2006-03-12 006
Originally uploaded by shanrev.
Well today was bowling day. I have to confess I've been really looking forward to it all week. Abby too, of course. She was crazy excited to go, even though she had no idea what bowling was. She fell asleep on the way down there and we were a bit early so we let her sleep for another 10 minutes or so. The $19 deal is good all day Sunday with the exception of glow in the dark rock 'n bowl. University Lanes has been around for about a 110 years and it looks like it too. Only 5 lanes in the whole place were being used and that had dropped down to 2 lanes by the time we were finished. It was a nice relaxed atmosphere for Abby's first bowling attempt. Believe it or not she was a little freaked out about the whole thing when we first got there. I was beginning to worry we had maybe wasted $19.
She was keen to give it a try when we first got there, but I explained to her we needed to have special shoes to bowl.
Abby: But Mom, I don't have special shoes.
Me: Don't worry honey, Daddy's getting you special shoes.
When it came time to actually put on the "special shoes", well she had a bit of a pout. She was not feeling the special shoes at all. Not even a little bit. That's when I started to worry we may have made a mistake. Yoles and I tried to get her excited about bowling again, but she wasn't having any part of it. Meanwhile, Mike was off proving what an old man he's becoming. As with most, and I use the term loosely, modern bowling alleys this one had computerized scoring. Which is great because really who can figure out the scoring for bowling? Especially 5 pin. So to actually start our bowling experience we had to input our names into our scoring computer. Poor Michael couldn't figure out how to do it. Now in Mike's defence several of the buttons were worn completely off so he didn't have a chance in hell of guessing what they were. Mike's not afraid to ask for help, so he asked the "weekend Dad" who was playing on the alley next to us. Well weekend Dad didn't kow how to do it either. Thank God for his 14 year old daughter. She nicely offered to help out. So Mike dictated our names to her and she got us all set up.
Abby was up first and by this time she had decided that bowling wasn't such a great idea. She didn't want to go on the alley. Thought the ball ws too heavy. Good thing we didn't play 10 pin. Compassionate Mom I am, I dragged her up to the line and showed her how to roll the ball. She got very excited after seeing me kock down some pins, but not excited enough to try it herself. The third frame she gave it a try with my help and it was smooth sailing after that.
After a few more frames with my help she was willing to give it a shot on her own. Abby couldn't quite master the swing and release method of bowling. She went with the unorthodox squatting and pushing method. I don't want to say her balls were slow, but at one point one actually came to a complete stop and began to roll backwards. A few times the balls took so long to get to the pins that the automatic machine got tired of waiting. It would reset her pins with the ball still creeping it's way down the alley.
What she lacked in skill she made up with enthusiaism. She celebrated each roll of the ball as soon as it left her hand. Pumping her tiny fist in the air and shouting woo hoo. Without checking to see what her ball would do. We played with bumpers so there was no threat of a gutter ball. She cheered on each of our turns. Great job Daddy! Good throw Mommy! High five Auntie Yoli! We finished the first game in 45 minutes, Abby scored a respectable 81.
It's after the first game that the awkwardness occured. We had the lane for an hour. So after the first game we still had 15 minutes to play. We mistakenly assumed that the computer would simply reset, but that wasn't the case. We probably would have been able to figure out we had to hit the reet button if that hadn't been one of the keys that had been worn down to the metal. Lucky for us the alley attendant noticed out distress and came to our rescue.
You know how sometimes you can sense a person before you actually see them? That's what happened today when the alley attendant approached. I instinctively turned towards the sensation and came face to face with my last big crush from high school. We exchanged hi's and I sat there stunned for a moment while he reset the computer for us. Mike was completely oblivious. I had such a massive crush on this guy. It seems ridiculous now. We hung out for a while and then he hooked up with my best friend. Yeah that wasn't devastating at all. It was just major life altering high school drama at it's finest. Then I met Mike and the rest, as they say, is history. He dated my friend for a very long time. Mike and I actually double dated with them, many many times.
As the second game started Mike went to the bathroom and returned with a big smile on his face. Mike knew, but didn't think the guy regognized us. I knew differently, so I corrected him. He was surprised I had already talked to him. Mike was even more shocked when I pointed out that he had talked to him already too. A discussion then erupted over who would take the shoes back. Mike and I quickly voted for Yoles.
This guy seems to turn up in the most unlikely places. On our wedding day we had our pictures taken at a local park. We were set up near a bridge and had to pause during our pictures to let another wedding party across. Yep, you guessed it. He was the groom in the other party. Married on the same day. Pictures at the same place. Freaky coincidence.
In the end I was a grown up and took my own shoes back to the counter. We exchanged hellos again and added a how are you to the mix. An awkward silence followed as we each wondered where to take the conversation next. Thank God for little kids. Abby decided to keep marching right up the stairs. Mike threw out a "we better go" and released us from an inane what's new with you conversation. Now the trick is to convince Abby that bowling sucks so we never have to go back there.
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