The Triple J Fishing team started it's season the last week of February. The Marco Island tournament was scheduled for February 27th. PJ, Keith & Stevie started prefishing on Tuesday, Feb 23rd. As we all know this winter has lasted what feels like forever and the weather postponed the tournament. The tournament is now rescheduled for March 14th and the Naples tournament on March 13th. PJ, Keith & Stevie start fishing on Monday March 8th and once again the tournaments are postponed. The boys head down on Thursday evening and do one day of prefishing but do not catch a single King Fish. In unfamiliar territory, PJ, Keith, Stevie, Jeff & Jake head out on Saturday morning. After a long day of fishing and traveling 270 miles, they come in with a 27lb fish....not exactly setting the world on fire. I get a phone call from PJ saying "I am just glad we are weighing a fish". An hour and a half later I get another phone call stating "We are two minutes away from winning the tournament". Not only did they win the Naples tournament but they went out the next day and caught another winner. They win back to back tournaments and Jake wins Junior Angler in both as well. Needless to say they are estatic. Now this weekend is the Ft. Myers tournament....can they do it again????

Jordan's softball team played their mid season tournament this weekend. They played two games Friday night, three games on Saturday and one today. They qualified to play in the championship game but the game was rained out. The rules say that to decide the winner, they will flip a coin. The coaches agreed that this was not the best scenario and named the two teams, co-champions. We were very proud of the Aim High Team. They outscored their opponents 69-5.....not too shabby. Jordan had been a little slump but got two hits and two RBIs in the final game.

Rally Day

Last Friday was Rally Day at Grace. It is always the Friday of Lutheran School's week and the kids love it. All the classes compete in tug-o-war, relay races, basketball shoot outs, etc. The parents get to come and watch all the fun. Jake and Jordan both participated in the tug-o-war and both of their teams went down in flames. But what they lacked in strength they made up for in speed. Both teams were victorous in the rely race. The pictures were taken by another Grace mom....Monica Stoltz.....my pictures were not as good :( but here is a taste of the days festivites.

In November of '09 we traveled to Biloxi to the SKA National Fishing Tournament. PJ, Keith & Stevie drove the boat out and Jake and I flew out. At the banquet Jake was awarded top Junior Angler....woo hoo! The boys fished the first day in high winds, the weather the second day was too rough to go out. So we packed up the boat for the long drive back to Florida.

Over the summer, Grandma took Jordan to down to Papa's for some one on one time. They did lots of fishing, blowing bubbles and wound the grandfather clock......creating memories as my mother would say. Jake would go down in a few weeks and he had some big shoes to fill. Jordan caught 60 something fish, a turtle and an alligator. She is more like her dad than I thought. They are both looking forward to the trip in 2010.

This past August, I got the opportunity to go to the US Open. AMAZING is all I have to say. If it was possible I would make the pilgrimage to Flushing Meadows every year. I got to see my boyfriend Roger in person (PJ knows I would never leave him), the Bryan Brothers and Melanie Oudin's memorable run to the quarterfinals. Not sure when I will make it back but I am destined to attend all four grand slams....definitely on the bucket list.

Keys 09

Every July we go to the Keys for Lobster Mini season. We spend several days "scouting" for lobster and deciding where we will start our hunt once the season opens. This year we hooked Jake up with a regulator (tank on the boat) and let him go to work. After several hours in the pool he was ready to tackle the lobsters. We had 66 lobsters in the boat by 8:30 on day one but motor trouble threatened our day two adventure. A friend of PJ's drove down with the part we needed in exchange for a day of lobstering.....no problem. This made our goal for day two 72 lobsters. It took us most of the day but we were not leaving without all of those bugs. So for those of you who do not like math that's 138 lobsters in 48 hours. It is my favorite trip of the year. It won't be long before our goal is increased by another six when Jordan becomes an "active harvester". Cannot wait for this years trip!!!!! Bring on the bugs.

Baseball Moms

Over the summer we played baseball.....and played baseball.....and played baseball. Wendy, Michelle & I (along with many other fabulous moms) spent hours in the hot sun watching our sons play baseball all over the state of Florida. I did a great job taking pics of the moms but have very few of Jake & the boys playing ball. We shaved heads, we drank beer, we played cornhole....and we made lots of friends. I have been fortunate enough to attend all sorts of sporting events, from the US Open to the BCS National Championship game but I have to tell you that there is nothing more fun than watching your son's team when the are "hot". Jake's team qualified for the State tournament and we traveled to West Palm Beach in July to watch them play. They did not advance past West Palm but we had a blast watching them try.

OK so I have been somewhat behind on the blog. But after watching Julie & Julia I have a renewed spirit for keeping it updated. Don't get too excited...I have not gone completely crazy....there will be no cooking in my house, unless of course PJ is doing it :). I have been promising my oldest brother that I would post a pic from this fishing trip that he, Taylor, Mom & Jake took LAST JUNE. Better late than never. They had such a good time fishing on Lake Okeechobee. Jake & Jordan are looking forward to going fishing with "Uncle Bub" in the near future. If they do...I promise the pics will be posted in a much timelier fashion. Our family has been very busy over the last six months so I am going to try to catch you up....we shall see.

Dance recital

This is Jordan in her HipHop outfit from her dance recital. She danced in three numbers, the other two were clogging and tap. This was her favorite outfit. Next year she wants to take on ballet and jazz. Jordan also attended a Disney dance camp at Wright Step Dance. The girls learned dances from High School Musical, Hannah Montana & Jonas Brothers. Kelsie from HSM came to meet the girls and sign autographs, needless to say the girls loved it. On Friday they performed for the parents and showed off their new "skills" PJ and I are very proud of Jordan, she takes a back seat many days to Jake and baseball. Her new mantra is going to be "I have no life because my brother plays baseball"

Father's Day

The year for Father's Day the kids and I took PJ to the Key West restaurant in the Gaylord Palms. The kids commandeered the camera and took about 100 pictures of all the plants and fish in the hotel. After our ride back to Polk County we went to recreation station for some bowling. Of course Dad one(we let him win because it was Father's Day). The kids bowled great.....Jordan even got a strike, then she accidentally threw the ball into the wrong lane and hit the drop down guard. We all thought it was funny but that was the end of her bowling. We ended the day, eating crawfish with our friends Steve & Michelle and their family. It was a great family day.....one of the few Sundays without baseball over the last few weeks. Jake's team played in a tournament that weekend but they were knocked out in the Saturday game. It was bittersweet, we wanted the boys to do well but a day with the family is priceless.

Ocala Rookie Qualifier

In June, the Eagle Lake Rookie All-star team traveled to Ocala for the State Qualifier. After a heart breaking loss and a poor hitting performance Eagle Lake got a second chance to qualify for the state tournament by securing one of the wild card spots. After waiting out a two hour rain delay Eagle Lake finally got it's chance against Fishhawk. There was no stopping them, playing almost flawless defense, the boys finally got their bats going, winning the game 8-0. The state tournament was 4th of July weekend in West Palm Beach. Even though their performance at the state tournament was far below what we know they are capable of, all the parents were very proud of the kids.

Robin's birthday

While Robin was home for her class reunion we celebrated her birthday at Linda's house. During the party PJ decided to put dishwashing detergent into the hot tub. Needless to say, the kids loved it!!!

The kids recently participated in their school play Donkey Tales. It consisted of grades Kindergarten through second grade. Jordan was an angel and Jake cut down the palms used to fan Jesus on his "donkey ride". The performance was adorable and a dvd is available if anyone is interested. Mame took them to Eli's to pick out their "duds" for the performance. As you can see, they thought of everything. Jordan's boots even light up :) My girl does love her accesso

ries. Next year they will be in separate shows, it means a little more work but it is definitely worth it. I had the cutest little ranch hands in the show!!!!

Recently I got the opportunity to travel to Atlanta with my good friends Wendy & Leslie to attend the Junior League Annual Conference. We spent three days attending training workshops, brainstorming with other league members and we snuck in a trip the Inman Park Street Festival. Our Keynote speaker was Erin Gruwell. She is a young teacher that changed the lives of so many teenagers through her teaching. Their stories were published in a book called "Freedom Writers". There is also a movie starring Hilary Swank about the amazing work she has done....I highly recommend them both. Overall we had a fabulous trip. Our only hiccups were at the airport....if I get more time I will tell those stories :) We came home with lots of new ideas and a renewed passion for the Junior League....this year is going to be great!

Jordan had her class Easter Party at Nikki Rudd's house. The kids had a great time spending the day out of school. The did crafts, busted a pinata, hunted for eggs & had a visit from the Easter Bunny himself.

For the first time, Jake fished with the Triple J team in division 11. The division consists of three tournaments in Marco, Naples & Fort Myers. Overall the team came in 2nd place - awesome!!! Jake was the top Junior Angler for the division. He won college scholarships, a kayak and a fishing pole. I think we have created a fishing monster. He will fish with his dad in November in Boluxi for the national title - Go Jake!!!!

Palermo

Last week me and my friends Michelle and Pat went to visit Robin in Palermo. We hit the ground running and did not stop for a week. Robin took us to our hotel where we showered and changed clothes, then to her house for wine and appetizers. Then to our first dinner in Italy....of course I ordered pizza and it did not disappoint.

The next day we took the red bus tour of the city. We got off to find the farmer's market. After a round about walk through the city we stumbled upon it. There was fresh fish, fruit, vegetables and spices. It was no less than amazing. After getting back on the bus and completing the tour we browsed some shops while we waited for Robin to get off work. After lunch Robin took us to Monreale to see the catherdal. It was our lucky day and we saw a young couple tie the knot in one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen. We headed back down to Palermo for dinner with Frank & Somona at a castle of the water. Once again dinner was fantastic.

The next two days were spent in Taormina. We shopped and ate and drank wine. There is also some historical sites to see there...like a Greek ampithreater (Sicily was once occupied by the Greeks) and of of course several churches. One night instead of a traditional dinner we hopped around sampling appetizers from several different restaurants...it was awesome.

We drove back to Palermo along the coast and the views were breathtaking. We stopped in ???? to have lunch and do some more shopping. The restaurant we ate in served pizza with french fries on it. It sounded like my idea of heaven....but I have to say it was my least favorite meal of the trip....I still cannot believe it.

Our final day we drove down to ????? a medievil city on the coast. On a clear day you can see the coast of Africa. Our day was not clear but it was still breathtaking. We bought our final souveniers and keepsakes while walking up to the castle. The streets were full of kids on field trips and other tourists like us. One little aspiring photographer took our picture during her adventure to the castle.

The trip was fabulous and it was great to visit with Robin and see how well she is doing it Italy. We would have been lost without her Italian speaking abilities and local knowledge. I do not think I can go into our driving adventures....let's just say that stop signs and speed limits are merely guidelines...it's your choice whether to follow them or not.

For Spring Break 2009 the Myers Clan plus PJ's mom and my mom went to Park City, Utah. We stayed at Deer Valley. Jordan went to ski school for two days, we could only talk Jake into one day. On Thursday we all skied together. The kids are quickly becoming better skiers than mom, they have some more work to do before they can out ski dad :). I did not fall any while skiing but did somehow mange to fall right in front of a ski instructor while "poling" on flat snow - go figure.

Balls Out

For everyone who has watched PJ's video & heard the expression "Balls Out" I thought I would post the origin of his colorful term & just so you know it has become a common expression in our day to day banter :)

An interesting saying with a generally misunderstood etymology. It has commonly come to mean to do something with reckless abandon or extreme courage, or perhaps a combination of both.

However, contrary to popular belief, going balls out is not something that is limited to those people who have the proper equipment to exhibit such testicular fortitude that this saying conjures images of in the vulgar argot.

It's true meaning is derived from the advent of the Watt's Governor, created in the late 18th century. This governor consisted of a pair of steel balls that were connected to a central vertical spindle by a pair of link arms. As the engine speed increased the spindle would rotate faster, causing the steel balls to move further and further away from the central arm. The point at which the balls were completely extended, the engine was said to be running balls out, meaning it was going as fast as it could.

So next time you decide to go balls out, just keep your shorts on, and give it your all.

There you have it, PJ did not make this up or misspeak as some of you have commented. I hope you all learned something new today.