See?! I really am back! 2 posts in 1 day...

Ben just called to find out why I was late to pick him up from school.

He rode his bike this morning.

I love that kid.

Bueller... Bueller...

Hello? Hello? Is anyone still there? Sorry, I didn't really intend to take so much time off, I was just in a bit of a funk & needed to wrap my mind around what's going on before I wrote about it.

So, here's the dealio... Michael's company has closed their Florida office. Thankfully, they still want him. In Baltimore. With the economy being what it is, especially in his industry (heavy civil construction) we are very thankful that he has a job. Unfortunately however, we are not in a position at this time to move from Florida to Baltimore. Megan could establish her own residency in Florida now & keep her Florida residency tuition rate at UF, but part of the deal with Jordan attending & playing soccer at FSU is contingent on her being a Florida resident.

For now our plan is for Michael to commute home every other weekend (the company will pay for that) until Jordan graduates & she can establish her own residency. After that, Ben & I will move to Baltimore & we'll leave the girls here at their respective Florida universities.

For the past few weeks, Michael has been alternating between Baltimore & the Florida office, but as of this morning, he is permanently in the Baltimore office. And we're here in Florida. It's real. It's happening.

We're not new to this commuting business. Michael actually worked in W. Palm Beach for 4 years when the kids were younger, the difference then being that he was home EVERY weekend and that it was easy for us to make the 4 hour drive to see him on Spring Break & occasionally during the summer. This will definitely be a rougher experience. But like I said, we're grateful he has a job at all. While it's not ideal, it's do-able.

Anyway, while I've been in my funk, life around here goes on. Remind me to tell you about my son, Ben, CEO of Verizon at JA Biz Town and about the doomed trip Jordan & I took to Tallahassee and about how much I love Facebook & getting together with old friends. It's all coming up soon... I swear.

The last post about Portugal...

...although I do reserve the right to post more pictures, if I find some with my mad Facebook stalking skills. :) And of course, if I ever go to Portugal myself, I can post about it. hahahahaha! Don't think you have to worry about that one.

Jordan arrived home around 9:30pm to find this waiting for her at the airport...

Ben was very upset that he had to stay out so late on an FCAT (FL standardized test) night. Michael is out of town again , so I had no choice but to drag him along. He didn't just FALL asleep, he purposely went to sleep to get rest for that important test. Do you think the teachers have emphasized the importance of a good night's rest?!

Anyway, back to the story...

Jordan actually took some pictures!!! I was shocked! She actually took over 230 pictures, as a matter of fact, so pour yourself a nice cup of coffee glass of wine and we'll get started...

...just kidding.

Just a few of the highlights.

Looking fresh with some of her teammates before their plane takes off.

Here she is with Heather O'Reilly of the NT...

and with Carli Lloyd, also of the NT...

3/4 of the Florida girls. The girl in the middle will be Jordan's teammate at FSU.

Soccer tennis anyone?

The Soccer Tennis "gansters" from Region III

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Then there were a lot of pictures of soccer fields, beautiful green soccer fields. I know Michael would like to see those, but the rest of you probably don't care, so I'll send him some later if he wants...

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Jordan also surprised me by taking some beautiful artistic shots like these... I never knew I even WANTED to go to Portugal, until I saw these...

and she captured this little boy chasing a bird...

Beautiful, huh?

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For those of you who know Jordan, you know that she is incredibly shy. I don't know if it was planned by the trip organizers/coaches or just a blessing from above (or both), but Jordan was assigned to room with the most gregarious girl on the team. Nina wouldn't let Jordan keep to herself & I guess the two of them were quite a pair and were the most avid stalkers fans around. I know it doesn't sound like a behaviour I should encourage, but Jordan is usually so controlled & self-disciplined that I like to think of her breaking out of her shell a little. She even ate crepes (!) , gellato (!), Capt'n Crunch (!) and tried pork (no fish though)! Amazing! If only Nina didn't live in freakin' Texas!

Seriously though, she had the time of her life & while I know she missed us, I think for the first time she wasn't quite ready to come home. Her wings must be growing....

So far, so good on the jet-lag front. She's still so high from the trip & is excited to tell all her stories. She's at soccer practice right now. I'll be walking on eggshells when she gets home though...wish me luck!

A little nugget for ya...

Happy Sunday! You know you want it...

The trouble with teenagers...

Haven't heard from Jordan since my last post, but I presume she's doing well. Due to my expert FB stalking skills, I know that she went to the beach yesterday & that they saw an old topless woman. This is the extent of my knowledge. She comes home tomorrow night & she will be immediately grounded for life.

but I do love this picture

Meanwhile, over in Portugal...

Okay, Jordan called last night after I posted.

The RT had been wandering around the hotel stalking looking for the Nat'l Team after their loss in the Algarve Cup final to no avail. Most of the RT went back up to their rooms, but Jordan & a few of her friends went to the hotel lounge to watch the FC Barcelona v. Lyon game. Guess who walks in? Yup, the most of the NT! The NT players proceeded to SIT WITH JORDAN & HER FRIENDS! They sat there & talked WITH the NT players! Like had actual conversations with them. Her heroes! To her, this is the equalent of Michael & I being in a bar & hanging out with Bono & the boys. CRAZY! Unfortunately, her camera was in her room. Ugh! She has assured me that she has been a diligent photographer for the the rest of her trip though.

[note to Kasey... she was listing the players she was hanging with last night & I can't remember them all, but at various points of the trip, she's hung with Natasha, Lindsay, Carli, Heather, Hope, Tina, Megan, Kacey & Rachel. The only one she really wanted to see personally & didn't see was Lori.]

Unfortunately, the NT was leaving the hotel very early this morning to report to their respective WPS teams, so the stalking fun is over. They'll have to find something else to occupy their down time now. Today they are heading to Huelva, Spain to play a Spanish team. It looks like that's about a 1 1/2 hours drive along the southern coast of Portugal.

It sounds like she's having the time of her life. I'll have to keep reminding her of this next week when she is dealing with jetlag, make-up school work, her high school soccer banquet & preparing for the 1st round of State Cup with her club team. For those of you who know Jordan, you know that I'm not in for an easy week. And, oh yeah! Michael will be out of town too.

Back on the homefront, Megan just woke up & is cooking up some scrambled egg w/ green pepper, onion & salsa. YUM! We're doing the tour of TJM*xx, Mars*alls & Costco today, we need fortification! :)

BTW, the pasta last night was absolutely delicious!

Megan & I are mix & matching 2 recipes from Bloggy-ville for dinner tonight... it's turning into Chicken Peanut Sesame Pasta. It smells soooo good! I'll let you know how the final product turns out. We made Chicken Marsala last night. Michael didn't think he liked Chicken Marsala, but this dish changed his mind. It was soooo good, I was just sad we didn't have leftovers.

The NT lost the Algarve Cup final to Sweden today in PKs. From what I've read on the internet, it sounds like it was an exciting game though. I'm sure Jordan won't ever forget having the chance to be there.

I haven't seen any of Jordan's pictures yet, nor have I heard from her today, as a matter of fact (stinker!). I am pretty adept at Facebook stalking though & I got these pictures from the profile of one of the adults traveling with the RT.

Here's the view from the hotel. Oh.my.goodness...


Here's the RT prior to their game against the U16 Nat'l Team. The RT won 4-0. :) Jordan is the tiny one 7th from the right.

Here's the team boarding the bus... I don't know where they were coming from or going to...probably going to their game, as they look like they are wearing their uniforms.

Here they are at the NT game v. Norway... Jordan is in the front...looking a little happy.

Tomorrow they play I-don't-know-who or when but in Huelva (wherever that is). Hopefully, I'll hear from her sometime soon. I'm sure no news is good news...

WNT

Here's a link to the Women's NT's blog talking about the Regional Teams being in Portugal. You think they would've KNOWN to feature Region III & one player in particular, but whatev! I heard from Jordan this morning via email. She's having THE time of her life! Apparently, she's the resident RT expert on all the players on the NT. Seriously, this girl doesn't like to spend much time on the computer, but what time she does spend online is usually researching all things US Soccer...Men's & Women's. If she never makes the NT (or even if she does), she should become their historian. I have yet to hear from her about their game against Ireland though. I'll keep you posted.

Little of this & a little of that...

Jordan is having a great time in Portugal. I was in the shower this morning when she called, but both Megan & Michael talked to her. It sounds like she & her roommate, Nina "stalked" some of the Nat'l Team (NT) players at the hotel this morning while the NT players were heading to their bus for the game against Norway this afternoon. :) I KNOW she was excited to see them! I can't tell you how this girl looks up to those players. The girls on the Regional Team (RT) got to attend the game (the U.S. won 1-0). If my Facebook stalking is correct, they may have gotten to meet the players after the game, as Jordan's roommate's "status" is ___ is freaking best day ever! freaking NATASHA KAI gave me her jerseyy!!!!!!! :))))). [for you non-soccer folks, Natasha Kai is a forward for the NT]

Tomorrow the RT has their first match of the trip. Against Ireland. I know Jordan is pumped. She's been nursing that high ankle sprain since that tournament over New Year's & she says it's feeling really strong now. I hope so. :)

I'm hoping Jordan emails some picture soon, but I wouldn't count on it... communication is not her strong suit. (!)

Back on the homefront... Megan & I went grocery shopping today for some yummy meals we plan on cooking together while she's home for Spring Break. I'm really looking forward to it, Megan is really into lots of the food blogs & she's planned out the menu. I'm really looking forward to the Chicken Marsala especially... I think that's tomorrow night. Tonight Michael & the kids are having Moe's for dinner. I'm going out with some old high school friends. One of whom I haven't seen since high school, even though both of us are still in the same town. Another FB reunion. :) Should be fun!

(e.t.a. Apparently, she called Michael after the game... Natasha Kai autographed Jordan's jacket & she had her picture taken w/ Heather O'Reilly. :) The RT is going to watch the WT's training tomorrow, hopefully she'll get to take some more pics then! and maybe she'll send them to her mama, again, I doubt it.)

What do you see?

Jordie-Girl is somewhere over the Atlantic now, heading to Portugal. She's set to land at 12:30am our time (5:30 am in Lisbon). To keep my mind occupied, Ben is showing me videos like this...



What do you see? Ben & I saw it one way, Michael saw it the other... Leave me a comment & let me know.

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Why I love to go to out of town soccer tournaments...

Hello, my name is Beth. I'm married to Michael. We're enablers.

When we moved to this house from an apartment many moons ago, Ellie (on the right) was an only cat. We made the mistake of letting her wander outside once in awhile. Along came George (not pictured) & Harry (of Harry Potter fame, see the it kind of looks like he has a "scar" on the top of his forehead?). They all became indoor/outdoor cats. Ellie rarely leaves our yard, George just wanders back & forth between our house & his "other house" & Harry stays on our street pretty much.

Our master bedroom is at the front of our house, right off of the foyer. Somewhere along the way, the cats decided they should be able to come and go whenever they please, no matter what time of day or night it is. This is the scenario every night... The cats (usually just Ellie & Harry) scratch on the door several times. Michael & I both pretend we don't hear them. The cats run their evil claws over the window (SCREEEEECH!!!). One of us begrudgingly trudges to the front door & opens it. Ellie & Harry tag team it. I think Ellie does the scratching, Harry waits by the door. Sometimes Ellie won't come in, she acts like she was just doing Harry a favor. Until we get comfy again under the covers, THEN she decides inside is the place to be.

Like I said, Michael & I usually take turns dealing with them. Michael has been out of town this week. I'm tired from dealing with the cats all night & I'm feeling like an idiot for letting them control me so.

These are things I realize about the situation...

• We should never have gotten the first cat.
• Once we had the first cat, we should have kept her an indoor cat.
• Once we let her outside, we should have installed a cat door.
• First cat is now 15 years old & does not take to change well. I moved their food bowls a few years ago & she refused to eat at the new location. We now have 2 sets of food bowls at both locations.
• First cat won't use a cat door if we install it now.
• First cat can't live forever, can she?
• While the cats are sleeping (on my bed, I might add) during the day, I should go around & wake them up every 5 minutes or so.

We have a soccer tournament in 2 weeks. I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep.

Some things never change...

Remember Ben's horrible room? You think I'm going to tell you that it's a wreck again, don't you? Well actually, except for a few books scattered about on his desk, he's actually done a GREAT job keeping it clean. *YEAH BEN!!!*

Unfortunately, he's still my son & has misplaced his library card. We looked for it for a good half hour this afternoon. No luck. While I was looking in the back seat of the van, the front door(of the van) somehow slammed into the back of my head & I now have a killer headache. Like I think my head may just split open any minute now. Hopefully, a good night's sleep will help. I'm going to turn in now & pray for a new skull as I drift off...

Poor boy.

I got a call from the school about 10:30 this morning. Poor Ben was sick with some tummy trouble. I picked him up & after a few more "episodes" & a good nap, he seems to be feeling better. Hopefully, it was just a quick little bug & he'll be close to 100% tomorrow.

And hopefully, none of the rest of us catch it. Things to do, people to see this week...

• Michael is out of town starting Tuesday-Friday.
• I'm having lunch with a friend on Wednesday.
• Going to see my BFFs new house on Thursday.
• Megan home for Spring Break on Friday.
• Jordan leaves for Portugal on Saturday.
• Dinner with my parents & my aunt & uncle visiting from Illinois on Sunday.

No. time. to. be. sick.