The Accidental Bowler

In June I went to St. George with my friend Terri. We had some free time on Friday afternoon and decided to go bowling. Terri is an avid bowler and gave me some good tips. I asked her about her Alpine Ladies Bowling League and told her I thought it sounded fun. She said I should join and that her sister-in-law had a space available on her team. I told her I couldn't do it because I was not good enough. She told that being bad was good because I would have a high handicap . I said I would think about it and told her to go ahead and check with her sister-in-law. I regretted this conversation almost immediately. After several weeks she hadn't said anything more about it so I thought I was off the hook. But no . . . one day, out of the blue, she asked me if I was ready for the season to begin in August. Surprise! I was in a bowling league.

I was scheduled to start on Friday, so Thursday afternoon I went bowling with Stacie to practice. Stacie is much better than me. She should be on the bowling team! Anyway, we bowled 3 games and I actually bowled 106 in the second game. This was the first time I passed 100 - an all-time high for me. Woo, woo, I was ready to go.

On Friday morning I put a pair of socks in my purse, went to work for an hour, and headed for All Star Lanes in Sandy, Utah. When I got there I realized these ladies were serious, they had their own balls! I rented my shoes, hoping no one would notice the rookie who didn't have her own, and tried to find an 11 pound ball with a big enough thumb hole.

Terri found me and got me oriented. I laced up the shoes and waited for my team to arrive. They greeted me warmly and politely dismissed my apologies for my weak bowling skills. Again, I was reassured, a low average means a high handicap.

We bowled 3 games and I can't complain. With some helpful advice from Terri's sister-in-law Jennie, I didn't do half bad. I actually bowled 2 games over 100. I am still in high handicap territory, but I have hope. I may just ask for my own ball for Christmas!

Dry Heat

I grew up in Northern California and I pretty much took the climate there for granted. Warm summers, mild winters, lots of fog. I was 17 years old the first time I experienced real humidity. My family was taking a road trip across the country in my Nana and Papa's motorhome when I first experienced "the south". I never felt dry there, my 70's hairstyle was flat there, it was beautiful but I was pretty sure I never wanted to live there. I came home to California with a new appreciation for what I now saw as the dry climate there.

Twenty years later I found myself living in the mountain desert of Utah. That is when I came to love and appreciate a truly dry climate. People tease us for saying this but it is true, dry heat is not as hot and dry cold is not as bitter. I acclamated well to this climate and developed an increased sensitivity to humidity.

Last weekend we went to Sacramento for our nephew, Trevor's, wedding. This whole spiel is to say it was HOT there. The temperature was maybe in the low 90's which I can easily bear in Utah, but was miserable there. Now you may not think of Sacramento as a humid climate and maybe it is not (I am not sure how relevant this is but I just checked and the current humidity in Sacramento is 83% in there as opposed to 67% in Salt Lake City) but I felt it - the moisture in the air. And my hair - ugh - was flat, flat, flat.

In spite of the heat, we had a great time. Trevor and Megan's wedding in the Sacramento Temple was beautiful and it was great to spend time with so much of our family. My Mom and Dad and Barbra and Bekky's families were all there. Stacie and Alan came with us and Heather, Beau and Luke joined us there. We enjoyed all of the wedding festivities on Friday, rode a train in Old Sacramento on Saturday and swam a lot. We even got to babysit Luke while Heather, Beau, Stacie and Alan went to the movie.

In one of our hotels there was a picture in the elevator of a grandmother jumping on the bed. Later in the day Luke asked, "Nana do you jump on the bed?" That evening Luke and I got on the bed together and jumped. The look on his face was priceless.

Sadly, we had to say our good-byes and come home to Utah, but I am not complaining about the weather here!

It's a start . . .

Well, I think my kids will be really surprised to see this. I love to look at their blogs, but I never thought I would write one. I started considering it after I realized that Alan (the only child who still lives with us) was the last to know about a health concern that Greg has been dealing with for over a month now. With 5 children living in 4 different states I am never sure who I have talked to about what. I am not sure where this blogging experience will take me, but here goes. . . .