Family vacation and...

HARRY POTTER LAND.

I may be well past my teenybopper phase and imaginary love affair with Draco Malfoy*, but I was still downright giddy as we walked into the new Harry Potter section in Universal's theme park. My brothers and I kept finding more cool things to see and do...usually signaled by small shrieks (on my part) or laughter (on theirs).



It's fun to be a kid sometimes. The books have merits of their own beyond being a good story, but my brother pointed out that's what brought all of us together that day: a good story, crossing oceans and ages and cultures, and the desire to see it all come true.

Plus, it's HARRY POTTER. It's fun. I'm still waiting for my Hogwarts letter to come...someday.

*Or, you know, not. A girl can dream.

New missions.

Along with moving back into my bedroom at my parents' house (the wiser choice during unpaid-but-you-can-still-pay-us-tuition student teaching semester), I'd like to work on one other thing:

How to be alone.

I'm decent at it in short stretches, days or so, mostly because I'm great at keeping myself entertained. Cleaning, reading, basking in the sun, working out with only my earbuds for company--these are things I'm pretty good at doing alone. What I'm worse at is keeping alone from transitioning into lonely.

Being alone and quiet gives me space to process the world; being alone and loud reminds me that I know how to amuse myself! Halfway through one of my last car trips, an Alanis CD found its way into my stereo, and I sang myself hoarse the rest of the way home. Having fun by myself is important, I think, if only to remember how much I like my own company, and that person, instead of anyone else I might be asked to become.

I need to pick this up again (again).

It's a good place to record things I want to remember!--like the potentially-disastrous-but-hilarious soccer game today.

Background details: every Sunday, the entire family packs up and heads out to the soccer fields Dad owns with two other business partners. Mom and the brothers work the concession stand, while Dad assigns and oversees the games (and especially the referees). I'm happiest refereeing.

Just this session, we signed our first women's teams. They're still learning, but they're having fun. Today was their first rain game. First, we had a lightning delay...then the clouds came closer...then they poured. When I finally blew the whistle to begin, the rain had calmed to a drizzle, but it picked up again a few minutes into the half.

A game like that can easily be a miserable time: players can lose their heads, slide recklessly, get angry, and get hurt. The officials don't have an easier time of it, either. If the game is slow, you're cold; if it's fast, there's a danger of slipping and injuring your pride or your legs. These girls kept their heads, though, and had fun with the rain--so I did the same.

There's nothing quite like seeing someone's abuela intercept a breakaway or jump over a slide tackle.