Archive for "Family"
Grandma’s 92nd Birthday
Posted on June 20, 2014 by Ching under Family, Food and Drink.
We celebrated grandma’s 92nd birthday at Firebirds last night. It was also a late birthday dinner for Brian and late Father’s Day celebration. We didn’t have time to figure out what to do for gifts for everyone so we just decided to buy everyone dinner. It was a little lazy on our part, I know; but what can you do when you’ve just gotten back from traveling and you have to get on with everyday life real quick? I was back to my day job and teaching my Zumba classes right off the bat.
Without further ado, here are some of the pictures from last night.
Mom and dad were able to join us so that was great.
Brian got a card that makes noise and some cash for his birthday from his mom and dad. He is so easily amused.
Mom really thought this was a half portion.
Brian got ribs. He said they were very good.
Grandma got pasta.
Dad got a wood grilled salmon.
Kevin got a cheeseburger.
I had a Fireside BLT with grilled salmon.
Donna got meatloaf.
David got a steak filet and fries.
We all shared a couple of slices of the banana cream pie.
Close up!
Grandma got a nice card from the Firebirds staff.
We had to take a selfie!
Here’s a photo of the Brubakers outside the restaurant after dinner.
Food at the restaurant was actually better than I remembered. I have always liked their bread because it reminds me of pan de sal. The servers brought us several loaves well before we could even finish one.
I’m not sure about the others but my food was pretty good. The last time I had salmon at Firebirds it was a little overdone. It seemed that way anyhow. I thought I would give them another chance and get salmon again. This time to just add to my salad. The salmon was done absolutely perfectly. It didn’t dry up so that was great.
Our server recommended their seasonal dessert, a banana cream pie on steroids. We shared two slices of the pie. It was delicious. I hope Brian learns how to make it because I would love to have some again. LOL.
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Brian Gets Balls, Bowls 172
Posted on May 26, 2014 by Ching under Family, Hobbies.
Brian inherited a couple of bowling balls from his late grandfather a few years ago, but he never got them drilled. He just kept bowling with them even though they didn’t fit properly. It wasn’t really a big deal when we were only bowling occasionally (as in, once a year, if that). Since we recently joined a summer bowling league with mom and dad, we figured it was time to get the balls properly fitted.
We left the two bowling balls at the bowling alley’s pro shop and they said to just come 30 minutes early the following Sunday to pick them up. For the first time ever Brian switched to a finger tip grip. When he tested the balls, he got three strikes and a spare. He was hesitant to go from conventional grip to finger tip grip at first, but now I think he’s sold. LOL.
With his brand new bowling shoes (only worn twice so far) and newly drilled and fitted bowling balls he was probably feeling pretty legit. He actually bowled better than the rest of us on his first game.
Mom, dad, and I cleaned house last week when we were supposed to be sandbagging and then totally tanked yesterday. Well, dad did alright. Mom and I didn’t live up to our averages. Needless to say, we lost to the opposing team. Blech.
The men carried us last night. It as a little disappointing but at least the other team was nice about it. They didn’t gloat like we would have if we would’ve won. LOL. I’m kidding! We wouldn’t have gloated. We are good sports too. Anyway, congrats to both Brian and dad for bowling above their respective averages.
As for me, I plan to bowl my first 200 game of the bowling league (and my first one of the year) next week. Stay tuned!
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Flip and Ching Join a Bowling League
Posted on May 21, 2014 by Ching under Family, Hobbies.
After over a decade of marriage Brian and I finally joined our first bowling league. It’s a mixed league at Derby Bowl on Sunday nights. We are on a team with mom and dad. We named our team ALOBAKER because it’s a combination of our last names. Not very creative, but it works. LOL.
Our first league night was last Sunday. We had to be there early for a league meeting, to make some decisions about what to do about the holiday weekend, prize pool, etc. We also had to pay our sanction fees. The guy in charge of the league gave us the option of paying $21 to be sanctioned for a full year or $10 for just the summer league, which is an option if you’re not interested in being eligible for awards.
Brian asked what option I wanted. He was leaning more towards just paying the $10 because he didn’t foresee joining another league after this one ends. I was like, “Hello? Do you know who you’re talking to?” I want to get awards!
We both opted to pay the full sanction fee. Dad hadn’t bowled in a league in several years so he had to pay the sanction fee as well. Mom was already a sanctioned member.
Since the three of us were new league bowlers we had to set our averages. I wanted to set a low one so I could get a higher handicap. I think that was the plan for all of us. It was not to be, though. Dad bowled amazing. I bowled pretty well too despite all my efforts to sandbag. Mom says the more you try to sandbag, the more relaxed you are and you actually end up bowling better.
Let me explain the whole bowling handicap concept. The idea is to add points/pins to the score to make the game more competitive for less experienced and expert bowlers alike. Without the handicap the better bowlers will always win and it wouldn’t be as much fun playing. Handicaps equalize the playing field so as long as you bowl your average game or better then you have a fair shot at winning.
The handicap is based on a percentage of the difference between a bowler’s average score and the basis score. For our league we agreed upon a bowling handicap of 90% of 210. Since I bowled an average of 150 over three games last Sunday, my handicap is 54.
Here’s the calculation:
210 – 150 = 60
60 X .90 = 54
This means that when we bowl next week I get to add 54 points to my total for each game. This is why I wanted to set a low average. I was actually going for 130 which would have given me a handicap of 72. Knowing that I’m fully capable of consistently bowling an average of 150, that would have given me a 20 pin advantage. Now imagine if Brian and dad sandbagged also. We’d win every week!
Alas, I set my normal average. I tried to sandbag, but it didn’t work. Mom blames it on the law of averages — the belief that outcomes of a random event will tend to even out. For instance, she bowled 192 on her first game and 200 on her second game. Guess what she scored on the final game. She bowled a 109. It is a terrible game by mom’s standards but she explains it away as the law of averages at work. Mom’s average is around 170. The average of her three games that night is 167, not far from her typical performance. So she predicted that she would bowl a lower scoring third game because the law of averages assumes that it has to balance out.
I believe in the law of averages over the long term, but I avoid thinking about it or using it to explain events because I think it then becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. If you bowl two great games as mom did and you believe that the third game will be crappy (because of the law of averages) then that’s exactly what will happen. Why? Because energy follows thought. I think mom was fully capable of bowling a 600 series that night. She’s done it before so it wouldn’t be such a fluke. She just had to believe that she could do it rather than thinking that the third game was the balancing event according to the law of averages. As for me, I intend to bowl better than my average every week from here on out. I want to win some awards, darn it!
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Happy Birthday, Eli!
Posted on May 19, 2014 by Ching under Family.
We celebrated our nephew Eli’s 8th birthday on Saturday.
This is his older brother, Logan. He is taller than his mom Jenni and me. He’ll be taller than his stepmom and his dad before long. They grow so fast!
Our nephews’ dad Matt and their mom Jen.
Matt with Brian. I love this picture because they’re under a sign that says “Mom’s Day Out.” LOL. I love our little family.
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Bowling Revival
Posted on April 16, 2014 by Ching under Events, Family, Hobbies.
I’ve decided to start bowling again and I’m dragging Brian with me.
I was inspired to start bowling again after bowling a 243 at my work’s Bowl for Kids’ Sake fundraising event on Saturday. It was nine pin no tap, but still. I’d participated in many of these fundraisers before and they’ve always been nine pin no tap, but I’d barely break 200. Somehow I’d keep bowling 8s and not pick up my spares. I was in the zone this weekend, though.
Here are some pictures from Saturday.
Faith’s son is so adorable.
Here’s our team photo.
Here’s the chocolate gift basket that I won for getting the highest bowling score out of all the women bowlers. It’s full of chocolatey goodness from the Farris Wheel and I’ve been enjoying it over the last few days.
On Sunday we went bowling again to celebrate dad’s birthday.
Dad kicked everyone’s butt at bowling. I joked that we were letting him win on account of his birthday but truly there was no way that we could have come close. Dad is just an awesome bowler. He bowled a 187, 184, 203, and 182 on Sunday.
Guess who took second? Me, of course. I bowled 134, 146, 145, and 150. Not great, but it’s about how I normally bowled when I used to bowl regularly.
Brian didn’t do too bad. He bowled 156, 122, 122, and 145. I don’t know what happened to mom. LOL. She normally bowls really well but she she did the worst that day. Her scores were 137, 135, 119, and 122. She’s probably going to hate that I posted that, but I post everything. LOL.
Anyway, while we were at the bowling alley we saw the flyers advertising their summer leagues so we decided to join the earlier of the two Sunday night leagues. Figured it was time I got another hobby because I don’t have enough of them already. Ha! Jokes aside, this weekend reminded me of how much I really enjoyed bowling back when I used to do it and how I’m actually pretty good at it. So it’s time to take it up again. Who knows? Maybe I’ll get even better.
We’re the kind of people who go full out when we get into something (well, I am anyway) so we ordered a pair of bowling shoes for Brian which arrived today.
They’re his very first pair of bowling shoes. They fit great and look fantastic. I’m excited for him to break them in!
I didn’t get any new bowling shows because, even though my bowling shoes are over ten years old, my bowling shoes are still fine. I did, however, have to get a new bowling bag because the one I had was pretty icky. This new one was cheap and looks great. I love the separate shoe pocket also.
Oh, check out what I found when I was cleaning out my old bowling bag. Yes. It has been that long since I last bowled regularly. I’m pretty rusty but I didn’t do to shabby this weekend so perhaps there is hope for me yet. I’m so excited for this summer! I can’t wait to kick some butt at bowling!
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