Fit in a Fun Friday - Bowling

My company just had its annual bowling tournament a few weeks ago.  My husband and I lost as usual, but we do have fun.  Bowling is just a mellow game.  How can you not enjoy good burgers and taking your frustrations out on a bunch of pins?

Until the non-smoking laws were passed a couple of years ago, my asthma caused us to avoid bowling alleys most of the time except for non-smoking bowling leagues.  Hubby even bought me a personalized cherry-scented bowling ball for a Valentine's Day a few years ago.  It's red and black, has my name on it, and still has a scent.  :-)

Now we can go bowling whenever and even take advantage of Friday and Saturday night specials.  We don't actually bowl very often due to our other hobbies like Curling and blogging, but we are hoping to join a league again next year.

As far as affordability, bowling seems to be about the same price as a dinner-and-a-movie night.  If you take advantage of specials in your area and skip the snack bar, it can be pretty inexpensive.  Sadly, hubby and I are addicted to bowling alley burgers.  We do shell out between $10-$15 a night at the snack bar alone. 

When we are in a league, it's usually $10 or $15 a person and we are able to earn back some of that ($20-$50 a person) through our team's overall scores.  Not too shabby.  :-)

How long has it been since you've been bowling?

Fit in a Fun Friday - Gardening

Okay, I'll admit it right now, I have a black thumb.  I am a plant killer.  Yet, even I have been drawn in by the lure of color.

Gardening may or may not be your cup of tea, but the results are usually worth it.  When we bought our home, it had grass in the front yard and a grass/weed mixture in the back.  I thought this would be fine to me since I don't spend much time outside of my own home, but two years ago, HGTV did me in. 

Just a few episodes of Designed to Sell convinced me that I needed some color and I needed it NOW!  In my tv show fervor, I seemed to forget that September in Houston is usually the end of planting season and that I can't keep plants alive even if my life (or wallet) depended on it.  That started the saga of digging up areas for flower beds and hunting down plants that could survive an owner like me.

After several failed attempts that month, I was finally able to get a surviving group of plants out front.  One Double Knock-Out rose bush got an area to itself.  Miniature Monkey Grass and Sun Proof Lily-Turf shared the walkway bed with two Caladiums.  A green shrub of some sort finally got the area next to the garage to itself since no other plants seemed to be able to survive.  I also bought a Red Dynamite Crepe Myrtle for the center of the yard to add the biggest splash of red possible.

The joke was on me.  That Crepe Myrtle hasn't bloomed since it was planted 2 years ago.  It gets taller and it gets greener, but I swear it's laughing at me.  So is the green anonymous shrub...it is almost exactly the same size as 2 years ago - it looks healthy but it refuses to grow.  The Monkey Grass and Sun Proof Lily-Turf also look exactly the same but have killed one of the Caladiums, so the walkway no longer seems symmetrical to me.

In fact, only my rose bush seems to love me...she's the prettiest rose bush ever and blooms 9-10 months of the year.  She grew triple her starting size in one year alone.  I think all the other darn plants know that she's my favorite and are sticking it to me...

Anyway, as you can tell from the before and after pics below, my front yard is at least more interesting than before.  All the plants I have now seem healthy, and I refuse to replace anything that survives through a year with me (just ask my hubby, lol).

Do you have a garden?  If so, are you more into flowers or vegetables or herbs?  Do any of your plants hate you too?

TODAY

MY PLANTS

Anonymous Shrub and Accidentally Planted Mother's Day Roses

Monkey Grass and Sun Proof Lily-Turf with Remaining Caladium

Rosie the Rose Bush in Bloom Last Year

(She Was Just Pruned in the Overall Pic Above)