Date Night

We were able to go on our first date since little Van was born. We took him along with us but he slept the ENTIRE time. He didn't wake up til we were back home and the babysitters were safely home. We met the Stanclifts and Dickmans at a place called Costa Vida. This is the same place we went for my birthday. I like it better than its Utah counterpart, Cafe Rio. The pork is sweeter and the ice is better. After gorging ourselves and watching USA's U-20 team beat Brazil's 2-1, we headed off to the Bowling Alley.

Brunswick Zone was the bowling alley we went to. It was the nicest one of the 3 we've been to. It has laser tag, a pool hall, bar (which you know we just love) and a photobooth that Tim and Shannon loved. The bowling was fun. We had the lane for an hour and all 6 of us were able to get a game in. Marshall started off strong and confident. The rest of us were trying to get our bearings. Shannon pulled off a turkey with 3 strikes in a row to overtake Marshall midgame. Tim started catching up late with a couple strikes and spare of his own. Bree and Janna both had strikes and I was left entering the 10th frame down 30 pins to Shannon, who was the leader in the clubhouse.

I have to let you know that entering the 10th, Marshall was down 9 pins to Shannon. All he had to do was roll a strike or a spare and then have the extra ball to win it. He rolled what seemed to be a perfect ball when it left his hand. Unfortunately he left the 9 pin standing in the back. He just had to knock it down for the spare and ultimately the win. He was at the freethrow line and all he had to do was hit it for the championship. He let it go, it looked good, it rimmed out. He missed it by the slimmest margin. Marshall - 135; Shannon - 136.

I considered myself out of the running around the 3rd frame when I couldn't do anything. The ball rack was in the way of my normal starting spot. I couldn't get over enough and it was just not happening for me. I even tried a house ball with my old mark with no luck. I went back to my ball and kept trying new things. I threw a few gutters that wouldn't stay on, but on one I did roll a spare-strike.

So entering the 10th frame I was at 106-pathetic, I know. It was embarrassing as the one with my own ball and shoes to be doing that poorly. In the 9th frame I had made an adjustment with my feet to try and get over as much as possible. I stuck with that on the 10th frame as the path of my ball was as close to where it should have been as it was all night. I also pulled back on how hard I threw the ball. Anyway, 1st ball was a strike. 2nd ball was a strike. By this time Shannon was begging me to choke so she could win. I stepped up and threw a perfect ball. Hit the pocket just right and rang up my 3rd strike in a row. So although I tied for 1st with a girl, considering the circumstances I will take that tie.

After bowling we went over to Coldstone Ice Cream and had a nice visit. We are so sad that the Stanclift's are moving back to Utah. They have been so fun to get to know the past 6 months. We are secretly hoping they see the light and stay, but that probably won't happen. We're just going to continue to enjoy them while they are here. Thanks to the Dickman's and Stanclift's for a fun night!

Happy Birthday to ME

For lack of creativity or just for a guy who doesn't need a whole lot of "things," I amgetting a bowling ball, bag, and shoes for my birthday. I ordered this ball on Saturday and I go in sometime this week to get it drilled for my hand. The shoes I have shown on a previous post but here they are again. The flames glow in the black light so I will be stylin. I am getting a 14 lb. ball with a fingertip grip. Watch out bowling world.

Bowling, BBQ, and Walmart

Monday for Family night we went bowling. I got some $.99 coupons at Brunswick Lanes up in Lakewood, so I met Janna and the boys there on my way home from work. After a warmup game with Janna I bowled a 179. In the 9th frame I left myself a 5-10 split and thought I rolled the perfect ball to pick up the spare and I hit it too perfect. I hit the 5 too far to the left and it went in front of the 10. After rolling 2 strikes to close out the game I would have hit 200. My current high score is 196 and I have rolled several games from 175-194. This picture of Rusty is funny because it makes him look like he is posing for his individual photo on team picture day. I actually caught him as he was standing up.

I found a nice BBQ on Craigslist which I picked up last night for $30 (WITH the propane tank half full), so I am looking at getting bowling shoes and a new ball for my birthday ON JUNE 16. That's a hint to all of you birthday shoppers. I was really happy about the BBQ because the Propane tank alone would cost me $46 at Walmart. It started right up at home last night, so now we are back in Barbequeing business. It has been killing me lately coming home and smelling all of the neighbors grilling on their porches. Now I shall join in the fun.



Since the boys and I like bowling and we go enough for fun I think it would be worth it to get the ball. The laws have forced smokers to go outside to pass gas, so they are much cleaner these days. I would like to mention that Stone did roll a 95 with the bumpers and Janna rolled a 93, so she is moded. He even picked up 2 or 3 spares. I think they had more fun chasing each other afterwards and getting in trouble.


I only have 2 gripes with the Bowling Alleys around here. They all charge around $4.00 for Shoe Rental. In Boise is was anywhere from $1-$2.50. We spent twice as much on the shoe rental as the games. The kids don't really even need the shoes anyway. That's my 1st gripe. The 2nd is not having electric bumpers that you can raise and lower yourself. When you have to share a lane with the kids, the bumpers mess up the curve. If you get lucky and somehow roll a strike after hitting the bumpers, no one gives you credit. If you hit the bumpers and get hosed, everyone (Janna) just pulls out their world's tiniest violins and play the world's saddest song. So either way I can't win.

After bowling we stopped at Arby's for dinner. I love that they have made 5 for $5.95 a regular part of their menu. This picture is proof that Stone and Rusty can no longer sit and smile for a picture. Stone gets crazy and Rusty follows his lead.


This is kind of a long story, but I had an interesting experience over the past 18 hours and I wanted to share it. I stopped by Walmart to pick up some chapstick (cause my lips hurt real bad!) and some cash. I only needed 30 dollars but the machine only would give out 20, 40, 60, 80, or 0 dollars. So I got $40. I asked for 4 $10 bills. She said she didn't have any. I said a twenty and 4 $5's would be fine. She went into her $20's and organized them but never actually took one out. Then she pulled out the 5's. My phone started to ring as she was finishing up and I answered it. She handed me the receipt and the bills and I walked away.

The cashier was friendly and I just assumed she gave me all of the money. She did not count the money when she gave it to me and I did not count it either. I stuck the money and receipt directly into my little black calendar book and put that in my pocket. I drove to the guys house up in Northglenn to get the BBQ, and upon arriving pulled out my book to retrieve the money and there were only 4 $5 bills. I was perplexed. I thought I had lost the $20 bill. I emptied all of my pockets, turned my truck inside out even. It was embarrassing. I couldn't find it anywhere.

Luckily I had a check tucked away in my book which I discovered while searching for the money which he accepted. My only conclusion was that I must have never received the money. I spent 10 minutes on hold for my first call to the store, had the next 2 calls dropped, and another 5 minutes on hold. My last call I finally got through to a manager and explained the situation. I gave him all of the details from the receipt and my info and he went to look at the video. He called back that night and told me to come in this morning.

I went in this morning and the manager told me the video shows her getting a $20 out of the drawer. I told him what I remembered seeing as I stated above. I asked to see the video and he let me watch it. As we were watching it it was exactly as I said. She never actually picked up a $20 bill, just organized the bills. He saw that too and said, "Wow, she never actually picked one up, did she? At least you can't tell on the video. I'll get you your $20." I was so happy/relieved/vindicated.

That tells me my subconscious memory is working fine and I don't lose everything. I thought I was losing my mind. It also tells me that the cameras in stores can benefit the customer as well as the store. It also lets me know that Walmart is not evil like many people think, and finally it reminds me that people make mistakes. Unfortunately Walmart now has to wonder why her drawer did not have an extra $20 over at the end of the shift? I hope she didn't cost herself her job. I am all about good customer service and this definitely will be considered a positive one.