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...