A friend once told me that the best days of their life are when they are in the grocery store, they look at a birthday cake and realize, “I’m an adult and I could buy that cake if I wanted to.”

We’ve started referring to those instances of clarity as “adult moments.” Since the word “adult” is in there, we typically use these moments to justify more childish behavior.

I like to think we all have those adult moments, right? You can’t tell me you’ve never come home from a long day of work and, feeling zero desire to cook, thought to yourself, “I’m an adult; I could just eat a bowl of cereal for dinner if I want to.” Or maybe you really, really need to spend Saturday cleaning the house and then realize, “I’m an adult; I could just go to the movie theater instead.”

Sure, I typically end up feeling a bit guilty after most adult moments, but that’s something for Future Ryan to worry about. Future Ryan isn’t going to be happy that he still needs to reorganize the storage room next week, but Present Ryan is too busy marathoning Netflix to worry about how Future Ryan is going to feel.

That kind of stuff happens to me all of the time, but it doesn’t always result in Future Ryan getting the short end of the stick. My most recent adult moment revolved around attending a Phoenix Rising soccer match.

The Rising recently opened a new stadium off of the 202 and McClintock, meaning their games are a very short drive outside of Fountain Hills.

Heading down the 202 one night, looking over at the new stadium, I thought to myself, “Man, I’d really like to go see a game.”

Days later, reflecting back on that moment, it occurred to me that I’m an adult and could just, you know, buy a ticket to a match if I wanted to.

So I did exactly that. Jenn and I will be watching the local boys take on San Antonio FC this Saturday from the stands and we couldn’t be more excited. If all goes well, maybe next time we’ll join the “supporters” section, where most of the chanting, drum beating and insanity comes from. One step at a time.

And speaking of soccer, it’s a great time to be a fan of the sport here in the U.S.

Over the weekend, Team USA bested Costa Rica 2-0 in the Gold Cup semifinals to claim a spot in the championship showdown. Sunday evening, Jamaica narrowly bested defending champs Mexico 1-0 to earn a spot as our opponent.

If you’re interested in watching the finals, they take place tonight, July 26, at 6:30 p.m. on both Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2.

If you’re new to soccer, you’ll be glad to know that matches typically last right at two hours including a brief halftime, so it’s not exactly a huge time commitment.

Also, unlike other sports, you won’t be watching commercials between every play. Instead, you can look forward to two uninterrupted, 45-minute blocks of action that could result in the U.S. earning its fifth Gold Cup title. Jamaica was runner-up just a couple of seasons ago, though, so the local boys definitely have their work cut out for them.