Professional Baseball Player

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Today was a pretty standard day.  It had started to lightly rain when I got up.  Rachel came downstairs not too long after me because she was tutoring this morning.

The boys had school all day while Rachel went into teach at ATA in the morning.

I interviewed a person today for a job with us.  The 30 minute interview went for more than an hour so it was pretty good.

After I finished work, Rachel was tutoring some more.  I made a marinade for boneless chicken thighs and put it in the fridge.  Then Evan and I went to Marucci Clubhouse to get some hitting work in.  Evan's tryouts for high school baseball are Friday and Saturday.

When we got there, we look at the schedule on the monitor.  A guy who was drafted in the first round by the Mets from Lake Travis was going to be there at the same time as us.  Evan got very excited.  While Evan was practicing, we both took a peek to see how he hit and things like that.  It was pretty cool.  Evan said that the video game, MLB the Show, did a good job of making the video game version of the guy look like the real player.

When we got home, I grilled the chicken thighs.

Now, Evan and Noah are upstairs playing on the Playstation.

Until next time...

Full Week

Hello everyone, this is is Morry.

We had a full week this week.  On Monday it was back to meetings for me.  Evan and I went to HEB after school and work to get food for the week.  It was crazy crowded at the store.  We had dinner at home and then Evan had a hitting lesson with Justin.

On Tuesday, I took Grandmom to have an endoscopy.  Rachel taught.  Luckily Evan's baseball practice was canceled in the evening which helped.  Rachel still had a long afternoon and evening of tutoring.

On Wednesday, Grandmom stopped by to bring the boys a Playstation 5.  The boys wanted one for Hanukkah and Grandmom was able to get one from eBay.  In the afternoon, Evan went and coached the younger kids.  I stayed out at TRPD and had a meeting and talked to my siblings.

Thursday was a little easier.  I had fewer meetings and we didn't have any baseball.  Rachel did have a very long stretch of tutoring that started at 3:30 ended at 7:30.

On Friday, after work, I took Evan to Marucci with Josiah and his dad John.  After that we picked up pizza from Austin Pizza Garden which is going out of business after 27 years.

Yesterday, Evan had bullpens at TRPD.  Rachel and Chewie came with us.  We stopped at Donut Taco Palace and then took at walk on the Hamilton Greenbelt after dropping Evan off. 

We came home and had lunch and then I took Evan to the park to play baseball with Reid.  He stayed over Reid's house last night.  For dinner, we had Cypress Grill.  Papa picked it up for us.

Today, I went golfing with a bunch of dads from Evan's baseball. I played much better this time.  Our team came in second out of three foursomes.

I picked up Evan on the way home.

Rachel, Evan and I went to HEB for food.  For dinner, we had Torchy's.

Rachel is cleaning now and then we'll sit down.

Until next time...

Cold Outside

 Since one of the teachers at school has a wife that tested positive for COVID, I'm being even more cautious and trying to spend as little time as possible inside.

Normally on my long days, I spend some time during my lunch break in the teacher workroom area (with a mask on) doing work.

Today, I didn't want to spend time there so I stayed outside pretty much the whole time.  

I went to Home Depot to look for more ligustrums, but they didn't have any.

Then, I walked around the nearby park and then ate my lunch outside at school.

During class, I usually allow 15 minutes or so at the end of class for the kids to work on homework or ask me any questions.  In the first class at 10am, the kids were cold and wanted to go inside after the lesson.  So, I let them work on homework inside, but I stayed outside.

For my 1pm class it had warmed up enough and we played a game, so the kids were okay staying outside.

I Zoom tutored a student at 5:30 today that canceled yesterday.

Morry and Evan went to Marucci to practice baseball.  They met Josh and Chad there.

For dinner, we had takeout from Simply Pho.

Now Morry is putting together our new stools we just got delivered today.

Our Week So Far

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Monday was a normal day.  After school ended, I took the boys to get their hair cut.  For dinner, I made orange chicken and white rice.  When we finished dinner, I took Evan to TRPD for a hitting lesson.

On Tuesday, we had our trees trimmed and some trees removed.  The guys got to the house at 8am.  Rachel took Chewie over to Grandma and Papa's.  We had one tree removed that was sort of in the middle of the yard and a few scrawny trees in the back corner.  Other than that, we just had the trees trimmed properly.  We hadn't done it in 3 or 4 years.  Evan had baseball practice in the evening.

On Wednesday, the tree trimmers were back to finish up.  They were done by about 10am.  After school, I took Evan to TRPD.  He's running practice for catchers for the younger teams.  He coaches 2 kids every 30 minutes.  Rachel picked him up after tutoring.

Today, we had a pretty laid back day.  Rachel taught in the morning.  After school, I took Noah worked with Grandma on Hebrew.  I took Evan and met Josiah and his dad, John at Marucci Clubhouse.  We stopped at HEB on the way home and got ground beef for Chewie for his Hanukkah gift.  We lit the candles for the first night of Hanukkah and Chewie and the boys got their gifts.  Chewie loved the raw ground beef.  The boys each got t-shirts.  For dinner, we had flank steaks and potatoes.

We're about to sit down to watch some TV.

Until next time...

Batting Cages

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Rachel had to get up a little bit earlier this morning as she had a staff meeting before her morning tutoring session.  When her tutoring was done, she went into school to teach.

As usual, I was home working and the boys were doing virtual school.

Rachel is home earlier on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  But today she stopped at Dick's Sporting Goods.  Evan ordered some sunglasses and Rachel passes right by.  She did the curbside pick up.

After Evan was done with classes, he went out and worked on some pitching in the backyard.  He said he was working on a knuckle-curve that he felt broke both vertically and horizontally.

Later, we met Josiah and his dad, John, at Marucci Clubhouse.  Evan and Josiah hit off the pitching machine for about an hour.  Evan was successful, especially at the end.  He made a slight tweak to his hands and felt the difference.  The results definitely showed.

We came home and made something quick - just pasta - for dinner.

The boys are upstairs now.

Until next time...

Marucci

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

As crazy as it seems, the boys only have one more week until Thanksgiving Break.  The school year seems to be going by quickly.  I think after that Thanksgiving, the boys only have three weeks until winter break.

This morning was a busy morning for me. I didn't have any meetings but there were a bunch of things at work I needed to complete.

The boys had school as normal.  One of Noah's teachers is dealing with family issues.  And in the new COVID world, they don't get substitutes.  The kids get an assignment to work on without any synchronous instruction. 

Rachel went into teach at ATA today.  At lunch, she met a mother from baseball who lives near there for a nice walk.

After school and work, I took Evan to a set of batting cages called Marucci Clubhouse.  We met Josiah and his Dad there.  For the first 30 minutes, Josiah's dad, John, pitched to the boys.  The second thirty minutes Evan and Josiah hit off of the pitching machine.  They have a thing there called HitTrax.  They also have it at TRPD.  John gave a suggestion to Evan to get his back hip around and Evan immediately set a personal best for distance a hit traveled and exit velocity of the ball.

We stopped at Simply Pho on the way home and got dinner.

The boys are new upstairs and Rachel and I will sit down and watch TV.

Until next time...

Three Runners

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Friday, the boys had a dentist appointment.  It had been nearly a year since the last time they went.  With the pandemic, they just had not gone.  The dentist and hygienist could not believe how tall Evan had gotten.  No cavities for either boy and their mouths looked good.  Noah is on his way to braces in around a year.  Evan's teeth are perfectly straight but there is some gap so maybe he could do invisalign when he stops growing.

Later Friday, Evan and I went to a place called Marucci Clubhouse.  It's basically a fancy batting cage.  I think it helped to hit off the pitching machine.  

When we got home, we went to HEB and then picked up food from La Posada's.  It was pretty good.  

Yesterday morning, it was drizzling some.  Rachel made cranberry-apple crisp.  When it stopped raining, she and I went for a walk.  Then we made eggs for brunch.

After that, Evan and I drove to Kerrville for two baseball games.  Kerrville is nearly 2 hours away.  The fields were very very nice.  We had not been there.  They are sort of set in a valley with all these hills all around it.  It was done very well.  Evan's team is considered 15U (kids that turn 15 on or before April 30, 2021 or younger) but they were playing up in a 16U tournament.  They had 4 16U kids playing with them.  In the first game, Evan played third base.  He didn't have any plays.  But in his first at-bat he hit a single to right field on a 3-2 count.  It was a good hit because he saw a hole where the second baseman was out of position and hit it right there. He also rushed over to play peacemaker when the pitcher got mad at a bad call by the umpire.  

In the second game, Evan caught.  In one inning a boy tried to steal second and Evan easily threw him out.  Then the leadoff hitter beat out an infield single because he was so fast.  He tried to steal second on the first pitch and Evan threw him out easily to end the inning.  Everyone was going crazy cheering for Evan.  His team lost both games, but Evan definitely played well.  We got home around 12:30 at night.

He had a game back in Kerrville at 1:15.  To get there in time for warmups, we left the house around 10.  One of his teammates, Josiah, got dropped off here and then we all drove together.  Based on Evan's good outing last night, he started at catcher again.  The leadoff batter got hit by a pitch.  Then he tried to steal.  And like the night before, Evan threw the runner out.  In Evan's first at bat he walked.  Then in the third inning, there was a runner at first and second.  The batter singled to center and the 3rd base coach sent the runner home.  The throw game into Evan who tagged the runner at home as he was being taken out.  Then jumped up and threw to third to get the runner out trying to advance from second to third.  The home plate umpire inexplicably called the runner at home safe, so one out of two is still good.  Evan's coach got very angry with the home plate umpire.  It looked pretty obvious that Evan blocked the plate and saved the run.  In Evan's second at-bat, he hit a laser into right field for a hit. He came around and scored.  And in his third at-bat, he walked again.  All in all he was 2-4 with 2 walks on the weekend plus he threw four runners of directly and was responsible for 2 pick-offs.

When we got home, Rachel, Evan and I went to HEB.  Then we picked up dinner from Hunan Lion.

Evan is watching the NLCS, Noah is on his phone and Rachel is on the computer.

Until next time...