I saw it on TV and hungryman dinner

The back has been getting progressively better. I was able to sit through the last 3 days of computer training only being mildly uncomfortable. Last week both standing and sitting were not good. This week standing is good, sitting is ok for a bit. Today, training ended and I went to attend to clients which gave me a chance to walk around. My new bumbakpack allows me to keep a good posture while carrying around 10-15 lbs of equipment, papers, laptop, etc. (I'll review that in another post). Felt fine, felt good.

So, when we got to the bowling alley tonight, I decided not to risk it and stood the entire 3.5 hours: walk, lean, etc., but staying relatively straight. It was hard by the third game because my back still felt good and there were more and more empty seats and I had to consciously remember, "no sitting!". It was Coach's night to bowl, so I had to bail out of ball placement duties. Three of us rotate placing his bowling ball on the ground so he can push it with his specialized stick while another wipes the lane approach for oil that may have gotten dragged onto it. At first it seems like I could do the lane wiping, which we do the Filipino bunot way of placing the rag on the ground, stepping on it and sliding on it as we wipe. But halfway through the 2nd game, I hit a double gutter, which I've never done before. So now wiping the lane was out. The hubby and my sis picked up the slack so I could keep up my game. They figured they weren't hitting well so might as well help me hit well.

Today was a rough night for the team. Then again we're getting to the hump of the season and you can start to feel the fatigue. As a team we dropped to 7th. And though I really wished I bowled last week, it was probably for the best that I didn't. (But the hubby and C bowled really well. C's gotten her 3rd award already!)

We managed to win the first game by 5 pins. We lucked out that one of their main bowlers forgot their equipment. His wife had used the car and forgot to put his ball and bag back in the car. And I thought we were the only ones who always have our bowling equipment in the car. We won the 2nd by 12, only because their anchor couldn't pull off a 4 bagger in the end. A 4 bagger would have given them a tie. We had a 120 pin lead into the 10th frame that vanished as they drew X after X. Oh that was a nail biter! By the third game they came out to play, their anchor had a strike run til the 7th frame. I was hoping to watch a 300 game. He still ended with a 235.

Coach started slow and came back to his average in the last two. My average is still at 127, but I'm hitting consistently 140s-150s. The stretching and the yoga have improved my stride and stroke. After I hit one strike, Skip, Mr. How's-them-cowboys, asked me how do I do that. And Big D answered for me, "by watching the PBA games on tv." And though the PBA games are now on ESPN on Sunday mornings, I do remember growing up watching them on ABC Wide World of Sports. And maybe somewhere my body still recalls the lines and the forms of those bowlers. The deep bend in the knee, the long back leg stretched to the side, the throwing arm that ends high with their elbow near their ear. They watched me bowl and said, "You're a dangerous player."

And that's really where I want to be. I want to be the dangerous player, like so many we've seen on the other teams. The one who if you're not looking can make a break for it and run up the pin count. The one who can come back from double gutter and find their form. The one who can make the adjustments on the lane and stroke and footing to find the strikes and to pick up the spares.

I scored 157 in the first, 156 in the 2nd and even pushed strong in the 3rd to 178, closing out with a pair of strikes. I knew we were going to win in the third game and get pin count, but I didn't want to get completely blown out. And dang, missed the 500 series mark by 9 pins. I'm getting close I tell ya! The 2nd game I bowled a double gutter in the 8th. I had 88 at the time. I tweaked my back a touch wiping the floor. The back feels good, then I might move a certain way that's it's not ready to go in, then it stiffens or is sore, so I have to be careful with any small jerky movements. I did some stretches and moved around a bit and dug myself out for a 156.

I hope I can do this again next week. I'm still looking to score a 200 some time this league, then I can get a Wii. And I keep getting close. Each week I score 2-3 balls away from a 200. Close out a few more spares, adjust into a couple of strikes and I'll be there. Plus last week I got knocked off at the top female series and game high handicap. I got beat by a woman who pulled a 265, so ok she deserves it. I don't have to score as high to get the high series handicap because of the handicap. But if I get my 200, I think I can regain that lead back. It's a game, something to shoot for.

Two weeks ago, I couldn't keep the consistency. But today, I felt like I built a good base. At the end Big D, points to my score, and says to me, "see that score? You go to the grocery store and get yourself one of those hungryman meals, not those dinky one, the big ones. That's a hungryman score1" (as he holds his hands wide) "You mean the one with 4 pieces of chicken?" "yeah, and two desserts."