Scrabble & “seats seven”

(I wrote this post over Christmas break, then kind of forgot to post it. . . better late than never, I suppose.) 

The other night I played Scrabble with my mom. The game amazes me. I think about all the connections my brain is making as it manipulates words and letters – it’s actually an extremely complex process that I have come to appreciate all the more as I have studied language.

Of course, the way I play, I often end up putting my mind through extra and unnecessary contortions trying to figure out how to use all seven tiles on one play, only to end up playing “N-U-T” on the triple word score for a whopping 9 points. Hey, you gotta play with what you got, right?

Last night, it was time for another type of competition as our family took a trip down to see the Flyers play hockey vs. the Maple Leafs (Leaves??). They won, 4-1. It was the first time we’d gone to a major sporting event as a family in 10 years. We picked up my older brother at his apartment and headed into Philly in our Mercury minivan, which “seats seven”.

Ha.

Ten years ago when most of us were a good deal smaller, that might’ve been true. It’s not anymore. My littlest brother is as tall as my dad, my little sister is taller than both my mom and me, so there’s pretty much zero wiggle room. As one of the smaller family members, I had the privilege of sitting in the 3rd row, middle seat. Ah, there’s nothing like a little family bonding time, eh?

And there’s nothing like sitting in the backseat of the family car to makes you feel like a kid again.