Weekly Diary

A day early this week...

Finally! This week got going with a bang! The Galaxy, finally, finally, FINALLY won an away match, 3-2 on Saturday over DC United. Prior to this, the Galaxy had not beaten any as the visitors (excepting Chivas, but they don't count) since June, 2004. And then on Wednesday, the Galaxy did it again by defeating San Jose 2-1 in the Quarter-finals of the US Open Cup. HOORAY.

Party Like It's 1999! I am something of a Luddite, and we don't have a bunch of money laying around, so we don't always have the latest technology. (My I-Pod birthday present is still sitting in the box). But this week we upgraded to two new cell phones for our family. Whoopee! Now we can be like everyone else and have conversations while we're driving or standing in public places. Then we won't have to talk to each other at home, freeing up more time for watching TV and wasting time on the Internet.

Reeling in the Years Chris went to the High School this week to pick up his books and his class schedule. I can't believe how old the other parents of high schoolers look.

And We're Outta Here The family is off to our annual camping event at McGrath State Beach in Ventura with a bunch of people from our church. This has always been a wonderful time. The family Thursday and I go today, delayed by our youth soccer league's seemingly annual postponement of the coaches' meeting from last week to this.

Somos Galacticos Got our team assignments and rosters for our youth soccer teams. Katie will be able to play - there was some doubt of getting enough coaches for her division. I hope to be able to be an assistant on her team. I will be coaching Chris's team, and we will be Real Madrid. I am stoked. But...

Our league is a classic example of American Exceptionalism when it comes to soccer. We mess with the Laws of the game in silly ways, and only the teams in the top boys division are named for soccer teams - some of the lower divisions even use professional names from other sports! But even in our division we don't get things right. The schedule listed Ajax, which they pronounce like the cleaner, as being Danish (they're Dutch), and Celtic, which they usually say in the plural, as Irish when they're Scottish. And none of the colors are right. Real Madrid, which is perhaps even more well known for wearing all-white than the Yankees are for pin stripes, will be wearing... maroon shirts and socks with yellow shorts. Sigh. But the ball is still round, and the game is 70 minutes, so on we go.