Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Who goes bowling at one o'clock on a Saturday?

Friday marked the passing of another year in the life of Bone. As I commemorated the occasion, my Dad commiserated, "You're not a year older, you're only a day older than you were yesterday." Which sounded pretty good until I realized that I was on day number thirteen thousand, five hundred fourteen.

Phew. That's a lot of times hitting the snooze button.

It also reminded me of one of my favorite all-time George Costanza quotes: "If you take everything I've accomplished in my entire life and condense it down into one day, it looks decent!"

In other birthday weekend news of note, Wolfgang had started texting early in the week asking if I wanted to come bowling Saturday at 1 PM to meet his new girlfriend. My first (and second, and third) reaction was, "Who goes bowling at one o'clock on Saturday afternoon?" Not to mention that Wolfgang had pretty much dumped LJ and I since acquiring said girlfriend and I hadn't seen him in three weeks. But mainly, I just kept thinking, "Who goes bowling at one o'clock on Saturday afternoon?" So I resisited. Still, he was oddly persistent and would not relent until, at last, I acquiesced.

Or to shorten that paragraph, I went bowling Saturday.

As I pulled into the parking lot of the bowling alley, I saw my sister's vehicle. What is my sister doing--- Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! Before I could even finish my thought, I knew. It was a surprise party for Bone. They fooled me! Augh! I was lied to by people I trusted!

It turned out to be quite the event. Worlds collided somewhat as the Darryls met the parents, which was... awkward at best. There was also the second meeting of Nephew Bone and the godson. They mostly stared as they appeared to be sizing each other up. It was kinda like when Godzilla first meets King Kong.

Some people were hesitant to bowl at first, but Nephew Bone finally got the ball rolling. Literally. He used a bowling ramp. And someone had to put the ball on top of it. And most of the time he didn't wait around to see how many pins he knocked down. But he did push the ball down the ramp.

Even my Dad bowled! He said he hadn't been since he was 17 or 18, which I think is true. Or he could have just been making up excuses for his score, I'm not sure. It was hard to tell which one of them had more fun. I'm gonna go with Nephew Bone, but it was close.

I had a good day on the lanes. There was just the right amount of oil on the ball and pizza grease on my fingers. Wanting to set a good example for Nephew Bone, and with images of all my bowling heroes -- Norm Duke, Kelly Kulick, and of course, Walter Ray Williams, Jr. -- running through my head, I threw a 186-179-161 series. They gave me a real bowling pin and three balloons! Turns out that was for my birthday and not for my bowling performance, but still.

Also, AMF Bowling Centers apparently has their own syndicated radio station. They were giving shout-outs throughout the day to people having birthday bowling parties all across the country. Of course, most of them were under 16. But let's not nitpick. Besides, it helps to answer the question, "Who goes bowling at one o'clock on a Saturday afternoon?" Apparently, 14-year-old Megan from Grand Rapids and all her friends.

Finally, I would be remiss if I failed to mention that I also got a Wii this weekend. I figure that's right in keeping with my tendency to be on the trailing edge of technology. I could foresee 2011 being the year I finally get a DVR. OK, maybe 2012.

By the way, does it seem odd to anybody but me that all the other people in the Wii bowling center have no legs?

Anyway, that was my weekend: a Wii and a birthday party at the bowling alley. A day older? Yes. A day more mature? Maybe next year.

"Too old to be wild and free still. Too young to be over the hill. Should try to grow up but who knows where to start..."

29 comments:

  1. Way cool! can you believe my worst bowling score is ummm, let's just say less than 10. Glad your b'day was fun! love the GC quote!

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  2. Oh Bone, on day #13,508 you were at your wittiest
    I have begun to hate to comment on your posts because all I do is tell you how good you are but.....

    Your sister should have parked somewhere else but since she had Nephew Bone....

    Glad everybody in your Alabama life was there

    There's no option for me to write http://courtingdestiny.com in "choose an identity." Guess I can't comment anymore. Kidding :)

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  3. I love surprises! I can't believe you didn't catch on earlier. I was way ahead of you! lol Well - here's to another day older and many more ahead! {I hope you didn't get a Wal-Mart cake!} :)

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  4. I got him a card from Wal Mart. Does that count?

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  5. Glad you had a fun day! Happy Birthday!!

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  6. I bet your mama wishes you would have hit that snooze button more often during the first 1000 days of your life...

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  7. Pia - you're cool...only if you sent him a Hallmark! :)

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  8. Daily Panic - Wow. I'm gonna need video proof of that. Or at least a witness :) Yeah, that's one of my favorites.

    Pia Savage - Just as long as you continue to comment :)

    Yeah, I was getting a ton of spam comments so I disallowed anonymous comments for awhile. I'll try and change it back and see if the spam has stopped.

    SmallTownGirl - Yeah, in hindsight, all the signs were there. I can be pretty oblivious to certain things, and yet keenly perceptive to others. It's a mystery.

    Thanks. (Nope! I got a cookie cake, from Great American Cookie Company.)

    Cami - Thank you!

    R8chel - Hey! I haven't seen the likes of you 'round these parts in awhile.

    I was actually trying to work up a formula to calculate the approximate number of times I've hit snooze in my life, but it got to where it was going to be too long to explain in blog-post form. And if I can't blog it, then what's the point?

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  9. L&Letc--I was in a Wal Mart for the first time two and a half years ago and took about 60 pictures so that people could see I really went to one
    Now I live a five minute walk from the largest superstore in the South

    It seems fitting to talk about this on Bone's Bday post plus when he counts up the comments after his tenth year blogging (but has been published) I want to be the single biggest commenter

    Why? Because I taught him everything I had to teach him a long time ago and have been learning from him

    Bone this isn't your fault but I don't get why putting a URL in an identity is anonymous. They do have an anonymous feature but that's not the same. I have no idea how to use openid and no desire to learn it

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  10. Happy Birthday Bone. Glad you agreed to go bowling at 1pm on a Saturday.

    So maybe that is why my bowling stinks I don't use pizza grease. Oh wait I'm like your Dad I haven't bowled since I was I don't even remember when.

    Whity as always.

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  11. Can I get a witness?? Uhmmm yes! I was there the day the score hit -10! I have pictures, not of this horrific score, but others just as disturbing. I'll be glad to share...with the approval of Daily Panic of course! {or maybe not} :)

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  12. Do you suppose Wolfgang was just avoiding you for fear he'd spoil the surprise? Nah, guys don't worry about stuff like that.

    It's too bad there's no video of Nephew Bone teaching ya'll how to bowl ;) Speaking of... I guess you were lucky 1 p.m. didn't interfere with your, err, I mean, Nephew Bone's, afternoon nap. O:)

    Sounds like a wonderful birthday weekend.

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  13. bowling for birthdays, sounds like a fun surprise, happy birthday to you. I've never really gone bowling. ;(

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  14. I think having no legs would be a plus for my bowling score. One less thing to trip over...

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  15. I love surprise parties! It sounds like you had a great time. Next year you can expect your blog dedication. :)

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  16. "Too old to be wild and free still. Too young to be over the hill. Should try to grow up but who knows where to start..."

    That was profound!

    Ohhh I love surprise parties! So glad they gottcha!

    Happy BD! Hope its a full and wonderful journey through the year!

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  17. Happy Belated Birthday, Bone! Even though it was 1pm in a bowling alley on a Saturday, it sounds like your surprise party turned into a pretty wonderful birthday celebration. Your bowling scores were very impressive...I'm usually lucky if I break 100! You deserved those balloons and pin. :~)

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  18. Happy Birthday Bone! Did you get any 'turkey' for your birthday? Or just the standard cake? :o)

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  19. Happy Birthday Bone! Sounds like a great weekend... how lovely that they threw you a surprise party - and that you were genuinely surprised. I keep telling people how much I like the idea of surprise parties but no one has taken the hint yet!

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  20. Actonbell - Oh, the Wii and I are getting well acquainted quickly :)

    Pia Savage - How did you know I was planning to tally up all my comments?

    There are only four options: allow everyone, allow people with a Google account, allow only members of this blog, or Open ID. I'm changing it back to everyone for now. We'll see if the spam has slowed down any.

    PennyCandy - I'm glad I agreed, too! I would have felt horrible if they had to tell me what was going on to get me there.

    Thank you.

    SmallTownGirl - Wow, so the stories are true. Well, I applaud her for bowling without bumpers. At least, I hope that score was achieved without bumpers. Is achieved the right word there?

    but others just as disturbing

    That made me laugh.

    TC - Yeah, it's a good thing it was over by 3. I was pretty wiped. I mean, he was.

    Cooper - I've never really gone bowling. ;(

    What?! Oh, you must. At least once. And what do you mean by really? Sounds rather curious :)

    Ed - Oh, it can't possibly be that bad. Although it does get slippery at times.

    OK Chick - Alright, you've put it on the internet for all the world to see, so you gotta do it now.

    Helene - Yeah, that song speaks to my soul sometimes :)

    Thanks!

    Sweetest In The Gale - Thank you! It felt like a trophy for outstanding bowling achievement, even if it wasn't :)

    Charlotta - No, I didn't get a turkey at bowling, if that's what you're referring to. I got a couple of doubles, I think, but kept missing out on the third strike each time.

    If that's not what you're referring to, then I'm clueless. And it took me like five minutes to figure that out :)

    J Adamthwaite - Thank you. Yep, everyone did an excellent job of keeping the surprise. Oh, the deception! :)

    Keep dropping hints. Surely someone will pick up on it eventually.

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  21. With this u will be one post more older. :)
    Enjoyed reading. :)

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  22. Aw- you are my age... I think I guessed that from another post. A surprise bowling party eh? That is kind of weird, but in a good way. I threw a huge bowling party for friends and family the day before I was scheduled for a c-section with child #4. I don't really bowl- but oddly enough bowling with a lot of people keeps your mind off impending doom. HA Happy Birthday.

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  23. Happy 9th Birthday, Bone.

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  24. Sorry we missed it! I guess being stuck in the hospital is a good enough excuse.... much better than driving to see someone in another state! :)

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  25. Sounds like you had a pretty awesome birthday and party.

    I don't know why you're resisting getting a dvr. Just call your cable company and have them give you one. Or you could just go to the cable company and get one. If I can do it, you can do it.

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  26. Dude, I've done it.. I've bowled on a Saturday.. on a Sunday.. on a Monday..

    cheers :)

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  27. Happy belated birthday, Bone... It looks like you're a decent bowler--a sport I'm not very good at. Have you started playing baseball with the Wii?

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  28. Belated Happy Birthday! I hope someday I get a surprise bowling party. Actually I'd settle for just a surprise party. Or just a bowling party. Ok, just a party would be fine too.

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