Bowling champions!

Ok, I'll readily admit that the primary reason our team took first place in our league was due to the hefty handicap that is added into our scores. However! The fact that I can even add playing on a bowling league to my repertoire makes me giggle a little bit. I've never been a huge fan of bowling - especially before the clean air act came into play. And, it took a solid year of convincing me to give it a try before my friend Claire talked me into joining her in playing on the SLC Medical Alliance Association Bowling League. So there I was signed up to bowl (with a USBC card in my wallet and quarterly issues of US Bowler scheduled to arrive at my home...oh, yeahhh), but I'll admit that the germ-factor associated with various aspects of a bowling alley gave me some serious heebie-jeebies (partially due to a 20/20 that I watched years ago...yeah, yeah - laugh it up, Claire).
So! After some quick math I realized that with the amount of money I would spend on renting shoes every week...I could actually almost pay for what the bowling alley would charge me for a discounted package of my own shoes...and a bag & ball! Yessiree - I am the proud owner of these bowling shoes that you see to the left, and a ball that was drilled to my own grip and finger size! And, I must say, I quite like it!

Here is our team! Christa, me & Claire.

(We bowled at Bonwood Bowl. Their sign is pictured left.)
While I did improve my bowling game significantly, and I actually learned to really enjoy bowling - I will openly admit that even more than that I looked forward to a scheduled time to socialize with other adults every week! For resident's spouses (members of PIM) the alliance generously subsidized our dues, and even paid for a babysitter to be in a room on site every week for our kids! Those who used the babysitting were my kids, Claire's kids, and Tom's kids (Tom's wife & Claire's husband are both pediatrician residents). Christa's husband is a pathology resident, but they don't have kids...and the four of us are the only resident spouses. Everyone else's spouses are practicing physicians. I'll openly admit what was a prejudice on my part - I worried that these people we'd be bowling with would be snobby, or that things would be a "pissing contest" of sorts...but I couldn't have been more wrong. Even after just one week of bowling, I could tell that these people (who were mostly female) were super nice. It was such a fun group to socialize with, network with, and who were even a support system of sorts. Honestly, even though it may sound a bit hokey, I really feel blessed to have been able to have gotten to know these ladies and to have spent a few hours with them each week - I'm gonna seriously miss it!

There was a list of subs to bowl in your place on those Wednesdays that you couldn't make it...now, two of the subs that bowled with us regularly ended up getting married!!! Now, let me back up. Once a month we have a luncheon during bowling (the teams usually eat between the 2nd & 3rd games). Each team has one month that they are in charge of the luncheon with two other teams, and our month was in April...the same month that our sub-friends got married. So as part of our spring themed luncheon, Claire made a wedding cake for the dessert! Aren't the calla lilies beautiful?

Not a great photo, but I wanted to include a picture from one of our luncheons and this is the only one I had (from the spring tea-party themed luncheon we did in April).

At the end of the bowling season a banquet for all the teams was held at Cafe Trio. We enjoyed yummy food, visiting, and gifts were presented for all sorts of awards - including to our team for taking 1st place both the first and second half of this season! Wahoo! For my documentation purposes, individual awards I received (which are just magnets sent from the national USBC) included: 150 game, 400 series, and league champion. I have a long way to go in my game, but my game high was 158 & I'm pretty proud of that at this point! Here's a photo from the banquet of me with my teammates!...

Jenifer Johnson & Madalyn Seaman

Before wrapping up this post, let me mention a couple of things about my teammates. Christa is a refined, well educated, self-admitted city girl from NYC. She is a successful interior designer and also teaches at the Utah Art Institute. I've never seen her be loud or obnoxious (which Claire and I can both be on occasion), and she always looks sophisticated and well put together. It took serious convincing for her to put on Buzz Lightyear wings for a picture at Halloween time when I dressed like Jesse & Claire was Woody. Her parents live in Norway (of which her mother is a native) and we got to meet them when they came to watch her bowl while visiting. Christa is fun and witty. She definitely has her own opinions, but has mastered the art of keeping them to herself unless necessary. I really enjoyed getting to know her at bowling and various PIM functions over the last year. Claire is an artsy, outgoing, vegetarian, social butterfly. She's from Colorado and has beautiful, dark curls (that she hates, to my dismay). She enjoys being involved with lots of things, and always has more on her plate than she should...yet still manages to get everything done somehow. She is a jack of all trades (seriously)...She has a metalsmithing degree - because of which I've been the recipient of a beautiful silver cuff bracelet and pounded silver earrings (gifts over the years). She decorates awesome cakes (did you see Lincoln's last b-day cake for example?) She sews - and she has made me several really fantastic things, two of my favorites include my diaper bag (which I love and get compliments on all the time), and Noah's Fireman Sam costume (which is awesome)! Besides liking Claire, it's been easy to spend lots of time with her since we live across the street with each other! We also both have 2 young boys, and we were in the PIM presidency together for 2 years (which meant planning, executing, and attending lots of PIM functions together). Claire is the closest friend that I've had the opportunity of making during our 3 years of residency & I'll miss her lots. Here's a fun, very-random fact about Claire: After the death of Hunter S. Thompson, his wife commissioned Claire to make Gonzo belt buckles for the late author's close friends - one of whom is Johnny Depp (who financed Thompson's funeral). So, Claire made something that Johnny Depp wears on his belt! (see pics of the buckle here) I told you it was random. Anyway, if you want to take a gander at just a few more of Claire's creative masterpieces, then take a look at this blog.