Hello to everyone from home here in Atlanta,

Well, the season just wrapped up, and unfortunately, we'll be watching the playoffs from the couch instead of heading into the Playoffs for a game. It was a tough year for the club, but at least now I can relax a little and recover from a long season. All told, it was tough season for the Braves, but I realized I finished a lot better than I started. I hit .286 in September with eight doubles, so feel like I can really take that momentum into next season. In the field, I had a .987 fielding percentage with only 4 errors, which I was told was the best of my career. Also, I cut down on my strikeouts, recording the fewest in a full season over my entire career.

Of course, you guys know that I love the game of baseball. But there are plenty of things I enjoy about the offseason, too.

To me, the offseason is a bit like your vacation all wrapped into one big block, since baseball players practically work for 8 months straight without a break. We haven't had a Saturday or Sunday off since February. So it's nice to get in the regular "work day" schedule and be a little bit more like the rest of you all.

Overall, I'm going to take some time to not only work on becoming a better baseball player, but also take some time away from the game and travel around the country with family and friends. To start the off-season, I plan on getting on Delta and going to Costa Rica this month with my wife Catie. I'm also planning a vacation with Catie and her family to Colorado, which I'm very much looking forward to. Of course, I plan to make some frequent trips to my family's condo in Florida for some golf and relaxation, and on November 3rd Catie and I are going to be celebrating our first wedding anniversary. We may, just may, have time for a trip to New Zealand as well, and we're in the process of checking into that as I write this.

In Atlanta this off-season, I've got a bunch of community service projects that Catie and I are excited to work on. I don't want to get into too much detail about them yet - since a few of them haven't been finalized - but I'll be sure to tell you all about them when they are announced, both here and on www.JeffFrancoeur.com!

Now that I'm back to being a regular husband around the house, I'm pretty excited about the football season and checking out some of the new TV shows this fall. We rarely get to catch television throughout the spring, summer, and fall because of the games, so the fact that I'll be home to watch shows like "Entourage," "Wipeout" and "Friday Night Lights" is pretty exciting. (Okay, maybe it's not so exciting for Catie.) For all of you fans out there, what shows have I missed? There has to be something I need to start taping, right?

Looking forward to enjoying the offseason but tuned my mind in to 2009 and the start of a great season next year.