even more than usual. His team sucks. They even called Damon up as the DH later on, and he's on the DL too. I look at him and I feel nothing but disgust for the traitor.

It was a great game, even with the rain delay, which enabled me to get in a half hour of This Old House!

My boys couldn't look better. Even with Shill at his worst after the delay, they are just shining stars. I think this might be our year, pooh pooh pooh.