Last week I got an email from Hubs that said," Want to meet me after work at the bowling alley and bowl and we can have bowling alley food for chow?"
To which I replied," Why are you going bowling?"
"It's my bowling night. And could you bring my bowling shirt? Oh, and could you go buy me a bowling shirt? Not really. Just thought it would be something fun for us to do."
"Okay. But only if you let me use the bowling ball that says 'Homer."
So, it was a deal.
Our family hasn't been bowling in years. We have taken Daughter bowling several times and we always enjoy it.
I didn't bowl as a kid. Mama and Daddy didn't bowl. I think it was a Southern thing. Plus, the bowling alleys in the town where I grew up were not necessarily where ladies and gentlemen went on a Saturday night. I suppose the bowling alleys were one step up from the pool halls, but it was a tiny, sticky, gum-covered step.
These days you can find a family friendly bowling alley. There are still those that are, shall we say, shady? They are usually easy to spot. The snack bar is really just a bar, neon signs are brighter than the lighting in the restrooms, and a woman in a tight t-shirt checks out your shoes and oddly, she's run out of Lysol.
We met Hubs after work and headed over to the bowling alley. I was pleased to see families there, instead of people with names like "Stan" or "Helga." No one was using any bad language or sporting any obscene tattoos, except for that preschooler on lane five.
Bowling alley food can be quite tasty. And cheap. That's a combo you can't pass up (like the cheeseburger and curly fries.) After our dinner of greasy grill goodness, we selected our bowling shoes and balls.
I have never understood how to select a bowling ball. I always just stand there at the little ball holder, picking them up, putting them down, until I choose the best one, which is usually based on color instead of weight.
My goal is to choose a color I love while selecting a ball that will not break my wrist. I find it works well.
All through the night, Daughter and I double teamed Hubs. Our goal was to beat him, either of us, both of us. It didn't matter. We let Daughter use the bumpers, so at one point she won a game.
Let me clarify. Hubs' and my only handicaps were that we didn't have the bumpers.
Ahem.
Hubs won the other games. At one point we were neck and neck and I thought I may win. I made a few strikes, quite a few spares, and we won't mention the number of gutter balls.
Hubs added the scores and decided that our team's total score for the whole night may be a perfect score of 300.
We played four games.
Over the weekend I told Hubs we should make it a monthly family outing. It was a lot of fun.
At last I've found a sport that I can compete with Hubs on a level playing field. To his credit, he does have a bad knee.
To my credit, I ate too many curly fries.
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8 comments:
We used to go bowling as a family when I was a kid in NC. I remember that I had a wicked slice which my dad would try to correct & I would get all annoyed. Bowling is where I finally realized that I needed to remember to wear my glasses all the time (I got them in the 4th grade & just couldn't get into the habit). Not being able to see the pins was annoying enough to make me start remembering to wear them all the time. Of course, later, the inability to see past one foot in front of me ensured that I would remember them!
I used to hate to bowl because it ripped off my meticulously filed fingernails.
The fingernails went with the babies came, because, really, who has time, and now it's a little more fun to bowl.
I say "a little" because Mr. CPQ is a ridiculously good bowler and he enjoys giving advice as to how I might improve my game.
Little does he know that I really don't care to improve my game, but the longer he keeps instructing, the more I want to improve my AIM.
When I think of bowling, all I can remember is taking my son when he was, like, 5 to bowl (with bumpers) and coming home and telling my hubby, "He was awesome; he might be the Tiger Woods of bowling." D looked at me and said, "Bowling?, who would care?" Needless to say, I havent't pursued it.
Love bowling. . .we had it as a p.e. class in high school because it was too cold to do anything outside, and our little school was a quarter mile from a bowling alley. I also ended up on a LEAGUE my first year teaching. . .don't ask me how. . .it was fun though.
LOL. Is there another way to choose which bowling ball you use? Who knew?
In my humble opinion, I really think there ought to be points for gutter balls. It takes great skill to shoot the balls into them time after time. Trust me, I know.
Bowling's fun. My kids can never get enough. Mmm, maybe that's something we could do this Spring Break week.
We went bowling with friends on New Year's Day. It was the first time for the two little ones, so I didn't bowl but just helped them. Well, after coming out for the second or third time to get the ball that had stopped rolling down the lane (oh the humiliation!) they offered my kids the ramp. They actually bowled two games- a six year old and 2 three year olds! It was such fun!
When my husband and I were dating, some 30+ years ago, we went bowling once. I am certainly not even average at it but I beat him. We have never gone bowling since. Go figure?
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