muscles I didn't even know about

What's a young married couple to do next? Apparently, join a bowling league. A friend of mine has been wanting us to join his bowling team, as he is tired of filling in on teams with people he doesn't know. So he recruited us and my sister to be a part of his team. We had our first practice last night. It's been rather tricky trying to find play time since everyone seems to have leagues and there are few lanes available and my schedule is super packed.

Our dad used to bowl. He doesn't bowl anymore. Stopped playing a long time ago, but his ball and shoes still sit in the same closet where they've sat for over 20 years. We would always ask him if we could go with him. But he said we'd be too much trouble. Instead one Christmas he got us a plastic bowling set which we would set up in the long hallway upstairs, with no gutters, we would ricochet the plastic balls off the walls.

The plastic bowling set apparently helped with our form. My sister in particular had a really sweet release: smooth, low. Barely heard the ball hit the ground. My form is not as smooth, but it's consistent. The hubby, whose toys were locked in cabinets to keep them from getting dirty, needed a bit of help, but by the end of the third game was getting spares and got a few strikes. We were all getting around 110-120s.

Since it was rainy, our coach couldn't bowl as we could only bring his non-motorized wheelchair in our car. For disabled people at bowling alleys they have this rickety contraption of a ramp that the ball is placed on, then rolls to the floor. Coach says he could never bowl well with one of those things, but a blind friend of his once bowled a 180 with it. Coach instead has a special pole he designed with rubber sliding feet. Someone has to set up his ball on the ground, then with the pole and his motorized wheelchair he pushes the ball down the lane. Even gets some spin on it as he twists the pole during release. Back when he bowled alot he averaged 150-160, but he's a bit rusty now.

The league is 10 weeks. I watched the league play that was going on in the other lanes while we practiced. I can see how the stereotypical bowler is a large middle aged guy drinking beers. There were quite a few of those. And concession stands at bowling centers don't really have salad bars, they're the typical quick fix fried food with canned sauces. That's dinner. Plus the cocktail bars in the back. Coach said one team he was on, all they did was drink, except for him, and they'd be drunk by the third game. I have to remember to bring a couple of energy bars and a water bottle next time.

I'm not as sore as I thought I would be. Though there's a butt muscle I didn't know I had before, that I didn't know you needed to use in bowling.

Searching the internet for cheap bowling balls. Still trying to find one for the hubby. Everyone looks at him and thinks, a big guy like that, 14lb ball. But the 13lb ball was ripping his arm out during practice. I'm getting a 14lb ball, just heavy enough to feel the weight. Unfortunately you can't buy the typical bowling alley shoe design, but you can get shoes that glow in the dark. Coach just shakes his head when my sister talks to me about looking for a bag with the Goofy Disney character on it. what? Accessorizing!

Still looking for a cool team name. Tentative working name is, "the Zoo."