Sox Trade Manny!

Unbelievable trade by the Sox today (not to Green Bay but to the Dodgers) but Manny really forced their hand and got what he wanted. We'll see if he still wants it a week from now. He'll probably be crying that he wants to come back to Boston just like he did when he left Cleveland to join the Sox for the '01 season.

The Sox got Jason Bay from Pittsburgh and also had to give up 2 young prospects:
relief pitcher Craig Hansen and OF Brandon Moss. I think Moss was the better of those 2 but I guess it doesn't matter anymore.

Sox fans all knew Manny was a head case when Duquette signed him in late 2000 and were a little wary of the potential $200M deal but it worked out better then we could have hoped with the 2 World Series wins in '04 and '07, and Manny winning the WS MVP in '04.

But the way it ended sucks. I'm sure Yankee fans are happier today than Sox fans

So long Manny--Have fun playing for Joe Torre.
Hope he doesn't make you cut your hair!

Texas Trip

We went to Texas over July 4th weekend to celebrate my dad's 70th birthday and my brother Gary's promotion to Colonel in the Army. We've been back for over 2 weeks - here's a long overdue Texas-sized posting with lots of pictures.

We went to the airport with Aunty Helen & Uncle Martin

and flew to Austin where we stayed with Aunty Geegy & Pepere Gerry

and on Saturday Mom & Reg flew in from Florida.

On Sunday we drove to outside of San Antonio to see Uncle Gary & Aunt Jojo

and cousin Sarah, here with Pepere

Gary had the smoker up & running at 4AM & made LOTS of meat, including beef brisket and these awesome baby back ribs, per Irene's request, which we ate the next day too:

then we had cake--Red Sox themed, of course.

Aunty Geegy thought she had a new dog when this chihuahua
showed up but the owner came looking for her just before we left.On Monday we went swimming at Barton Springs in Austin. The water bubbles up from underground at 65 degrees year-round. Guess who thought that was too cold?

Then we visited my G'town buddy Morty & finally got to

meet his daughter Grace (of Gracie's Crib fame)

Then we posed for picturesand then relaxed with a cold, tasty beverage

OK, not really. She didn't have any beer--I swear.
We all know she only drinks Knob Creek.

Then, on Tuesday my brother Gary got pinned with his silver wings as he was promoted to full bird Colonel (he was a Lieutenant Colonel before). We weren't able to to attend the ceremony because we were flying back that morning, but we could not be more proud to have such a high ranking officer in the family

Congratulations, Big Gar!

Sick with colds

We all survived the heat of Texas. It was a great visit, seeing everyone to celebrate Gerry's 70th birthday and Gary's promotion. The whole family has been sick with a cold since getting home. We're all trying to recover so we'll try to post photos and videos once we're all feeling better.

Two Teeth!

As you may have noticed on some of the recent pics on here, Iris now has two teeth, and no longer looks like Gummy Joe on the Simpsons.

THIS:
NOT THIS:
I'll buy a beverage of your choice for whoever's the first person
to post in the comments what Gummy Joe calls his tooth.