Yes! I am victorious! Actually, it's not as though I stole this laptop and beat up its password - dad practically put it in my lap so I would relinquish the computer upstairs. I am online, however, without anyone looking over my shoulder, which means only one thing - time to get cracking on my updates. That's right, I don't let my parents see my grades or my blog. Is that mean? A certain mother of mine says yes (though she doesn't know about the blog...I think). So finals are done (whew) and summer school is only a few days away. Mmm, organic chem in the summer. Nothing better! After Ro knocked down her last test on Friday we celebrated with dinner at Blue C Sushi, a really good spot in Fremont with the bar in a loft upstairs, movies projecting on the two story wall in front of us, and sushi served kaiten style on a moving conveyor belt surrounding the chefs. After dinner we went back downtown to see Harry Potter 3, which was awesome. We got tickets at the last moment so we sat in the first row with fellow SU students, and enjoyed Alfonso Cuaron's interpretation of HP3 right in our laps. The Dementors...and the Whomping Willow...and Sirius Black. It was perfect. Why could he not direct HP4? He's got a gift. Must now watch more than just the first part of Y Tu Mama Tambien.

You did hear right, by the way. I'm at home right now. A week ago I was studiously writing away on one of my final papers for Asian Families (the class I got an A in somehow!) when my brain sort of wandered away...like it had five minutes before that...and I realized both Father's Day and Mom's Birthday were coming up one right after the other. It's like they schedule these things in advance...hmm. I found a (relatively) cheap flight up to Alaska on Tuesday and with the awesome help of Kat and my (older) brother I managed to get from the airport to my house and spend the night in the (heated) garage. Elder Brother let Kat and me in through his window (in our pjs) the next morning so we could casually walk upstairs. My mom's jaw was on the floor for a good minute or two. She was really happy to see me though. :-D

She decided not to call Dad at work to tell him I was here, so Kat and I ran off to Anchorage to see Shrek 2 (v. v. good) before he got home. Well, we meant to get back before he got home. We kind of got lost...in Anchorage. Yeah, I know. We got lost on the way in, too. How's that for special? At least we girls can ask for directions. :P We found the Glenn again, finally, and crawled back through Elder Brother's window to pull the magic trick yet again, with delightful success. Dad's face wasn't priceless, but he never shows his emotions as much as Mom does. Guess who I take after?

It's been interesting being back home for such a short time. I know I'll be gone again soon, so part of me wants to be the daughter I never am when I'm around for the summer, or when I lived here before. I want to be more sensitive to my mom's feelings; I think she always wished we were as close as she is to her mom. They still call each other every week. I want to act more like a grown up around my dad; I feel like I come off as a spoiled little cynic when I talk with him for a while. I want to get to know my older brother again, because he's changed so much since we both went to college. Same goes for my younger brother - he's so tall and thin now. That's saying something, since he's never been anything but tall and thin. Now, though, it's scary. His face has matured a lot and his voice is deeper. He's all angles and lines. It's hard to say I ever really knew him, for as much as I keep things inside, he's the king. I can still get him to smile, though, so things haven't changed too much.

Today dad stayed home from work to hang out with me! and we drove through Willow to come up to Hatcher's Pass from the back side. We hiked up Craggy Creek and had lunch overlooking the most beautiful glacial valley I've ever seen. Except for Archangel Valley, which is only two mountains over. After that we scrambled up a boulder field to find a partially melted tarn (glacial lake) at the foot of a glacier, which was ideal for cooling dad's beer. Not that he meant to bring it along. No, no, he "thought that it was soda". Who would consume even a bit of alcohol right after climbing up a steep slope when we all know that it inhibits the production of ADH? Without your lovely Anti-Diuretic Hormone, you're just saying "please, sir, may I become even more dehydrated?" ::shakes head::

Maybe tomorrow I can take Younger Brother to the movies. No one in my family has seen HP3 yet, so there's work for me to do. Must get cracking. After Kat and I climb the Butte, of course. Which will only happen once I succeed in waking her up. It may be a long day.